Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (healthy version)

Rather than totally skip breakfast on a 
'Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!' kind of morning,
a couple of these just 'might do the trick'-- read
through the recipe and see what you think!

With the hand that isn't holding the cookies, 
grab a glass of cold milk, or ???.

There's something TO these, but they did not turn out to be 'HEAVY'!

By making dough balls ALMOST the size of a golf ball,  I ended up with 17 cookies.

INGREDIENTS:

"Dry"...

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 and 1/2 cups whole (old-fashioned) oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 teasoons ground cinnamon

----

"Wet"...

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (in place of oil or shortening)
• 1 egg PLUS 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup applesauce (Wait with adding this-- wait until after you combine the 'dry' ingredients with the 'wet' as directed below and then judge according to moistness of the dough-- the dough should be 'workable', but still quite  'stiff'.)

----

• 1/2 cup raisins OR dried cranberries OR ???
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

----

• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional, but I didn't add them)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix together the dry ingredients listed in the first group above.  Set aside.
2. With an electric beater (hand-held, or stand), combine the 'wet' ingredients listed in the second group until smoooooooooth.
3. Add 'dry' ingredient mix to 'wet' ingredients and mix until all is incorporated.  (This is when you decide if you want to add applesauce, and how much of it, for mixability.)
4. Stir in raisins OR cranberries, and walnuts.
5. Add chocolate chips, if desired.
6. Stir until all is incorporated.
7. Shape dough into golf-ball-sized rounds, and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper,
8. Bake 11-12 minutes at 350-degrees.  (Ovens vary, so check the first batch to see what's right for yours.)

This recipe was 'adapted' from one on the 
Whole Grain Gourmet website.

Broccoli 'STEM' Soup

Broccoli stems and stalks make for good soup!

I don't know if it's because of the 'broccoli water', the stems, or what--  

this soup is SO tasty.  

I could enjoy this three times a day until it's gone!

After using only the broccoli florets for a quiche recipe, I had a lot of stems/stalks left behind.  Since I'd bought the broccoli at 'price per pound', it would be dumb of me to toss the stems.  They were already washed/rinsed-- so, without peeling them, I sliced all into 1/4" thick rounds (yes, even the BIG stalks, the 'tree trunk' of it)--  then, in about 5 cups of water, I steamed all of that until just tender, and ended up with about 4 cups (one quart jar) of 'steamed bits', and about 4 cups 'broccoli water'.  Set aside while preparing the rest of the soup.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups steamed broccoli stems/stalks, cut into about 1/4" slices/pieces.

          --------------------------------------

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups of 'broccoli water' left from steaming the broccoli stems.
• 1 cup cream
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoon chicken soup base
• 1/2 pound cheddar cheese, grated.
• 1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, cut into small chunks.  (I used this only because I 'had it on hand'.  You could just include this much more of the cheddar cheese.)
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional, but I skipped it)

DIRECTIONS:

• Steam broccoli stems/stalks until tender, using about 4 cups water.  Drain (save water). Set broccoli and water aside.

• Put butter in heavy stock pot over medium heat and saute onion in butter until transparent. (I use an enameled cast iron dutch oven for this.) 
• Add 1/2 cup flour, stir to blend into smooth paste. 
• Ever so slowly, add the 'broccoli water', stirring/whisking constantly so as to end up with 'no lumps'.
• Add cream, and milk. Blend well with a whisk, but switch to a utensil that can be used to keep the bottom scraped off and stirred well (we don't want any scorching to be happening!).
• Add chicken soup base, stirring to dissolve and to make sure there are no clumps/lumps not blended in.
• Add cheddar cheese and Velveeta cheese, stir until melted in.   
• Add steamed broccoli 'stems/stalks'.  At this point, although I don't think it was necessary, I used my 'stick blender' in the soup and that 'chopped' the broccoli into smaller bits.  
• Season with salt/pepper as desired.
• Add Worcestershire sauce if you wish (I did not, and didn't miss it).
• Personal preference:  In the picture I'm posting, you can see that I used some large-grated Pepper Jack cheese as garnishment; I also stirred some very small gratings of this into the soup (for my own bowl).  
• Serve.

EZ Very Berry Strawberry Pie

THE COLOR IS BRIGHT, 

the flavor is fresh!!

Ingredients:

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked 1 quart fresh strawberries, divided 1 cup white sugar 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch 3/4 cup water 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Bake single pie crust.  Cool crust. Arrange half of strawberries (sliced) in baked pastry shell.  Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. In a small container, whisk together cornstarch and water.  Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture.  Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 5(?) minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over sliced, uncooked berries already in pastry shell.  It 'steams' like this as hot meets cold... Chill for several hours before serving.   In a small bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form.   Serve each slice of pie with a dollop of whipped cream.