Power Cookies and Kitchen Relationships

Sharing a kitchen with multiple people can get a little hectic. Each person has their own style that they have figured out and gradually tweaked over the years based on their experiences, their needs, and their goals. When you put two people in a kitchen, there’s definitely a learning curve as they figure out who excels in what, what methods should be adopted, discarded, or adapted. Entirely new techniques might be experimented with.

What I am finding is, no matter how many people’s kitchens I get used to and how many other cooks I begin to adapt my style to, I have to explore and find a new, unique balance of what works with new person. And no matter how much advice I follow or models I try to emulate, someone else’s partnership is never going to be a perfect model for my own.

Please enjoy these power cookies and join me in the effort of figuring out life as a 20’s something…

An eager hand reaching for a power cookie.

Power Cookies
From 101 Cookbooks
Makes 18 cookies (2 cookies = 1 serving for me)

2 cups rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 cup whole wheat  flour
2 teaspoons ground anise
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
zest of one lemon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

one 15-ounce can white kidney, great northern, or navy beans, rinsed & drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/3 cup sesame seeds

Preheat your oven to 350F degrees and place a rack in the top third. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Pulse the oats in a food processor (or blender) until they resemble a raggy flour. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl and whisk in the flour, aniseed, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest and salt.

Pulse the beans and olive oil in the food processor until they are creamy. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract and pulse until smooth. Scrap down the sides of the bowl once or twice along the way.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until the ingredients start to come together. Sprinkle the dates across the top of the batter and stir until everything just comes together.

Place the sesames seeds in a bowl. Make each cookie with a scant 1/4 cup scoop of dough. Roll each scoop of dough into a ball then coat it with sesame seeds. Set each ball on the prepared baking sheet and with the palm of your hand flatten the dough just a bit (see photo). Repeat with the remaining dough, leaving at least an inch or so between each cookie – they’ll spread a bit, but not much. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the sesame seeds around the bottom start to get golden.

Banana Peanut Butter Cacao Energy Bites

When you join a gym, you often receive a free training session in the hope that you will be convinced by the trainer that you simply are incapable of getting a good work out on your own. No, you cannot be in good shape from simply going to the myriad of classes and using all of the expensive equipment that the gym advertised in order to get you to join. In fact, must pay additional money to get into the shape that the gym promised would come  with the purchase of a basic membership.

Can you tell I don’t like these sessions? I feel like they are designed specifically to make you, the consumer, feel bad about yourself, no matter what level of fitness you are at. Yes, of course,  you can always be in better shape or be a little healthier, but I don’t think a personal trainer is necessary for that. Find a friend to work out with if you need help getting there, go to a *free* gym class with a difficult instructor if you want to be challenged, or sign up for a race for motivation to train towards a goal.

Anyway, despite my reservations about a “free” personal training session, I went and finally made good on the session that I was given when I joined after moving to the city. One of the first questions the trainer asks is how much you weigh, in addition to age, height, previous or current injuries, etc.  I can answer most of those, but it’s a little difficult to answer that first one, as I have not weighed myself in 3-4 years.  I actually have no idea what I weigh. I offered up my typical jean size in lieu of the coveted number, but the trainer was not pleased. She complained that she needed the number for some calculation, which I suspect, no matter what weight number I told her, would probably tell me that I could stand to lose another 6 pounds. Oh, and she did mention that, if I kept training with her, she could get me down a whole pant size… In my opinion, if I got that thin again, they’d have to start calling my Skeletor (Sisiterhood of the Traveling Pants reference, anyone?)… ew.

Anyway, the trainer even offered to take me to the scale downstairs to find out my weight, which I staunchly refused to do, much in the same way that I politely declined the offers of several farmers at a recent work convention to estimate my weight, based on years of solid experience sizing up cattle for sale. I am sticking to what I know, and I know I am happier when I don’t know the arbitrary number on the scale. For me, I know that number would try to tell me whether or not I am allowed to be happy on that particular day, or if I will have to wait until a smaller number shows up to smile, go out with friends, and enjoy myself. Yes, sometimes the nurses at the doctor’s office look perplexed when I step on the scale backwards, and yes, I have had to request that scales be removed from the bathrooms of hotels and friend’s home while I am visiting, but it is worth it to me. I want to be happy because I feel good and the world is my oyster and no human-contrived number system is going to keep me from doing so.

When I got home, I decided I wanted something in the way of my favorite flavor combination (banana, peanut, and chocolate), so I put these little energy balls together and have been snacking on them as after-dinner/bedtime treats throughout the week. I hope you like them!

Oh, and I also went home and made a chocolate cake roll filled with orange cream, haha. And it was delicious.

Banana Peanut Butter Cacao Energy Balls

Banana Peanut Butter Cacao Energy Balls
Adapted from Food Doodles
Makes 16-20 bites

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lightly toasted peanuts
• 1 cup soft, dehydrated bananas (NOT banana chips – these are soft, sometimes hard to find)
• 1/2 cup Medjool dates
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup cacao nibs (or mini chocolate chips)

In a food processor add the peanuts and process until no large pieces remain and is the consistency of meal (think grits, not flour) -being careful not to over process. Remove the nuts and place then in a bowl.

Add the dried bananas and Medjool dates to the food processor and blend until completely blended and a “dough” forms.

Stop the food processor and break apart the dough with a knife or spatula. Add the nuts back in along with the vanilla. Process the mixture just until everything is combined evenly. Add in the cacao nibs and just pulse the mixture until they are evenly disbursed in the mixture.

Take about two tablespoons of mixture and compress/roll into a tight ball. Store in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week or in the fridge or freezer for up to 3 months.

Goat Cheese and Wheat Berry Salad

What to do with that awesome goat cheese that you bought for those delicious sweet potatoes a few days ago? Well, no fear, I have an answer (besides eating it straight up because it’s just so dang delicious). You can make this warm wheat berry salad filled with lots of goodness (sweet dates, chewy walnuts, fresh argula) and top it with goat cheese and an orange vinaigrette.

I took this to work with me for my lunch and found myself watching the clock the entire time -not to go home, but to be able to eat this! I really liked the contrast between the warm wheat berries and the cool crumbled cheese. Also, the edamame pumps up the protein and the color =).

Goat Cheese and Wheat Berry Salad
Adapted from Health Food for Living

4-5 servings

1 cup uncooked wheat berries, rinsed

Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

zest and juice from 1 orange

1 tsp coarse ground Dijon mustard

1 tsp pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped pitted soft Medjool dates, about 6 dates (or 8 smaller ones, if you can’t find Medjool)  2/3 cup walnut halves, toasted and chopped

10oz bag of frozen, shelled edemame, prepared according to package directions

3 big handfuls arugula leaves

1/3 cup crumbled soft goat cheese

Cover wheat berries by 1 inch with water in a medium saucepan set over high heat. 

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until chewy, about 50 minutes (taste and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes if you’d like). Drain and transfer to a medium bowl.

While wheat berries are cooking, whisk together the orange zest and juice, mustard, maple syrup, & olive oil in a small bowl to make the vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the drained cooked wheat berries are still warm, toss with the orange vinaigrette. 

Fold in the chopped dates, walnuts, and edamame. Fold in the arugula leaves until slightly wilted. Serve topped with the crumbled goat cheese.