Almond Cookie Oatmeal (with Dates)

It's kind of funny, I had never actually had a date until I went to Tunisia. I mean, I had eaten the nasty flour-coated mouse turds in cereal that they claim are dates. (Sorry if I just stopped you from ever touching those again. Sort of.) But Tunisia exports a lot of dates, and people eat them often, and I'm willing to try anything. And whoa. My first thought is that they are like natural pastries. Especially when fresher, and not chilled, they have a texture and flavor that reminds me so much of baked sugary or honey-covered wonderfulness.

Apparently I'm not the only one to think so because the cookie flavors of Lara bars all have dates as the first ingredient. I usually get deglet dates since they're cheaper, but be sure they're not all dried by the time you get them. Medjool are the fancier, pricier kind. And usually more moist.

So today I have more oatmeal for you. Sorry if that's boring, but with the stove still sitting in my office, there's not much choice! I did make two more crockpot experiments, one of which may get posted here, but neither was fantastic. Yet. They could be improved. But this oatmeal is completely sugar-free and extra sweetener free! Ahhh, the magic of dates!

Almond Cookie Oatmeal
Serves: 1
Prep time: 3 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (they are less processed than quick oats, but you could really use either.)
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup dates (the 5 pictured above happened to make 1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Put oatmeal in a 2-cup microwaveable container. Add water to barely cover oats for thick oatmeal, or to cover by a lot for thinner.

2. Cook in microwave on high for 90 seconds.

3. Chop dates. I did this while the oatmeal was cooking.

4. When the oatmeal is done, add almonds, dates and cinnamon. Stir and enjoy immediately or move to a prettier serving dish :)

How I normally eat my oatmeal - fewer dishes!

Saturday (non) Splurge: Healthy No-bake Cheesecake

You know, I just realized after typing this all up that it's not actually a splurge at all! It's delicious. It's pretty darn healthy. You could easily replace the sugar with your favorite other sweetener if you'd like to decrease the carbs and calories (listed at the end) even further. This is just good food. Let me give you a little background on this wonderful treat. I don't like NY style cheesecake. I do like ricotta cheesecake, but it takes a lot of time. This one takes a little time, but not your effort. What effort, then? Let me tell you, friendly reader.

Blender. Or Food Processor. It does its thing over a little time. As long as you don't do it by hand (I used an immersion blender on the test batch last night - took too long) you will can do something else while your machine whirs away. "Umm, ok, what are we blading to death?" Cottage cheese! Yep, you read that right. Cottage cheese cheesecake, my dear friends, is at the heart of this delicious dish. I got the inspiration for this from Cara's Cravings. I think she's my new best friend, even if she doesn't know it.

She mentioned that she blends up cottage cheese with sugar and some kind of flavoring to make a cheesecake-flavored treat. Well, I figured, if it tastes like it, why not throw in a stabilizer and make it into one? Amazingly, I could find NO recipe for such a thing. Not that they don't exist, they might well could. They just did not appear in my search. Which meant I had a mission: to figure out how much gelatin to add to make it stay solid.

I think I more or less got it. I put in too much gelatin in the big batches (we have large bags of plain stuff here) but I corrected for it below. I made two kinds: peanut butter and chocolate. Mmmmmm. And are they that gross, heavy, fat-laden crap you get from the store? (see, i told you i don't like NY cheesecake) Not a chance! Even though my people agree that the texture is a little off (only b/c of the gelatin, one I did alone was right), the flavor is on for a no-bake. Hooray! I put mine into a pre-made graham cracker crust, because I found a box of them in the pantry, but do what you think works. The recipe *is* the size of one of those, though. If anyone tries this out in a regular dish, let me know how much or if you increased it and I will include that info as well.

The cottage cheese blends nicely to a thick, creamy consistency. It may look a little grainy in the end, you can sort of see it in the chocolate picture (on the right) but you can't feel it in your mouth and it tastes good.

No-bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Serves: 12 (could be 8) Time: 5 minutes of yours, 15-20 minutes total, plus 2+ hours to chill

2 cups 2% cottage cheese (one 16 oz container)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbs peanut butter
1 packet gelatin (about 2 1/2 teaspoons or 7 grams)

- Put 1/4 cup cold water in a microwave-safe bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let set while you continue.
- Put first four ingredients in your blender/processor. Let blend until you see no recognizable cottage cheese lumps. You will still see little grainy bits, though.
- Microwave gelatin 30-60 seconds (microwaves are so different!), until completely liquid
- Turn on blender/processor and slowly pour gelatin into it if you have an opening through which to do so. If not, add small amounts at a time and mix after each addition.
- Pour into pre-made shell, or to do crustless, just pour into 8" pie tin (or 6-8" spring form pan)
- Place in fridge, allow to chill for at least two hours or until set

Chocolate variation: Increase sugar to 1/2 cup, replace peanut butter with 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Nutrition info (1/12th of peanut butter cake, no crust): Calories - 80 Fat - 2.8g Carbs - 7.8g Protein - 6.2g

Nutrition info (1/12th of chocolate cake, no crust): Calories - 60 Fat - 1.0g Carbs - 7.9g Protein - 5.5g

Nutrition info (1/12th of store bought crust): Calories - 98 Fat - 5.0g Carbs - 20.7g Protein - 0.8g

Spicy Peanut Chicken

This is a favorite of my in-laws. It's quick, easy, doubles (or quadruples) well and is yummy.

Serves 4 - 6 (4 adults or 2 adults, 3 semi picky kids and enough for 1 leftover lunch)

1/4 c chicken broth (I usually cheat and use bouillon and water)
1 T. cornstarch
1 T. brown sugar or honey
2 T. soy sauce
1 T white vinegar
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 T. vegetable oil
2 - 3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves cut into bite size pieces
1 clove garlic ( I always add more)
1 t. ginger (I keep fresh ginger in the freezer so it's easier to grate)
1 red bell pepper cut into small pieces
1/3 c peanuts
2 green onions

Mix broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and red pepper. Heat wok (or skillet) over high. Add oil, chicken, garlic, and ginger. Stir fry 3 minutes or until chicken is done. Add bell pepper; stir fry 1 minute. Add cornstarch mixture to pan. Cook and stir 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Stir in peanuts. Garnish with green onions. Serve over hot rice.

To adjust spiciness use more or less cayenne pepper.

Pistachio Cherry Teacakes

Hello again! I got busy toward the end of last semester, and then went out of the country, but now that I have told more people about this blog, I have great motivation to update :)

So to start, I am going to cheat a tiny bit in order to get back in the habit - a very good one from CL that you can find here. The picture is theirs, too. They call them 'wedding cookies' but I always learned them as teacakes, so take your pick. I admit that, for me, the dried cherries are a bit of a splurge, so if you can find them in a bulk foods section, that would make it easier. I upped the pistachio, used only regular flour and didn't coat them in powdered sugar, because it always makes me cough when I go to eat them. Maybe I could slow down instead, but that would be boring. Be careful when measuring the flour here, to really spoon it lightly into the cup and then level it because if you have too much the cookies will fall apart.

Pistachio Cherry Teacakes
Makes: about 32 cookies Total time: around 40 minutes, but the last 10 is just waiting for them to cool.

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsps cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces
1 Tbs ice water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped dry-roasted pistachios

- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine.
- Add butter, a few pieces at a time, to processor. Process about one minute or until mixture looks like coarse sand.
- Combine ice water and vanilla in a small bowl/cup, sprinkle over processor mixture (or add through chute, if you have one). Process one minute, or until well combined - but it will still be very crumbly.
- Add cherries and pistachios, pulse until just combined. Put mixture into a bowl.
- Gently press into a level tablespoon, packing with the heel of your hand. (If you don't pack these, they WILL fall apart.) Turn onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Continue until all dough is used.
- Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Remove from oven, cool 10 minutes on baking sheet.

Nutrition info for one cookie (if 32 are made): Calories: 82 Fat: 3.9g Carbs: 9.5g Protein: 1.2g

Almond Boulettes - Take 2 and a poll

I found out where to get rose water in Austin! Actually, I found out over a month ago. I just didn't get there. Well, this weekend we went. We also got some halva (sesame paste mixed with sugar pretty much.) So, having rose water in hand, I had to make the Tunisian Almond Pastries again. I mixed up the pulverized almond with the powdered sugar, and added a splash of rose water. It was crazy! Just like I had spilled rose perfume in the room. I stirred it in, but it needed more liquid. I ended up added plain water to make the 'dough' hold together. Dan and I tasted it, but it was just so much like biting into a chewy rose petal that it was distracting. Not bad, but that's not something I normally eat. Enter chocolate:


Yes, the picture's a little sad, I know. But the addition of a chocolate coating really helped! It's still definitely rose flavored, but the chocolate balances it to make it an interesting combination instead of taste bud confusion. If I ever make these for money, I will certainly take a class in making the chocolate more even, but for now my own taste buds really don't care. I think that next time I will use about a 1/2 teaspoon of rose water diluted in 1/4 cup of plain water to see how that goes. I need to figure out how they really do it...

The poll that I promised:
What should I call these? "Almond balls" seems very dull, and I don't think they're dull. Give me your answers as comments. Here's what I came up with:
A - Almond Boulettes (adding in some of the French name)
B - Almond Kaaber (adding in some Arabic)
C - Almond Pastries
D - You think I'm boring and would like to propose a name I didn't give.

Thanks for your help!

Food bars

You could call these energy bars or protein-ish bars, but I like the term "food bars" best. It's good, easy, healthy food in bar form. How much better than that can you get? The original recipe is from foodnetwork but, as usual, you will find my own changes below. My main complaint with theirs is that they asked for EVERYTHING to be blended up in a processor. I don't really like the bars that are all one consistency, so I kept some of my stuff bigger. If you want to make it quicker, don't process anything, or process everything. I also replaced the wheat germ with garbanzo flour. Seemed like a cool idea. If you make only 10 bars, they are a pretty good size, though the original recipe suggests 20 (size pictured.)

Update: I have since tried them with wheat germ, and it worked really well, too. It changes the flavor, and I'm not sure yet which I prefer. Wheat germ is certainly easier to find, though. :)


Food Bars
Serves: 10 Total time: 30-40 min, depending on whether you chop stuff

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (raw or roasted, but unsalted are better for you)
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup craisins (or raisins would work)
1/2 cup garbanzo flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup pitted dried dates
1/3 cup maple syrup (or honey - I used lower-sugar syrup that doesn't have fake sugar)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In a small bowl, mix oats, sunflower seeds, almonds and craisins. Pour half of mixture into food processor
- Add to food processor both flours, spices and milk, spice til there are no big chunks left
- In large bowl, mix eggs and syrup, stir in mixture from processor
- Process dates (alone) until all in small bits, add to large bowl
- Process the conserved oat mix 4-5 times, leaving some large chunks (whole almonds are ok)
- Mix everything except chocolate chips in the large bowl until basically combined
- Press into a greased pan (13x9, 9x9, whatever you have) and bake at 350 for 20 minutes
- Once cooked, remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Let set to melt a few minutes, then spread.

Nutrition info (1/10th with chocolate chips): Calories - 277 Fat - 7.1g Carbs - 47.2 g Protein - 9g
Nutrition info (1/10th, NO chocolate chips): Calories - 254 Fat - 5.9g Carbs - 44.7 g Protein - 8.7g

Tasty Peanut Sauce

I think that the key to this is natural peanut butter. I can't be sure, though, because I never have the other stuff anymore. My mom's jaw is likely hitting the floor. When we were little, natural pb was the cheapest. Adam's, I haven't seen it in years. We didn't like it though. The oil separating looked gross, and we had some other complaints. Who knows. Well, after realizing how much fake crap is in food, I have been trying to do little things to put less fake crap in me. Like the natural peanut butter. Just peanuts and salt. I got it for a good price at a warehouse store. More than their "normal" pb, but about the same as a regular grocery store's pb. Well, the recipe, then! We had this with udon noodles, chicken and green beans. If you want to mix this in with the stir fry over heat, you'll want to increase the water to 1/4 cup. The pepper gets hotter when cooked, but if used cold, this is a mild heat recipe. The ground ginger gives it a more uniform flavor, and the fresh adds to it. I happened to have both, but one or the other would work, too.


Peanut Sauce
Serves: 3-4 Prep time: about 5 min

1 1/2 tsp fresh minced ginger (if you just have fresh, use 1 Tbs)
1/4 tsp ground ginger (if you just have ground, used 1/2 tsp)
1 large clove garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
3 Tbs teriyaki sauce (or 2 Tbs soy sauce, 1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar)
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, but chunky would work)
2 Tbs water

- Mince the garlic and ginger.
- Mix spices, garlic, fresh ginger and teriyaki sauce in a bowl.
- Stir in peanut butter until mostly mixed.
- Add water, stir until well mixed.
- Eat over meat, in chicken salad (with celery and onions, maybe a little cilantro), on rice over stir fry, on grilled veggies, a burger, whatever you might put teriyaki sauce on. mmmm, I want more now....

Cocoa Almonds

We went to a waterpark last weekend, so we were in the grocery store looking for treats and something caught my eye: cocoa roast almonds. They looked delicious. But, they were about $8 for 11 oz, and I still had over 2 lbs of plain almonds at home. So, like any self-respecting baker girl, I left them on the shelf and went straight to the computer when I got home to figure out how to make them myself! I found a promising-looking recipe on a low-carb site here, but the portions are quite off to me. (The basic idea is what I went with.) I ended up doing it in two batches to make them not touch as much, but it would work in one batch, you'd just have to break it apart more after.

*Update 7/12*: I bought some of these today because they were like $4 at Target, and we vote that mine are better. Theirs have a thinner coating and, according to Dan, are "more crunchable" but you can taste the splenda, which isn't my favorite.

*Update 8/17*: We finally finished eating the store-bought ones. Mine were gone in a week. Theirs in over a month. Mine are definitely better.


Cocoa Almonds
Serves: 8 Time: about 25 min.

2 cups whole almonds
1 egg white
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa

- Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, fluff the egg white with a fork until it is nice and frothy (like soap suds - takes 1-2 minutes)
- Mix in sugar and cocoa
- Pour in almonds, coat with egg white mixture
- Spread out on a tinfoil-covered pan (or a silicone mat, I bet that would work even better). I ended up doing it in two batches because my pan was a bit small. Bake 15 minutes, until coating is dry.
- Remove from oven, let cool until touchable and break apart any clumps. Let cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Nutrition info per serving: Cal: 175 Fat: 12.4g Carbs: 14.4g Protein: 6.5g

Tunisian Almond Pastries

One thing I miss from Tunisia is the pastries. They were so rich and so good! They often use nuts in their pastries, and that is the main ingredient here. I'm not sure of the name in Arabic, I think it's kaaber louz, and in French they are Boulettes aux amandes. I like the flavor - it reminds me a lot of sugar cookie dough. We have a 3 pound bag of almonds, so I decided to make some and was pleased by how quick and easy they are! Ideally, you should use blanched almonds for a lighter flavor and color, but regular ones worked fine, too. A common practice is to either cover the outside in nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, or pistachios) or to color 1/3 of the dough red, 1/3 green, and to roll bits of all 3 together to make multi-color balls. If you blanch the almonds yourself, it will definitely take you longer to make these!

Tunisian Almond Pastries
Serves: 6-8

Dough:
1 1/2 cups almonds
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water (for more authentic taste, use rose water or orange flower water)

Syrup:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water

- Combine syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the dough.
- For the dough: Powder almonds in a food processor (blender might work, but do just part at a time.) In a bowl, combine almonds and powdered sugar. Add water a tiny bit at a time, stirring to blend. You want the dough to barely cling together, and you may not need the whole 2 tablespoons. Form the dough into balls about the size of a tablespoon.
- When syrup has thickened remove from heat (about 10-15 minutes - when boiling, the bubbles stay on the surface for a second and look almost soapy).
- Coat each ball in syrup. You can stop there, or then roll in chopped nuts to coat. You can eat right away, or let sit for an hour to firm up more. Should last for 1-2 weeks in an air-tight container.

Here's the first batch I made, too. They weren't quite as pretty.