Chickpea peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! (and a look into homemade kombucha)

Healthy cookies are never as good as real cookies, right?

Wrong.

While these will not fool you into thinking you are eating real cookies, they will satisfy you as a sweet treat that rivals those other unhealthy versions (and, psst....they are plant-strong and gluten-free!).

On a recent visit to Seattle, my friend introduced me to these and we ate them all within just a few days (and we may or may not have doubled the recipe.  Just sayin'....).

Recipe here at TexanErin

We doubled the recipe and followed it almost exactly, using agave nectar and dark chocolate chips.  Ours did not hold up together as well as the ones in the pictures on TexanErin, so I think next time I would add one more smidge of peanut butter to hold them together better.

These are certainly not low-calorie, but at least you can feel good about eating them since you are getting the benefit of the nutritious ingredients rather than eating empty calories in refined flour, sugar, and butter!  Blech!

Note:  I agree with TexanErin when she says that a regular blender will not work.  It won't....we tried it.  Our only alternative was an immersion blender, which worked to some extent.  It took forever!  So really:  use a food processor!

You basically just blend up all of the ingredients (except chocolate chips), stir in the chocolate chips, then form little balls with your fingers:

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes (while you wait impatiently.).  When ready, they will not look much different, maybe a little drier.  Remove them from the pan to cool, and eat!

Now that your mouth is watering over these attractive, sweet treats, let me warn you that this next random tidbit is the opposite of attractive and sweet.  While in Seattle, I also learned how to brew your own kombucha and it is not.pretty.  Easy, yes.  Pretty, no.

You basically just brew tea with distilled water, add sugar then let it cool, then add a scoby to it and let it sit in a glass container covered with a cloth for about a week.  The scoby is one heck of a fungus and it STINKS when it is not actively submerged in the kombucha.  Check it out:

The scoby is a fungus that ferments the tea into kombucha.  Each time you make a batch of kombucha, a new scoby grows (see the layers below).  This is often how people begin making kombucha, by obtaining a scoby from a friend who has brewed it before.

You have to let it ferment in a cool, dry area for a week or so, so sadly I was unable to taste the final product.  I have heard reports that it turned out quite delicious.  Here are a few more sites with more info, if you are interested:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-173858

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/make-kombucha

Yes, these are the types of things that my Seattle friends do on a regular night!  I love them :)

I heart Seattle!

Seattle is one of my favorite places in the US.

Not only do I have fabulous friends there, but the culture and lifestyle are right up my alley.  People are forward-thinking and compassionate.  There are recycling bins on every corner.  Plastic bags are banned in all stores.  The transit system is eco-friendly. I saw bus ads advocating for immigrant rights and Planned Parenthood services (which is a big contrast from here in NOLA, where all I see are ads for fast food and booze).  Same sex marriage is legal.  The vegetation is so green and lush, and I have never seen more brightly colored flowers on every lawn in every neighborhood.  And it really does not rain every day!  Here is proof.

And locally sourced, organic, vegan food is available EVERYWHERE.

I was in heaven.

After hugs from my friends outside baggage claim, our first stop was at Portage Bay for brunch.  I got a vegan Migas, which is one of my favorite breakfasts from my pre-vegan years.  This one subbed tofu for the eggs, and the added touch was a jackfruit "pulled pork" that was so good!

Just to be clear, I am not a fan, (at all!) of fake meats and meat substitutes.  However, jackfruit is a fruit native to Asia that has a similar texture to meat, but in a non-weird way.  You can find it in Asian markets, and you may find a post on here soon that illustrates my first experience with it, if I can get my hands on one :).  I have also had crab cakes made with jackfruit that were delicious.

The following day we went to Plum Bistro, which is an all-vegan restaurant in Capitol Hill.  We had a feast of raw kale salad, avocado roll, mac n' yease, tofu tacos, mushroom pasta, and margarita pizza.

For vegans and non-vegans alike, you have got to try this spot.  Just trust me.  GO.  And drink a local Fishtail beer while you are at it.

One more vegan meal I will share with you was at Boom Noodle.  I mean, who doesn't want to eat at a restaurant with Boom in its name?  I had a vegan ramen soup, which was not the best I have ever had but a little sriracha helped make it quite tasty.  It is just so easy to eat healthy food in Seattle, why can't other places follow suit???

If you have not visited Seattle, add it to your list and find your way there!

Garden Update

It is almost salsa-making time!  I have my first jalapeno, and so many green tomatoes that I hope they do not ripen all at once or I will not know what to do with all of them!  Bottle up salsa for my friends, perhaps?

Here is my garden as of yesterday.  Those tomato plants on the left side in the box are up to my shoulders, and that artichoke plant on the right is out of control!

For comparison, here is what it looked like when first planted:

Then partway between then and now:

And now (again)!

I just put in the stakes for additional support for the tomatoes, and also set up a pseudo-trellis for my cucumber vine.  It is hard to tell in this picture, but this is about 2 feet high and there are tons of baby cucumbers forming!!  Eek!!

Here's my first jalapeno:

And tons of tomatoes!  Look out for new recipes coming soon, featuring these babies.  Oh yeah, you cannot get more local than this!