Last week, my sister and I entered into a bet of sorts to achieve our goal weight by a certain date. The deal is that if she achieves her goal weight, I pay for her pedicure and if I achieve mine, she pays for my pedicure. If we both win, we just both get a pedi and all is well in the world (or at the very least, with our feet). A couple of years ago (pre-baby metabolism years), I had lost about 30 lbs. on the Atkins Diet along with daily exercise. It had seemed so easy all those years ago that I thought I would try it again. Welp, turns out this body has rejected the idea of consuming nothing but eggs, chicken, tuna fish and romaine lettuce for the next two weeks and so after about 4 painstaking days (and a pleasant 5 lbs. lost)…I completely unraveled all of my hard work by eating about a dozen whole wheat peanut butter cookies that I swore would be for the kids only and had convinced myself that having them in the house would be “no big deal”. It all happened so fast. I had come home from volunteering in my first-graders classroom and grocery shopping (where the first signs of trouble hit as I wiped drool off my chin in the bakery department). I chatted with my mother-in-law and then bid her farewell, made the kids lunch (which consisted of organic spaghettios that have absolutely no effect on my palette), put the kids down for a nap and then was left to my own lunch of canned chicken. As I cleaned up the kitchen, I passed the cookie jar filled with the forbidden treats. I swear I could hear a whisper coming from the cookie jar….”eat me….eat me”. Who was I to deny the demands of cookies? Next thing I know, I am sitting on the floor with an empty glass of milk, a cookie jar half empty (or perhaps half full according to you optimists out there) and crumbs across the front of my shirt. Oh, the horror! “What have I done?” I asked myself. In reply to my own question, I shrugged my shoulders and ate another dozen cookies. Which leads me to today. I have decided to take a new approach. Not new in the sense that it’s never been done because, in fact, every right-minded person would do it…I decided to just eat healthy foods and eat in moderation. Duh. However, just in case the cookie jar talks to me again, I wanted to make sure it won’t do as much damage. After a couple of modifications, I made a cookie that is healthy AND edible. Hope you enjoy!
Healthiest Cookie Ever (that Joan Could Think Of)
Ingredients: (whenever possible, I use organic or natural ingredients)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce (I used Mott’s Original)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 scoops of protein powder
1 Tbs Flax Seed
Combine butter, apple sauce, peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until fluffy. In a separate bowl add the remaining ingredients. Drop by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Use a fork to flatten them down. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies, which you still probably shouldn’t eat all in one sitting (more of a note to myself).
Of course, I had to make this kid friendly, so I adapted the task for Jagger (3 years old) by measuring the ingredients for him, placing them in front of him and having him figure out what was what by giving him clues, i.e. brown sugar is brown and grainy, the applesauce is yellowish and wet. Jorja (6 years) was able to measure independently and all I had to do for her was teach her how to find the correct measurement, i.e. “the 1/4 cup will have a one over the four”. Jemma (1 year) was just along for the ride and it was basically sensory time with her as I let her play with little bits of the ingredients (um…except the raw egg). Jake was at hockey, but he didn’t mind helping by eating.
projectsupermommy 