We Should Be Folding Laundry

From time to time, life hands us lemons. This cannot be avoided. It is a widely accepted fact that we are to make lemonade out of those aforementioned lemons. Obviously this is a metaphor for turning a bad situation into a good one & that’s just what I did. In a pinch, during crunch time, when I was down to the wire & things were at their bleakest, I managed to turn what could only be described as a hot mess, into a lovely & delicious dinner for two.

I had come across several versions of a recipe for a certain chicken dish whilst perusing the internets. This recipe appealed to me. It was cheap, supposedly easy to make, & didn’t require eleventy seven different ingredients, score!

I gathered the few ingredients & set off to wow my Husband & children with this sure-to-be delectable dinner. I followed the directions impeccably & waited as the chicken simmered & intriguing smells wafted through my kitchen. Forty five minutes later my anticipation had piqued & I could wait no longer. I had to sneak a taste. The next 15 seconds were filled with more regret than I care to describe but please know that it was plentiful & long-lasting.

Dinner time was fast approaching & I had nothing to show for it. Nothing to serve to my loved ones except an enamel covered cast iron pot full of hopelessness. The dish was bad, that was a fact, but it was more a matter of the sauce being grody than the actual chicken meat. So I started de-boning while scouring my brain & refrigerator for a back up plan & came up with a what I knew would be a surefire winner.

As I patted myself on the back for being so clever (you do that too right?) I soon realized that I was missing some of the required ingredients. So I subbed in a few things here & there & the end result was delicious.

The Dressing

3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsps lime juice
3/4 tsp curry powder

Mix all ingredients together & set aside.

The Goods

2-3 cups cooked chicken
1 medium apple, cut into small chunks
3/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1/2 cup thinly sliced raw sweet pepper
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/8 cup sunflower seeds

Mix the goods together & add dressing. Toss lightly until everything is coated. That’s it! Serve on bread as a sandwich or over a bed of greens. Or serve over a bed of greens on a sandwich. Enjoy!

Cass

My youngest is not a fan of peanut butter. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m still trying to get my head around it.

I was in a local health food store last week & came across “Super Nut & Seed Butter”. I checked the ingredients & noted that it was comprised of things my daughter likes. It was also all natural, organic & only $2.99. So I snatched it up & was on my way.

Upon further inspection back at home, I discovered that it was also salt free & sugar-free. Then I discovered that it was not spreadable – at all.

Dang.

So me being me, I figured, why not bake it into a cookie? Surely, if you slap a bunch of chocolate chips in it, it will work.

That’s been my baking philosophy for a while now & it hasn’t let me down yet. So when in doubt, throw some chocolate chips in.

Turns out, my wacky idea worked. The hubs said they were the best cookies ever. I should note that he has made this statement about just about every batch of cookies I’ve ever made. I think Alzheimer’s is setting in.

My Super Nut & Seed Butter was a mash-up of cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds & flax seeds but feel free to use any nut butter you like. I’ve also made these cookies with plain old Skippy & they were fantastic.

Flourless PB Chocolate Chip Cookies
Inspired by The Gourmet Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 cup nut butter
1 cup brown sugar *
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
chocolate chips and/or butterscotch chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
Using your stand or hand mixer combine nut butter & sugar(s). Add egg & baking soda & mix to combine. Fold in chocolate and/or butterscotch chips. Roll into small balls & flatten with the bottom of a glass or your hand. You can also make the cross-hatchy pattern with your fork if you want to. I skip that step so the cookies will be in my mouth faster :). Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned. Cookies will be soft when you take them out of the oven. Letting them sit on the sheet pan for a couple of minutes when they come out of the oven will help them to set up.

* I used a full cup of brown sugar because my cookies needed that smoky molasses flavor that only brown sugar brings to the table thanks to the blandness of the nut butter I was using. If you’re using regular peanut butter: use 1/2 cup granulated sugar & 1/2 cup brown sugar.

* No need to measure the chocolate/butterscotch chips. Just add a good handful or two. You can also fold in any chopped nuts & seeds you like.

Because I had two bags of butterscotch chips in my pantry for the last 2 weeks that I had no idea what to do with.

Because after a tough day of fancy book-learnin’ at school, who wants to come home to a plate of raisins?

Because my Husband loves butterscotch but pronounces it “bettascaaatch” because he knows it will make me laugh every time.

Because I ran errands all morning & then came home to play freezer jenga for a while until a box of ice cream sandwiches fell on my foot when I could have been drinking root beer & watching re-runs of Roseanne.

Because I’m not on a diet but if I were – today feels like a good day to wreck it.

And lastly because these have oats & an egg in them so they’re basically breakfast.

For all those reasons…

Ingredients