Triplet Cookies, aka Sugarless Cookies

I'm going to sneak this post under the month of February. Motivation, where have you been?!

Finally going to share with you these awesome cookies. No flour, no sugar. The way it's sweetened is with overripe bananas and dried fruit, which is usually preserved with some amount of sugar. I don't even mind having these for breakfast... which is what happened today!

Oh, and a tip about buying bananas. We only buy them overripe, but have to ask for them as they are kept in the back room at our local grocery store. I ask for the "banana bread bananas" and get them for 19 cents/pound, instead of the 67 cents/pound for the all yellow bananas. And we usually prefer the cheaper bananas anyway because we don't mind a couple brown spots. They only keep green and perfectly yellow bananas on display. So there's a tip for the day!

Recipe from "Healthy Choices" cookbook, my comments/changes in parentheses.

Triplet Cookies (I can't quite figure out why they are named this... the only "three" thing in it is the 3 c. of rolled oats!)

• 2 c. mashed bananas (usually is about 4 overripe large bananas)
• 1/4 - 1/3 c. raisins, currants, or dates (I used currants on this batch because that's what I had)
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 c. rolled oats (For maximum nutrient absorption, it's best to soak the oats for at least 8 hours, preferably 12-24. I only got these soaked for about 10 hours, but any amount you can soak it will help make it more digestible! I mixed the oats with about 1/3 c. kefir, and 1/3 c. water. Or you could use 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar and the rest water. For more discussion on the whole soaking of grains concept, you can visit here.)
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed (I grind this in our coffee grinder, which I cleaned out. But if you want a little extra buzz, just keep those leftover coffee grounds in! ha!)
• 1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

Mix bananas, raisins, salt and vanilla together thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and mix all together. Very easy. Place teaspoon sized balls (used cookie scoop) on parchment papered cookie sheet and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until done. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

Orange Vinegar

I found this link about making citrus vinegar by simply taking your leftover citrus rinds, putting them into a glass jar, and filling it up with white vinegar. In this jar is some de-zested lemon peels, and some grapefruit peels. My jar isn't quite full here.

Wait till the vinegar starts to smell like citrus, and pour out! Talk about easy! And getting the most out of your purchases!

I used it for adding to my wash machine for my diapers. I think it helped, but it's been hard to tell since we have an HE wash machine, and I've been battling with it to get my cloth diapers fully clean. But that's a post for another day!

Or the author of the site, Crest Cottage Creations, suggests diluting this citrus vinegar half and half with water, and putting it in a spray bottle to use with baking soda for cleaning. She says it's an excellent degreaser. If you haven't tried using vinegar and baking soda to clean with, I highly recommend it!

Simple things

From January 13, 2011. Andrew is making himself laugh. It's the simple things that can bring a smile to our faces.

It's usually about now when the winter seems to take forever, and spring can't come soon enough. We've had a couple warmer days of lower 30s and there's been some melting snow, but the temperatures will soon dip down into single digits.

So the simple things will have to make us happy for now. Simple toys and simple nourishing food.

Yes, I'm still cranking out the goodies... bread, noodles, crackers, pitas, a few cookies, cake, rolls, cornbread, soups, casseroles, meats, vegetables. We've been eating well out of our freezer this winter, and I am already thinking about what I want to go in my garden for this year.

I have some sugar free cookies that I want to post soon. But I really need to focus on some other projects that I've been wanting to do this whole winter, but haven't pushed myself to do... making a no-sew rag rug. If I ever complete that, I'll share photos!

I feel lost is I'm not making something in the kitchen. But part of me wonders if I don't busy myself in the kitchen so I don't have to focus on other things that I'm not so good at... like updating baby books. Ack.

Speaking of which, maybe I should go work on those.......