i don’t have multiple tidbits for you, just the one! it’s been tough for me to rally this january. lots of meals cooked, babies snuggled, piles of paper sorted, laundry folded, friends seen and hours slept. things i didn’t have much time to do during october, november and december. it has been so very nice to just catch up on life!
we have been cooking A LOT. it’s great to be back in the kitchen. i go through phases where i really love cooking, do it all the time, and then two weeks later we’re living off of tubs of chicken salad from zoe’s kitchen and having breakfast for dinner again. rush really really really loves helping me in the kitchen, so i’ve been trying to throw him a bone and bake things so that he can participate. i mean, cooking and kids don’t really mix…hot pans, open flames, spattering oil…no. so we bake, which is much more tame. the trouble with baking things is that oftentimes, they involve lots of refined sugar and/or refined white flour. i’ll delve more into this soon with a post on our paleo-ISH (big emphasis on ISH) diet, but i try to avoid both, and if i can’t avoid both, i definitely try to avoid one. i found a recipe for cookies sweetened with honey (and some other additives), split the flour measurement with whole wheat flour, and i think all parties were happy. i wouldn’t call them healthy, but i would call them healthier.
honey-oatmeal kitchen sink cookies
ingredients:
3 and 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes or shredded coconut (i used organic unsweetened shredded coconut – it’s in a green bag)
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (you could use pecans too, or hey – no nuts at all!)
1 cup dark chocolate chunks (i used around a 1/2 cup of these, but ran out so had to supplement with m&ms, of which we had a plethora)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (tip: store it in the fridge and it will last longer)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup honey (i use glacier county honey – it’s raw and excellent and the owner is a friend/client!)
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla (good vanilla, as ina would say)
- combine all dry ingredients in a big bowl. combine wet ingredients (butter, honey, vanilla) in a separate bowl and then add to the dry ingredients. stir until just fully incorporated. cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a couple of sheet pans with parchment paper. roll the cookies into balls and stagger on baking sheets. bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
**this recipe makes a BUNCH so we are making trips to a couple of neighbor’s houses today :)
also, if your little one likes to cook, rush and i did a mommy & me cooking class (it’s called “kindercooks,” for 3-5 year olds) at the young chefs academy this week. we did it with several of his little friends and it was a big hit!
xoxo