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August 27, 2008

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

the last three!

(cute plate purchased over at www.frecklewonder.com–thanks jenny!)

Please believe me when I say that I am an aficionado when it comes to Oatmeal Raisin cookies!!!! I LOVE them!!! They are simply my all-time favorite #1 cookie. I would take one over ANY cookie…ANY day…Well…maybe if you put a huge chewy ginger molasses cookie in my face I might be tempted…

I was flipping through this month’s issue of EVERYDAY FOOD. They have a lot of the side dishes that I marked to try. Not a lot of the main dishes tempted me cuz we don’t eat pork chops in my household. Never have…Never will. The last page was OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES. HOLY SCHNITZEL. They were calling my name! I looked through the recipe and saw that I had EVERYTHING I needed to make them with. How awesome is that? Don’t you love it when that happens?

i actually ate raw batter! shh. don't tell anyone!

So below you will find the recipe. It’s really simple & classic. I am amazed that there wasn’t a whole stick of butter because they taste SOOO buttery. YUM. I confess that I prolly ate about 10 of them. What can I say? My baby likes them too. He gets that from his momma. I hope you try these because I know they will be a hit for you! Next time I might add some nuts to see how it goes.

Happy cookie making!
xoxoxo

fresh outta the oven.  you TOTALLY know I ate the missing one- right??

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies


Recipe- from EVERYDAY FOOD

-1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
-1/2 cup all purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
-1/2 cup raisins
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt (i actually made it 1 whole teaspoon because I love sweet/salty cookies)
-6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
-1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 large egg
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk together oats, flour, raisins, baking soda and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixers, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture; beat just until combined.

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are golden brown but still soft. (12-16 minutes) Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet; transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe makes about 24.

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August 26, 2008

Indian Carrot Salad

the last bit of food on my plate

Loved this one! So crispy, smokey and refreshing!

Peeling the Carrots:


making carrot salad

Dressing Assembly:

assembly of dressing

Up close & personal with the dressing:

dressing for carrot salad

Last night’s dinner!

dinner!

Serving it up!

serving it up

My plate:

my plate

Indian Carrot Salad


(Jamie At Home)

-1lb. carrots peeled (use multi-colored for extra prettiness)
-1 teaspoon cumin seeds
-3 shallots or 1 small red onion, peeled (I used a red onion)
-1 lemon, zested and juiced
-1 heaped teaspoon freshly grated ginger
-Extra-virgin olive oil
-A small bunch fresh cilantro, leaves picked
-A small bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
-salt & pepper to taste

1. Heat a small frying pan over a moderate heat and toast the cumin seeds for 30 seconds – they will start to smell nutty and gorgeous. You’re not trying to cook the seeds here, you’re just waking their flavors up a bit. Put them into a pestle and mortar and grind them up.

2. Slice your peeled shallots or onion wafer thin. As with all salads that contain onion, you don’t want to be coming across great big chunks! If you don’t feel confident about your knife skills, use the coarse side of a box grater instead. This will almost mush your onions to a puree, but at least you won’t come across any big bits.

3. To make your dressing, put the lemon zest and juice into a bowl and add the shallots or onion, grated ginger, ground cumin and a pinch of salt. Whisk everything together with about 5 tablespoons of extra- virgin olive oil. Pour the dressing over the carrots, add the cilantro and mint leaves, and mix it all together using your fingers. It’s important that you have a little taste to check whether the dressing needs more lemon juice, oil or seasoning.

***Yesterday morning I woke up super early and was watching Jamie Oliver’s cooking show–Jamie At Home– on the Food Network. While drinking my coffee and eating my yogurt I got a hankering to make this for dinner for Monday night. After my doctors appointment, I rushed to the store and bought all the ingredients I needed.

It wasn’t until I went to brown the ground lamb that I realized it was GROUND BEEF. Apparently my pregnant brain mistook the work LEAN for LAMB. This is something I realized 30 minutes before we were sitting down to eat. I rushed out to the store (two stores actually) and there was no ground lamb to be found. I improvised and used lamb blades (i think it said blades- don’t count on my memory these days!) and grilled them up and squeezed lemon on top. They were OK- I will definitely set out to find ground lamb to RE-DO the recipe.

I really loved the Indian carrot salad! It’s nice and crisp. Refreshing and light! The perfect amount of bite & spice. It went really well with garlic naan and a splash of cumin yogurt. I will definitely make it again.***

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August 25, 2008

what’s new?

lettuce pray

mixing salad

Last Week I:

CONTINUE READING

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August 19, 2008

Frozen Raspberry-Lime Yogurt Pops

making lime raspberry pops

filling up frozen pop containers

almost done!

Frozen Raspberry-Lime Pops!

-16 ounces low-fat or nonfat vanilla yogurt, preferably Greek yogurt
-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
-8 ounces fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
-1 heaping tablespoon honey
-2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the yogurt with 1 tablespoon of the lime juice & honey until smooth.

2. Now add the raspberries with the remaining lime juice and sugar-whir up until blended. (you might want to add more sugar if needed)

3. Stir mixture and fill your pops! Put in the freezer to set for at least 4 hours.

4. To unmold the pop: Run warm water over the bottom three-quarters of the mold. Let it stand for 10 seconds, then gently pull out the pop.

***The perfect balance of tart & sweet. It was nice to know that what I was eating wasn’t filled with crap & yucky preservatives. Extremely refreshing and satisfying! Something to make over and over again!***

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August 13, 2008

more soon!

oooooh yeah

helllllllllo!

it’s been a hectic few weeks…which explains the absence of posting here.

I was graced with the presence of my BFF for my co-ed baby shower this weekend. It was awesome! Soo much fun! Soo many cute things! Soo tiring! Soo many people that I didn’t even take pictures! Ack!

Now, Momma is running on empty and the little boy in her tum could be doing downward facing dog in her womb right now! Yikes!

Thank you for visiting, woot! I love you!

I leave you with the promise of more soon. This week is full of baby appts/classes & baby shower to attend….and a birthday for yours truly early next week!

I am soooooo aching to get in the kitchen right now and cook something up!

Oh yeah…I have to show you some of my kitchen too!

here’s a sneak peek:

I suppose this is what baby brain is all about!

***NOTE TO SELF***

Tracy—-Try to take things slower, and relax. Enjoy the simple things in life- like this wonderful scene outside your window the other morning. That was cool wasn’t it??? It made waking up super early because of back pain SOOO worth it.

hello 7am!

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July 31, 2008

i miss you, dear zucchini bread

breakfast of champions

today is the first morning this week that I didn’t have a slice of zucchini bread. I would do anything for a slice today. I gave a whole loaf to my neighbors and I’m contemplating knocking on their door to ask for a piece! I doubt they have any left though….

You should try the recipe by Deb over at Smitten Kitchen. It’s totally crushworthy. I added walnuts & raisins to my batch
Thanks Deb! You made this week so much better 😉

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July 27, 2008

Zucchini Pancakes

I woke up Saturday morning at 7am!!!!!!!!

Preparation for the bebe? Hmmm….perhaps. It could be the fact that I woke up with heartburn and a nagging pain in my back. I think I had a dream about bacon….which is what inspired me to get my butt out of bed and make us some breakfast.

I also really wanted mushrooms as you could see….

momma is craving mushrooms today

Waking up that early is as annoying as it is nice. I started grocery shopping at 8am and felt like there was soo much potential food wise this weekend.

While Casey was still sleeping, I was able to put the final touches on our new guest room. The old guest room is going to be converted into the new baby room. I love this new color blue. The really nice part is that you can lay in bed and look at the trees outside. A perfect place to read a book/magazine in the afternoon.

the new guest bedroom

I also made those deceptively delicious brownies (seen in the previous post).

For lunch, I used leftover bacon and made us some BLATS (Bacon Lettuce Avocado Tomato Sandwiches)

blAt

dinner

We went to see a matinee showing of The Dark Knight today (really good btw).

I decided to treat us to a nice afternoon early dinner on the back deck.

Zucchini pancakes with a dill/cucumber yogurt dip, a mixed green salad (with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions & feta) Hot Genoa salami, Sopressata & some slices of a sour batard.

early dinner

I also made a yummy *mocktail*

cucumber & pineapple juice, gingerale, seltzer, ice & a pink straw.

Cucumber & Pineapple Juice with Ginger ale and Seltzer water. MMMMMMMM Refreshing.

Nothing like putting some zucchini to good use!

three little pancakes in a row

Zucchini Pancakes


(made about 8)

-3 large zucchini, shredded (drain in a bowl lined with paper towels for an hour before making)
-1/4 cup flour
-1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
-2 large eggs
-3 tablespoons chopped Italian Parsley
-2 teaspoons garlic powder
-1 dash of cayenne pepper
-salt & pepper
-cooking spray

1. Preheat oven 200 degrees. Put a cookie sheet in the oven- line with a few pieces of paper towel.
1. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the egg & zucchini. Mix well.
2. Heat up a non-stick skillet on medium heat with cooking spray. (It’s much healthier than frying). Spoon zucchini batter on the skillet and flatten each pancake.
4. Cook each pancake for about 3 minutes per side before flipping. Put cooked pancakes in the oven while you are making the rest!
5. DEVOUR. Immediately.

Top it with a yogurt/dill/cucumber dip and you have yourself a little slice of heaven.

Now I leave you…off to start the laundry and relax. There’s a nice breeze here today and I’m thoroughly enjoying the calm before the storm.

Happy Sunday Everyone.