What Do You Do with 10 Lbs. of Carrots?

Shred them.

Stare at them.

Finally make something.

And maybe, just maybe, the construction workers next door that you take some warm carrot cookies to will give your little helpers a couple bucks to spend.

Here's the awesome recipe: lots of carrot, fall spices, raisins, and oats. Of course I contributed to the "less sugar than called for" and added white whole wheat flour. A great fall snack for you and your kiddies.

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar (I used 1/2 to 3/4 c.)
  
• 1 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 to 3/4 c.)
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I put half whole wheat flour in)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
• 1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
3. Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough.
   

(Recipe courtesy MarthaStewart.com)

A Day in the life of...

With so many meals and snacks served up in a day of a bustling household, I thought I'd give you peak into our food world, on a random day of the week: Thursday.

After a typical egg/toast breakfast and morning baby-feedings, the girls and I make these awesome whole grain cookies (which will now replace our standard chocolate chip cookie. Bonus? Check out the nutritional facts at the end.)

"Nutty for Oats Cookies"

2/3 creamy peanut butter
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 cup rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

(Grinding the oats which will become the flour adds so much more flavor and texture to the cookie than ordinary flour.)

Cream the peanut butter, butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat in the eggs, scraping the bowl once they're incorporated, then the ground oats, old fashioned rolled oats and chocolate chips. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies, reversing pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they're barely set and just beginning to brown around the edges, 11 to 13 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on the pans.

Nutritional Information per cookie: 7g whole grains, 131 cal, 7g fat, 3g protein, 5g complex carbs, 10g sugar, 1g dietary fiber (my MC says 2), 14mg cholesterol, 64mg sodium, 99mg potassium, 14RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 11mg calcium, 62mg phosphorous, 7mg caffeine.


(Babies shootin' the breeze in the kitchen while we bake.)

Lunch: Chicken Salad Wraps

Chicken shredded (we use Costco's premium canned chicken--excellent!), mayo, 2 TBSP prepared pesto, 1/2 c. chopped sun dried tomatoes (in oil), Italian seasoning, onion powder, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Then we wrapped a thin layer of the chicken salad in flat bread wraps,

added apple slices and our favorite chips (that's for another post),

and you have a break from the everyday ham, tomato and cheese sandwich.


Lastly, dinner.
One of my favorite fall dinners to bring in the new season: pumpkin soup.

Here is the recipe from the top of my head which is the "doubled" version so you can freeze the rest for a colder wintry day.



Pumpkin Soup

(Serves 8-9)

1 really large onion, chopped (or two large)
4 c. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. curry powder
5 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. butter
1/8 c. olive oil
3 tsp. salt
3 c. heavy cream
1 c. milk

Saute onions in both the butter and oil. (You always want to saute in both butter and oil for optimal flavor.) Once they are translucent, add the curry.

Add the pumpkin and salt and remove from the stove. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. Bring back to a stock pot and add the stock until warmed. Finally add the cream and milk until also warmed and serve.

To garnish: a dollop of sour cream and a dash of cinnamon. Children are the most excited about the add-ons in any soup. Let them help serve.


There you have it: happy faces and satisfied tummies. Another day gone and another to create.

The Health Nut's Cookie

Here's a great cookie for the health nut in you. Loaded with whatever dried fruit you have on hand and nuts, these cookies act more like a granola bar that totally satisfies rather than an overly sweetened cookie would. These are the kind of cookies you'd want your kids to get a liking to because of their heartiness and flavor with fruit and whole wheat.

If you've never tried baking a whole wheat cookie, try it. The orange juice in this recipe and many whole wheat recipes tones down some of the bitterness of pure whole wheat. You'll be surprised at how good a 100% whole wheat cookie can taste.

Cranberry-Apricot Chocolate Chews

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking)
Yields 2.5 dozen cookies

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
2 TBSP orange juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 c. traditional whole wheat flour
2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips (I use a mix of semisweet and milk chocolate--the extra sweetness from the milk chocolate gives this cookie more flavor)
2/3 c. dried cranberries (I've tried a mixture of cranberries, pineapple, and apricots)
2/3 c. dried apricots, snipped into 4 to 6 pieces each
2/3 c. chopped pecans


Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Cream the butter, sugar, orange juice, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs, scraping the bowl. The mixture will look curdled; that's OK. Add the flour, beating until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, cranberries, apricots and pecans. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls on the the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies, reversing the pans midway through (top to bottom, bottom to top), until they're barely beginning to brown around the edges, 14-15 minutes. They won't look set in the center. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the pan.

10 Ways to Get More Whole Grains into Your Life

1. Buy some whole wheat flour and put it in your freezer. You can't bake with it if you don't have it.

2. Make your own granola and use it for breakfast or as a trail mix.

3. Commit to eating and using more oats. Put oats in streusel toppings, cookies, muffins, cakes, and so on. Grind them up like a flour and use liberally.

4. Cook a cup of hulled barley, refrigerate it and use a tablespoon or two in your bread recipe and in your soups, stews, chili, pot pies and so on.

5. Start today by substituting 1/3 cup of white whole wheat flour for 1/3 cup of all purpose flour in all your recipes.

6. Chocolate and whole wheat are a great combo--make the Classic Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookie or the Warm Chocolate-Chunk Blondie.

7. Mix up your morning breakfast cereal routine with whole grain muffins, such as our Morning Glory Muffins.

8. Give up store-bought white bread. If you can't do that, make sandwiches with one slice of white bread and one slice whole wheat bread (if you buy it from the store, make sure it is 100 percent whole wheat o 100 percent whole grain.) Better yet, make the Golden Malted Wheat Bread and use it for sandwiches and toast.

9. Bake from scratch. You absolutely have no way of knowing how much whole grain nutrition you are getting in store-bought baked goods. You'll love the results of your own baking, and think how much more wholesome you can make even decadent treats.

10. Don't fret about it. Change your diet gradually. If something doesn't taste good, forget about it. Life is too short to eat food that doesn't taste great.

(This was adapted from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book--AWESOME book!)

Hearty, Crunchy, Banana Muffins

Here is a great moist and hearty breakfast muffin. I adapted Barefoot Contessa's "banana crunch muffin" to have some whole wheat in it and less sugar. My kids like the chunks of banana throughout. There is enough hearty goodness in these muffins to tide them over till late morning: banana, wheat, coconut, oats, walnuts, and of course, some sugar.

3 cups all-purpose flour (I replace one of the cups with whole wheat flour)
2 cups sugar (I use 1.5 cups because the sweetened coconut and ripe bananas add their own sweetness)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola (If you don't have granola, just use quick oats or old-fashioned oats)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

After you serve them warm for breakfast with juice or milk, you can store them in some gallon ziplock bags for a later snack.