I was invited to help some friends break in their new deck this past weekend, and I decided to bring some cookies to share. I wanted to reproduce the flavors in my favorite breakfast, and this is what I came up with:
Pecan-blueberry-honey-cinnamon-oatmeal cookies
 Blueberry Pecan Cinnamon Oatmeal Honey Cookies 1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup dried blueberries*
1 cup chopped pecans
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In large bowl or the bowl of your mixer, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy and smooth. Mix in the honey until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the cinnamon and honey and beat until smooth.
4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in oats, blueberries, and pecans. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 1-2 minutes, and then remove from sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
Servings: 4 dozen
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per cookie): 111 calories, 44 calories from fat, 5.1g total fat, 16.4mg cholesterol, 55.1mg sodium, 63.2mg potassium, 15.7g carbohydrates, <1g fiber, 8.6g sugar, 1.6g protein.
* I got dried blueberries at Costco. They’d be good with regular raisins or dried cranberries, too.
They were really, really yummy. They were successful at tasting like my favorite breakfast, too. The only thing they need is a shorter name!
Linked to:
Tasty Tuesday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Tuesday Tastes
Delicious Dishes
I’ve been trying to use my slow-cooker more, in an effort to heat the house less. I’ve had mixed success.
I got this recipe from A Year of Slowcooking. I made a few changes, though, such as adding garlic and removing the peppers, to suit my family’s taste. And my crockpot isn’t as strong as hers, because after four hours, it still wasn’t even simmering, and the potatoes were still rock hard, so I poured it into a stockpot and cooked it on the stove. I also added some milk, because a chowder, for me, needs to be creamy.
Corn Chowder
 Corn Chowder 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
4 small potatoes, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 16-ounce bags of frozen corn
2 quarts of chicken broth
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup skim milk
Bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled (optional)
1. Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium-low heat and add the onion and salt. Cook and stir for a minute or two, and add the garlic. Cook for another minute.
2. Stir in the potatoes, carrot, corn, chicken broth, paprika, and pepper. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 12 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.
3. Remove from heat and blend with a stick blender. You can go for relatively smooth or somewhat chunky. Stir in the milk.
4. Crumble bacon over the top, and serve.
Servings: 15
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving, and without accounting for optional bacon): 129 calories, 20 calories from fat, 2.2g total fat, <1mg cholesterol, 584.4mg sodium, 492.5mg potassium, 23.2g carbohydrates, 2.9g fiber, 4.1g sugar, 6.1g protein.
I will probably make some changes next time I make this. Even with milk added, it wasn’t nearly as creamy as I’d like. It had a lot of corn flavor, though.
The whole dinner, including whole-wheat cheese drop biscuits and the soup, cost less than $5, and made enough extra to freeze for several lunches. It was a huge pot of soup.
Linked to:
Foodie Friday
Food on Fridays
Grocery Cart Challenge
Frugal Fridays
I may not be in love with the heat this summer, but I am in love with all the strawberries! I could swear that you could only get good strawberries in May and June, but here it is August, and the grocery on the corner not only has lots of delicious, ripe strawberries, but they have them on sale this week for a dollar a pound!
I love slicing a strawberry or two (or three, or four) into cold cereal for breakfast. Not to mention just munching on some for a snack, or making tasty desserts. When buying strawberries in quantity, though, I found I was having to throw too many out, because they got moldy or mushy. Google is my friend, though, and after reading several different articles about how to store fresh strawberries, I experimented and hit on the best way I’ve found to store strawberries.
 Storing Strawberries First, don’t wash the strawberries before storing. Don’t hull them, either – just leave leaves and hull intact. Put a piece of paper towel in your storage container, and then a layer of strawberries. Top with another paper towel, and another row of strawberries, until your container is full (make sure that you leave clearance for the lid). Add another paper towel, and put the lid on the container.
It seems that moisture is the enemy of strawberries, so doing it this way keeps them nice and dry. I’ve had strawberries last well over a week with this method.
Linked to: Works for Me Wednesday
I know I said that I’d post this on the weekend or Monday. I ended up being more busy than I expected.
I’m so very happy that I got to see my oldest daughter this past weekend (Hi, oldest daughter!). I’m really hoping she can come home for Thanksgiving.
But on to the recipe!
Ethiopian Lentil Stew (Berberé Stew)
Berberé Stew
Berberé Spice Blend
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp fenugreek
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground black
[Continue reading Ethiopian Lentil Stew Recipe]
About a month ago, a friend that used to live here came through town on her way to a family reunion. Short on time, she invited everyone she was still in touch with here to her hotel room, where the kids had delivered pizza, and her husband brought in takeout from an Ethiopian restaurant. I’d never had Ethiopian, and hadn’t planned on sharing, because I worried that I wouldn’t like it, and I didn’t know how fattening it would be.
All that flew out the window when I smelled the food. It smelled amazing, so I couldn’t resist having some. I learned
[Continue reading Ethiopian Green Beans and Potatoes Recipe]
We’ve gotten into a routine around here of me baking one not-so-Mommy-waistline-friendly treat a week. Last week, it was chewy brownies, which I forgot to take a picture of, so we’ll probably have them again soon so I can share the recipe with you. So good!
This week it was peanut butter cookies. My recipe uses some whole wheat flour and cinnamon – just to twist it just barely from the traditional cookies. They still taste amazing dipped in milk, of course. Almond milk for me!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter
[Continue reading (Almost) Traditional Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe]
My kids are are at their dad’s this weekend, so I made myself a nice dinner. It’s fun to treat myself to a little something nice when the kids are gone to their dad’s. I love tomatoes (oh, do I love tomatoes!), so when I saw cherry tomatoes on sale at the grocery store, I knew I’d have this for dinner.
This makes healthy, filling meal on a lovely summer night.
Farfalle with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers
Farfalle with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers
2 ounces farfalle pasta
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons
[Continue reading Farfalle with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers Recipe]
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August 25th, 2010 | 
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