pumpkin coconut walnut breakfast cookies

I worked out these pumpkin cookies this past summer when I wanted something yummy, healthy, and filling. They're based on a banana cookie recipe, but I didn't have bananas at the time, and I did have a big can of pumpkin left over from the winter. So I cracked that open, and made a couple batches of these delicious Pumpkin Coconut Walnut Breakfast Cookies. They're healthy and perfect for fall.

Pumpkin Coconut Walnut Breakfast Cookies

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 

1 Tbs golden flaxmeal

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup oil of your choice

1 Tbs agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease cookie sheet.

 

Combine oats, coconut, flaxmeal, spices, salt, walnuts, and cranberries. Stir together pumpkin, oil, agave nectar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

Roll and flatten 2 tablespoons of mixture into a 2 inch round cookies and place onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until fragrant and golden. Cool on pan.

Yield: about 16 cookies.

 

*pumpkin pie spice is 4 parts cinnamon, 2 parts ginger, 1 part allspice, 1 part nutmeg

so for this recipe use:

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

homemade whole wheat dutch oven bread

I made bread for the first time ever. I found an easy bread recipe that requires lots of rising time and no kneading. The bread is baked in a preheated dutch oven. I've made several whole wheat loaves now, and it's going well. I'm looking forward to trying different flours soon too.

The first loaf didn't look so great, but it tasted good. The loaves since this one have looked much better.

Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 1/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp instant or dry active yeast
1 1/3 cups cool water
additional flour for dusting

Directions:
In a medium bowl, stir together flours, salt, and yeast. Add water. Using your hands or a wooden spoon, mix until you have a sticky, wet dough. Cover bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is bubbly and the dough is more than doubled in size, 14-18 hours.

When the first rise is finished, generously dust a work surface with flour. Scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a spatula, lift the edges of the dough in towards the center. Tuck in the edges to make it round.

Generously dust a tea towel with flour. Place dough on towel, seam down and dust top lightly with flour. Fold towel loosely over dough and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 2-3 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. The dough should hold the impression when pressed with your finger. If it springs back, let it rise for another 20 minutes.

Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 F with a rack positioned in the lower third, and place a covered 4 1/2 – 5 1/2 quart heavy pot in center of rack. Remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. (Remember the pot is hot. Be careful.) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15-20 minutes.

Makes: One 10-inch round

recipe source

reading

We like to read books, lots of books. Here are our favorites so far.

zucchini chocolate chip muffins

I made more zucchini muffins. These had chocolate chips and pecans. I used this recipe from Taste of Home but made some changes to make it a little healthier. Here is my improved recipe:

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 + cup sugar 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 egg, lightly beaten 

1/2 unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup milk 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Yield: 12 regular muffins 
• Shred the zucchini, then place in a colander and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Let it sit, for about 10 minutes, while combing the other ingredients, so that the excess water from the zucchini can be released.
• In a bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
• In another bowl, whisk the egg, then stir in the applesauce, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla.
• With a paper towel, gently press the zucchini in the colander to release any remaining excess liquid. Add the zucchini to the egg mixture and stir.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts.
• Fill each muffin cup.
• Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
• After 1 day, keep refrigerated.

garden and sneaky weeds

It's June 1st. I finally finished planting my garden this morning. Hopefully I'll be able to harvest something before frost this year. I pulled the weeds out of it (again) Wednesday afternoon. I was pleased to find lots of volunteer basil, marigolds, and dill from seeds that fell on the garden bed from last year's plants.  But when I got out there this morning I had to laugh at a couple plants that I had missed pulling. WEEDS. There was one weed that looked a lot like dill and was even in the line with some of the other dill plants. It became really obvious this morning with all the other weeds out of the way that it didn't belong, but Wednesday it seemed good enough to be the real thing. It made me think about what Jesus says about wolves in sheep's clothing.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. (Matthew 7:15-17)

(Paul talks about this too in 2 Cor 11.)

Yesterday Jonathan and I had an extended discussion about how I need to handle a situation where someone has hurt me. One day she told me she wanted to encourage me in my new role as a mom and then literally the next day she spoke hurtful things about me to someone else. Pretty sure that wasn't meant to encourage. It's been a few weeks since the problem happened, and we've seen her a couple times, but she hasn't apologized or even acknowledged the incident. I have forgiven her actions, but that doesn't mean I know how to trust her yet. Sooo, we need to move forward and we need some reconciliation; and since she hasn't initiated it, Jesus says I should. (Matthew 18:15-20) If only that was an easy thing to do. When we've had challenges in the past she doesn't usually want to hear from me and quotes me scripture out of context about peace and love (or for her, peace seems to mean ignoring the problem-- which doesn't work for long for most people, and I can't even imagine the emotional chaos happening inside those that continually sweep things under the rug). Anyway, when I shared this with Jonathan, about how hard it is to talk to her, when she misuses scripture and pretends everything is fine, he reminded me that Jesus used scripture correctly when he was confronted with God's word used the wrong way (Matthew 4:1-11). Jonathan wasn't comparing this person to the devil or a false prophet or teacher; he was just reminding me how I could be like Jesus, not Eve, who was swayed by lies disguised as God's words (Genesis 3:1-7). Got it. Live like Jesus.

So I have to know God's word. I can spot the fake and the lies better when I know the real thing. Just like I can spot a weed when I know what the real herb is supposed to look like. (see how all this relates. loosely.) And Jonathan and I are praying for God's timing in addressing this tough situation and that my motives for dealing with it are correct-- in love for healing.

Right now Phillips' translation of 1 Corinthians 13 is my favorite. It helps me apply God's love in my life in how I am loving others:

This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen. (1 Cor 13:4-8a)