In the kitchen

I have been unmotivated in the cooking department in recent weeks. It just goes like that for me; peaks and valleys. Finally, I decided to make cookies, but some that wouldn't leave me feeling guilty for having them in the house. I found a great base recipe online and made some changes. These cookies happen to be gluten-free. I eat gluten, but Luke is doing a month-long no-gluten trial which also inspired the cookie for us. We jokingly refer to it as the Allergy Cookie since Emmy loves them and they do have a lot of no-no ingredients for babies (eggs, honey, peanut butter). We have made them twice and love having them around. I don't feel bad at all for eating them!

The Allergy Cookie

3 cups rolled oats
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugarless applesauce
3/4 cup coconut milk (not lite)
3/4 cup sugarless peanut butter
3/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 cup chocolate chips OR fruit juice sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a wooden spoon mix together oats with wet ingredients(eggs, applesauce, coconut milk, peanut butter, honey and vanilla). Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients in order and mix well(the batter will be quite wet).

Cover your baking sheet with foil and scoop tsp-sized drops onto the sheet. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

ENJOY!

I made some black beans the other day to have in the fridge, mostly for Luke. I rinse them, soak them overnight, rinse again and then simmer in vegetable broth for around 2 hours. For lunch I threw some in a bowl and topped them with salsa and avocados. Mmmmmm.

We taught Johanna the M&M game the other day. Now she begs to play "the game".

Johanna Funnies:
furfle! - careful
two minutes! for when she needs some time.
i love you soooo much, mommy. yesadoo, yesadoo!

We are off to a birthday party today and the warm weather is returning to us, climbing all the way to 72 by Friday! These days as I desperately look forward to warmth it's hard to believe I grew up in Michigan.

I ran 5 miles yesterday after not running for over a week. I felt great and ran the fastest I've ever run, 9:28 pace. I will be running the Skull Valley 10K at the end of April and I'm determined to break the 1 hour mark. I am officially registered for the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine in August. I will be running with my friend Maggie and I am beyond excited. Apparently, this race attracts some of the most elite in the running field and I can't wait to witness it all!

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