oreos make everything better

monkey bread.  yes, i've done it before, but for father's day breakfast i wanted to try something a little different.  i'd seen a post by picky palate on a tooth-achingly sweet take that involved mini rolos and s'mores, but it was actually too much for me.  crazy talk, right?  and i wanted to try to make it at least a tiny bit less bad for our health.  heh.

using her recipe as a guideline for basic instructions and such, i busted out my ingredients.

hmmm.  i don't know why i put those dark chocolate chips in the picture - i actually used mini chocolate chips instead.  oh well, whatevs.

then i put some of those oreos into a plastic bag and gave it to the bean to go to town with a fondant rolling pin.  she was more than happy to oblige.

the biscuits were chopped into fourths.

those crushed oreos and biscuit pieces were dropped into a bigger bag, joined by some applesauce, and had a party.  after lining a pan with my favorite parchment/foil combo, the whole mushy mess went in.  looks like poop, doesn't it?

then i topped it with a handful of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips, and into the oven it went.

because i didn't want to make a whole bowl of glaze to drizzle on top, i went into the freezer and fished out an extra packet of that frosting you get when you buy toaster strudel.  yes, i love that stuff.  thank you, gretchen wieners.  anyway, it was just the right amount i wanted.

mmm, toasty marshmallows.  and you know what?  this concoction turned out really well!  so well, in fact, that i'd totally make it again.  and confession:  it was just as good the next day.  maybe even better.

wanna make some for yourself?  as long as you aren't amanda robertson, that is.  since, you know, i did use some store-bought crap in this "recipe."  hmph.

cookies & cream monkey bread, adapted from picky palate's rolo s'mores skillet monkey bread

1 8-count roll of biscuit dough
about 8 oreos, regular or double stuf.  i used the latter
a single-serving cup of applesauce
1/2 cup-ish of mini marshmallows
1/4 cup-ish of mini chocolate chips
a packet of glaze out of a box of toaster strudel.  or you can make your own.

preheat the oven to 350 and line a round 8" or 9" pan with parchment paper.  put the oreos into a plastic bag and smash 'em to smithereens.  cut the biscuits into fourths and add them to the crushed cookies along with the applesauce.  you don't have to use every bit of the applesauce in case it gets too mushy - just eyeball it.  roll the whole mess around in the bag until each piece of dough is covered in cookie crumbs.  you can always add more cookies if you need to.  pour it all into your prepared pan.

sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top, followed by the mini marshmallows.  the amount you use of these things is totally your call - maybe you'll want more, maybe not.  completely up to you.  i, on the other hand, was trying to keep it from getting too crazy and focusing on it being "healthy" since i'd replaced the butter with applesauce.  ah, so sneaky.

bake it for about 25 minutes.  but keep an eye on it.  about halfway through, i found that the marshmallows were toasting too quickly and covered it lightly with a piece of foil for the most of the baking time.  with about a minute left on the timer, i took the foil off to let the marshmallows turn a lovely golden color.

drizzle the glaze on top.  if you aren't a total sucker for toaster strudel like i am, you can make your own with about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and around a tablespoon and a half or so of milk.  scoop it out onto a plate and enjoy.

mmmmmm.  i kinda want some more right now.

ooh!  and this is cool - the l.a. times food section does a weekly "weekend eats" twitter spree on mondays.  basically, they have you tweet them with pictures of stuff you ate over the weekend.  i shared that picture right up there, and they mentioned me in the weekend eats roundup.  yay for me!

making "special" brownies

no, not THOSE.

the quest to stealthily feed the bean good, healthy stuff continues.  this time - jessica seinfeld's deceptively delicious brownies.

the recipe is pretty simple, but if you aren't expecting it, you'd totally do a double-take at the 1/2 cup each of spinach and carrot puree.  although it looks kinda cool in the bowl, all colorful and stuff.

and once you add in the melted dark chocolate, it's just like any other brownie batter - all brown and gooey and chocolatey.  it smells fabulous, too.

the reviews i'd read of the recipe said that you had to let them cool off completely before the spinach was completely undetectable.  so to help things along a bit, i decided to toss in a handful of mini m&ms.  does that defeat the purpose of the veggies?  maybe.  but come on - m&ms make friends!

they baked up nicely, but i think next time i'll pull them out about five minutes early.  brownies should be slightly chewy - or, at least that's how i like them - and these were very cakey and almost dry.  but the bean liked them.  so did the teen, the hub, AND brother wan.

next up:  chocolate chip cookies.  with pureed garbanzo beans.  since we've already done the rocky road cookies, these should be a snap.  right?

commence operation sneaky veggie!

okay, so the bean's checkup was a serious wakeup call for me.  like, i knew we needed to eat healthier and find a way to incorporate good stuff like fruits and veggies into our daily meals.  i've been really bad about that, because you know how i feel about fruit.  and my list of acceptable vegetables - well, let's just say it isn't particularly extensive.

when we took the teen out for birthday dinner at our favorite place, the bean's kids' meal came with a choice of steamed veggies, apple slices, or carrots and dip.  we thought maybe the latter might work out if we could get her to at least taste the dip.  i think the bean is the only child on the freaking planet who doesn't like dipping her food into sauces and dressing.  sadly, she didn't prove me wrong that night.

and to further cement my "mom of the year" status, i totally resorted to bribing her to eat at least one carrot.  we're talking baby carrots here - not even two inches long and definitely lacking in girth.  and the one i was dangling in front of her for eating said carrot?  a slice of the special strawberry birthday cake she and i had labored over that morning together.

not very nice, i suppose, eh?  but you know what - i was desperate.  and as she bawled (yeah, this just keep getting better), she finally ate that damn carrot.  she bit it in half, let it sit in her mouth until we reminded her that chewing and swallowing would get it over with, and then wept even more as she ate the rest of it.

and then she threw it up.  at the table.  all over both of us.  fantastic.

while i really didn't want to have to resort to the jessica seinfeld approach, this little episode pretty much left me with no other options.  and so since that evening, i've been looking for ways to hide pureed fruits and vegetables in all of our meals.  actually, that cake we made included a full carton of fresh strawberries that took a whirl in my food processor.  that was the first attempt, and it was pretty successful.

like, i realized that the color of her favorite ice cream would be absolutely perfect for sneaking in some spinach.

for her after-naptime treat that day, it was a mint chip milkshake.

looks pretty legit, right?  and after topping it with a little squirt of nonfat whipped cream:

oh yes.  that's a full serving of spinach right thurr.  i was so proud of myself for being so darn clever.  she didn't suspect a thing, and gobbled the whole thing up as i beamed at her.

then i decided to try something else.  the deceptively delicious cookbook includes a recipe for chocolate chip cookies...with garbanzo beans hidden in the batter.  that's right.  i know it sounds all kinds of nasty, but all of the reviews i read assured me that the taste was undetectable even to the pickiest eaters.  but then i found a recipe for rocky road cookies that sounded even better.  i was quite torn between the two before i realized that the solution was obvious:  combine the two into a super delicious treat-slash-healthy snack.

i gotta say, these really are fabulous.  the batter didn't spread much as it baked, and the result was a soft, cakey, chocolatey treat that the bean and the hub both enjoyed without suspecting that it contained anything out of the ordinary.  if you want to make a batch for yourself, here's what i did:

deceptive rocky road cookie bites, adapted from here and here.


1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup splenda brown sugar blend (yeah, i usually hate fake sugar, but i was experimenting anyway)
3/4 cup butter
2 large egg whites
2 tsp vanilla extract
15-oz can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and pureed
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup valrhona cocoa powder (i discovered this stuff while working at dots cupcakes, but any cocoa powder will do)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mallow bits
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds

preheat your oven to 350 and line your baking sheets with parchment or silpats if you have them.

combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.  cream the butter and sugars together until well combined.  add the egg whites and vanilla extract and mix until blended.  stir in the pureed garbanzo beans.

add the flour mixture slowly until combined.  stir in the chips, mallow bits, and almonds.  drop cookie dough by tablespoons about an inch apart and bake for 11 minutes.  you don't want to overbake these.

let the cookies cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely.  serve 'em up and watch the recipients dig in, totally clueless as to the healthy(ish) treat you've just given them.

neither the beans nor the splenda were noticeable at all, and in fact the bean proclaimed me "the best cookie baker EVER" as she devoured them.  so awesome.

i guess this isn't going to be too bad after all.  and i've got more ideas in my noggin to try and share.  thank god for my highish-end food processor...it's gonna get a whole lotta action from here on out.