Peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. *phew* What a mouthful! Try saying that three times while masticating one of these babies. They are incredible. I had my doubts, but with a few tweaks to the typical peanut butter cookie, you get something that is not overwhelmed with ingredients, but is rich enough to only be able to stuff one or two down before passing out in a peanut butter coma. They’re easy to make with stuff you probably have laying in your pantry anyway, the only requirement is a strong willpower so as to NOT eat all the peanut butter before mixing it in. The recipe:

Yeild: about 15 Kristy-sized cookies

1/2 cup butter/margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (please use natural pb! You will be rewarded!)
1 large egg or equivalent egg substitute
1 1/2  teaspoon vanilla
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chocolate chips

(You can easily make this into a vegan recipe, though I didn’t choose to today!)

Preheat to 350.

Mix all dry ingredients (including the oats). Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugars well. Add peanut butter, vanilla and egg and mix well. Add in all of the dry ingredients fully and then gently mix in the chocolate chips. If you find two cups of chocolate chips overwhelming, you may want to cut back. (But- why are you making cookies in the first place?)

Spoon onto a baking sheet in generous lumps and press them down a little. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove, let cool for a couple minutes and move to a cooling rack. Yes that easy! It’s fool proof, believe me. Even if you do somehow mess up on this, you’ll still have peanut butter chocolate goop. It’s win-win.

Mmmmm.

The Deliciousness

At the moment, I’m sick with the strep. Though I did try to take pictures of my swollen disgusting tonsils, I found it hard to do alone- you lucked out, internet. You’ll love this soup though, bacterial infection or not. Like all soups, it’s easy to make and takes on a very mutable base that can be changed to fit your needs. Mine, today were two-fold: empty out fridge and cabinets as we’re moving soon, and the need for something lightly spicy, healthy and served warm, mmmm. The recipe:

Here’s what I put in there (and you’ll see it scant on the veggies, but alas, tis what I had)

1 bag frozen mixed veggies

2 bags frozen broccoli

1 tomato (cored and sliced into big or small pieces depending on your preference, taking off the skin now may be good- otherwise you’ll be digging them out later or running across weird stringy red things in the soup)

4-6 garlic cloves based on personal taste

2+ cans beans (I used one red, one black)

1/2 cup tomato paste

olive oil

salt for roasting

pepper to taste

healthy dash parsley

bay leaf

healthy dash cilantro

sprinkling ginger

red chili powder and/or Tony Chachere’s spice mix, which is EXCELLENT and/or Sriracha sauce (I used them all!)

soy sauce

dab of hoisin sauce

First thing to do is to roast half of the broccoli, all of the mixed veggies, the garlic and the tomato. This is done in the oven at 450 degrees on a roasting pan (sprinkle veggies with olive oil and salt) for about 30-45 minutes. Stir every 10-15 minutes, watch for browning and don’t let it get too crisp. They’ll be done when they’re crisp, not black, and smelling delicious. For me, this brings out the essence of deliciosity within vegetables which will really add to the broth.

While the veggies were roasting, I prepared the large pot that I would use to make the soup. The best pot will be one that will be a little less than half filled with all the veggies and beans when added in. In the pot I conservatively added all the other ingredients leaving room for adding more as needed. This too is when you decide whether or not you want to follow this recipe, feel free to leave some things out, though I was very happy with this particular spice mix.

When the veggies are ready, move them to the pot and add water to about an inch from the rim of the pot. Let it come to a boil and stir occasionally- do not cover. The broth will reduce, and depending on taste- add more water, or more of any of the ingredients. If it’s not as thick as you would like, add in some flour (which I prefer for thickening rather than corn starch, but either will work). After it’s done thickening to your desire (probably another 30-45 minutes), you will need to take out the bay leaf and the garlic cloves though the boy loves his garlic, so I kept it in as a delicious surprise for him. If you’re worried that a clove of garlic is too much for you, eat one that you’ve used similar to in this soup, they’re delicious!

Anyway, that’s basically it, and it’s a great base for any veggie soup, or even an opportunity to use up some pork or chicken before it goes bad.

Here are some things that would taste good in here that I did not have or choose to add:

Fresh ingredients, it makes everything better. You can’t beat fresh parsley in a soup! I would have probably added fresh basil as well.

Onions! I was out, and devastated (would taste GREAT roasted).

Carrots and celery- which I hate, but most people seem to love.

Bean sprouts, mmm- it would make this taste MORE similar to pho (minus the tomato undertones of the soup).

Less broccoli, although it was delicious in whole form, there were a bunch of little pieces from it that made the soup a bit stringy. Fresh broccoli may have cured this.

Potatoes! Probably would not roast them.

Anyway, if you want this closer to a curry, curry paste and/or coconut milk would not be out of the question, though to keep it creamy, I would limit the water and nix the tomato. Coconut milk is pretty fatty though, so beware!

-If you have a digital camera, it is useful that it be in the car in an event of a wreck. Though obviously unpredictable, they are excellent insurance policies in themselves.

-Insurance companies aren’t the bad guy- they do and charge you what you signed up for originally. Either person in an accident has the potential to be The Bad Guy. Do not be this Bad Guy. If there is a Bad Guy, go only through the insurance companies and do not admit fault or give out any other information than absolutely necessary.

-Accidents are far more tolerable when people are mature about them. Yes you will be late to whatever (though you have a decent excuse), yes this will be a hassle for both parties, but if you deal with it without being an ass, things happen much quicker, people are happy to help the cordial.

-Despite the ass-making abilities of other drivers, stay calm, think things through, get all information from the other person, remember simple facts like location, other car, the other driver’s name.

-Friends are there to help, but they’re absolutely useless unless you ask for specifics. “Can you take me here at this time?” is more apt to get you help than the more broad, “Hey- can anyone help me? Does anyone realize I have no car right now?” (Diffusion of responsibility.)

-Rental cars are generally crappy models that no one else buys. If you’re given a car you’ve never heard of anyone you know having, perhaps there’s a reason.

-Body shops, at least here in north Texas, are constantly busy. Any hopes of getting your car in and out at a reasonable time is greatly diminished if your insurance is not covering your car.

-In Texas at least- the driver is not the one insured, it is the car. Though you have to be insured yourself, so does the car you’re driving, and if it’s a friend’s car, hopefully they know the risks!

Two accidents indeed, one- I hydroplaned into the back of a car (Thursday). Easily it was my fault, though I was so mad at myself for not bothering to respect the rain. The other car was barely dented, my car (well, my boyfriend’s car) was smushed in front taking the majority of the damage. Second accident (Sunday) was not my fault, but was my car- my precious Focus (karmic?). It was a Tundra that backed up into me and crushed the driver’s side headlight area pretty badly. The guy who hit me was a saint and very nice, other guy was irritable, but I’m sure well taken care of despite the lack of real injury to his car :(

Tweek in the sink this morning. Obviously, the sink is not-so-clean, but I think the mess adds something. Mhm, yes.

Today was mostly a success. Going out and actually looking for an apartment has been rewarding and de-stressing, and though I feel better knowing that I may actually have a place to live in a month, I also have the process of moving to worry about, the money to move to worry about and being able to decide on one place. /typical girl

I think eventually this will be the new place, though obviously need to ok with the roommate :)

Tomorrow, in all my unemployed glory, I’m going to be in charge of taking the man’s car into the place we did before. The engine light went on, and we were told by someone else that what’s broke was what was fixed before. Although this is displeasing, I’m impressed with the way that the original chop shop is treating the problem, and will be able to see the ‘rents while down in the ‘hood for the car repairs. Slowly alleviating the guilt of not seeing the parents and the unsafeness that is that Camry. Whew.

So, what’s the haps, yo? I’m currently unemployed and depressed. Looking for a new apartment and rebuilding a relationship that I was stupid enough to break in the first place. I’m getting my masters in Library and Information Sciences, and it’s simplistic and boring. Because of the lack of job and the general lack of excitement/sanity, I’ve been reevaluating my life, friends and future plans. I am, as they call it, a mess.