Squish, Squash, Applesauce

I have some SERIOUSLY exciting news....but I'm going to keep it a surprise. Because suspense and tension is fun!

Yesterday was a big day. Was anyone else excited?
They're HERE!!!
4 NEW Larabar flavors. And no, your eyes do not deceive - that IS chocolate chip cookie dough!! I am going to stalk WFs until they carry them. And they will.

Last night in a fit of...something, I baked up another batch of Supercharge Me Cookies - this time with unsweetened carob chips and chopped dried apricot.

YUM. What's a day without baking, I wonder.
This batch was actually a lot less crumbly than my first attempt - maybe it was the switch from whole wheat flour to spelt flour? The batter was much wetter this time. It made them more cookie-like...but I think I liked the first texture better! Since making these again is an inevitability, I will just have to play around with it.

Hmm, what else have I been eating...

Apple cinnamon cream of wheat = comfort food at its finest.

*Insert here Dunkies' Iced Toasted Almond coffee - I may have a new fave flavor!!*

Half a Tomato Basil panini from Panera - I got lucky and my mom only wanted half! Pretty much like pizza...in sandwich form. No complaints here.

And finally...

TEMPEH!
I bought some a while back and keep forgetting about...until tonight.
I first tried tempeh at a hippie dippie little restaurant in Boone, NC (one of the most surprisingly cool towns ever) when I was there with a class to hear a talk at App State. I had had tofu, but never tempeh, so I went for it - and have never looked back. I LOVE this stuff. The texture is just so fun - grainy and a little chewy, yum. Like tofu, it is a fermented soy product and has little flavor on its own, but I like to look at it as a culinary blank canvas. Tonight, I mixed up a random marinade off the top of my head (always a little scary when I do that...)
-2 T maple syrup
- 1 T (about) grey poupon mustard
-splash of cider vinegar
-onion powder, rosemary, paprika, S+P
It was a little too much maple syrup, but not a total failure. My mom liked it very much :) I let it marinate in the fridge for a couple hours (maybe 2.5?) before baking it at 350F for about 30 minutes, flipping a little over halfway through. It was in there a little too long and I probably should have flipped sooner, but it worked. Since my body seems to be rejecting the mere thought of animal meat (seriously, except for fish, the thought of eating it makes me gag), I was so relieved to have some on hand. I even bought more at the store today! Let the experimenting begin! I'm a tempeh-recipe-researching fiend. Bring it.

We ate it with my mom's "Mexican Squash Casserole". She just kind of made this up one night and it ended up being fabulous! It sounds a little weird, but it's really quite good. We've been discussing alterations to it, but here is the basic recipe - I apologize for the estimations, my mom just eyeballs when she cooks (an ability I really envy!):
- 5-6 smallish yellow squash (3-4 if they're bigger)
- diced white onion, probably about 1/2 of a large
- 2 eggs
- ~1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley, if desired
-shredded mozzarella, maybe about 2/3 c.
- 16 oz (1 container) ricotta cheese (fat free, part skim, whatever)
- salsa
- shredded cheddar cheese (we've used fat free, I suggest using less of the real stuff for flava)

1. Lightly steam the squash. When done, cut them into half-rings.
2. Mix the ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, and onion - and a little S+P and fresh parsley wouldn't hurt, either :)
3. Place the mixture in a baking dish and cover the top with salsa - as much as you deem enough. We don't use much more than a thin layer, as the flavor will seep down as it bakes.
4. Cover the top with shredded cheddar cheese. It will melt so again, only a light layer is necessary, but it's all up to you!
5. Bake at 400F for about 35 min - until the cheese is bubbling.
6. Don't burn your mouth gobbling it down too fast!

Threw it on a bed of spinach. Because even squash should be comfy before I devour it.

While the cookies were baking, I snacked on one of these:

These are actuall WAY bigger than they look on the box - don't you love it when that happens? I kinda liked the mango better (I know, big shock); this one isn't quite enough of a "mix." It's really heavy on the strawberry - the only reason I know it's not all strawberry are the hunks of a tropical yellow fruit (I can never taste it well enough to tell if it's mango or pineapple), and while I love them, I wish there were more. On the bright side [for me, at least], it says there is coconut in it but I can't detect the slightest hint of it. I'm not big on coconut flavor (my mother abhors it, I can tolerate it but don't crave it), so I was happy about that. Oh well, the mango was awesome, so I 'll stick to that. [Haha, get it? "stick" to that? because it's a popsicle??.......wow. even I'm telling myself to move on.] 

I will leave you with the cutest.face.ever.

What I miss most when I'm at school? Having a dog.

P.S. - I'm glad to hear that the new layout is liked! It's not perfect, but it was fun to play around with and I liked that I got use my own picture in the header (even if it took me 20 years to get it right....) :)