Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I have a sweet tooth and my husband Colby has several. This weekend's cookies were based on a traditional recipe with a few healthy additions to add nutrients to our sweet treats...

1 stick of butter (loving the new pastured organic butter available at La Montanita Co-op!)
1 cup of Sucanat (whole cane sugar)
2 eggs (cover with hot water for a few minutes before using)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup flour (had and used all purpose, but could do whole wheat or a mix of the two)
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chocolate chips (could also use raisins or other dried fruit)
3/4 cup pecans (almonds also yummy!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream softened butter and sugar for a couple minutes.
Mix in the eggs, vanilla and salt.
Add the flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon.
Add the chips/fruit and nuts.
Plop onto cookie sheets (Use parchment paper makes for easier clean-up!)
Bake for about 11 minutes.
After a few minutes, move to a cooling rack.

Enjoy with a nice glass of milk!

***

I often bake just a few cookies the first round and add more flour to the dough if they spread too thin.

With a mind for easy clean-up, I used only my mixer bowl to make these. Although I didn't pre-mix the dry ingredients, I did sprinkle them in slowly to ensure even distribution.

What do i do with this?

This has been the question of the week. Most of the questions occurred at the farmers market yesterday. I love vegetables and love to talk about them. I think some people are intimidated by fall vegetables.  I owe my friend Maggie some zucchini recipes in exchange for some lovely green beasts she gave me a few weeks ago.  This is just one for any remaining zucchini you have hanging out in your kitchen.  Pair it with a salad for a complete meal.

Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

4 c.shredded zucchini
3 c. pre-shredded hash browns
2 c pinto beans
1 c. chopped tomato
1-5 roasted green chile depending on how how you like it.
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp garlic
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese

white sauce
         2 T. flour
         2 T butter
         1 square vegetable boullion
         2 c. milk

Directions

1. In medium saucepan combine butter and bullion. Stir until butter is melted and bullion is evenly distributed. Add flour, and stir until lightly browned. Whisk milk in very slowly. Stir constantly until the boiling point and then turn down. This should thicken slightly.
2. Combine all ingredients except cheese in greased 9x13 pan. Pour white sauce over and stir again.
3. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake at 350 for 30 or until bubbly.

Now it is your turn. What do you have that you need inspiration for? Spaghetti squash? Turnips?

Pumpkin for all

I love pumpkin.
It cannot be added to enough dishes.
It was on the menu this week for lots of things. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin risotto, but I also found myself trying to add it into "pasta with veggies".  I think it turned out pretty well. though the veggies turned in to a side of sauteed Zucchini with tomatoes and basil. You could also serve it with a salad or any other green vegetable. The Hubby came in and said " ohh mac and cheese, I thought you were making something else."

Pumpkin Pasta
1T butter
1 onion sliced or chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
2 cups pureed pumpkin or one can
1 cup of whole milk
1 tsp of rubbed sage
1/3 cup of shredded parmesan
1/4 cup of pine nuts.
salt and pepper to taste (quite a bit of salt)
1 lb of short patsa ( i used gemelli)
crumbled Blue cheese
chopped toasted walnuts

1. start water to boil the pasta.
2.In a medium skillet melt butter and sautee onions until caramlized about 10 min. Add in garlic and autee another 2 min.  Add pumpkin to this mixture.
3. When pasta is done add it along with the milk, sage, Parmesan, pine nuts and salt and pepper. Stir. Let warm in pan until combined and flavors marry, about 3 minutes.
4. Serve warm with crumbled blue cheese and toasted walnuts on top.

Baby serving- try some pureed pumpkin

How is it going?

Check back in with October Unprocessed headquarters for inspiration and ideas. I am loving their kids lunch ideas from yesterday.

Eating with Kids

I was talking to my friend Allison about an upcoming trip, and she wanted to know what to have on hand for my kids to eat.  It took me a while to really process this request.  I first wanted to say well they eat everything. But that is not exactly true. 

They are offered everything.

Sometimes they eat it and sometimes they don't. There are usually parts of every meal they like, or they wait until the next meal to eat. Still, I feel like they eat a lot of different foods and I feel like there are some things that I do to make that successful. 

1-Get them involved in growing the food.This summer my kids ate more cherry tomatoes than I could get into the house.They pulled carrots and ate them almost every day. And these raspberries lasted about 3 seconds after I showed them to the kids.

2-Get them involved in making the food. I can almost always get helpers in the kitchen for Pizza night, because they can do most of the parts themselves after I get things prepped.  And giving them some control makes them excited about eating the food.  Last Pizza night I let P decide what went on her pizza.  She chose just tomatoes and cheese.  After eating a piece of hers, she asked for a piece of mine. (which was loaded with zucchini, spinach, and mushrooms) I just smiled to myself thinking,"She thinks mine is pretty appetizing"

3-Keep presenting the food . They may not eat it this time. But maybe they will eat it next time. And they will also see that food as normal and not eating it as abnormal.

Happy Eating

Kale chips and chopped.

    Sometimes having kids in the kitchen is not a time saver, but I really like having them in there with me.  P used to never leave my side in the kitchen. Now she only can be counted on if there are large amounts of sugar and butter involved. Her brother on the other hand is very interested, and she uses this time to play imaginative games without a little brother to get in her way.

    They still love to make kale chips. So, today I was glad that I had planned ahead and all we had on our plates was making kale chips.

TIP ALERT- When chopping, plan ahead and do as much as you can at the same time.-

    I was chopping carrots, onions, and celery for taco salad and realized if added potatoes to my board  then I had the bulk of my potato lentil soup already make.  So my time was freed up to make kale chips with my trio. P and W helped dry the leaves, and pull the leaves off the stalk. Baby Z sucked on the stalk of the kale.  We then sprayed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt.
    After 15 minutes in a 375 degree oven we then had kale destruction.

Our kitchen and kids were covered in kale dust.  Even Z was covered in kale dust when she finished nursing.

Hello from the South Valley!

And a little late, as usual, here I am too!

I'm Amy and I love to eat well. I often find busy days and a sink full of dirty dishes get in the way. With a baby arriving soon and a passion for growing things on our "mini-farm," I want to make time and make it a priority to eat fresh and fast.

Pregnancy has gotten me off to a good start with a new awareness of what I'm eating. I've been especially loving fruit the last few months...polishing off a pint of figs within a couple days this week!

With help and inspiration from my co-blogger Jessica, I'm looking forward to writing about, photographing and documenting our family's forays in the kitchen and out in the garden. I believe connections with our food as we cook, nature as we grow things and each other as we work and eat together are some of life's greatest joys!