This Week in My Kitchen: Lactation Cookies, Peach Crumble, Zucchini-Noodle Lasagna

Now that Odin is getting old enough to amuse himself for periods of time, I can get back in the kitchen and get cooking again! I'm watching my caloric intake at the moment, so I've been trying to make healthier options. Here's some of what I made this week:

Lactation Cookies

My sweet tooth (which didn't exist before my pregnancy) was hitting me hard this week. I decided to justify baking by making these Major Milk Makin' Cookies from the Peaceful Parenting blog. The brewer's yeast, oats and flax in them are supposed to increase your milk supply. I don't know if they increased my milk, but they were delicious! I used almond butter, Bob's Red Mill egg replacer, half & half dark chocolate and butterscotch chips, and no nuts. These are pretty high in calories, but fairly healthy.

Peach Crisp

Kirk and I took Odin to the Okanagan recently to meet his great-grandparents. I took the opportunity to stock up on some juicy ripe fruits and veggies, including a bunch of peaches. I peeled and sliced them all and used 6 cups of them to make a delicious crumble. For the topping I used rolled oats, whole wheat flour, ground flax seeds (and some whole ones too), demerara sugar and coconut flakes with a bit of vegetable oil. Odin started fussing as I was making the crumble and I forgot the seasoning, but I would have included nutmeg, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Either way, it still turned out pretty great.

Zucchini-Noodle Lasagna
While in the Okanagan we also got a huge zucchini from Kirk's Gramma's organic garden. I decided to slice it thin (about 1/4") lengthwise and use the slices as lasagna noodles. Here's the step-by-step on how I made it.

 1. First layers: Cover the bottom of the casserole dish with slices of zucchini. Pour some tomato sauce over top, then layer a half head of cauliflower, steamed lightly and mashed. Sprinkle seasoning - I used oregano and garlic salt.

 2. Add a layer of baby spinach (or regular spinach chopped roughly), then one container of cottage cheese or ricotta (for vegan option, use cashew ricotta or other vegan cheese).

 3. Add a layer or mushrooms (any kind), then more tomato sauce.

 4. Cover with more zucchini slices and oregano and red pepper flakes to taste.

5. Top with mozzarella cheese (Daiya is a good vegan option), then bake at 375 degrees for 50 minutes, or until the veggies are fork tender an the cheese is melty and browned. Let cool and serve warm. Mine was pretty soupy since it's just vegetables and they let out water as they cook, but it was delicious nonetheless.

This Week in My Kitchen: Cauliflower Leek Soup, Rainbow Pasta Salad, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cauliflower Leek Soup
I don't even really like cauliflower. I've always thought of it as a bland, white broccoli wannabe, and I love broccoli. So what possessed me to buy a head of cauliflower? Who knows? It sat in the fridge forever, and my friend Stephanie suggested I make soup. Good call. Three leeks came in the Spud delivery that very day, so cauliflower leek soup it was.
I cut the cauliflower into florets and the leeks into half-inch strips and put them into a pot with about 2 cups of vegetable broth. I covered the pot and let it cook for a little while, maybe 15 minutes, then pureed it all. I added some salt & pepper and there you have it. It was probably the simplest soup I've ever made, and it was delicious. Kirk raved about it and ate two bowls.
Maybe cauliflower is alright after all...

Rainbow Pasta Salad
My new favourite pasta is Mrs. Leeper's Corn Rotelli. The beautiful golden colour is what attracted me. The ingredient list is what convinced me: 100% organic corn flour. That's it. Sold.
For this pasta salad I cut a shallot, a yellow bell pepper (red would have been prettier, but yellow's what I had), and some baby carrots into pea-sized bits. I boiled the pasta and added the veggies, plus some frozen peas, in the last few minutes of cooking just to blanch them. I drained everything and added the dressing I made from Spectrum Eggless Canola Mayonnaise, dried dill, salt, pepper and a bit of turmeric for colour.
After chilling it for a couple if hours we dug in. It was pretty good and very pretty and fed us for two days.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
I had a sweet tooth the other night and made the Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. The last time I made them they came out a little greasy, so I used a bit less canola oil and a pinch more flour. They came out good. Not fabulous, but good.