Another Weekend

Another weekend, come and gone too soon! I had a nice run Saturday morning with Jane, running the course of the Milton 10K. But there are a lot of hills, and they totally kicked my butt. I've got some work to do before that race in a week! When I got home, I made myself a nice brunch.
I cooked up a 2 egg omelet with spinach, asparagus and goat cheese, with a slice of sourdough toast spread with spiced cashew butter. I spent the rest of the afternoon running errands, and then was back in the kitchen to do some baking. I started with cookies. I was in the mood for something chocolate, but also wanted to experiment with vegan baking. I decided to make a batch of chocolate peanut butter cookies from Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink, and be Vegan cookbook. Its a sticky dough that I made with white whole wheat flour, Green & Black's cocoa powder, maple syrup, agave nectar, coconut oil, and swirls of natural peanut butter.

I also added lots of chopped Green & Black's dark chocolate, which got melty and gooey as the cookies baked.


The recipe called for vegetable oil, but I decided to use coconut oil instead. Maybe not the best choice, because it definitely gave them a coconut flavor. But they were still really good and chocolaty! My friend Jackie also suggested they could use a little crunch, which I totally agree with. Next time maybe I'll add some chopped salted peanuts.

After the cookies, I started on a recipe to use the perfectly ripe mango I had sitting on my counter.
Mangoes are one of my favorite fruits, but its so hard to get a good one. I decided to showcase this perfect specimen using Joy the Baker's recipe for Mango Lime Bread.

Along with lots of chopped mangoes, it contains lime zest, grated green apple, and golden raisins, and also used white whole wheat flour and maple syrup to sweeten it. Again, I experimented with oils and used EVOO instead of vegetable oil. This time it worked and made the bread super moist. And heart healthier!



For dinner I was inspired by last month's cover of Bon Appetit and made a batch of shrimp enchiladas with salsa verde. It started with broiled tomatillos, poblano peppers, and garlic.

I pureed these into a salsa verde, then coated corn tortillas in it that were filled with shrimp, onions, more poblanos, and feta.

To serve, I topped them with chipotle cream, more feta, and sliced avocado (another favorite fruit!).
Not quite as pretty as Bon Appetit's version, but just as tasty I'm sure.

This morning for breakfast we enjoyed the mango lime bread along with a spinach, asparagus, and feta frittata.


This afternoon I went to visit my friend Jackie and her beautiful baby girl, Piper.

We all took turns holding her.





Isn't she a cutie? The baby, not Jon.

For lunch I brought a batch of Spring Tabbouleh from 101 Cookbooks, made with blugur, asparagus, peas, walnuts, and hard boiled egg tossed in a garlic, lemon, chive, and EVOO dressing.
Lucy brought tomato and mozzarella salad, and Jackie put on a lovely spread.

She said the berries were inspired by the berries she sees me eat every morning!

I enjoyed a big helping of everything.

And we had my cookies for dessert, which were a hit! I'm still kind of full from lunch, but I'm going to go make dinner now anyway. And prepare for Monday...ugh. When do I get to quit my job and bake cookies for a living?