Archives for August 2012

I believe I can fly…

You know the song right? R. Kelly? Mid 90’s? Here is a refresher/cliff notes for you:

I believe I can fly

I believe I can touch the sky

I think about it every night and day

Spread my wings and fly away

I believe I can soar

I see me running through that open door

You get the picture? Anyway. I couldn’t figure out a good title for my very first solo blog post, and suddenly that song popped into my head. It’s just how my brain works. And most importantly, it wasn’t the R. Kelly version, it was the scene from Fun with Dick and Jane where Jim Carry is in the elevator singing and performing it as he rides to the 50th floor. “I believe! I believe!” with his arms flapping; makes me smile every time.

Jim Carry, I BELIEVE!
I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE! 

It just so happens to be one of my favorite movies too – probably because I’ve worked in corporate America for almost 10 years and they really poke fun of it, just like Office Space. Anyway, I’m getting off track here.

You’ve gathered that this is my first solo blog post so you may be asking yourself what does that mean, exactly (or not). It means, I had a joint website/blog with a friend of mine to get my blogging feet wet. It seemed way less scary having a partner in crime. I learned a whole bunch (what to do, what not to do, how to keep it fun, how to not put too much pressure on myself, etc) and now I want to spread my wings and fly on my own. I have all these crazy ideas in my head that I want to execute on and I feel I have outgrown my first blog. I’ve also learned that while the company who was hosting our blog was awesome, they were still lacking in a lot of things that you NEED to have a successful blog – for one – a FOLLOW OPTION.

So here we are, or here am. About to venture out onto a new path in my blogging life, writing a new blog and simultaneously clapping my hands in the air every 2 minutes trying to kill fruit flies that are buzzing around my face. -_- I kid you not, one even flew up my nose and was hanging out there for about 5 minutes before I blew my nose due to a “tickle”. {After blowing; the source was evident.} If only you could get rid of allergens that easy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

For some reason I started craving traditional chocolate chip cookies yesterday. I wanted to make a vegan version and didn’t want to follow any set recipe – so for the second time this week – I flew by the seat of my pants! :O I was pretty happy with the end result; they are a very fluffly and light cookie! Oh, and I decided to add peanut butter at the last minute. 🙂

Combine the below four ingredients in a bowl and set aside:
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. oat flour
1/2 tea. baking soda
1/2 tea. sea salt

In an electric mixture, cream the butters together. Add remaining ingredients while mixer is set to low. Scrape sides of bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated completely. 
1/2 c. vegan butter of choice (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. powdered fructose
1/2 c. maple syrup
1 tea. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. flaxmeal + 1/4 c. water (combine and set aside for 5 minutes to create the “flaxegg”)

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips or ground chocolate bar (I was out of chips, so I used my blender to chop the chocolate!)

Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter mixture, keeping the mixer on low speed. Combine well after each addition of flour mixture. Once all the flour is incorporated, add the chocolate chips and stir.

Scoop onto very lightly greased baking sheet. This made about 21 cookies for me.

Bake at 340°F for 12 minutes. (When I baked them at 350, they cooked too fast on the bottom and started to burn.)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies