Tag Archives: sweet

Jordan Almond Cookies For Dad

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Who’s got Valentine’s gifts on the brain?  When you think about the people you love, it’s important to think about the things that they love.  Who you love, what they love; got it?  Good.

One of the people I love is my dad.  One of the things he loves is Jordan almonds.  He’s passed this love on to me, and we both know exactly what to look for in a good Jordan almond – thick but slightly soft shell on a crunchy almond – and where to look for them – the “foreign” section of grocery stores, specialty markets, and the occasional wedding.

My dad also likes gum. He particularly enjoys those huge gum balls that give you a headache within a minute of popping them into your mouth.  And since I like my dad – and particularly like the fact that he doesn’t have to come live with us so we can puree all of his meals in a blender – I’d like to keep his jaw intact.  So when Oh!Nuts offered to send me some Valentine Jordan Almonds, I tried to think of a way to serve them that didn’t involve chomping.

Jordan Almond Cookies, makes 36 cookies

{loosely adopted from Nestle’s chocolate chip cookie recipe}

  • 1 cup Jordan almonds
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1.5 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour
  1. Preheat oven to 350*.  Prepare baking sheets with cooking spray.
  2. Pour Jordan almonds into the bowl of your food processor and process for 1 minute.  Pick out any large chunks that remain and set processed almonds aside.
  3. In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream together butter and sugars.
  4. Beat in egg and almond extract.
  5. Stir flour, salt, and baking powder into the dough.
  6. Fold processed almond into the dough.
  7. Roll scant Tbsp-sized pieces of dough into balls and place in evenly spaced rows on prepared baking sheets.
  8. Bake 12 – 14 minutes.  Cookies will not brown, but the tops should become slightly firm to the touch.

Dad, a package is in the mail for you, be on the lookout.  I love you guys!

I used Oh!Nuts Valentine Jordan Almonds for this recipe.  Jordan almonds were provided to me free of charge.

Nowhere To Dip My Crusts

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I’ve got my eye on a 6 am yoga class so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Adam’s got an early bedtime going tonight.  The chance of me actually making it to 6 am yoga is about 50%, but if I make it I’ll be 100% happy.

This morning’s bowl of oats did not hold me over; I think the banana helps with satiety more than I realize.  My stomach was growling within an hour!  I ended up serving myself a small scoop of leftovers.

Plus a few big bites straight from the container.  And a glass of chocolate milk.

1 cup of skim milk with 2 Tbsp of chocolate syrup, over ice.

When I was a kid I would always serve my milk, chocolate or otherwise, over ice.

I went to school early to get some stuff done in the library.  On my walk, I stopped at Ashker’s for a double espresso.

With milk (cream?) and sugar.

It was so thick.  Ashker’s has not served us wrong yet!

School went well, I had a meeting after class and set up a meeting before class, so if nothing else I was productive.  And I got my copy of the Dietetics Newsletter … with an article by ME in it.

It’s possible I talk about the banana’s jacket (aka peel).

It was super cool to see my name “in print.”  One of the things I want to do with my degree is get freelance jobs writing articles for health and wellness magazines.  Or have my own column some day!

It worked out very well that I left my car on campus, because I ended up having to run a few car-necessary errands on my way home.  While I was out and about I picked up a peanut butter swirl brownie to split with Adam.

My half –

It wasn’t very good.  Boo.  Ever since the Co-op stopped selling that candy bar I was obsessed with I’ve been disappointed with them.

I had a salad of Romaine lettuce, sliced cucumber, and thousand island dressing.

And dinner was pizza.

Buffalo chicken pizza.

And it was so dang good that I went back for a third slice later on!

When I put pizza on the meal plan I forgot that I would have nothing to dip my crusts in.  The horror!  For the next two weeks I’m going without diet soda.  The horror!  As an assignment for school, we had to choose an item that we regularly consume to stop eating for two weeks.  Since part of our career will involve counseling patients who may no longer be able to eat certain foods, our teacher wanted us to experience what it was like to give up a favorite.  I’ll be honest, if I had known what the assignment was beforehand I probably would have picked a different item!

Have you ever stopped eating a certain food?  Why’d you give it up?  How long did you go without / has it been since you’ve had it?

This will be the first time for me, other than our past 2-week to 1-month vegan challenges.  And speaking of which, we are doing another vegan challenge this February.  I’d love to have any of my omnivore readers join us!

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat

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I know it’s a big claim.

And I know these cookies don’t seem like much.  The recipe is at best, simple (it’s basically the traditional recipe), and at worst, strange (there’s no egg!).

But I promise, these are the best chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever eat.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat, makes 24 small cookies

  • 4 marshmallows
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 – 2 Tbsp skim milk
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Prepare cookie sheets with baking spray.
  2. Place marshmallows on prepared cookie sheet at bake for 2 – 3 minutes, until just beginning to brown.  Set aside to cool.
  3. Use a mixer to cream together butter and sugars.  Beat in vanilla and toasted marshmallows.
  4. Stir in flour and baking soda.  Stir in milk, a 1/2 Tbsp at a time, until dough is wet enough to work with.  Remember, chocolate chip cookie dough is pretty dry normally, you’re not looking for cake batter.  Fold in chocolate chips.
  5. Pinch off pieces of dough that are approximately 2 tsp-worth.  Roll into a balls and place in even rows on prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies will flatten as they bake, but they won’t spread much.
  6. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes until edges are starting to brown.  Since there is no raw egg in this recipe, you can feel free to go a little underdone if you’d like.

Yucky Yogurt

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This (god-awful) photo sure feels official!

I had my first day of clinical practice this afternoon.  It went well, and wasn’t as scary as I was expecting, but we’ll see how I feel once we actually start doing stuff 😉  For now there’s not a whole lot to report.

I had statistics before I headed to the hospital, but again I’m not quite sure what to make of it yet.  I do know that there is already a conflict with stats and clinic in February, but I’m hoping that knowing about it this far in advance will let me figure out a solution.

I didn’t eat anything after my little breakfast and I made it through the hospital without a hunger issue so as long as I have my retainers (probably another month or so) I’ll probably stick with that schedule on Tuesdays.  But on Thursdays with a 3rd class in the evening I’ll have to pack food.

When I got home this afternoon I made myself a Stonyfield Low-Fat French Vanilla Yogurt with a S’mores Cup crumbled on top.

This bowl was as big a fail as breakfast!  I just don’t like Stonyfield yogurt any more.  I love the company’s values and flavor offerings so I want to like it, but the texture isn’t right.  Checking the ingredient list I think it must be the pectin because the yogurt is thick in a gross goopy, snotty way.  It sort of reminds me of smoothies made with xanthan gum, and not in a good way.  I ate the top layer off – I wasn’t about to waste a S’mores Cup! – but had to throw away the rest of the yogurt.

Even though I was hungry, I managed to hop on another productive streak before dinner.  I cleaned the kitchen, did the dishes, and finished updating my clinic notebook.  And roasted some broccoli into perfection for dinner.

This easy leftover meal hit the spot.  A small serving of Orange Peel Shrimp, a 1/3 cup of rice, and a bunch of roasted broccoli all tossed together.

Yum.  But the rest of the day’s disappointing meals have caught up with me and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to eat a snack before bed.  Right now I’ve got to hurry into the shower so I’m ready for the 9pm State of the Union.  FYI – The 2012 State of the Union is live-streaming here for those of us that don’t have cable.

Have you eaten a Stonyfield yogurt recently?  What was your opinion?

Back to School

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It’s official, I’m back in school!

This morning brought about a million plan changes, but it all worked out in the end.  When Adam left (before sunrise) I couldn’t fall back asleep so I finished reading Kathy Reichs book #9 (Bones to Ashes) for an hour or so in bed.  I couldn’t fall at 5 am but at 8 am I couldn’t wake up!  I ended up getting out of bed 30 minutes before the yoga class I wanted to attend was slated to start.  I thought I could make it, so I slammed this breakfast to fill up my stores.

A Wegman’s Whole Wheat Multigrain with Cranberry and Pomegranate bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

plus a big glass of water.

But getting ready took too long and I made myself a little sick eating too quickly, and that plan had to be scrapped.  My original plan was to walk to school today, but when I saw the rain I realized it was time to reevaluate again.  I would eat a little more breakfast, take a shower, drive to school and read Kathy Reichs book #10 (Devil Bones), go to class, and then go to the gym at school before driving home.  (I had to go early because there wouldn’t be any parking closer to class time).  And that’s exactly what I did.

My brunch additions were a small apple.

And a 0% Exotic Fig Voskos Greek Yogurt.

The yogurt was great.  The taste wasn’t quite as good as the Greek Gods Fig Greek Yogurt (my all-time favorite), but the nutritional content was far superior.

Then I drove to school, walked the 20 minutes in the rain from my parking spot, and vowed never to drive to school after 8 am again.  Today’s class went well, but apparently this semester is going to be very, very, very hard.  I’m scared.

After class I headed straight to the gym.  35 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random.

I stopped at Wegmans for a late lunch on my way home.  I was only going so that I could sit in the comfy booths to finish the writing-intensive task of filling out my planner, but I ended up getting a pretty good meal.

Steamed veggies with a few pieces of kung pow tofu on top,

and two organic chicken dumplings.

Delicious, and it gave me the energy to power through some serious productivity.  I walked and bathed the dog, did the dishes, made dinner, and completed my first homework assignment of the year.  Woot!  Also, I found 15 minutes to make Adam this –

Dinner was even exotic.

I followed this recipe for Orange Peel Shrimp.  With a side of roasted zucchini,

and a 1/4 cup of whole grain texmati brown and rice red blend.

I used salad sized shrimp and subbed in mango butter for orange marmalade, but otherwise I followed the shrimp recipe.

The end flavor was delicious.  The sauce had a great tang and a good level of spice.  But I have to say that I think the recipe was poorly written.  If you decide to make the Orange Peel Shrimp (which I do recommend), I would suggest frying the shrimp in batches.  There is just no way to do 2 lbs at once without overcrowding the pan.  Also, do the shrimp first, set it aside, and cook the sauce in the same pan.  The cornstarch remaining in the pan is minimal, and does not cause the sauce to thicken to quickly; there is no reason to dirty two pans.

Dessert was two S’mores Cups.

If you can believe it, these are even better leftover!  More chewy than gooey, but definitely a bit easier to eat.  These cups are my favorite S’mores variation to date!

How often do you get Chinese take-out? 

Schedules And S’mores Cups

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Can we just pretend that I’m not heading back to school today?  Just for a little while longer?

We can’t?  Darn!

As long as it has to happen, here’s a look at my schedule –

This semester isn’t terrible with the amount of time actually spent in class, but with six different courses there will be a lot to juggle.  And we were told that the work-load was going to sharply increase.

But as you saw, I don’t have class until after noon today, so can we think about happier things now?  Things like this –

S’mores Cups, makes 16 cups

[adapted from my S’mores Brownies]

ingredients for bottom layer

  • 10 sheets graham crackers (4 rectangles = 1 sheet)
  • 5 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

ingredients for top layer

  • 2 squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
  • 6 Tbsp butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg and 1 egg white
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 16 marshmallows

instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Line two cupcake tins with 16 liners.
  2. Place graham crackers in a large freezer baggie and bang at them like crazy with a rolling-pin or sturdy plastic cup.  A few chunks are ok, but overall you want crumbs.  Add 2 Tbsp sugar to the bag and shake to combine.
  3. Place 5 Tbsp of butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave until completely melted.  Pour graham cracker crumbs into butter and stir until all of the crumbs are wet.
  4. Place 1 heaping Tbsp of graham cracker mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner.  Use your finger tips to gently press it down, forming a bottom crust.  Set aside.
  5. Place baking chocolate and 6 Tbsp butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted.  Do 30 second intervals on low-power, stirring regularly.
  6. Stir 1 cup sugar into melted chocolate-butter mixture.  Allow to cool for 1 – 2 minutes.
  7. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract.
  8. Fold in flour.  Then fold in chocolate chips.
  9. Spoon 1 heaping Tbsp of brownie batter into each cupcake liner.
  10. Press 1 marshmallow vertically into the center of each cup.
  11. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center of a brownie comes out clean.

What is on your “happier things” list this week?

Don’t Go See Haywire

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The semester doesn’t even start until tomorrow and I’m already behind!  This is not a good sign.  But it was a good day.

I spent my morning baking.

Aka nibbling.

I had a few of these savory wonton crackers; no recipe to post because I’m still perfecting.

And one of these; recipe coming tomorrow morning because I’m mean.

And I also ate this.

Graham cracker crumbles + shredded coconut + a handful of milk chocolate chips + a marshmallow x stuck in a cup and baked.  Quite good, and a hint as to the recipe coming tomorrow.

We had to run an errand at the mall this afternoon and somehow the husband talked me into seeing “Haywire.”  And now he’s never picking the movie again.  This just might be the worst thing we’ve ever seen; I actually almost walked out.  The only high point was our movie snack.

We snuck in fries.  And with that good call, the husband completely redeemed himself, in spite of his taste in movies.

We had several other errands to run and by the time we got home dinner seemed out of my reach.  I stole several of Adam’s baked asparagus so I could feel like I had vegetabled.

Before sitting down with this bowl of candy while I got myself set up for school tomorrow.

Sugar rush be damned, I powered through setting up an entire new planner.  And with that, I’m ready to take on the world the spring semester!

What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen?  I remember a year in the late ’90’s when every new film seemed even worse than the last – Breakdown, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Good Burger, Air Bud, Dante’s Peak, Free Willy 3, Speed 2, Volcano, Contact …  And I will confess that I also freaking hated Titanic!

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

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Physical activity is a funny thing.  I went to a 60 minute hot yoga class today.  I was dreading it all morning, and sure enough, when I got there it sucked.  I felt like I was going to pass out the entire time and spent most of the class in child’s pose.  It was my worst practice to date.  But by the time I was done, I was so happy that I went.

When I got home from the yoga class that was both frightful and fantastic, I made a smoothie for breakfast.

1 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1 frozen banana, 7 oz frozen soursop pulp, and nutmeg (for garnish).

The flavor wasn’t quite right but the texture was luscious.

And nutmeg on creamy drinks, especially piña coladas!, is the best.

Adam and I ran a few errands in the snow and then it was time for a double-decker lunch.

On a hamburger bun with schmear of sour cream, 2 nacho turkey burgers topped with 1 oz of melted sharp cheddar.

It was totally swoon-worthy.  The burgers are nice and juicy but have this great chew from the chips too.

I’m glad I made the patties small and stackable.

For dessert, Adam and I each had a mug cake.

I followed the basic recipe, with the inclusion of a handful of chocolate chips.

Dinner was one of my older recipes that I decided to revisit.

Green Tuna Enchiladas!  I updated the recipe page too.

I had two enchiladas and some roasted brocoli on my plate.

It was a good, green meal.

But I wasn’t feeling satisfied.  In fact, I’ve had a gnawing hunger all day, and I know it’s not thirst in hunger’s clothing because this pitcher and I have been fast friends all day.

That h2o is spiked with limes and sugar cane, fyi.

So I honored my hunger and  finished up my dinner with some leftover beans and rice with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Now I’m done.

What do you do when you’re hungry when you “shouldn’t be?”