Oh Cookies! Beginning the baking for Christmas and a book review.

Happily I was able to get back to the blog sphere and post some of the baking I have gotten done. As you know I am busy with a new granddaughter, and today is my youngest daughters birthday!!!
Kaiti requested we go to the mall and eat at her favorite Chinese restaurant, luckily they have a wide selection of vegan food for people like me! I ate an egg roll and my favorite rice!!
~
Tonight Kaiti requested egg in toast and fruit salad for her dinner, as she is more vegetarian than vegan. She asked for lemon bars for her dessert and I am making a special punch that I will give you the recipe later in this post.

Here are the three goodies I made last night!!!!!!
I created these (so I thought) about 5 years ago for my husband. They are white chocolate (not real of course, does anyone know where you can get a real vegan white chocolate?) pecan chips, and cranberries in an oatmeal cookie dough!!!!!
The recipe is everywhere now, even vegan versions.
~
These are about the size of a silver dollar. When I went vegan, my cookie size started dwindling too. Just like my waist line......lol
~
Snicker doodles, I make mine a little different than traditional recipes, I make mine out of a sugar cookie recipe and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. Emma hates snicker doodles, but loves these!

Haystacks!!!!

These are so easy, just melt a bag of butterscotch vegan chips and pour over a large bag of chow mien noodles in a large bowl, mix and drop by tablespoons onto parchment paper.

~~

Since I am not much of a sweet eater and never have been a fan of chocolate, I do not find the lure of goodies too hard to resist this year, I cannot remember the last time I ate a cookie, and cake is almost non existent in our house.

Last night I was caught tasting a haystack by my husband, who then tried to take a picture of me and put it on my blog to show you, even I eat sweets on rare occasion, just in severe moderation ........lol

This is actually the only decent picture of our tree in the living room, no matter how I took the picture it always came out fuzzy....??....

We are enjoying ourselves this holiday season, we have eaten out way way too much, visited friends and family often and listened to hours and hours of Christmas music.

~

Some of my favorite Christmas music is the classics sang by Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby and of course, the Chipmunks!

Hours and hours of dancing to jingle bell rock and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas with a baby have made this season extra special!
~
Having a new baby around, I am constantly on the look out for healthy recipes for when she is ready to start eating. I happened to stumble upon this book in a bargain bin, for $5.00 and thought, for that price it was worth the risk.

Healthy Meals For Babies and Toddlers.

By, Valerie Barrett

Delicious and nutritious recipes for your children, from weaning to starting their school years.

Contents:

Introduction

First Tastes

Establishing Solids

Encouraging Self Feeding

New Tastes and Textures

Tasty Adventures Joining Family Meals

Index

The pictures in this book are lovely and vibrant. The writer comes across as knowledgeable and thoughtful in her writings. Her attention to detail is well thought out and skilled.

~

My favorite thing about this book is within the first five pages she includes a vegetarian and vegan diet plan for your baby. She does not throw out that she had to include this in her book, but adds that a vegetarian diet it is a perfectly healthy way to raise your baby. She also includes several recipes and suggestions for vegan and vegetarian children.

Here are some of the recipes she included that I think you would enjoy!

~

Quinoa and vegetables

Spring vegetable Risotto

Pastina with butternut squash

Hummus

Beet Dip

Falafel with Carrot salad

Fruit Dippers made with yogurt

Fragrant Creamy Rice

Vegetable lasagna

Smoothies

Warm Pasta Salad

~

While this is not a vegan or even a vegetarian cookbook, I find that it is thoughtful, intelligent and endearing to it's many readers.

I am hoping to make most of these recipes for my granddaughter when she takes her first bites!

All of Evangeline's food will be homemade and organic.

~

Being the hippy mother I was, my youngest daughter never tasted soda until she was 7 or 8 years old, and it was organic. My healthy ways fell off for a number of years, but with the way our food is treated compared to 15-20 years ago, I feel it is imperative that we do all we can to ensure the successful eating habits for our children and their children.

~

Are you ready for a totally addictive punch that is almost healthy???

Ok, ok so it isn't, but it tastes good!

~

Lemon Pineapple Punch

1 Frozen cont. Lemonade concentrate

1 Frozen cont. pineapple concentrate

1 2 liter bottle of 7-up, or sprite

Pour all into a large pitcher and mix well and ice and serve. I had this at a wedding reception last month and loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~

~

JUST FOR FUN SUNDAY!! Please answer each question for fun!

So, what is your Favorite holiday treat?

My favorite Treat would have to be eggnog shakes with a little nutmeg sprinkled over the top.

What is your Favorite Holiday dinner item?

This one is tricky....I would have to say my favorite holiday dinner item would be scalloped corn.

What is your Favorite Christmas song?

My favorite song would have to be Judy Garlands "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas" It alwasy makes me cry.

What is your Favorite holiday Memory?

My favorite holiday memory would have to be growing up in Iowa, and waking up to a white Christmas and finding the house all toasty warm, the windows all fogged up from the oven, smelling holiday food and finding a brand new Radio Flyer Sled just waiting for me to take it out!!!

What do you do to incorporate old traditions into your family?

Hopefully, I have incorporated all of the old traditions into my home. We have the same holiday menu each Christmas, Santa Clause visits the small children and leaves stocking full of old fashioned goodies!! (please refrain from berating me if you are against Santa, It is all for fun and I do believe in the Risen Christ Jesus)

We play board games with each other, watch old Christmas movies, cuddle and laugh all night long!

I am really looking forward to hearing everyones answer!