Banana Olive Oil Cookies

I work for a company that provides great benefits and one of these benefits is that they pay for us to have "cooking classes" at the California Health and Longevity Institute.  The reason I put cooking classes in quotations is because they focus more on healthy living than on techniques.  I went to one where we made olive oil cookies and they were quite tasty so I wanted to make them again, but of course put my own twist on them.  We had some extra overripe banana's lying around so I decided to make banana olive oil cookies, and let me tell you, they turned out amazing!  Best of all these cookies are only 155 calories per cookie!

Ingredients:

1. 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (frozen)
2. 1 1/2 bananas
3. 1 cup of sugar
4. 1/2 cup of applesauce
5. 1 1/2 tsp. of vanilla
6. 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
7. 1 lid of white vinegar
8. 1 tsp of baking powder
9. 1/2 tsp. of salt
10. 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
11. 1 cup whole wheat flour
12. 1/2 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:

• Freeze olive oil until is becomes thick (like the consistency of honey) (this is in place of butter so it needs to be thicker than just pouring olive oil out of a bottle)
• Preheat oven to 375 degree and spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray
• In small bowl mash bananas then add white vinegar and 1 tsp of baking soda, let it sit for 5-10 minutes (it will get bubbly!)
• In a separate bowl combine flours, baking soda (1/2 tsp), baking powder, and salt
• Add applesauce, oil, sugar, and vanilla in with the banana mixture
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until combined
• Using a ice cream scoop or spoon scoop mixture into even balls (heaping tbsp.)
• Planing onto baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes
• Let them cool then dust them with powdered sugar

I didn't want to make 2 dozen cookies so I only made a few and put the rest of the batter in the freezer to use at another time when I just want one or two cookies.

Green Velvet Cupcakes in a Mason Jar

Sorry this is late! I have some visitors this week so my schedule has been a little messed up but better late than never!


Are you ready for St Patrick's Day?? This year I decided to try a recipe I found off of Pinterest, and let me tell you most of the sweet/baked items I have found on Pinterest have not turned out well.  This one is a partial exception; the cake portion turned out well (I did change the recipe too so I am not sure how it would have turned out without me changing it) but the frosting was a disaster!


I decided I didn't want to bake the cupcakes in the mason jars themselves because I felt that would be too much cake and not enough frosting so I made the cupcakes and layered them in the mason jars.


The Green Velvet Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 cups wheat flour 
• 2 cups sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cocoa 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup oil 
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 1 tablespoon vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 oz green food coloring 
• 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
• Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with whisk.  
• Add in remaining liquid ingredients.   
• Whisk until blended and sit aside.   
• Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or two until well combined
• Put the white chocolate chips in a small bowl and add 1/4 cup of flour and mix until the chips are well coated
• Fold the chocolate chips into the batter
• Pour the batter into cupcake pans.  
• Let cook for 10-15 minutes and than remove from pans. 

Cream Cheese Frosting (Should be called a glaze!-- DON'T USE THIS RECIPE!):
Ingredients: 

• 2 (8 oz) packages of softened cream cheese 
• 1/4 cup softened butter 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 bag powdered sugar (2 lb bag) 
• Milk as needed

Directions:

• Cream together cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a bowl until smooth 
• Gradually add in powdered sugar and continue mixing
• I added in milk as needed to get to a better consistency 

Putting them in jars!

It took me three cupcakes for each jar.  I unwrapped them and then put on at the bottom of each jar added a layer of frosting then repeat until it is full!  You can add some fun sprinkles on too!

Heaven is for Real

About a month ago I read the book Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo and this is one of the most inspirational books I have read.  I would recommend this book to anyone!  This is great for people who are dealing with the loss of a loved one, and there is also a children's version of this book (which I have not read) that is probably great for kids!

I read this book back in January and the reason I decided to write about it now is because my dog, Rocky (a 13 1/2 year old black lab) just went to heaven on Monday (March 5, 2012).  He had been such a huge part of my life since my dad and I got him when I was in second grade.  It was really hard for me to deal with this loss and it would have been even harder had I not read this book Heaven is for Real.  It taught me that even dogs go to heaven so even though Rocky is now in heaven I know that one day he and I will be reunited again.

This book is such a great book, even if you are not a religious person at all I would highly recommend this book, because I am not a religious person at all and this book still seemed pretty spectacular to me!