Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are my favorites. I like other cookies but I LOVE oatmeal cookies. Here’s a quick and easy recipe that makes about a dozen and takes 3 times longer to bake then it does to mix together. Delicious, almost like eating a nut butter and jam sandwich on oat bread but even better! Use whatever nut or seed butter your family likes and feel free to use whatever sugar-free jam you have on hand as well. I had strawberry jam so that’s what I used. You can find numerous types of free-dried fruits now on-line or at the grocery store.

In a medium (8 cup bowl) combine:

1 1/2 cups sprouted rolled oats

1/4 cup oat flour

2 1/2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Stir to combine. In a second 3-4 cup small bowl whisk together:

3 tablespoons avocado oil

1/4 cut nut or seed butter (I used tahini)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar-free or low-sugar strawberry jam

1/4 to 1/2 cup crushed freeze-dried strawberries (save some whole ones to press on top of the cookies before baking)

3 tablespoons date syrup (or agave, coconut nectar, maple syrup, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Stir whisked wet ingredients into dry ingredients and fold together until mixture is moistened and well mixed. Using a medium (or small for smaller cookies), scoop and drop cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, spaced about 1/2 inch apart and flatten each one with either the back of the scoop or a fork. Press a piece of dried strawberry into the top of each cookie. Bake 10-17 minutes depending on size (cookies should be firm to the touch). Cool for 10-15 minutes before removing cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container. They will keep for about a week (not in my household!). They will also freeze in a vacuum sealed bag for up to 3 months. Using my large scoop, I made 10 cookies.

Alternatives:

Use 1/2 cup pear sauce, 1/4 cup cranberries or raisins, and add 1/4 cup date sugar

Use 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/4-1/2 cup crushed dried apples and add 1/4 cup date sugar

Use 1/2 cup peach jam, 1/4-1/2 cup crushed dried peaches

Use 1/2 cup plum jam, 1/4 cup diced dried prunes

Use 1/2 cup of any jam and 1/2 cup carob chips

Use 1/2 cup pineapple jam and 1/4 cup crushed dried bananas or pineapple

Really just about any combination of sauce or jam with dried fruit or chips will work in this recipe. Just be sure to add the extra sweetener if using sauce rather than jam.

Spicy Plum Sauce Pork Chops

I have jars of jam in my freezer and since I don’t eat much toast or other things where jam would be good, I’ve been looking for recipes to use up these jams. Here’s one I found for my plum jam. If you do a search on my blog, you’ll find a recipe for strawberry jam (sugar-free of course) which you can use to make sugar free plum jam which is the base for the oriental spicy plum sauce for these pork chops. I served these chops with sauteed bok choy (find recipe under side dishes).

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees then make the plum sauce by combining in a small saucepan:

1 1/2 cups plum jam

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons date sugar

1 tablespoon dried onion (flakes or granules, both work)

1/2 teaspoon spicy chili sauce (or 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Whisk to combine and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium high heat. Once it boils, remove from heat.

In a 12″ skillet, over medium high heat, heat:

1 tablespoon olive oil

When shimmering, add:

4 pork chops, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness

Sear on all sides, including the outsides, until browned. Place in a 9×9″ baking dish (or whatever size fits your pork chops) and cover with the spicy plum sauce. Bake, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes depending on the thickness of your pork chops. Serves 4.

Chicken and Vegetables in Plum Sauce

Had a little of the soy substitute sauce left over from the recipe a couple of days ago so thought I’d make some choy mein. But there wasn’t quite enough sauce for that and I’d gotten a jar of plum jam out of the freezer and added some of that and oh my goodness, how mouth-watering is this! Like adding a little pear or apple to a pork or chicken gravy, adding a little plum to this Chinese sauce turned out luscious. Don’t have any plum jam around the house? Stew up 2 plums (skin too if organic) along with about 2 tablespoons of date syrup and then puree it and you’ve got plum jam!

Just like with most Chinese recipes, the first step is always to cut everything up!

Peel:

1 small to medium onion, slice in half thin slices

1 large o 2 smaller carrots, slice on the diagonal

2 garlic cloves, minced

Trim:

2 whole stalks or 4 stalks from the celery heart (about a cup altogether), slice diagonally

6 ounces of shitake mushrooms, sliced

Put the vegetables in a bowl and set aside until ready to cook. Trim the fat and slice:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts*

Place the slices in a food storage bag and add:

2 tablespoons soy sauce substitute (see recipe under sauces)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot

1/4 to 1/3 cup plum jam

Seal and refrigerate 15-30 minutes until ready to cook. When ready to cook, heat over medium heat in a 12″ skillet:

1 tablespoon olive oil

Add the vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes. Cover and lower heat to medium low and cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until carrots are tender. Remove the vegetables to their bowl, turn the heat back to medium and add to the skillet:

the marinated chicken and marinade

Cook stirring constantly until the chicken is cooked through, about 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the vegetables back to the skillet along with:

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

Stir to combine and continue stirring until sauce thickens, about 1 minute. Serve with brown rice or rice noodles.

*Want a vegan entrée? Substitute firm tofu or your favorite plant-based protein.

Raspberry Bars

I’ve always preferred making bars instead of cookies, takes less effort and time and tastes just as good. So I was pleased to find a recipe for raspberry bars (my favorite berry) that I think came out pretty good with revamping.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease a 9×9″ baking dish being sure to grease at least a 1/2 inch up the sides. Combine in a food processor:

2/3 cup white rice flour

1/3 cup brown rice flour

3 tablespoons potato starch

2 tablespoons tapioca flour

1/3 cup date sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Pulse until blended. Add by spoonfuls:

2/3 cup shortening or vegan margarine

Pulse until combined and mixture forms pea like bits (it looks a lot like pastry crust. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture to a small bowl. Press the remaining mix into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown. While it’s baking, stir into the 1/2 cup of mix reserved:

2 tablespoons date sugar

1/4 cup hemp hulls (or any seed your family likes such as pumpkin or sunflower, chopped)

1/4 cup gluten-free old-fashioned oats

Set aside. In another small bowl mix:

1 cup sugar-free raspberry jam

1 cup fresh raspberries

zest of 1/2 a lemon

juice of 1/2 a lemon

Stir together, breaking up some of the raspberries, until combined. Spread this over the top of the hot crust when it’s comes out of the oven. Sprinkle the reserved flour/hemp/oat mixture over the top of the raspberries. Bake another 20-25 minutes until the top has browned and the filling is starting to bubble. Cool on a cooling rack and then in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before cutting into squares.

TIP: I left the other half of the bars in the baking dish, covered them and left them in the refrigerator overnight and they came out of the dish much cleaner the next day, keeping more of the bottom layer intact.

Strawberry Jam (sugar free)

This is one of my favorite times of the year — strawberry season. What a wonderful treat fresh picked strawberries are; they make so many great things, so much more than just strawberry shortcake. I should probably tell you that I was never able to make jellies or jams, tried for years without any success. But when I discovered Pomona’s Universal Pectin, it works every time! Like magic!

Here’s a delicious and easy recipe for sugar-free strawberry jam. Note that you can also make raspberry, blackberry, peach, apple, pear, plum, prune, etc., jams using this method.

Wash and hull:

9 cups fresh strawberries

You can either mash them with a potato masher or puree them in your food processor; it all depends on how smooth you want your jam. If you like pieces of strawberry in your jam, use the masher.

Follow the instructions on Pomona’s Universal Pectin* to make calcium water.

Put in a 3 quart or larger pot:

8 cups strawberries, pureed or mashed
4 teaspoons calcium water

Bring to a boil.

While you’re waiting for the strawberries to heat, combine:

3/4 cup agave nectar with
4 teaspoons Pomona’s Universal Pectin

I find the pectin mixes best into the nectar if you add the pectin to the agave rather than adding the agave to the pectin. Use a small whisk to blend.

When the strawberries are bubbling, stir in the pectin-nectar mixture. Continue heating for several minutes (2-3) to dissolve the pectin. Remove from heat. Pour into water bathed jars. This should make 4 pint jars and a 1/2 pint jar.

You can either put these filled jars into a water bath for 10 minutes or, I prefer the easier method of just letting them cool completely and then placing them in the freezer.