Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are more like oatmeal raisin biscuits, but I don't think anyone will complain about that :)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 10-12 cookies

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Quaker Quick Oats
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Mashed Banana (1 whole medium banana)
3/4 cups Raisins
1/2 cup Soy Milk or Water
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking spray.
2. Mix all ingredients together until they are all combined.
3. Use an ice cream scoop and place scoops of dough on the cookie sheet. Press down lightly, using a fork, to spread the cookie dough out a bit.
4. Place cookie sheet in oven for 18-20 minutes.
5. Remove from over, let cool slight and then devour!

Note: You can use any type of flour or milk, 1/2 cup of apple sauce if you don't have a banana handy and any type of oil (thought vegetable or canola olive works best)

Homemade Cashew Milk

I've been on a "do it yourself" kick lately, so after experimenting with homemade oat milk, I decided to look up a recipe for homemade cashew milk (since I had some left over from the Avocado Pesto Pasta.)

Surprisingly, it was really simple and required no straining - like some other nut milks do.

Cashew Milk
1 cup (raw) cashews, soaked overnight
3 cups water
2 tablespoon agave nectar (or more, to taste)
A pinch of Celtic sea salt

1. Discard soaking water and rinse cashews thoroughly until water runs clear
2. Place cashews, (4 cups fresh) water, agave and salt in a Vita-Mix (or other high speed blender)
3. Process on high speed 20-30 seconds and then repeat until fully blended
4. Store in glass mason jar in refrigerator

Note: The original recipe calls for 4 cups of water, but as I was adding it to the blender, 3 cups seemed to be the right consistency for me. I also added a little extra agave to make it sweeter.

Original recipe from: Elana's Pantry

Homemade Oat Milk

If you have some extra quick oats laying around and wanted to make your own Oat Milk, give this recipe a try.

1/2 cup Quaker Quick Oats
3 tsp Sugar
1 cup Water

1. In a blender, blend the oats until they turn into a flour type consistency. (I used the Magic Bullet w/ the flat blade)

2. Add the water and sugar and blend until all ingredients are combined together.

Tip: For a thinner 'milk', use 1/4 cup more water. If you want a thicker 'milk', use 1/4 less water.

Servings: 1 (about 10 oz)
Calories: 195 (per 10 oz)

Bethenny's Boo Boo Banana Bread (modified)

This is a modified version of Bethenny Frankel's Boo Boo Banana (Chocolate Chip) Bread from The Skinnygirl Dish. I didn't use eggs or butter and replaced the oat flour with whole wheat flour and the sugar with organic evaporate cane sugar. If you have overripe bananas laying around, this is a great recipe to use them in.

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Organic Sugar - Evaporated Cane Juice
3 Medium, Overripe Bananas
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp All Purpose Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a loaf pan. Put it in the bottom of the pan and spray with cooking spray. Pour in the batter and cover loosely with foil.
3. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, then bake for another 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost clean (moist crumbs are fine). Cool completely, then slice and serve.

Or you can watch Bethenny prepare it on youtube.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 12 thin slices
Calories: 163 per slice

Rice Cooker Cake

I don't know what took me so long, but after wanting one for years, I finally got a rice cooker / steamer. I was looking through the booklet to get some ideas on other things to make in the rice cooker and saw a recipe for a chocolate cake that you bake right in the rice cooker. I was skeptical, so I decided to give it a try. With a little tweaking, it actually worked!

Chocolate Crazy Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 c water
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1. Spray steamer / rice cooker pot with vegetable spray.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a separate bowl and stir until combined. Pour mixture into rice cooker pot.
3. Close lid on the rice cooker and press COOK. After a few minutes, the rice cooker will switch to KEEP WARM even though the cake is not done. This is normal. Keep the rice cooker on KEEP WARM setting for about 10 minutes and then press COOK again. The rice cooker will once again switch to KEEP WARM. Wait an additional 10 minutes then press COOK one more time. Once it switches to KEEP WARM again, wait for about 30 minutes or so and then check the cake with a toothpick. Cake should be done but if it's not press COOK one more time then when it goes back to KEEP WARM check the cake again.
4. Remove the rice cooker pot with potholders and invert onto a serving plate.

Servings: 8 Slices
Calories: 221 Calories per slice

(Recipe via Instruction Booklet. Recipe by Debra Murray, Wolfgang Puck HSN Host)

Chef Chloe's Avocado Pesto Pasta

After watching up and coming vegan chef, Chloe Coscarellli sweep the competition on Cupcake Wars, I decided to check out her site and found this amazing looking recipe for Avocado Pesto Pasta.

The first time I planned to make it, I only had one avocado - so I had to wait. Then, I got two avocado's, but I had to wait for them to ripen. Finally, I got to make the pasta this past weekend and it was definitely worth the wait. It's super simple and totally delicious - just be sure that you have a large enough food processor, otherwise it will become quite the project. I'd suggest one that can hold at least 7 cups, otherwise you may have some issues.

The original recipe is below but I used some substitutions, so I've italicized them and put them in brackets.

Avocado Pesto Pasta
Serves 6

What You Need:
1 pound dried linguine
1 bunch basil leaves (about 2½ ounces)
½ cup pine nuts [1/4 cup salted cashews, 1/4 cup unsalted cashews]
2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about ½ of a lemon) [3 tablespoons lemon juice]
3 cloves garlic [3 tsp chopped garlic]
½ cup olive oil
Salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional) [didn't use]

What You Do:
1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add pasta and cook to package directions. While pasta cooks, in a food processor, blend basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Drain pasta. In a large serving bowl, toss pesto with hot, freshly cooked pasta and garnish each serving with a basil leaf. For an extra touch of color and flavor, top pasta with sundried tomatoes.
3. Enjoy!