Dark Chocolate Cookies Sweetened BY CARROTS!!!

I like to play with food when Maximus takes long naps. This afternoon I made dark chocolate cookies but I wanted to mess around with sweeteners. I don't know how carrots popped into my head, but I pureed a bunch in my processor and strained them. Here's what I did:

• heaping cup of quinoa flour mixed with whole wheat (maybe half and half- heavier on the quinoa)
• dark chocolate cocoa- I never measure, I'm sorry, but maybe a heavy 1/4 cup?
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• bit of salt

Just like any old cookie recipe- mix those in a separate bowl.

• 1 stick Earth Balance (vegan butter stuff) softened
  
• molasses- I dunked a spoon in twice
  
• carrot juice and pulp
• 1 second pour vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites

In two or three portions, combine the dry with the wet ingredients. Then add some dark chocolate and white chocolate chips (I know, horrible for you- I used them sparingly) Bake at 350 until they're done. Makes 12.

I stood by the oven until they were done expecting them to totally suck. But guess what? They didn't suck at all! I even did a little "happy dance" whilst chewing my cookie! Cha-ching!

Baahahaha!

I've decided pumping my kid full of wheat grass, garlic and blue green algae once a week is good parenting. Maximus loves this stuff:

Dude, I get all excited when I realize what Maximus is ingesting: apples, mangos, pineapples, bananas, kiwis, SPIRULINA, BROCCOLI, SPINACH, BARLEY GRASS, PARSLEY, GINGER ROOT, BLUE GREEN ALGAE, ODORLESS GARLIC. Yes! Yes! Yes! Cheers!

How We Eat Tuna Salad

I just realized I posted a similar recipe a few weeks ago...sorry.
I don't like mayonnaise on too many things- especially tuna. Yuck. Jesse has a disgusting love for Miracle Whip and I won't even touch that stuff. And all the crap that's in mayo and Miracle Whip makes my skin crawl. So when we eat albacore tuna, we mix it with extra virgin olive oil, sundried tomatoes, sea salt & pepper, olives and avocados. The taste is loads better and so are the good fats. Have a nice day.

Baked Tofu

I buy baked tofu from Open Harvest all the time. I LOVE IT. I made baked tofu for the first time in my life and I ROCKED IT! Jesse and I had some last night at "Hippie Dinner" and Jesse couldn't get over how much he liked it. I looked at several recipes online and didn't love a particular one, so I started experimenting. I mean, you can't really screw up a soy marinade. Then I had the brilliant idea of WRITING DOWN what I used as I was doing it instead of trying to remember. Play with all the ingredients until you get a balance you like. I went a little overboard with the chili paste and I'm not the biggest fan of spicy food, but Jesse and Maximus digged it.
Before you marinate it for 20 or so minutes, press it.

I baked it at 400 degrees for um...maybe 45 minutes? Maybe less? I turned the pieces a few times too.

Then I made Jesse a sandwich and Maximus ate 2 whole pieces of baked tofu heaven alone. I'm telling you, don't be all, "eww, it's tofu and I've made up my mind tofu is gross because I've never tasted it" because you suck. Just shut up and try it.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

We went to "Tuesday Night Hippie Dinner" a while ago and Evan made roasted red pepper hummus. This afternoon I made the my version:

• heaping 1/3 cup tahini
• 5 garlic cloves
• can of chickpeas
• juice of 2 lemons
• sea salt
• 1/2 jar roasted red peppers
• handful of pine nuts

Pulse garlic then add the remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for a few hours. Top with flatleaf Italian parsley. I'm serving it with whole wheat baguette and strips of cucumber and yellow bell pepper. It won't make your breath smell like heaven.

Dark Chocolate Banana Agave Bread

I didn't take a pretty plated picture of this bread because this is how it's eaten in our house. Take a slice straight out of the dish and shove it in your mouth before dropping crumbs all over the place.

Hey, I just realized something...if Jesse buys another bike, maybe we can get a new camera too? I really like taking pictures of bikes and food and ours isn't cutting it anymore...

This is a recipe I have "mastered" after years of messing around...

• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash of salt
• 2 slightly beaten egg whites
• 1-1/2 (or 2) mashed bananas
• less than 1/4 cup sugar (Sometimes I use molasses; this time it was brown sugar)
• 3 or 4 second pour of honey
• 3 or 4 second pour of agave nectar
• 1/4 cup coconut or soy bean oil
  
• 1/4 (maybe even 1/3) cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa
• 1/2 bag dark chocolate chips or carob
  

In a medium bowl sift then stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, dark cocoa and salt.

In a large bowl stir together egg whites, banana, sugar, agave, honey and oil. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture just until moistened. Add dark chocolate chips.

Prepare a loaf pan. Spread batter and bake at 350 for 50 minutes to over an hour.

I View This as SUCCESS

I know, I know...Jesse and I won't be able to brainwash our child with healthy food forever. Maximus will have friends who will always be munching on processed crap and drinking soda. Yeah, we get it. BUT Jesse and I are doing our very best in building an excellent nutritional foundation for the child we're raising. We can teach him all that we can so he can make his own decisions in life.

Maximus and I were reading yesterday afternoon. We were all sprawled out on his bedroom floor with 200+ books scattered everywhere. He picked up one of those books that make parents dizzy, sort of like "Where's Waldo?". We turned to this page and I asked him what he saw. He pointed and named each piece of fruit "apple". He looked at the rest silently. I pointed at the ribbon candy and asked him what it was and after a few seconds he asked, "nana?" (banana). I pointed at the other pieces of candy and he called the round pieces "balls". He doesn't know the word "candy". AND WE SEE NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.