Last Day of Spring Break- It's Back to Work Tomorrow

I was going to sleep late today, the last day I could do so for a week, but my son called me at 5:30 am from Korea. Oh well. I made a pot of coffee, and decided to bake a batch of healthy breakfast cookies. I've been seeing commercials for a major company's "breakfast cookies," and I can just imagine how much white flour and sugar they have in them. Mine are much healthier. And they don't have fruit in them, like raisins or apples–they have bacon, and cheese, and oats. The combination of salty protein with the sweet make for a yummy, filling treat to eat by hand while driving to work if you're in a hurry and can't make breakfast at home.

Breakfast Cookies



3/4 c white whole wheat flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2/3 c butter, softened
1/4 c Splenda
1/4 c Splenda brown sugar blend
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1 1/2 regular oats, uncooked (can use quick-cooking, but not instant)
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c ground flaxseed
1/4 c oat bran
1/2 c real bacon bits

Combine flour, soda, and salt; mix well, and set aside. Cream butter and sugar; beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats, cheese, wheat germ, and bacon. Using hands, form dough into 1 1/2" balls. Slightly flatten them and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 16-18 minutes. Cool 1 minutes on cookie sheets. Yield: 2 dozen

I cheated for dinner tonight. I used a seasoning mix I bought at George's Market, a German store around the corner from my office.

Instead of following the directions, which called for only meat, mushrooms, water, and a bit of cream, I added diced red potatoes, and white wine instead of water. Served with a salad, it made for a great dinner, with leftovers for DH's lunch tomorrow.


Bananas in Walnut Sauce
I learned something tonight about fat free half and half. It doesn't curdle when heated in a sauce. We wanted a sweet dessert, and I had some bananas, so I thought I'd throw together a simple walnut-brown sugar sauce sort of like Bananas Foster. It turned out wonderful. Here's what I did:

Heat two tablespoons of butter in a skillet, and add about half a cup of coarsely chopped walnuts. Cook the nuts gently for a couple of minutes, and then add two heaping teaspoons of Splenda brown sugar blend. Keep stirring, and after a minute or so, add 1/2 teaspoon rum extract and half cup of fat free half and half. Cook, stirring gently another couple of minutes--it will cook down and thicken. (This is where regular half and half tendes to curdle). Add two bananas, halved and sliced lengthwise into fourths. Heat through and serve. It tasted decadent, but had less real sugar and fat than regular.

food & drink