I wanted to share a few good recipes I have found (or rediscovered) lately.

First, a recipe for Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies.  If cookies can be healthy, this one would probably be in that category.  It uses whole wheat, oats, and oil instead of butter or shortening.  It does use white sugar, but I am sure there is a way around that if you really wanted to go the extra mile in making them healthy.  They are super moist and full of flavor.  Even Clint, who usually turns up his nose at anything I make and call “healthy”, loves these cookies.  I want to eventually experiment with white chocolate chips added in or maybe even some coconut!  YUM!

CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES

INGREDIENTS:

2 c whole-wheat flour            1 c nuts, chopped  (I like walnuts.)

1 1/4 c sugar                              2/3 c raisins or Craisins

1 t baking powder                    1 c oil

1/2 t baking soda                     2 lg eggs

1 t salt                                           1/2 c milk

2 t cinnamon                              1 t vanilla

3 c rolled oats

DIRECTIONS:

Sift dry ingredients.  Add rolled oats, nuts, and raisins/Craisins.  Mix.  In a separate bowl, mix together oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Add to flour mixture and stir thoroughly.  Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes.

Another good recipe I just stumbled across was on Stephanie Nielsen’s recipe site, CuisineNie. It is a recipe for Whole Wheat Pasta with Fresh Artichokes.  If you think that artichokes are weird, you would be right.  However, they are weird and DELICIOUS!  The dish is fresh and full of flavor for having so few ingredients.  (Love it!)  If you are wanting something a little more substantial, you might add some chopped chicken to the final dish.  I personally found the dish perfect as is, and plenty filling even without any meat.  (NieNie is a vegetarian you see.  While we are not vegetarians ourselves, we do eat meat-less dishes probably more than the average American.)  These are Nie’s instructions from her website.  I have also linked to it so you can find it there.  For a more detailed explanation of how to remove an artichoke heart, visit this site. (Seriously took me a while and one ruined artichoke to figure it out!)    Once you know how its super easy and will go quickly.

Pasta With Fresh Artichokes

1 box good whole-wheat spaghetti*

2 – a gazillion cloves garlic, crushed and chunked

4-5 medium or 2-3 large fresh artichokes, prepared (instructions below)

Handful fresh parsley

2 fresh lemons

½-1 cup vegetable stock or pasta cooking water

Olive oil, butter

Parmesan cheese

1) Prepare the artichokes.(FOR BETTER INSTRUCTIONS, GO HERE.) This is the hardest part of this recipe, and the only real work. Set up a bowl of ice water and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it. Cut the stem off the artichoke (if you are willing to take the extra time, take a good peeler and peel the stem of the dark green until only the light green remains, toss the light green stick into the bowl.) Remove the leaves from the artichoke by working around it in concentric circles. Once you get toward the inside, cut off the top, cut in half, and then scrape out the choke and remove remaining leaves. Put the heart in the bowl, and continue with remaining artichokes. Set aside.

2) Chop garlic and parsley, and start the pasta to boil.

3) Put a large pan over medium heat, add oil. Drain the artichokes, dry carefully (water in oil spits) and then chop into bite-sized chunks. Sauté until there is a nice dark glaze on them.

4) Add the garlic, salt and pepper, and a dash of butter and cook until you can smell the garlic and everything is good and hot. Add broth or water, scrape to deglaze the pan, and cover to let steam, 7-10 minutes.

5) Check the artichokes for doneness. They should be fork-tender, but not mushy. I like them with a bit of crunch. When they seem done to you, add the juice of one, to one-and-a-half lemons, add parsley and a thumb-sized chunk of butter. Toss.

6) Drain pasta, reserving a bit of cooking liquid, put back in the cooking pan, put artichoke mixture over, toss to mix. Serve with fresh parmesan cheese.

*Whole wheat pasta can be gummy and is not always the best flavor for a particular sauce. This recipe is actually best with whole-wheat, it compliments the artichoke beautifully.

Does loving good food – the smells, the tastes, the sounds and colors and textures – make me silly?

I may sound like a broken record, and this certainly isn’t news to anyone who knows me, but I LOVE FOOD!  Good food that is.

After restocking my fridge with fresh fruits and veggies from our local farmers market and grinding my own wheat the other day, I was just reminded about how much good food is not only good for your body, but good for your soul.

There is nothing better than the smell of homemade bread…unless that homemade bread is made with your own freshly ground whole wheat flour.  The difference – in both smell and taste – is AMAZING!

And when my body is feeling sluggish and yucky, nothing beats a fresh meal packed with veggies.  Like last night’s dinner – Chinese Orange BBQ Cashew Chicken over Rice.

And right now, the smell and first taste of my homemade granola are putting me in seventh heaven.

I may be silly, but I am so grateful for good food from the Lord that not only feeds our bodies but our spirits.

Bon Apetit!

Which I never will.

And if I did…

It would be to my sweetheart again.

BUT…

I would do it in a different dress.

Maybe.

I mean, I loved mine at the time.  Classic.  Simple.  It was perfect.

But I ran into these online while wasting time (avoiding the more important and more boring things I need to do), and IF I were ever 21 again and marrying Clint, I MIGHT choose one of these instead:

B2022

B1028

B3023

(illustration by Lisbeth Zwerger)

Musicians:

Corinne Bailey Rae

Melody Gardot

Django Reinhardt

Children’s Illustrators:

Roberto Innocenti

Loren Long

Tasha Tudor

Simms Taback

Linda Saport

Uri Shulevitz

Charlotte Zolotow

Ruth Sanderson

Lisbeth Zwerger

Looks too good to pass recipe:

Lime Coconut Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting

The great thing about these biscuits: they are YUMMY!  Oh, and they are SUPER EASY to make!  We had ours with the Potato Leek Soup recipe I posted a few years back, and it made the meal!

Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits

2 c flour

2 t sugar

1 T baking powder

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 t salt

1 egg

1/3 c melted butter

3/4 c milk

1 c grated cheddar cheese

2-3 t chives

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Mix all ingredients together, then drop by spoonfuls (I used a teaspoon) onto a greased cookie sheet.  Brush with the following mixture: 1 cube melted butter, 1 t dill weed, and 1/2 t garlic salt.  Bake for 14-16 minutes.  Brush with butter mixture again and then top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

It has been raining here in Phoenix the past week or so.  Beautiful!  I have been soaking in all the glorious freshness that rain brings to the desert.  The sound, the crisp, clean air, the cozy atmosphere…it is all such a refreshing change of pace from the norm here.  (I know.  I know.  Who complains about constant sunshine, right?  But who can enjoy the sun when it never rains?)

Rain, I will miss you when you are gone.  Please, PLEASE come again another day!

What do you do on rainy days?  (Mornings? Evenings?)  This is what we are doing today:

Actually, the movie-babysitter might have more to do with Ryan waking me up at the unearthly hour of 6:30AM than the rain.    I need a good nap today.

Over the past few days I have found in my daily life little things that have brought me profound joy and deep sense of satisfaction with my life.

• As I was listening to some music while cleaning our master bedroom, Ryan came up to me and started to dance.  He then took me by both hands and danced with me.  We danced till we (well…I) was dizzy.
• The other day after waking up from his nap, Ryan came and wanted to snuggle with me in my bed.  He lay there as I gently caressed his bare arms and chest and face with my finger tips.  Occasionally I would get to a tickle spot (close to the arm pits, back of the arms, neck, forehead, etc) and he would giggle, but never move.  When I would stop, he would sign and say “mo” to tell me to keep going.  I have never seen him get so calm so quickly.  It was almost a miracle to enjoy my little boy in such a calm state.  (Little boy and calm are oxymorons in case you didn’t know.)
• I was organizing my closet yesterday, when Ryan decided he was in a lovey mood.  He walked in from playing in the other room and kissed me, then walked away.  He repeated this probably 15 times before he was done.
• Like any good dad, Clint loves to come home and chase Ryan around the house.  Ryan has learned from this game how to growl.  One day we have to get that on tape because OH MY GOODNESS it is stinkin’ adorable!  (He was doing it tonight as I finished up dinner and he played with his daddy.)
• As I was grocery shopping today a display of beautiful flowers stopped me.  They were too expensive and too much for me at the moment, but it did cause me to stop and look at the rest of the flowers.  I found the most beautiful orange tulips for $4.  They are currently gracing my kitchen table, lifting my spirits and making me smile.
• It has been raining this week.  Tonight it actually started raining BEFORE Ryan went to bed, and we had fun pointing out to him the sound of the rain as we ate dinner.  Afterward he and I lay in my bed with the windows open and the lights off listening to the sound of the rain and a lone cricket.
• AND since it is a winter rain storm and not a summer monsoon with freaky lightening displays, I decided that Ryan needed to experience rain first hand.  So, we suited up, got our umbrella, and stood outside in the rain.  After a few minutes Clint joined us and – crazy nut – stood outside in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt and sandals dancing in the rain with his son.  Ryan wasn’t sure about the rain actually touching him at first, and it was fun to watch him as he got used to it.  Hid daddy even took him down into the street to hop in puddles.  It was precious.