The Super Cookie

When Summer and I were just starting to date, not yet "exclusive," living several thousand miles apart, texting daily and doing our best to see each other as often as possible without freaking the other one out. Summer sent me two dozen cookies, her own creation; every time I pick up a cookie it's those cookies that flash in my mind. "Cowboy Cookies," I think she called them. The problem is Summer can't remember how she made them.

Since then, I have been on a quest to find an equally comparable cookie. Today, Cameron and I tried Superfood Quinoa Cookies by Desi from the Unconventional Kitchen. The recipe called for "fresh ground wonderflour" which is equal parts barley, brown rice, and spelt. Barley is one of the gluten grains, so we replaced the wonderflour with Almond Flour. (We're not intolerant or anything; we're just trying to not use as much gluten.) We also used wax paper in a regular jelly pan and a silpat. We cooked them with the dough at room temperature and refrigerated. Instead of butter we used coconut oil. And we used "turbinado" = raw cane sugar.

The Superfood Quinoa Cookie

Recipe:
1 C coconut oil
1 C turbinado
1 C coconut sugar
2 eggs
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 T vanilla (1.5 t)
3 1/2  C almond flour
1/2  package mini chocolate chips
1/2  cup cooked quinoa
1 cup coco nibs (optional)
1/2  cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1 cup walnuts chopped

"Directions
Place soft butter and sugars in bosch bowl with cookie paddles. Whip until creamy, add eggs and whip until well blended. Add salt and baking powder with flour. (The original recipe said to add the soda - not sure if she made a mistake, but we just went with the baking powder). Mix well and add remaining ingredients, mixing well again. Scoop into a parchment lined cookies sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until light brown. Do not over bake, cookies are better slightly undercooked and cooled to remain soft." (I found that I had to take them out of the oven just as the edges were turning brown and let them cool right on the pan. If I tried to spatula them off right out of the oven or even 5 minutes out of the oven, they fell apart - probably because there was no gluten?)

 

Cam (with a freshly painted Easter Rabbit face) showing off the fruits of our labor. The cookie on the left was cooked on the silpat. The one of the right was cooked on wax paper and a jelly pan. I think the fiberglass in the silpat had a weird affect on the coconut oil. Not totally sure, but both batches on the silpat turned out like that. Cooking the dough at different temperatures didn't seem to have a huge effective on the final product. The silpat cookies seemed a little more melted when the dough was first refrigerated.

Cameron liked them very much. A little sweet for my taste. The coconut oil made them really moist, but lef them a little "oily." The coconut oil was on my hands after handling them. Next time, I might cut back on the sugar a bit and may try to cook with some good butter and the wonderflour Desi recommends.

 

 A final note: they are good cookies, and pretty healthy. Similar taste to oatmeal cookies; our's had a small hint of coconut. But..... still not as good as Summer's Cowboy cookies. The quest continues.

 Much thanks to Desi for the recipe.

"Let Food Be Thy Medicine..."

Obviously Summer and I aren't the best bloggers in the world; we've been married over 3 months and haven't posted a thing. Hopefully our failure as bloggers doesn't worry you as to our state of marital bliss. We are thoroughly enjoying married life.

As mentioned in the previous post, one of our passions is healthy eating. Not surprisingly one of our first adventures as a married couple has been into the realm of healthy living. We've done loads of research reading health food blogs, nutrition books, books detailing the "gross atrocities" committed by the food industry, watching documentaries on vegans and corn, listening to podcasts and cd's on supplements, and without fail we come to new and slightly contradictory conclusions about what we should be eating and how we should be eating it. The worst part is the guy saying to go vegan and the guy saying we need meat and animal products both have substantial medical/scientific evidence proving that they are correct. A little flabbergasted and distraught by it all, we've just decided to jump in trying out different things.

We decided on a "scientific" approach. We started with a juice fast/cleanse. Mine lasted 15 days; Summer's lasted 30. I guess "juice fast" is a misnomer. Half our time was spent on eating only fruits and vegetables; the other half was drinking nothing but juice. And now we're attempting to phase normal food back into our diet and see how it affects our overall health and well being. I'm surprised by how little my body wants or craves dairy products. The thought makes me get all congested. I've also gone gluten free (supposedly gluten inhibits your body's ability to absorb vitamins and nutrients). I eat nuts, seeds, grains (like quinoa and rice - not so much wheat, corn, and soy because it's in everything - EVERYTHING and that much of one thing can't be good for you), lots of fruit and vegetables.

The hardest part of the whole lifestyle change has been finding go-to foods. I've discovered that a large majority of my eating and taste is based in habit. When I needed breakfast, I'd eat cold cereal (if I ate breakfast at all). Lunch - sandwich or CPK frozen pizza. Dinner - spaghetti with varying sauces. When I needed a comfort food, it was usually cookies of some kind or peanut butter on a spoon with milk. I've cut most of those habit foods, but I shockingly still need to eat. So what do I eat now?! I've decided - as part of this blog - to share some of the things Summer and I have been cooking because they're good... at least to us. It's not vegan or vegetarian or carnivore or Mediterranean or American. It's "alternative."

50 Fun Facts about Summer and Peter

1.       Summer and I were setup on a blind date by Natasha Simonsen: my friend from High School and Summer’s sister-in-law.

2.       Natasha and I hadn’t spoken in nine years. After my name kept popping up in her mind as a possible date for Summer, she sent me a message.

3.       When planning our first date, Summer suggested we meet somewhere because, and I quote, “I don’t want you to know where I live.”

4.       Our first date was July 30^th, 2011 – we went to Guru’s, played miniature golf, and got frozen yogurt.

5.       At the time, I was living in Virginia – I was in Provo for a mission companion’s wedding. When explaining how he and his wife met, he dropped an insight, “When you least expect it, someone will come into your life.” I met Summer the next day.

6.       We met for the first time on the green bench at the cross walk in front of Guru’s on Center Street in Provo.

7.       Summer wore a flowered blouse with a cream cardigan and jean shorts.

8.       I thought she looked so beautiful when I saw her, I didn’t know what to say. Unthinkingly, I shook her hand, smiled, said “Hi,” and walked away, leaving her by the bench.

9.       Summer ordered a burrito, and I got a salad. She told me her nickname in high school was “Porker,” and she didn’t think less of me for getting the salad.

10.   Summer beat me our first time miniature golfing (what she doesn’t know and will be furious about is that I shanked whole 9 on purpose) and bowling; I beat her the second in both.

11.   I was really impressed when it started to rain and while the rest of the people golfing were running for cover, I looked at Summer, she shrugged and said, “I’m totally fine if you are.”

12.   I struggled with how best to burst the first date personal space bubble: should I go with the lean in? The arm bump? The playful shove? I ended up going with the lean-in: pretext reading the score card – Summer later confided in me that she had noticed.

13.   We discovered that we both share a healthy fear of sharks. Shark Week was starting, and I suggested Kennedy and Cameron might benefit from watching it, or if not that, perhaps Jaws or some other hysteria inducing shark movie; she whole-heartedly agreed.

14.   We also discovered we share a great love for the dancing and musical styling’s of the late great Michael Jackson.

15.   We went out again the following Wednesday; we ate at Sammy’s, road a tandum bike (my first time – Summer still maintains that she had the harder job sitting in the front, while I contend that I was the force behind our progress), took a drive up the canyon, and a long walk past her grandparent’s old house.

16.   We went out again on Friday: Owl’s game with some of my friend’s, bowling, and watched the best of Michael Jackson DVD (my first gift to Summer) at my friend’s condo near 7^th North and 7^{th East}.

17.   Summer held my hand the first time because I wasn’t going to breach that bubble before she was ready.

18.   I kissed her that night, six days after meeting.

19.   We dated long distance (2099 miles) from July 30^th to mid-December.

20.   The first time I played with Summer’s kids was at Jump On It – I still have the wrist band.

21.   Kennedy once pulled me aside and said, “I think you should marry my mom.” “We need to get to know each other first.” “Ok…. You should have 12 babies.”

22.   After five months of dating, seeing each other once a month, Summer and I sent 350, 8.5x11 pages worth of text messages – which Summer compiled, printed, bound, and gave to me as a Christmas gift.

23.   Summer’s kids have repeatedly told me I should join the circus because I have “magic hands.”

24.   Cameron taught me my best dance move – the double fisted, pointed finger, trot.

25.   Our favorite game to play is the hiding game – where they hide under the cushions, and I try to see them hiding.

26.   Summer and I became exclusive while opening Valentine’s gifts near Aspen Grove.

27.   In April, while visiting my sister Amelia and friend Reed, and while Summer tried out for the Voice a second time, we sent a picture of Summer wearing an engagement ring as an April fool’s joke; some people did not think it was funny, and many of my nieces and nephews were confused.

28.   My favorite date was making fondue from scratch with Summer in my place in DC.

29.   My second favorite date was painting blindfolded.

30.   On our one year anniversary, Summer made a DVD for me of her singing “I Won’t Give Up,” by Jason Mraaz; until then she had refused to sing for me.

31.   I had bought an engagement ring in April; we didn’t get engaged until August even though I proposed on July 30 (our anniversary).

32.   Summer and I both went to BYU and graduated in under 4 years.

33.   We were both born in California.

34.   We both have a fixation with eating healthy, raw, simple foods.

35.   We both agree that Willow is Val Kilmer’s best movie.

36.   We both love to dance.

37.   But Summer is a beach bum, and I am a mountain man.

38.   I love the winter; Summer loves summer.

39.   Summer is the second of four; I am the seventh of seven.

40.   I love dogs; Summer hates them.

41.   Summer said she would never marry an attorney; I am an attorney.

42.   Summer ‘s favorite superhero is Superman; my favorite superhero is Batman (obviously).

43.   I am an introvert; Summer is an extrovert.

44.   Summer is a verbal; I am a task.

45.   Summer and I are different people, but we are ok with that.

46.   We both believe family is first; that no success can compensate for failure in the home.

47.   We don’t like the term “insta-family” (or “insta-dad”) because it takes more than marriage to make a family (or a dad).

48.   We both believe that you don’t find a soul-mate, you become one through commitment, work, and vulnerability.

49.   We both know the worst about the other and still love without reservation or inhibition.

50.   We both believe that the best is yet to come.