Vegan Exploration

Today I was inspired to try some vegan cooking. Just to be clear right now, I do not want to be a vegan. With all this free time I have I thought I would try something new. It all started because I am throwing a bridal shower for my friend Cari who has a vegan friend so I googled vegan party food and stumbled upon a vegan recipe blog and decided to try at least 25 new recipes. Nothing with tofu. Not a fan of the tofu.

I told Jacob about this venture over a text message and I knew that he would be very hesitant. His response, "I am raising our kids on meat and that is final," followed by a few more confused and upset responses. Well, I am not going to let Jacob stop me and I know he wont mind being a taste tester, vegan food or not.

So, recipe number 1: Low Fat Peanut Butter Banana Cookies (with my comments). I chose it because I had all the ingredients.

1/2 cup natural peanut butter, chunky or smooth1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (I left about an 1/8 of room left at the top of my measuring cup and filled it with corn syrup. Higher moisture percentage in cookie recipes makes them more chewy and I think for this it worked.)
3/4 cup mashed banana (I used 1/2 a cup and thought that was plenty)
1 cup unbleached flour (What difference does it make?)
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used white cake flour. I grew up on white bread and white everything. Wheat bread isn't bad, but I avoid using wheat flour for baking anything but bread. I think wheat flour in this type case would be a great compliment to the peanut butter and banana flavors.)
1 teaspoon baking powder1 pinch salt
1/4 cup non-dairy chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Cream together the peanut butter and sugars. Add the mashed banana and mix until creamy.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter a little at a time until totally absorbed. Add the chocolate chips, if desired, and mix until well-blended, but do not over-mix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared pans, about 2 inches apart. Flatten with a fork dipped in water. (These cookies will not spread as they cook, so the shape they’re in when they come out of the oven will be about the same as when they went in.) Bake for about 10 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown. (Don't wait for the whole cookie to look done, I promise.) Remove and let cool before serving. (http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/12/lower-fat-peanut-butter-banana-cookies.html)

All in all, these were not too bad. Obviously not your Otis Spunkmeyer or your grandma's secret recipe. I would do this again if I had kids with an insatiable sweet tooth. Its fun and different and not too fatty. And that is saying something because I forgot the salt.

Jacob just walked in the door and is giving it a try. He is pacing and doesn't look pleased that he wasn't welcomed with a normal cookie. Not much to say from Jacob. He likes his animal products. Animal Killer. (But I like him so we'll let it slide.)

Bountiful Baskets

Another reason to love eastern Idaho. I had a friend tell me about Bountiful Baskets. You sign up online and play 15.00 for a basket full of produce and you can play an extra dollar for a loaf or bread. I finally remembered to sign up for it and sent Jacob on an errand to pick up our basket. We had so much stuff. A laundry basked filled half way up. 2 heads of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, 2 bags of baby carrots, apples, zucchini, peaches, oranges, squash, bananas, avacado and the list goes on. Here is a picture. All of this for 15.0o!! I was getting my hair done while Jacob was picking up our produce and the lady that was doing it gets bountiful baskets too and says if you do some price comparisons with the grocery store that you would spend about $50.00 dollars instead of 15.00. Maybe 50 dollars is a stretch, but its still a good deal if you ask me.

The problem is, I don't know what to do with all this food! That is way more than Jacob and I can eat before it goes bad. The only thing I know how to do is take something perfectly healthy and turn it into sugary junk food. Like peach cobbler and apple crisp or zuchini brownies or zuchini bread. Either way, I am very excited for our Bountiful Baskets. I had an orange today and it was the best orange I have had in a long time.

Meet Kellen

Sorry for being a slacker at this whole blogging thing. I think a blog with out a picture just looks boring, but uploading pictures and putting them into the blog just seems so daunting to me.

So, here is the latest with the Curtis'.

First, Jacob's hours and worked switched again. He was promoted to night time Work Flow Manager at Melaleuca and works from 4 to 10 pm, (but most of the time its 10:20ish). This means he doesn't take any more calls, other than that, I am not sure what his job duties are, but Work Flow Manager sounds fancy!

No new news with me. Still working and still very happy. (Cheryl, if you are reading this, my boss served on the high council with your dad a long time ago. I had to put it here because I always forget to tell you.)

Jacob and I have added to our family. Last weekend we bought a blue and orange betta fish and named him Kellen Moore after the Boise State quarter back. We got Kellen his own rocky smurf turf. Believe it or not, but I think this fish has some personality. If you start waving at him he will wave a fin back at you. And if you point to some food that he's missed he'll swim over and eat it. If you put your face right up to the tank, Kellen will come up and blow you a fish kiss, and call me crazy, but I think Kellen gets excited when Jacob comes home. Or maybe that is just me being extra excited to finally see Jacob at the end of the day.

Jacob and I are liking Kellen Moore and he his the perfect low maintenance pet.