Snickerdoodles

 A few weeks ago, and after nearly 17 years of marriage, I learned that these cookies are my husband's absolute favorite cookie ever. 

Ingredients for the snickerdoodle dough

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C coconut oil at room temperature
• 1 C sugar
• 1/4 C unsweetened unflavored almond milk
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt

Ingredients for rolling

• 3 T sugar
• 1 t cinnamon powder

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Mix sugar and butter together in a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients. Add milk and vanilla extract, and mix again.
3. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients for the dough (NOT the rolling ingredients). 
4. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until well mixed. If the mixture is too dry, add more almond milk. It won't take much though. make a dough.
5. Using a spoon or a very small ice cream scoop, scoop the dough, then roll between your palms to form smooth balls. 
6. Mix the cinnamon powder and sugar in a small bowl, and roll each dough ball in this cinnamon-sugar mixture.
7. Place on a baking sheet (I put mine on my Silpat).
8. Bake for around 14 minutes.
9. Once done, remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack.
10. Enjoy!

Mexican Stew

A friend had pinned this recipe on her Pinterest board; since she is also the friend who made the blueberry oatmeal bake, I looked over the recipe and was intrigued. I’d already decided 2015 would be the year I would master cooking butternut squash and I figured I might as well get an early start.

I have a red enchilada sauce recipe but in this case because I was short on time, I opted for the canned stuff. I used beans I’d cooked, but they didn’t have any extra seasoning in them, and in the interest of convenience, I used the prepackaged taco seasoning—this is box cooking at its finest! Otherwise, it’s an easy dish to make and also cooks up pretty fast in the slow cooker. It’s a stew, not a soup.

Updated to add that I get better results if I cook the quinoa separately from the rest of the stew, then add it in at the end.

Ingredients 

• 1 pound butternut squash, cubed
• 1 can corn
• 2 C cooked black beans
• 1 C uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1 large can fire-roasted petite diced tomatoes (29 ounces)
• 1 small jalapeno, optional
• 1 batch enchilada sauce (about 29 ounces)
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth, or water (I use water and rinse out the cans)
• 1 packet (1.25 ounces) taco seasoning

Directions

• If your slow cooker isn’t non-stick, consider using some kind of cooking spray.
• Assemble all the ingredients except the quinoa in the slow cooker.
• Stir well.
• Cook on high for about four and a half hours (no clue what the time would be if you did it on low).
• Follow the package directions to cook the quinoa.
• Add to the slow cooker and stir. 
• Enjoy!