Colin and I went to BBG on Sunday, which was a horrible mistake because there was a festival and admission was doubled and everything was closed. Claire met up with us and ate lunch with us on the museum steps and then we headed into the park to have some picnic times with our friends Zak and Allie. We walked home along Eastern Parkway even though Bed-Stuy is nearly five miles away and it was getting chilly. I know that I’m obnoxious and mushy, but I literally can not handle how fucking cute Colin is.

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_MG_0438 _MG_0437 _MG_0441 _MG_0443_1From the top: I’ve been eating a ton of Chipotle -style burrito bowls and tacos. I’ve been cooking up the tofu with similar seasoning as they use for their chicken. It’s been really delicious and really vegan. I’ve been reading On the Road and writing a lot, growing spinach and cooking tofu. I made vegan mac and cheese with mushroom and bread crumbs. Colin made Boca burgers and got real fucking fancy with the toppings. Today, Colin’s friend Nate came over. I made homemade hummus and helped Colin make some super tasty (seriously, his best yet) vegan lasagna with homegrown sage in it. We also ate some really awesome vegan doughnuts that Nate brought. And then Nate spent about 10 minutes being insanely cute with Max.

This weekend was more or less the last I’ll have before weekends start getting insanely busy, as they do when the weather gets nicer, so I’ve been trying to enjoy it. I was really quite successful in doing almost nothing all day yesterday. It ruled and I really need to start doing nothing more often.

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Seriously, they’re fucking great.

I got this recipe off of Minimalist Baker, which is now one of my favorite things in the world because I am trying to learn how to cook and bake and as I am a designer and always judge book’s by their covers, I need pretty food photography to lure me in. She has great vegan recipes and is just really great at everything, it seems. __________________________________________________________________________________________

Author: Minimalist Baker
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free
Serves: 26 cookies

 

Ingredients
  • 2 medium ripe bananas
  • 2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp flaxseed + 5 Tbsp water)
  • ½ cup natural, salted peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
  • 2 Tbsp refined coconut oil, melted (or canola oil)
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 Tbsp agave nectar (or sub maple syrup, or honey if not vegan)
  • 1½ cup gluten free rolled oats
  • ½ cup oat flour (ground from GF oats)
  • ½ cup almond meal (ground from raw almonds)
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • pinch sea salt (add more or less depending on saltiness of your PB)
  • 3 Tbsp raw walnuts, lightly crushed (or sub other nut)
  • ½ cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips (non-dairy for vegan)

 

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl combine flax seed and water and let rest for 5 minutes to achieve “eggy” texture.
  3. Mash in the bananas until well combined, and then add peanut butter, baking powder, baking soda, melted coconut oil, agave nectar, salt, vanilla and stir.
  4. Add oats, almond meal and oat flour and mix well.
  5. Add chocolate chips and walnuts and stir until well combined. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to harden.
  6. Drop cookies by spoonfuls on a lightly greased baking sheet – they won’t expand much. Also make them as uniform in size as possible to ensure even baking.
  7. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cookies are slightly golden brown.
  8. Let rest on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. After completely cooled, store in an air-tight container to keep fresh for up to a few days. Refrigerate or freezer for even longer storage time.

 

Nutrition Information
Calories: 119 Fat: 6.5 g Carbohydrates: 12.6 g Sugar: 5.5 g Sodium: 44 mg Fiber: 2.5 g Protein: 2.8 g

 

Colin and I spent an incredible amount of time cooking and baking this weekend. Colin made vegan lasagna Friday night, vegan buffalo cauliflower “wings” Saturday night and today, he made vegan waffles — and mine had chocolate chips in them! We spent the entire day making stuff for homemade, vegan Chipotle-style tacos, including but not limited to, cilantro and lime rice, “chicken” tofu and the tastiest salsa on the planet. We even made a new (weird) smoothie to drink tomorrow! It has avocado and peanut butter in it. And bok choy. It’s weird. But good. In other news, I am addicted to green tea with almond or soy milk and Colin started a project refurbishing an old industrial lamp for our apartment! We also both started Roth IRA’s today and Colin did his FAFSA! We are real, serious adults.

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I’m part of a fun new photoblog project that my friend Shannon started called Your One Wild Life. These are the three photos I’ve submitted thus far, check out the project with photos from many others (based on a weekly poem/quote prompt) at http://youronewildlife.wordpress.com/

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