Coal Cookies (makes 10 small cookies)

• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for a few hours
• 2 tablespoons carob powder
• 2 dates
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil
• dash of cinnamon and nutmeg

Combine all ingredigents in a food processor and blend until a dough forms. Remove from processor and place in a bowl. Put bowl in the refrigerator for 15 minutes –this will harden the dough a little which will make it easier to shape. Roll a piece of the dough into cookies.

and two eyes made out of coal …

These cookies are really dark, just like coal.

Around the Sphere

• Jennifer Aniston Denies Eating Baby Food Huffinton Post
• Popcorn’s Dark Secret NY Times
• Is it safe to eat lettuce amid E. coli outbreak? CNN
• The fat burning zone myth The Star Ledger
• Is food obsession linked to spirituality? CNN

Kleenex hand towels … and we take a giant step back in the green movement. What is Kleenex thinking?

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies (makes 4)

• 1/2 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 4 pitted dates, soaked 1 hour
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• chocolate chips (optional)
• pinch of salt (optional)

In a food processor, combine cashews, dates, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and cinnamon and blend into a dough-like consistency. Remove dough from processor and place in a bowl. Let bowl sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Remove bowl from fridge and add raisins and chocolate chips (I broke up a dark chocolate bar for the chips). Separate into fourths and roll into cookies. Enjoy!

What I loved about these cookies was how mushy the raisins became. Just like baked oatmeal cookies! I love when oatmeal cookies have a lot of raisins, the more the better

Mmmmmm cookies ….

Talk it up: Do you like oatmeal cookies? I used to hate them. For years I thought they were too healthy and not cookie-like. I wanted chocolate chip, heavy on the chocolate! Eventually I realized that oatmeal cookies can be yummy too. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character? I loved Ernie. He was my imaginary friend before my sister was born (I am the oldest and was an only child for a little while). We used to have tea parties on our front porch. Good times.

I vaguely remember my 9th grade English teacher explain that it doesn’t matter what something is called but what it is. Well I wasn’t really sure what to call these bad boys. Truffles seemed too fancy. Macaroons seemed too bakeryish. To be honest, I am not totally sure what a macaroon is exactly. I guess cookie will have to do. Whatever these are called, they sure do taste good. And by good, I mean one of the best desserts I’ve made all year.

Cashew Macaroons Cookies makes 6

1/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons agave syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixture become dough-like, this took less than 30 seconds. Remove from processor and add to a small bowl. Add chocolate chips (I used a butter knife to cut chunks from a chocolate bar). Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, this will make the dough harder and easier to roll. Remove from the refrigerator and roll into balls with your hands or roll flat and use a cookie-cutter to make cookies. For the chocolate cookies, I melted a few teaspoons of cacao and agave syrup in the microwave for 10 seconds and I rolled two cookies in the chocolate-y goodness. I also rolled two of the cookies in dried coconut.

I based this recipe off of Gena’s Raw Zucchini Alfredo with Basil and Cherry Tomato recipe.  I would have followed this recipe precisely but I was lacking a lot of the ingredients.  Hello, fresh basil season, where the heck are you?  Instead, I adapted her recipe with the food in my kitchen.

Raw Zucchini Spirals with Cashew Alfredo Sauce — 1 serving

The Pasta

1/2 spiralized zucchini noodles (use a peeler if you don’t have a spiralizer)
1/2 carrot, shredded
1/2 celery stalk, chopped
4 grape tomatoes, halved
3 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

Alfredo Sauce

1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Amino
1/2 teaspoon agave syrup
Celtic Sea Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Spiralize or peel the zucchini and add the carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes to a bowl.   Toss all of the pasta ingredients and set aside.  For the sauce, I combined all of the sauce ingredients in my Vita-Mix and blended until creamy.  I forgot to soak the cashews ahead of time but it was ok.  If you are using a food processor or a Magic Bullet, be sure to soak the cashews a few hours to make the blending process easier.  Once the sauce is blended, toss with the spiralized zucchini and vegetables.

And there you have, a simple (this recipes takes less than 15 minutes to prepare), creamy, and fabulous meal.

I really loved the sun-dried tomatoes in the pasta.  I am so glad Gena included that in her recipe because I would have never thought to do that.  It was fun to have a different texture thrown in the mix.  It is so nice to have such great recipes floating around in the foodie/blog world that inspire me to make things that I would have never thought of making.

Happy Friday!

Most days, I am in a pretty good mood and rather optimistic; it takes a lot for me to become a Debbie Downer.  Even on happy, positive days, it is nice to sometimes get a jolt of happiness that brings extra positivity.   Today was on of those extra-optimistic days.

In my world, Wednesdays mean working from home and Glee.  My two favorite things.  I was feeling good this afternoon and felt even better once I came across a wonderful post by Rose (All of her posts are wonderful, it’s a fact.  If you are not following her, I suggest you start).   Her friend sent her this link and now I am passing it on because I really liked it.

I like this one the most:

It has taken me a while to realize this but it is definitely true.  There is no need to wait around for stuff to happen or wait for people to come into your life, if you want something to happen then go for it.  I hate when people say things like, “once I quit my job, my life can begin” or “when I move to insert fancy city, I can start over.”  No!  If you want to do something then just do it.  What (or who) is holding you back?

Food time —

Lunch was sort of funky today.  Today is Raw Wednesday.

I am calling these raw ravioli even though they look more like sandwiches.

The layers:  cashew filling, Roma tomato, and collard green.

They remind me of turtles.  Michelangelo, anyone?

The cashew filling included the following:

• handful of soaked cashews
• 2 small sun dried tomatoes
• 1 huge clove of garlic
• about 1/2 cup of water for blending
• 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
• Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper

I combined everything in my Magic Bullet and blended until mostly smooth.  I prefer my cashew filling to be a little crunchy.

This pictures reminds me of the sea creatures that Ursula used to apply lipstick in the Little Mermaid.  Does anybody remember that scene?  I always loved that part for some reason.

Heck yes, I’m an IU fan!

My wonderful roommate gave me this poster today.  I don’t have posters in my room but my new cubicle is seriously lacking some flare.  This poster is extra special because my boss is a huge University of Kentucky fan.  We have UK posters all over our cubicle area.  Seriously, I think we have at least 5 posters!  I am going to sneak in this poster tomorrow.  I plan to hang it up before he arrives,  I wonder how long it will take for him to notice.  I am considering waging a bet with my fellow coworkers on how long it will take for him to say something.  Hehehe.  Oh college rivalries, so fun.  Go IU!  What do you have at your cubicle?

Happy Wednesday Glee!

Wednesday … really?

Where are the days going? Seriously.  I have been t-o-t-a-l-l-y missing the past few days.  Mi dispiace.

To keep you up to date here are the things that I have loved the past few days:

1.  Great deals at the co-op

My favorite grocery store is Good Foods.  Good Foods is a co-op grocery that sells every rare, uncommon food product out there.  Practically everything is organic, conventionally grown, healthy, and real.  And they have amazing deals.  I have completely given up on going to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market, and Kroger; I only go to Good Food. I discovered an amazing secret this past Saturday.  I needed to buy plain quinoa.  They had several boxes of quinoa with spices added and one box of plain, organic quinoa.  The plain quinoa was $7 for 13 ounces.  Insane! but I was actually going to buy it.  I put it in the basket and went on my way.  I figured I could ration that box for a while and make $7 not seem so ridiculous. I played that game in my head where we justify our spending.

I wandered into the Pick ‘n’ Mix area.  This is the part of the store that reminds me of the candy stores in malls where you can fill a plastic bag with candy displayed in clear cylinders.  In a co-op grocery, the Pick ‘n’ Mix consists of many types of beans, rices, granola, nuts, seeds, flours, and grains.   All summer I have been buying cashews, almonds, and sunflower seeds but it had never clicked to buy other stuff.  The click happened on Saturday morning.  Now, I will always go to the Pick ‘n’ Mix before buying any packaged and boxed foods to get a better deal.  So. Much. Cheaper.

I bought over 2 pounds of organic quinoa for $2.64.  The box of 13 ounces was $7!

I also spent $1.52 on 0.38 ounces of NuNaturals Stevia.  That is enough stevia to last me an entire year.

Co-op groceries are like heaven on earth.

2.  Togetherness

My dad sent me this picture this weekend.

Laverne (dog) and Clementine (cat) are napping in Laverne’s crate.  It is funny that their backs are too each other.  It is like they are an old married couple.

3.  Christmas Kale Chips

I made kale chips as a snack on Sunday.  I drizzled olive oil, Celtic sea salt, red pepper flakes, and ground pepper over fresh kale.  I baked on a baking sheet for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

The green kale chips and the red bowl made my snack very Christmas-y.

4.  Spaghetti Squash and B-Sprouts

Love spaghetti squash.

Love brussel sprouts.

I steamed brussel sprouts for the first time.  I roasted them last week but wanted to try steaming them.  I added Italian seasoning, red pepper, salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil to the spaghetti squash.

I tossed the b-sprouts with the spaghetti just like it was my real Italian spaghetti and red sauce. Molto buono.

5.  Monster Burrito

It has been so long since I have made a cashew anything.  I was making collard wraps like crazy a while ago but I moved onto other obsessions (like spaghetti squash) and the cashew obsession was left in the wind.  I woke up craving cashews this morning (is that weird?).  I knew that lunch had to be a cashew and collard green wrap.

For the cashew filling I combined in the Magic Bullet:

• handful of soaked raw cashews — I soaked them for about 5 hours
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• splash of balsamic vinaigrette
• drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• salt and pepper

I added a piece of romaine lettuce and carrots slices for a crunch.

6.  Signing up for Charlotte Turkey Trot — whoohoo!

I registered for the Charlotte Turkey Trot this morning.  Super excited. I am going to run the 8K (4.97 miles) with my aunt.  My mom, dad, and sister will be walking in the 5k (3.1 miles).  This will be my first race.  Ever. I have done a few charity walks in the past but this will be my first running race.  I wanted to walk this last year with my family but the timing didn’t work with Thanksgiving activities.  This year we have our act together and we will be there bright and early on Thanksgiving day.  Are you doing a Thanksgiving day race this year?

I am going to Pazzo’s tonight for dinner.  I have already decided that I am going to be healthy and not eat pizza (don’t get me wrong, Pazzo’s makes amazing college-town pizza but healthy it is not).  All my friends will be eating pizza and bread sticks but I know that a salad or veggie sandwhich will make me feel better.  I have learned that making a decision about what I am going to eat or not eat before arriving at the restarant takes a lot of the pressure off.

Happy Mercoledì.