Archive for good eats

Chocolate Sun Butter Cookies

I was having one of those cravings. Wanted salty and sweet, and chewy….cookies!!! I love cookies, they are my weakness. They are a treat and I treat them as such – wow let’s work the word treat in too many times here shall we? This is MY wholesome version, wholesome because it contains all real ingredients, I don’t do fake sugars or random additives to make them lower in calories because all that does is decrease the quality of the food in my opinion. So nothing that’s going to give this a weir d aftertaste where you feel obligated to eat them because you made them and because they are “healthy”

I LOVE sunflower seed butter and it’s great to bake with, it has a strong flavor, stronger than other nut/seed butters. It’s usually safe for those with nut allergies as it’s not a nut. It’s delicious! You can find it at most grocery stores, or you can make it yourself with a food processor.

A note on the dark chocolate, I like 80% or higher, if you don’t want to a large amount then buy a single dark chocolate candy bar and chop hunks off of it, I used three squares off of a candy bar. You can also buy dark chocolate chunks or chips. I recommend this over milk chocolate as it’s more pure in chocolate, doesn’t have a lot of added sugar like milk chocolate and gives these cookies a really REALLY great flavor. Plus keeping that dark of a chocolate in the house isn’t a temptation to me, I’ll nosh on 72% but nothing higher, too bitter by itself.

Enjoy friends, so far these have been a hit, I had to share with the office as it was too tempting to sit in front of Grey’s Anatomy last night and cry and eat my cookies!!!

The Best Oatmeal You’ll Ever Have

I make a variation of this often, it’s a great quick breakfast as you just re heat, it’s also a great snack. This is by no means a Malita original but I do change it from what I’ve seen others do.

A note on serving it and sweetening the dish: If you want it sweeter than it is add some maple syrup or raw honey to your individual serving, I think it’s good to bake this one without sugar and let everyone control how sweet they want it. I have been working on cutting back on my sugar intake, so for me the fruit is plenty, cooked bananas add an extra sweetness and flavor that raw bananas don’t.

Sick Woman’s Guide to Sanity

Like most right now I’ve been sick. Most people aren’t pleasant when they’re sick so I’ll not make the cliche excuses for my behavior, suffice it to say it’s best that I’m left alone in my cave. Which is fine because my cave is one of the most pleasant places to be even when I’m not sick. I have made sure that my bedroom, cave, has all the comforts I should ever need…minus the mini fridge, I haven’t gone quite that far.

So during a week coughing, sneezing and blowing wasn’t the most fun, it could have been worse. I made several fantastic discoveries and new favorites and was able to indulge in some old favorites as well. For me a sick woman’s guide included.

Old Favorites Like…

Basically a fruit smoothie without having to stand in line and wait for it to be made, wonderful treat and old favorite.

Was nice to drive through and stock up, no cooking necessary.

Tom Yum Gai is THE comfort food for the sick, no chicken noodle nasty please and thank you. The lemon grass and spices are perfect.

The fourth in one of my favorite historical fiction series, this one takes place in Istanbul Turkey. I have a personal love for that city and Alexander nailed it. It’s also fun to follow favorite authors on Twitter because I was able to tell her so, and she responded…swoon

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I love my Roku, steaming Hulu, Netflix and Pandora is a sick woman’s angel.

New Favorites Like…

This by far helped more than anything else.

I stumbled upon this series on Netflix. FANTASTIC. I love the characters and the drama within a English household in 1912. It’s a good balance between the lives of the family and the servants. Season 2 will be filmed this spring, and I’m sad there were only 7 episodes in season 1.

This was  free book on Nook’s free Friday’s. I took a chance and am glad I did. It’s the story of William Marshall, an historical fiction account of his life based on a biography his oldest son had done after Marshall died. William Marshall served King Henry II, Henry III, King Richard and King John. It spans 1167 -1197. Highly recommend for history buffs. (Elizabeth Chadwick). I’m currently reading the sequel which is also fantastic, spanning 1197-1221

Sable

Tango

Being the weather has warmed up, we’ve all taken advantage of the windows. It’s easy to be lazy when you have the laziest partners in crime. Occasionally they would move, but just to stretch or yawn. Very serene.

The Vanilla Orchid

No this isn’t another plant entry – though I could share with you how excited and proud I am of my plants that were started from seeds and bulbs…but I’ll spare you.

Instead I wanted to take some blog space to show you my friend Molly’s new business venture, the Vanilla Orchid. Molly is a former Hudson on the Bend chef and recently lived in Alaska cooking fresh caught fish and game. She’s back home and back to her roots, cooking food she loves and serving the community through home delivery service, catering and an assortment of other specialties!

Check out what she can do and keep her in mind for any parties you may have or if you are dying to try a home food delivery service with unpretentious good food!

Visit the Vanilla Orchid.