Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies

Healthy Carrot Cake Cookies

Deliciously soft cookies brimming with wholesome ingredients like oatmeal, carrots, and raisins. A fantastic choice for a nutritious treat or snack that’s sure to be a family favorite!

Ingredients

  • ½ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup unsweetened applesauce or fruit puree
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 ½ cups finely grated carrot (about 3 large carrots)
  • 1 cup raisins (or any type dried fruit)

Directions

  1. Wash hands with soap and water.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
  3. In a large bowl, stir together the sugars, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
  4. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients.
  5. Blend the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Stir in the carrots and raisins.
  6. Drop the dough by a teaspoon onto the baking sheet.
  7. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.
  8. Store in an airtight container.

For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.

Beet and Carrot Salad

Beet and Carrot Salad

Indulge in the vibrant harmony of flavors with this beet and carrot salad – a quick, simple, and creamy delight that elevates any meal as the perfect side dish.

Ingredients

1 carrot, sliced thin or coarsely grated
¼ cup minced onion
2 Tablespoons light mayonnaise or plain yogurt
¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)
6 (2-inch round) beets, cooked from fresh and diced, or 1 can (15 ounces) drained, rinsed and diced

Directions

  1. Wash hands with soap and water.
  2. Cook sliced carrots, if desired, until just tender. Try microwaving or steaming.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the onion, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Add cilantro, if desired. Add beets and carrots and stir to mix. Serve warm or cold.
  4. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

Notes

  • No mayonnaise? Use plain yogurt instead.

Resource: https://foodhero.org/recipes/beet-and-carrot-salad

Banana Oatmeal Bread

Banana Oatmeal Bread

Warm and comforting whole-wheat banana bread that is perfect any time of day. Oats add to the moist texture.

Ingredients

  • 1 cups oats (quick-cooking or old fashioned rolled)
  • ¼ cup nonfat or low-fat milk
  • 2 eggs
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana
  • 1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Wash hands with soap and water.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of an 8- or 9-inch bread pan.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, milk, eggs, oil, sugar and mashed banana. Let this mixture stand for at least 10 minutes.
  4. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  5. Add the wet oat mixture to the dry flour mixture and stir gently to combine. Be careful not to overmix.
  6. Pour the mixture into the bread pan and spread evenly.
  7. Bake a 9-inch loaf for 45 minutes or an 8-inch loaf for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. If you have a food thermometer, the center of the loaf will be at least 190 degrees F.
  8. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
  9. Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool completely on a rack. Slice to serve.
  10. Wrap to store for several days or freeze for up to a month.

Recipe from Foodhero.org

Other wellness questions? Email us at info@tillamookcountywellness.org. For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.

How to Create a Holiday Charcuterie Board

How to Create a Holiday Charcuterie Board

Here’s a beginner’s guide to help you create an appealing charcuterie board for your upcoming event.

  1. Plan for the board size according to your group. It’s better to overshoot on size than to run out of room
  2. Place the cheeses in strategic spots. If you pull them out of the refrigerator an hour or so ahead of time the room temperature makes for better flavor. They can be used to prop up any potentially rolling items like berries
  3. Add any small decorative bowls (dips, olives, anything you’d like the flavor to stay contained)
  4. If you are going to add any meat you will want to curve or curl them
  5. Arrange crackers and condiments
  6. Fill in all the gaps with fruit and veggies
  7. Add nuts and/or chocolate.
  8. Add garnish!

Harvest Charcuterie

  • 1 8-ounce wheel of brie
  • 4 ounces Manchego cheese, sliced into ¼ inch triangles
  • 5 ounces cheddar cheese, sliced into ¼ inch pieces
  • 1 cup seedy crackers
  • 8 dried breadsticks (halved if necessary, to fit on board)
  • 2 cups black grapes
  • 3 figs, halved
  • 1 cup berries (blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries)
  • ½ cup olives
  • ¼ cup gherkins
  • ¼ cup dried ginger pieces
  • 1 tablespoon pepitas
  • 1 tablespoon dried cranberries
  • Garnish with rosemary, basil, or any leafy lettuce

Charcuterie is an art medium and you are the artist.

Enjoy!

Artist/Author: Christine Webber

Other wellness questions? Email us at info@tillamookcountywellness.org. For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.

# # #

Thrifty Nutritious Praiseworthy Holiday Celebrations

Thrifty Nutritious Praiseworthy Holiday Celebrations

Nearly every one of us will celebrate one or more of the upcoming fall and winter holidays, observances, and celebrations just around the corner. This year why not aim for praiseworthy recipes and meals that are also thrifty and nutritious as well as delicious? You need look no further. Following is a menu for a pretty easy breezy meal all the guests will enjoy. Uncle Morrie won’t need to sit in the corner with salad and applesauce while Cousins Burt and Sheila sift through each dish to avoid anything with meat, your granddaughter can’t have most grains, hubby has an Epi-pen handy in case he accidentally swallows nuts, your sister is diabetic and your old friends, the Carters, are vegan. Yikes! The scenario leaves a lot of guests in a post dinner hunger mode that might well ruin the celebration for them and for you.

Turkey, ham, and brisket are not necessarily meal requirements for every holiday meal, and no one needs marshmallows on yams, cheese and butter in every dish or layer cake for dessert. Exotic fruits and vegetables from other areas of the world might be fun for a holiday meal, but if they’re unseasonal where you live, they’ll be not only more expensive but less nutritional due to their long journey to your table.

  • Prepare or at least partially prep recipes up to three days ahead, and even longer for items you can freeze.
  • Look for what’s available and least expensive at the grocery store, including cuts of meat and eggs.
  • Be aware of what’s plentiful and seasonal where you reside. It will be fresher and less expensive.
  • When there are sales at the store on dry goods, stock up. We can always have use for canned beans, tomatoes, tuna, fruit, broth, dry milk, nut butters, corn meal, butter, vegetable oil, dry and canned milk and of course flour and baking supplies.
  • If friends or neighbors have a large supply of certain ingredients or prepared foods and you have something they might use, trade. It won’t cost either of you a penny.
  • Ask guests to bring a holiday dish, to share, that they enjoy and possibly prefer.
  • Know your limitations. Base your menu on availability of your time, your expertise and whether you’ll have a kitchen helper or be the chief cook and bottle washer.
  • Don’t overextend yourself or your budget.
  • Or be even more creative and make personal pizzas with easy no-yeast yogurt crusts and toppings you have on hand.
  • Or host a taco party and ask guests to bring components, they adore, for the taco fiesta. Have gluten free and vegan tortillas available if possible or ask guests to bring their preference.

Whether for Thanksgiving or any other winter meal celebration, the menu options are endless when the chef steps out of the conventional meal box and goes creative. Here are two thrifty menus that provide dietary options for all your guests. One is a quick and easy menu. The second is a menu plan for the ardent chef, on a budget, who wants to present showstoppers. Both menus are delicious and nutritious and varied to feed all the tastes and dietary needs of your guests while fitting into your budget. Mix and match or prepare just two or three of the dishes listed. It’s all about variation and deliciousness based on what works for you and your holiday crowd.

EASY MENU:

Stove Top Popcorn (gf/vegan)

White Bean Hummus with Rice Crackers (vegan, gf)

*Potato & Green Chile Stew

Zesty Barbecue Glazed Roast Turkey Drumsticks

Steamed Fresh or Frozen Broccoli with* Tamari aioli (veg, gf)

OR

Steamed Peas with mint and lemon butter (veg, gf)

Cornbread (gf) with butter/margarine

Homemade Jam

Chocolate Wacky Cake (vegan)

& Fruit Compote Sundaes (gf)

OR

*Chocolate Love Pudding (gf, veg/vegan)

& *Carrot Spice Cookies (vegan)

ARDENT MENU:

Humble Pumpkin Soup (veg/vegan)

*White Bean & Spinach Antipasto (gf, vegan)

*Gardeners’ Seasonal Company Galette (vegan / veg) &

Gardeners’ Seasonal Casserole (vegan / veg, gf)*Scalloped Spiced Yams & Apples with walnuts & cranberries (vegan/ veg, gf)

*Turkey Meatballs Stroganoff

Herbed Rice Pilaf (vegan, gf)

*Damper Bread with butter/margarine

*Oregon Apple Tart a la Jacques (veg/vegan)

& Maple Pumpkin Pie

OR

*Light Lemon Cheesecake Cups (gf)

& Zucchini Tahini Brownies (vegan)

By: By Kitchen Maven, Judi Berman-Yamada, https://www.facebook.com/Creativepenandpantry/

Many Recipes in my posts are found in my cookbook, “Thrifty Comfort Cooking for Challenging Times”. The book is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. All (100%) of author royalties from retail sales of my cookbook go directly to the Oregon Food Bank, Tillamook Services, to assist families and individuals experiencing food insecurity. Purchasing the cookbook will benefit not only the recipient of the cookbook, but people in need, as well. Living near Tillamook County or even in Portland, you can purchase the book through Food Roots Farm to Table Marketplace for a sale price and all proceeds will go directly to that non-profit organization.

Amazon.com: Thrifty Comfort Cooking for Challenging Times: 9780578310763: Berman-Yamada, Judith, Berman-Yamada, Judith: Books

Thrifty Comfort Cooking for Challenging Times by Judith Berman-Yamada, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)