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Happy and Healthy

Gluten Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So, I am starting to embrace this Gluten Free baking. I bought a mix of Gluten Free “flour” and looked up some recipes on the internet. I still want to keep the processed sugar to a minimum and the healthy content to a maximum, so I was very pleased when I came across some cookies on the King Arthur Flour site, HERE.

The same day I made these cookies, I made some gluten free bread. Again, I followed a recipe from KAF and went out and bought $12 Xanthan Gum to make it. 
It really wasn’t the best loaf of bread and I feel like I wasted some very expensive flour… If regular bread fails to rise, I don’t feel like I’m out much money, only time. This time around, I’m out both. If you make GF bread regularly, please share a no-fail recipe that you and your family love.

These cookies, however, were a total hit! I really loved the ones that I added the raisins to. They are not sweet, sugary cookies, so the raisins added a nit more sweetness to them that I loved. They definitely tasted like “health food store” cookies with the flax and the thicker oatmeal added. 
Like I’ve mentioned before, I love cookies and these quickly disappeared into my belly. My husband had a few and my daughter (the one whom they were originally for) had a few, but I admit that I had most… 

If you’re looking for a good cookie to send to school, that’s a bit more filling than a standard chocolate chip cookie, try these. I’ll be making these again, that’s for sure.

Check out some of my other Happy and Healthy friends:
Clarks Condensed
The Haas Machine
Je suis alimentageuse

Gluten Free Oatmeal Flax Chocolate Chunk Raisin Cookies

by Karyn Granrud
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Keywords: gluten-free chocolate oatmeal cookie
6061799
Ingredients (24 – 36)
  • 6 tablespoons softened butter
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup gluten free Multi-Purpose Flour Mix (I used King Arthur Brand)
  • 3/4 cup gluten free rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking) (I used Bob’s Red Mill Brand)
  • 1/4 cup ground flax seed
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chunks (I used Simply Enjoy Brand)
  • 3/4 cup raisins, optional
Instructions
Mix the butter, sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, eggs, and water until combined. Add in the flour, oats, and flax. Hand mix in the chocolate chunks and raisins.
Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour, for the flax and oats to soften.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a cookie sheet with parchment or a silicon mat. Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to measure out the dough and then flatten the scoops slightly.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.
Cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes or so, to allow cookies to firm up. Transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in a sealed container.
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Oven Dried Mixed Fruit

Want a real food snack? A snack that is free of just about everything, because it’s 100% completely REAL FOOD? There are no labels to read or additives to be worried about. 
I’ve got some oven dried mixed fruit that everyone is sure to enjoy when craving something crunchy. I snacked on these while enjoying a movie with my daughter. It made me happy.
And isn’t that what we are looking for? Happiness that is. 
It seems like happiness is such a fleeting feeling. I know that I am constantly obsessed with all the “things” I have to do. Yes, there are certain obligations and requirements, like getting out of bed and getting the kid to school on time. I’m not talking about those “things”. I’m talking about the things that get in the way of happiness. 

The I’ll be happy when I lose 10 pounds. I’ll be happy when I make more money. I’ll be happy when I get a new car, when I get a bigger house, when my house is clean.
For me, those things never come and if one does, I’m still not happy.
Recently, a fellow blogger was feeling bad about herself because she was comparing her real-life, lived in, messy home to a home designer blogger who boasted about the beautiful home decor she had. This made my friend feel very inadequate. How do you keep up with “The Jones”? 
I know that I can’t keep up. My house is always in a state of messy order. I know where most things are 99% of the time, but overall, my house is messy. I don’t have a cleaning lady or crew, nobody in my household is a neat freak, my daughter comes and goes leaving a wake of toys and games behind, and let’s face it – I’m in the kitchen – A LOT! Wanna sneak peak at my house?
There are always a ton of dirty dishes at my sink. There are always clean dishes to be put away. I can’t do one without having to take care of the other. My fridge and counters are covered in papers, notes, bank statements, sketches, spelling words, bills, and goodness knows else. And there is usually flour/crumbs/dried on gunk around the mixers and food processor. 
My kitchen table and island are general dumping grounds for almost everything that walks through the door. If something doesn’t have a home, it gets put on the table. Try as I might, these two areas have crap on them 90% of the time.
What can I say? I LIVE in my house. I do my best to keep up with it, but hanging out with my husband and daughter is more important than cleaning off counter tops.

I’d take a good family movie night with some dried fruit to snack on over cleaning up the kitchen. In a heartbeat. 

I can always clean the kitchen later, but I’ll never have that moment with my family again. Family time is special to me, it makes me happy.

Hop on over to The Haas Machine to see what she’s been up to.

Oven Dried Fruit

by Karyn Granrud
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Keywords: gluten-free nut-free sugar-free vegan fruit
6061335
Ingredients
  • Apples
  • Strawberries
  • Kiwi Fruit
  • 1 Tbls Water
  • 1 Tbls Lemon Juice
Instructions
Clean all the fruit.
Core and slice the strawberries. I used 6 strawberries.
Use a Mandoline Slicer to slice the apple into equal thin pieces. I used 2 apples.
Skin and slice the Kiwi fruit. Dunk the kiwi into a mixture of 1 T water and 1 T lemon juice to keep them green during the drying process. I used 2 kiwi.
Heat the oven to 275℉. Place cheesecloth over metal drying racks or directly on your oven grates, depending on how wide they are. Place the fruit on to the cheesecloth and bake for 1 hour.
Rotate the pans and flip over the fruit. Bake for another hour, rotate and flip. Bake for another hour.
Check your fruit. If it’s still soft, go for another 30 to 60 minutes with the oven door cracked open. I used a large wooden spoon to prop mine open. If it’s dry to your satisfaction, turn off the oven but leave the fruit in there until it completely cools. You can leave it in overnight with the light on to dry.
Enjoy your sweet and crunchy snack.
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