Vegan Banana Nut Cookies

Here is a recipe for a loaded vegan cookie. I try to use organic and local whenever possible.

Ingredients:
1.5 cup  Buckwheat groats
1.5 cup  Oats
0.5 cup Chia seeds
0.5 cup Black Sesame seeds
0.25 cup Flax seed meal
2 cups Nut Meal (left over from making the Nut Milk)
1 cup  Vegan Butter (such as Earth Balance)
1 cup Honey
1 cup  Dehydrated Bananas (very easy to make at home in an Excalibur)
1 cup  Dehydrated Grapes (also home made)
1 Banana
1 apple
a 3 inch long piece of fresh ginger
splash of Apple Cider
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp mace

Directions:

1. Turn the buckwheat groats and the oats into flour in a food processor
2. Mix flour, Chia and Sesame seeds, Flax meal, baking soda and spices in a bowl and set aside
3. Cream butter and honey in a large bowl until uniform
4. Blend the banana and apple in a food processor with a splash of cider, add to the butter and honey and mix well
5. Add the shredded ginger
6. Mix in the dry ingredients, the nut meal, and the dehydrated fruit
7. Refrigerate for one hour
8. Oil a baking sheet and spoon the mixture on it about an inch apart
9. Bake at 325 - 350 F for about 30 minutes or until golden and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Do not over bake or the cookies will get too dry.
10. Keep in a air tight container to prevent drying out.

Home Made Nut Milk

I've been making nutritious, delicious nut milks for a while now, so I thought I'd share a simple recipe. The finished milk can be stored for up to three days in the fridge.

Ingredients:
1 cup Raw Nuts (Hazelnuts make the sweetest milk, but any raw nuts would do)
40 oz Water
1 tsp Maple Syrup (or more if you'd like sweeter milk)
1/2 tsp Salt



Directions:

1. Wash and soak the nuts in pure water anywhere from 5 min to a few hours. Wash again after soaking.
2. Add the nuts and a splash of water to a blender and chop as smooth as possible.
3. Add the rest of the water, maple syrup and salt and blend.
4. Strain into a glass jar to remove the chopped nuts, which can later be used in baking recipes.

The home made nut milks are a great way to eat your cereal or add to hot oatmeal, or just drink it straight up. This type of milk can be made out of any nuts, as long as they are raw. It's a great way to save money - a cup of nuts gives you 40 oz of milk, which is fresh and free of preservatives, unlike the expensive store bought varieties.

The Rabbit Quest

We tried to adopt a bunny today. Not as easy as you may think. Four locations, four different smells, four level of rabbit obsession - no rabbit.

Chicago Animal Care and Control - a kill city shelter. A large facility in the South of Chicago. Check in with valid state ID; funny, moderately pungent smell; depressed, desperate howling dogs; volunteer in the cat room: "Yeah, we had a couple of rabbits a couple of weeks ago... You don't get too many people asking for rabbits here...". Did I mention - a kill shelter.

Red Door Animal Shelter - a no-kill shelter. North Chicago rabbit welfare obsessed society; strong smell of cat piss. As soon as we walked in, it felt strange - more volunteers than rabbits. A big eyed woman asks us if we've ever been there before - no, let's go on a tour. She then proceeded with a 10 minutes speech about how fragile they are and the vet bills to anticipate.
Me: "We want an outside rabbit."
Crazy bunny lady: "Oh, we don't adopt out for outside. Would you consider keeping him inside?"
- Yes. [umm, nope.]
- Ok. Also they eat only timothy hay and their night poop. The exotic vet bills will be outrageous. You must have a car to adopt, because there may be an emergency in a middle of the night - some conditions may become fatal if not treated immediately.
- [may? more like - will]
- We'll need to call your landlord to make sure they allow rabbits, and we also need three references.

So no rabbit from the crazy rabbit lady.

Chicago Live Poultry. Not a shelter at all - arab chop shop. Extreme smell of blood and death; african children watching the live chickens killed; a small room full of cages with chickens, ducks, quaille and Bunnies! Oh, they are so cute... let's take that floppy eared black&white one or, no, that one right there. Yes, yes let's get this one. Ummm... do we get it out oursleves? Aparently not. We find a box and head back to the cage room... I'm almost there... Josh calls me: "Come on let's go." No bunnies leave this place alive.

Last ditch effort - Petco/Petsmart. Retail store in Lincoln Park; smell of cleaning chemicals and once again no luck.

What d'you have to do to get a freaking bunny up here?!