Chock Full (Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love it when the weather is cooler.  I have always been a big fan of fall.  I have always despised summer.  I am thrilled summer is coming to a close and fall is upon us.  I can't wait for the changing leaves, apple cider, Halloween, Thanksgiving and all of the other joys that come with this time of year.

One of the things I don't do very often in summer, due to lack of air conditioning in my home, is bake.  I really like to bake.  I wanted to make bread today, but didn't have quite enough time to do so, since I worked a few hours today.  (It was kinda fun at work, we cleaned out the main toy closet and ORGANIZED everything. That makes me and my type A personality happy!)  So, since I didn't have time for bread baking, I wanted to make something.  Chocolate Chip cookies was the obvious substitution.  Easy, relatively fast and oh, so yummy!

While I haven't been adhering to a strict Vegan diet lately (I really should get back to it), I still try to avoid using milk and eggs.  So, I hit the cookbooks to find a recipe for Vegan Choc. Chip cookies.  One recipe intrigued me, but I had to do a little 'adjusting.'  The recipe below is my adaptation and I must say I LOVE THESE COOKIES!  They are a little bit crispy, cake-like and full of goodies.  Chocolate chips were just a starting point.  What this evolved into was soooooooo good!

April's Chock Full (Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour (preferably unbleached white flour)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (I used chunky applesauce because that's what I like.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup (or a tad more) dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix flour, baking soda, and cinnamon until well blended in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Mix sugar, applesauce and vanilla until blended in a larger bowl.  Add dry ingredients to the applesauce mixture.  Mix until a soft, solid dough is formed.  Add chocolate chips and cranberries.
Drop by rounded teaspoon onto an un-greased baking sheet.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the top.  Remove from the cookie sheet and cool on a cooling rack.  ENJOY!

(One of my favorite things about vegan baking is you don't have to worry about sampling the dough-NO EGG!  I wouldn't encourage you to eat tons of it as it will probably lay heavy in your stomach, but a sample or two is not out of the question!)

Below you will find a few photos of my baking adventure.  They're all the pictures I got today.  Between work and the fact that my lips started to swell within five minutes of leaving the house, my hope for taking a walk/hike today was ruined.  Maybe in another month I'll be able to enjoy being outdoors.

In other sad news, tomorrow is the day of the run I had planned to go to in Columbus.  I had hoped that 7 weeks of training would have gotten me somewhat in shape to complete the 5k but, because of my knee and allergies, I had to put that hope away too.  Now I am just fat and lazy and miserable.  Ick!  I need to start working out again.  I only have another week and a half before I go see the orthopedist, so hopefully after that he'll release me to start up my workouts again, this time with some tips and a plan to prevent further damage to my bones!


Okay, sorry for my deluge of misery and whining.  I'll try to be positive.  Anyway, enjoy the photos below and have a happy Sunday!!!

The only type of applesauce I buy.  I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to applesauce.  It is a major staple in my diet and currently I will only eat two kinds of applesauce, Musselman's and the stuff I make myself.  I'll have more on my recipe for applesauce as we venture further into fall.  It is really yummy and pretty simple to make.

My preferred brand of chocolate chips.  Vegan and mini, a wonderful combination.

The dough.

Large teaspoons full on the baking sheet, ready to be baked.

Look at that golden brown color.  Yum, yum!

You can see how many chips get in each cookie as well as the cranberries.

Lots of chocolatey goodness.

The recipe made a dozen and a half good sized cookies. 

Fill in the blank Friday!!! (and a couple pics)

I loved doing the fill in the blank Friday last week, so I have to do it again.  Check out the creator's blog and other entries here.

 

1.   You should always take time to     say, "I love you."  I'm not always very good at that and feel badly when others say it and I haven't.  I love them, I'm just not always good at expressing it.

2.    Ice Cream (and not the fake kind I usually eat)      make(s) the world a happier place to be.

3.  I can hardly wait for  the first time I get to hold my friend's baby.  I'm so anxious to meet him!

4. Sunday   is my favorite day of the week.

5.  Something totally dumb and ridiculous that I love is   sparkly nail polish.  I know in my heart I'm a bit too old for it, but I love it anyway!

6.  If I could, I would   take a really extravagant and long vacation, all by myself  .

7.  I rather like    my family, most of the time   .

 

And to wrap up my post, I have a couple photos.  I had to be up and at work early today, so I was thrilled to see a lovely sunrise.  My pics did not come out perfectly, (I was in a hurry to get to work), but I think they capture a small portion of this beautiful wonder of nature.  Enjoy!

It's Friday...almost!

I am so happy it's almost Friday.  Seriously, I was beginning to think the end of this week of h**l would never arrive.  Work has been INSANE and I am so ready for a day off!  I'm only working a partial tomorrow and then a few hours Saturday.  No work on Sunday and this girl is thrilled!!!!  (Saturday's work won't be too bad, just some of my staff and I doing some inventory and  clean up.  We don't have to ON and dealing with anyone except each other.  Yeah!!!)

Anyway, as I prepare for a short, but what will probably prove to be another challenging day, I have a few photos to share.  I have not been keeping up with my blog.  My writing challenge is blown and frankly I'm just tired lately.  I really need to get out more and hope to have some time to hike and enjoy the outdoors a little this weekend.  I may put my sewing projects aside and forget about them until the weather gets even cooler.  We'll see if that really happens. 

So, here's a few photos from this evening.  Nothing fancy, just pretty pictures.  At least I like most of them.  Enjoy!!!

A beautiful shot that caught my eye while I was working on the car.  (Nothing serious just routine stuff I have to do to keep my baby running.  My car is 12 years old and has driven a lot of miles!)  I stopped went inside and had to get my camera.  The sky was just gorgeous.  I'm really glad fall is on its way. (BTW, I totally think the front of this set of clouds looks like a dragon's head.)

A burst of color.  Some of the leaves are turning and southeastern Ohio is definitely a beautiful sight to see in the fall.

Another tree shot.  Please don't be surprised.

More whispy clouds.  Can you tell I don't spend much time out of doors these days?

So these flowers are lovely, even if a little 'dangerous.' I tried to take my photos quickly and run back into the house.  But, I loved this cute little beetle.  I couldn't resist getting a shot of him. (or her)

I like this.  The color is so bright and I like the focus.  I think it really pops.

The only picture I don't like.  My back steps are crumbling.  I think the landlord is going to have to deal with this soon.  I don't use these steps barely at all and frankly they are really becoming a hazard.  I want to be able to go out my 'back'/kitchen door and not be afraid I'll fall.  I have enough problems!

Shapies!!!

I just made up a new word, shapies.  Shapies are the reason I'm still up and going at almost midnight.  I am too stubborn for my own good.  I had an idea while at work today and, voila, I would not go to bed until it was done.  Like my life depended on it?  Oh April...

Anyway, I thought I'd share my project with you.  Its not fancy, but I like them, A LOT!  I think they're adorable, so if you don't like them, well fine.  I do and I am sincerely hoping that my children will like them.  Of course they're preschoolers and they like me generally, so, we'll see...

Meet the Shapies family.  I made them from felt that my Mom bought me several years ago.  I have tons of felt!  The children in Preschool are talking about shapes this week and I've been wanting to make some stuffed toys, so here we are.

The youngest Shapie, Estrella.  Her name is Star in Spanish.

This is Dad.  He's called Oranje.  That's orange in Dutch!

Mom's name is Rose.  (That's another word for pink!)

This is big sister Rechtek.  Her name means rectangle in German.

This is little brother Piazza.  His name is Italian for square.

And finally we have big brother Diamante.  His name means diamond in Portuguese.

I hope you like them and I can't wait to see what the kids think.  Good night!

My weekend

This has not been an overly exciting weekend.  However, I feel that I was moderately productive this weekend, so that is definitely a good thing.  Today I haven't left the house at all, which is a very good thing with the pollen count the way it is.  I did get some work done here in the house and watched several episodes of 'Say Yes to the Dress.'  I really think it is a good show to study the human condition and the mess of our society.  So much fuss for a dress.  Unfortunately I do agree that there is some importance to that particular type of dress just not to the tune of 11,000 dollars and smacking someone because you don't like what you get.  People, who knows.

Anyway, I am working on an extended post that will show you how I spent the bulk of my weekend, finishing my big project.  The blanket for baby Henry.  I feel like a terrible 'Auntie'.  He is already 3 days old and I haven't even mailed out his birthday present!  I just hope he (more specifically his parents) like it.  It is not a great blanket.  But I think I covered up the worst of my mistakes and all I can say is this was my first attempt.  I had no idea how challenging this would be.  I really envisioned this as an easy project that would be done in no time.  That was not the case, but the effort was well worth it for Henry and as a learning experience.  I plan to keep those mistakes in mind next time I attempt something like this.

But, all-in-all it came out pretty good.  As I mentioned above I'll have more in my post tomorrow (actually today) in the evening so anyone who is experienced in sewing can laugh at my work and maybe offer a little sage advice for the next time I attempt something like this.  But for now its on to the next project.  I already know what Henry and my own niece and nephews will be getting as part of their Christmas presents, I just have to start production.  Wish me luck on my next sewing venture!

I'll leave you with one quick snapshot of the blanket just to whet your appetite.  (That is if anyone actually reads this!)  Goodnight and Enjoy!

J'adore...

A few things I love today...

No, I don't adore myself.  I love that I'm not traveling this weekend or possibly at all this week.  No trips that are longer than 20 minutes.  I love that!

My cutting mat, rotary cutting tool and ruler.  I worked on projects last weekend with out these and I was miserable.  Glad to be home with them.

Glade, Clean Linen candle.  Just a nice fresh, clean scent.  Not overpowering, cause that would make me sneeze.

Grape Kool-Aid.  Yeah, I know its not the best thing to drink, but I really like its sugary sweetness.

Chocolate marshmallows.  Toast them over the flame on the stove and delish! 

These are some cup/containers I found at Wal-Mart.  I really love them.  I've used them for tons of things since I bought them.  Right now my favorite thing to do with them is to get all my daily meds ready.  Each night before bed, I sort out my three cups of meds: breakfast, lunch and dinner.  So handy and cute!

Chocolate.  I bought this bar and divided it up into sections so I wouldn't eat it all at once.  Of course I ate this section as soon as I was done with the picture.  Yum.

Greek Yogurt with Maple Syrup to sweeten.  I don't use much syrup, just enough to enhance the flavor.  This makes the yogurt tasty and healthy!

Beautiful, fresh, ripe, sweet peaches.  My before dinner snack!

Breathing mask, latex gloves, and extra strong trash bags.  I went to Lowe's and got all of this to help me clean up my basement.  The mask was necessary as there is more than a bit of mildew and mold in the damp, icky basement.  But, its better now.  May I never have to do that again!

Laundry Detergent.  I started using the Purex laundry sheets a couple years ago and loved them.  However, the sheets are a bit more expensive so, now I stick with the liquid.  Honestly I used ALL before an I totally prefer the clean, fresh scent of Purex.  I really like doing laundry.  Everything get clean, warm and fresh smelling.  I really like it when things smell nice!

These were all in my pocket.  Flash drive with all my work back up documents.  Burt's Bees Pomegranate Replenishing Lip Balm.  Soft lips and a yummy taste!  My Tree of Life necklace.  When I was checking out at Lowe's the girl ringing me up said it was really beautiful.  And to think, this is my everyday necklace!

Fill in the Blanks Friday

I haven't been keeping up with my writings.  I am lazy.  But, tonight I'll join in a linky party and fill in the blanks.  If you want to play too, go here.

1.   Somewhere someone is     thinking about me, I hope  .

2.    My kidos      is/are my muse.

 

3.  It would suck if    books    were no more because,    reading the WRITTEN word is timeless and beautiful.  You just don't have that in a 'tablet'  .

4.   Baby Henry is one day old    is/are my favorite thing today.

5.  Life is kind of like     a party.  You can be wild and drunk; socialize and have fun; be a wallflower and watch; or be miserable.  Your choice.

6.  If I could have anything I wanted I would want   someone (enough said)    .

7.  A funny thing happened the other day...    one of the kids tried to fart on the sly and everyone, me included, busted up laughing.  I am such a bad example .