It'll Make You Feel Better Cookies

My Jennie girl has been having a hard time with TMJ for the past two weeks.  On top of that, craving cookies.  I feel like I don't try new recipes as often as I used to.  This gave me the perfect reason to!

1/2 cup Earth Balance stick margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup GF baking mix
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt
1/2 cup organic, dehydrated coconut shreds (be careful it's only coconut shreds if you have allergies)
3/4 cup chopped, frozen cherries
2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

Beat margarine and sugar until light.  Add baking mix, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined. Stir in the coconut, cherries, and chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoon full 2" apart.   These cookies spread quite a bit.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until set.  Allow to cool on the pan for 2 minutes.  Remove to foil to cool completely.

Bub's Home Bean Soup

The guys are on the road!  Derek is bringing my Bub home for winter break. Yay!

Since he kicks off his break with wisdom teeth extractions, I thought a good, hearty, home cooked meal would be nice his first night home.  Soup isn't anything he's getting to eat at school and it is pretty chilly out...

I found a sort of unique recipe using refried beans to make a creamy sort of soup.  Bub seriously loves refried beans.  There are a lot of versions online for this type of soup.  As usual, I took the idea and did my own thing with it using the types of spices and veggies he can have.

2 chicken leg/thigh quarters
Water, approx 6-8 cups (enough to cover chicken pieces)
2 tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Black pepper
Cumin
Garlic
1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 can refried beans

Put chicken parts, water, Bragg's, garlic, and cumin in a 5 quart stock pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cover.  Cook for about 45 minutes or until chicken is tender.  Remove chicken from pot with tongs.  You'll want to put the chicken into something you can shred it in with a couple of forks.

Throw the shredded carrots into the pot.

Peel the skin off the chicken and remove and shred the chicken.  Put just the meat back into the stock pot.  Add the can of refried beans and stir to combine and heat through.

Serve with tortilla chips and cheese.  Bub ate with Beanito Black Bean chips and Daiya vegan cheese.

Sour Supremely Fudgey Cake

Bless you Hersheys.com!  I found a sour cream chocolate cake to try with vegan Tofutti Sour Supreme for Jennie's birthday!  And, ohmygod...  what a rich, fudgey, silken batter it made!  And so easy too.

Jennie will be the happiest birthday girl ever.  Happy 21st my little lolly! ❤️

1-3/4 cup GF baking mix
1-3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Dash of salt
2/3 cup (or 10 tablespoons) Earth Balance stick margarine, melted and cooled
One 12 ounce tub Tofutti Sour Supreme
1/2 cup very vanilla Soymilk

Grease and flour either mini loaf pans or cupcake pan.  The Hershey recipe used a 13x9 but I really find GF cakes are best small.  Also, I don't flour my gold touch pans, just grease them.

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the baking mix, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in your mixer bowl.  Add the melted margarine, Sour Supreme, and Soymilk and mix on low speed for 3 minutes.

Spoon into prepared pan.  Bake for about 16 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

Cool completely and frost with my Groovy Ganache:   Click here for Ganache recipe

For you my girl!!

Crispy Potato Crust with Brown "Butter" Edamame

I had initially set out to make gnocchi but... Oh well!  I haven't been in the kitchen to try new, fun things in quite some time.  Without my kids here, I haven't been too motivated.

I'm recently back on a potato kick since getting chains and a rubber band for my braces.  Rice cakes just don't feel that great when you feel like your teeth are in a vice!

For the brown butter/margarine:

Put 1/2 cup Earth Balance in a small saucepan.  Cook on medium high heat stirring constantly until you achieve a golden brown color.  Remove from heat and set aside.

For the potato crust:

2 medium baked potatoes
2 tablespoons melted margarine
1/2-3/4 cup GF baking mix
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 450.


Peel your baked potaotes, place in a large bowl, and break apart with two forks.  Add the melted margarine.  Add the HALF salt and pepper and toss with the forks.  Repeat.  Add about 1/2 cup of GF baking mix and mix with your hands.  Add the rest of the baking mix and the water and mix again.

Press into a small cookie sheet.  Brush generously with brown butter.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

I put more brown butter in my cooked edamame and ate on top of the potato crust.

Good stuff!