Quick & Easy Sugar Cookies for a Blustery Day

Time: About 30 minutes
Servings: About 25 cookies
Overall Rating: 6

I know I said my next recipe would be Macadamia-Encrusted Seitan, but that will still come next. I'm stuck home in yet another snowstorm (check out Twitter hashtag #snowhampshire), and my dog Cotton and I got a case of cabin fever this afternoon. We decided to bake something. Because a trip to the store would be difficult with the current road conditions, I figured sugar cookies would be simple enough to make with what I already had in the house.

A quick Google search yielded a Simple Vegan Sugar Cookies recipe on GroupRecipes.com. The only ingredient I didn't have was egg replacer, so I used 2 tablespoons of soy milk instead. See this article on NutritionMD.org for more egg replacer suggestions. To cut back on some of the fat and calories, I also subbed half of the oil with unsweetened applesauce.

My cookies needed 8 minutes rather than the 7 indicated on the recipe.

The result? Pretty good cookies for only about 30 total minutes of work (prep through cleanup). They will certainly suffice for a sweet tooth.

Please note: On my first batch, I only slightly flattened the cookie balls, as the recipe indicates; however, they didn't spread or flatten much, and the insides were a bit underdone. For the second batch, I flattened them quite a bit myself before cooking. These ones came out with a better shape and the inside was finished. You can see the difference in the picture (first batch on left, second batch on right).

Now my tasks for the rest of the afternoon include 1) to actually get some work done, and 2) try not to eat all of the sugar cookies.

PPK's Rustic Winter Stew (Over Polenta?)

As the snow raged in New Hampshire today, nothing sounded mor  e appetizing for dinner than Post  Punk Kitchen's Rustic Winter Stew Over Polenta. My husband Ryan and I thoroughly enjoyed the hearty, warm dish, with a few changes from the original recipe.

While Ryan was gracious enough to brave the blizzard to do our food run, he could not find the polenta and did not buy the celery seed (he seems to think I have too many spices--impossible!). This necessitated a few small changes to the recipe: we ate our stew over brown rice and  omitted the celery seed. In addition, while the recipe calls for 2 bay leaves, it never says when to add them; I therefore forgot to add them at all. Finally, I cut the vegetable stock in half and added 2 cups of water instead to cut down on the sodium.

The result? Ryan and I both happily ate the well-rounded, whole meal. It was slightly bland, which I attribute to cutting out the celery seed, some of the veggie stock, and the seasoned polenta. Perhaps adding a bit more thyme, salt and pepper, as well as a hint of spice (red pepper flakes? cayenne pepper?) would fill out the flavor.

As for servings, this recipe fed us both well (we have big appetites) with a 2-cup serving left over for lunch tomorrow.

Overall, I'd rate my version of this recipe at 6 out of 10. Healthy, well-rounded, filling, fairly inexpensive...but needing a little more pop.