Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Kirk's naturopath recently put him on an anti-inflammatory, hypoallergenic diet. It's very restrictive, but super-healthy, so we've been trying our best to stick to it. It's going pretty well, and I'll have some new food posts for you soon. But in the meantime, I just have to talk about these cookies...

There's no sugar allowed on this diet, and my sweet tooth has been suffering. So tonight I made it my mission to find a cookie recipe that would be both healthy and satisfying. I found this one. I made some adjustments based on what I have on hand, and the fact that several of the comments complained that they were bland.

My version did not turn out bland. Just the opposite. They are SO good! And only 40 caories each!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies
(adapted from Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies)
makes 46 small cookies

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup carob chips
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1-1/2 tbsp agave nectar
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium sized bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Let stand 10-20 minutes to soften oats. Drop batter by the teaspoon onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 12-14 minutes.

These are my new favourite cookies!

This Week in My Kitchen: Lactation Cookies Part 2

The last time I made Lactation Cookies they were super high in calories (and delicious!). I decided this week to make them again and see if I could lower the calorie content without sacrificing taste and nutrition.

Success!

I used stevia powder instead of sugar, 0% Greek yogourt instead of oil, and 1 cup of carob chips instead of 2 of chocolate. They are still delicious, and I cut the calories by more than half. I still have about 12 pounds to lose, so that's pretty important to me at this point.

Here's my recipe, adapted from Major Milk Makin' Cookies from Peaceful Parenting.

Cara's Low-Cal Lactation Cookies

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups oats (I used a mix of oats, flax and bran)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup almond butter
3/4 cup Greek yogourt
3 tbsp brewer's yeast
2 tbsp egg replacer
2/3 cup water
1 tsp stevia powder
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup carob chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In a large bowl beat together almond butter, yogourt, brewer's yeast, egg replacer, water, stevia and vanilla until creamy and well blended.
Gradually mix in flour mixture. Add in carob chips.
Place flattened balls of dough on a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes. Makes about 24 cookies.

This Week in My Kitchen: Phở, step-by-step

 Kirk and I both love phở. Kirk goes to Vietnamese restaurants and gets phở with all sorts of gross animal bits in it, but I rely on home made vegetarian phở. Here's how I make it, step-by-step.

1. Gather your ingredients.
Here are the ingredients for the broth, minus the soy sauce, which didn't make it into the photo. I use this recipe as a base for my broth. I have no idea how traditional it is, but it sure is delicious! Never leave out the star anise - it will not smell or taste like phở without it. And I don't add salt, as the soy sauce is salty enough.

2. Char the veggies & spices.
Roughly chop the aromatics and throw them in a dry pot on medium high. Stir around a bit until they start to char and smell fantastic, then add the veggie broth (I do half broth and half water) and soy sauce.

3. Boil the broth.
Bring the broth to a boil to get all the flavour out of everything.

4. Prepare the protein.
My protein of choice for phở is tofu. This time I sliced extra firm tofu nice and thin and marinaded it in soy sauce, sri racha and rice wine vinegar. This is the first time I've cooked with tofu in a long time (other than the almond ricotta).

5. Prepare the noodles.
Boil some water and pour it over thin, flat rice noodles. Let them soak for a few minutes, but not for too long or they'll get mushy.

6. Prepare the accompaniments.
Green onions, enoki mushrooms (I couldn't find any nice bean sprouts, and the mushrooms made a nice substitution), lime wedges, tofu and sliced jalapeno. I forgot to pick up some basil, which is unfortunate, but not tragic. I did miss it, though.

7. Assembly, part 1.
Put some noodles in a bowl and ladle some strained broth over top.

8. Assembly, part 2.
Add the accompaniments to your taste. Here's my bowl, with jalapeno, tofu, lime, enoki mushrooms and sri racha.

9. Dig in!

Vegan Mofo Day 13: Butternut Squash-Apple Soup

So I actually had a rare day off at home for Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day to you Americans), and, other than quietly paying my respects to our military, past and present, I did six loads of laundry and made a gigantic pot of butternut squash soup. It's Kirk's favourite, and it just so happens that we recently got three, count 'em three, butternut squashes in our Spud deliveries - two wee ones & one honkin' one. We've also been getting tonnes of apples in our Spud boxes, and I am not the biggest fan of eating apples that aren't made into something, so I decided to put some of them to good use too.

The soup turned out beautifully, even though I just kinda winged the recipe, but after I finished peeling and cutting the squash I noticed that the skin on my left (non-knife-holding) hand was stained orange and really tight. I went to wash my hands and the skin started peeling like a bad sunburn! I basically got a chemical peel from the squash. They were organic squashes, so it shouldn't have been anything on them. Has anyone experienced this before? Everything's fine now, but it kinda freaked me out...

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 2 shallots or 1/2 sweet onion, diced
* 2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
* 3 medium butternut squashes (or 2 wee & 1 huge), peeled, seeded & cut into 1" chunks
* 3 apples (I used golden delicious), peeled, seeded & cut into 1" chunks
* water or vegetable stock
* 1 tsp salt (optional if using vegetable stock)
* 1/2 tsp ground allspice
* sprinkle of ground nutmeg
* 1/4 cup sweet white wine (I used a moscato), or 1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Heat the olive oil in your biggest soup pot then add the shallots and garlic and sweat until soft. Put the squash and apples in the pot and add enough water or stock (or a combination of the two) to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-high and continue to simmer until the squash and apples are soft (mine took about 20 minutes). Ladle out some of the water, just so there's only a bit of liquid peeking out over the top of the squash pieces. Use your hand blender to puree the soup right in the pot, or spoon it into a food processor or blender (you'll have to do that in batches). Add the salt, allspice, nutmeg and wine and stir to combine. Serve warm with crusty bread and a glass of the wine you used in the recipe.

Vegan MoFo Day 4: Veggie Fajitas

Here's another one of my favourite after work quick meals - fajitas! This is a really loose recipe because every time I make it it's different (but always delicious!). It's also a great way to use up some of the veggies that come in our Spud delivery.

Veggie Fajitas

* A ton of your favourite veggies - I use bell peppers, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and green onions

* black beans (canned & rinsed or cooked from dry)

* taco seasoning or fajita seasoning

* hot sauce (optional - I like chipotle hot sauce)

* whole wheat tortillas, small

* fresh cilantro (optional)

* pickled jalapenos (optional)

* salsa

* guacamole

Cut up your veggies into bite-sized bits and stir fry with the black beans until fork-tender. Season with taco or fajita seasoning, and hot sauce to taste if you're feeling spicy. Fill your tortillas with veggies & beans and garnish with jalapenos, cilantro, salsa and guacamole and dig in! Sometimes I make fajita bowls, where I don't use tortillas and just fill a bowl with veggies & beans and top with the garnishes. Mmmm, I'm getting hungry.

Vegan MoFo Day 3: Quick Thin Crust Pizza

This is my go-to meal when I get home from work late, or when I'm just too lazy to make anything more complicated. It's seriously delicious...

Quick Thin Crust Pizza

* 2 small whole wheat tortillas (look for ones without hydrogenated fats on the ingredient list)

* 2 tbsp vegan pesto, or more (make your own in the summer when herbs are cheap & plentiful & freeze in ice cube trays)

* sun-dried tomatoes
* mushrooms
* whatever other toppings your heart desires - I like to keep it simple
* garlic powder & red pepper flakes

Preheat your toaster oven to 350. Spread 1 tbsp of the pesto on each tortilla and top with sun dried tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with garlic powder and red pepper flakes to taste. Bake for 5-8 minutes (less time for toaster ovens, more for conventional ovens). I like to wrap it up like a tube an eat it, but you can eat it however you like!