Nigella's Cranberry and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies with Pistachios

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs our theme is "Cookie Exchange" perfect for December when cookie recipes blanket food blogs like freshly fallen snow. I have had my cookie recipe picked out for weeks now, Nigella's Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies from "Feast" basically because it features oats--which I love in a cookie and it has a favorite combination of sweet white chocolate and tangy dried cranberries. I did make one change-Nigella has chopped pecans in these which would be good, but I thought pistachios would be a better choice and you have to love how festive they are with the little flecks of green. Otherwise I made these pretty much as is and didn't try to make them healthy as a cookie exchange seems like the right time for a bit of indulging.

Nigella says: "At this time of year, I think we all find it difficult to keep going between meals. This is the ideal, unnecessary but so gratifying filler, perfect with a cup of tea or, for those of under tea-drinking age, a glass of milk. The oats make these wonderfully chewy and help convince yourself that they are actually very healthy and good for you. Nothing to feel guilty about at all."

Cranberry and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies with Pistachios

"Feast", Nigella Lawson

(Makes 30 Cookies)

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon soft unsalted butter
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup superfine sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup pecans, roughly chopped (I subbed 1/2 cup pistachios roughly chopped)
¼ cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Measure out the flour, baking powder, salt and rolled oats into a bowl. Put the butter and sugars into another bowl and beat together until creamy — this is obviously easier with an electric mixer of some kind, but you just need to put some muscle into it otherwise – then beat in the egg and vanilla. Beat in the flour, baking powder, salt and oat mixture and then fold in the cranberries, chopped pecans and chocolate chips or white chocolate, chopped into small dice. Set the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge for 10–15 minutes.

Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into a ball with your hands, and then place them on a lined or greased baking sheet and squish the dough balls down with a fork. You may need two baking sheets or be prepared to make these in two batches.

Cook for 15 minutes; when ready, the cookies will be tinged a pale gold, but be too soft to lift immediately off the baking sheet, so leave the sheet on a cool surface and let them harden for about 5 minutes. Remove with a spatula or whatever to cool fully on a wire rack.


Notes/Results: These cookies are delicious! A wonderful combination of soft and chewy with lightly crisp edges. The cranberry and white chocolate combo is already a winner and the pistachios add a nice bit of salty crunch. Although with a stick of butter, all the sugar and the white chocolate, no matter what Nigella thinks, these cookies are not really healthy but are healthier than some and if you want to indulge a bit these are a great cookie for it. (And at least you can say you ate your oatmeal and got some fruit and nuts in too!). Although they are getting out of my house and getting dropped off with friends tomorrow because I fear the damage I will do if they stay here, I would make these again, happily. (BTW--I had to take a picture of them on my favorite holiday napkins too!) ;-)

You can check out what cookies and treats the other IHCC participants baked for our Cookie Exchange by heading over to the IHCC site here and following the links as they are posted.

What's your favorite cookie to make or eat?

Things I Am Loving This Week

It's Tuesday which is of course one day better than Monday, and also time for the "Things I Am Loving This Week"--those (mostly) food-related things I am enjoying and want to share.

I think I have previously mentioned my squirrel-like habit of storing nuts and seeds (in my freezer though--not in the ground!), and I am trying my best to work through the mass quantities I have stock-piled. I had a large Ziploc of raw sunflower seeds and this Sunflower Seed Spread from my "Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook" seemed like a great way to make a dent in them. Similar to a hummus only with the nutty flavor of sunflower and sesame seeds, I am loving this spread on veggies, as a sandwich spread and I think it would be great thinned out a bit as a salad dressing too. Sunflower seeds have a combination of selenium and vitamin E and provide great antioxidants.

Tosca says, "Cooking" does not get any easier than this. If you can assemble things in a blender and press "start," you can make this delicious bread spread that quite frankly tastes just as good on a chicken breast.

Sunflower Seed Spread

Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Cookbook

(Makes 5 Cups)

2 1/2 cups / 600 ml raw, unsalted sunflower seeds

1/4 cup / 60 ml sesame seeds

2 Tbsp / 30 ml pumpkin seed oil

2 Tbsp / 30 ml roasted sesame oil

2 shallots, peeled and cut into chunks

1 lb / 454 g silken tofu, unflavored

1/4 cup / 60 ml light soy sauce or red tamari

1/2 tsp / 2.5 ml sea salt

pinch of freshly ground black pepper

juice of one lemon

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until absolutely smooth. Adjust consistency of this spread by adding very small amounts of water. Store unused portions in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid (A Mason jar is a good choice) in the fridge.

My Notes: I didn't have pumpkin seed oil and the smallest bottle I could find was $17.00 so I subbed some coconut oil--not the same thing taste wise but I didn't want to buy the pumpkin seed oil at that price. (I did use the sesame oil as the recipe directed). Once I tasted the spread I found that it was good, but I wanted it a bit "brighter" and so I used the juice of two lemons and liked it even more.

Nutritional Value for Two-Tbsp Serving: Calories: 73, Calories from Fat: 62, Protein: 3g, Carbs: 20g, Total Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0g, Fiber: 1g, Sodium: 11mg, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sugar: 1g.

It's not food but I love bath products almost as much, especially when they contain natural ingredients and a good friend gave me this big bottle of Archipelago Pomegranate Body Wash. This purple-red liquid has been waking me up in my morning shower with its fresh scent of pomegranate, cranberry, lemon and orange. It foams up nicely and smells good enough that I almost want to eat it. Although surely not nearly as effective as eating these fruits for their antioxidants, I guess washing with them can't hurt! ;-)

I having been trying to cut down on my processed sugar lately and that means limiting the amount of chocolate I am consuming too. When I do indulge I want it to be "splurge-worthy," meaning something that I think is worth indulging in. My latest find is this new Lindt "Touch of Sea Salt Bar" which I am loving as it works for that salty-sweet craving I often get.

The dark chocolate in this bar is creamy and the level of sea salt just about perfect--enough to taste it but not overpowering. Chocolate and sea salt remains one of my favorite pairings ever and I love that one thin square (or two on a tough day!) of this bar satisfies me and makes me happy.

So that is it for this week's "Things I Am Loving"--a little bit of healthy mixed with a little bit of indulging myself, so a good balance.

What things are you loving this week?

Thai-Flavored Kabocha Bisque for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

This is one of those soup recipes that I had been thinking about creating and it had been living in my head for several weeks but other soups kept getting in the way and getting made first. Although I am late to appreciating winter squash, I am finding myself liking it more and more lately. Kabocha, especially when it is roasted, is one of my new favorites, I like its sweet flavor and creamy texture and thought it would be the perfect canvas for some of my favorite Thai flavors as a soup. Most of this Thai-Flavored Kabocha Bisque is made using local ingredients--the squash, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger and lime. It is simple to make and tastes delicious. I am calling it a "bisque"-- instead of a soup because of the rich creamy texture from the squash and the coconut milk, but it is dairy-free and using light coconut milk, instead of the half & half or heavy cream that is often found in a bisque makes it a healthier choice.

Thai-Flavored Kabocha Bisque

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes about 4 cups)

I medium kabocha squash

olive oil

1 (14 oz) can lite coconut milk

1 cup low sodium vegetable or chicken stock

3 stalks lemongrass (green tops cut off), peeled and bruised

4-5 kaffir lime leaves, edges torn

1 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 or 2 small (3/4 to 1 inch) pieces galangal root, bruised

2 Tbsp fish sauce (optional)

2 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari

1/2 Tbsp sambal oelek or other chili paste

salt and fresh pepper to taste

juice of 1 lime plus lime slices for garnish.

For squash, Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut kabocha in half, scoop out seeds and rub cut sides with olive oil. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and roast until tender and easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool and scoop out flesh, discarding skin.

Place squash, coconut milk, stock, lemongrass, kaffir lime, ginger, galangal, fish sauce if using, soy sauce and sambal oelek in a pan and bring just to a soft boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes to blend flavors. (Note: make sure mixtures is just barely simmering--don't boil milk). Remove from heat, using a slotted spoon, remove lemongrass pieces, kaffir leaves and galangal. Puree until smooth with immersion blender or in small batches in blender or food processor. Add salt and black pepper to taste and squeeze in lime juice. Serve with extra lime slices or wedges. Enjoy!

Notes/Results: Excellent! This is a really great soup with lots of layers of flavor--the sweetness from the squash and coconut milk, the tangy from the lime, the spice from the chili paste, a little salty and savory from the fish sauce and the soy. If you can't get the lemongrass or kaffir lime where you live, you could substitute lemon juice and zest and add extra lime juice. I used fish sauce and my homemade chicken stock so this isn't a vegetarian dish but it could easily be made one by omitting the fish sauce and switching to a vegetable stock. It is worth the time to roast the squash first because it adds flavor, (I roasted mine earlier in the week and stored it in the fridge until I made the soup). I served it as a starter with a second round of this Gingery-Hot Duck Salad or it would also be great with some summer rolls. I will make this one again.

So who is in the Souper Sunday kitchen this week?

Lauren from Healthy. Delicious. is here with a gorgeous bowl of Black Bean Soup. She says, "This bean soup is a great way to get back on track after the Thanksgiving weekend – it’s vegetarian (vegan if you skip the sour cream on top), full of wholesome vegetables and fiber, and extremely soul-satisfying. Adding your own toppings also makes the soup fun, and allows you to switch it up a little bit so that the leftovers don’t all taste exactly the same."

Here with a Beef Barley Porcini Soup is Kait from Pots and Plots who says, "Ordinarily I would use beef stock for this soup, but as I was out and I really hate cooking with just plain water (as it tends to result in flavorless, bland, boring soup), I opted to break out the reserved dried porcinis and steep those. There is very little I love more than the flavor of porcini mushrooms. The rest of this soup was an effort to use up assorted odds and ends in the vegetable drawer. It’s very healthful at 276 calories and 4.8 grams of fat per serving."

Foodycat has been trying to recreate a Garlic Soup she ate in Switzerland a few years ago and is getting pretty close. She says, "I used very finely sliced potatoes and the white part of leek, cooked briefly in butter and just enough vegetable stock to cover it until it was tender. When it was cool I pureed the vegetables with a couple of cloves of raw garlic. Then I put this thick puree back in the saucepan, thinned it with white wine and cream and gently reheated it and served it with some seared scallops on top." Although she is going to try again, this one looks delicious!

Debs from Deb Cooks made a lovely Carrot & Lentil Soup. She says, "I love soup. In fact, soup will be featuring a lot more, here on my blog. Barry doesn't like many vegetables and most often he is happy to have just mushrooms with his meal. But, he'll eat virtually any vegetable in soups. So hello winter, welcome a variety of soups. I came across this soup on whatsforlunchhoney blog It looked so pretty and with the addition of lentils, I just had to try it."

Here with one of my favorites, a classic Potato & Leek Soup is my friend Rebecca from Chow and Chatter. Rebecca says, "I made this soup the other day, its a classic soup in the UK and I added leftover turkey and ham from thanksgiving, it was delicious, healthy and quick to make. Leeks are wonderful and so under used." Yum!

Debby from A Feast for the Eyes was kind enough to try my Chunky Split Pea Soup with Ham and discovered a pretty major typo in the process! (The 3 quarts mixed chicken and ham stock somehow became 6 quarts on my post--OK that's embarrassing!) Debby says, "I give this recipe two enthusiastic thumbs up! Thanks, Deb, for the lovely recipe. I forgive you for the typo, because I've done that myself. In a way, you did a big favor for me. The stock that I scooped out became the most delicious lentil and sausage soup-- that I have, yet, to blog about!" So glad she figured it out and was able to recover and the typo is now fixed. Debby made a few excellent changes to the soup and has some great step-by-steps--so check it out on her post! Can't wait to see the other soup too!

Joanne from Eats Well with Others is here with a Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup, she likes for it's ease of preparation. Joanne says, "I got the recipe from a cookbook that I own called Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook. The original recipe was a good base recipe, albeit somewhat bland, so I added in a ton of nutmeg and ginger. To spice things up. Feel free to change it as you wish. Add some apple. Or cheese. Or a cinnamon stick while cooking." Joanne has a sandwich to share to so check out her Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers below!

A Christmas Eve Soup from a email newsletter caught the eye of Libby at Cooking with Libby. She says, "For this soup, we had all the ingredients so I went to work on making it right away. This is a great way to use up all the left over ham from Thanksgiving and I also had some left over vegetables from Thanksgiving as well that needed to be used up soon. Needless to say, this is the perfect soup to make if you have any left overs just sitting in the fridge. My kids also loved this because of the cheese. What a great way to get them to eat their veggies..."

Deciding to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, even though it isn't an Italian tradition is the wonderful Graziana from Erbe in Cucina. Along with many the usual classic turkey day dishes, she says, "This is the easier recipe, the Smashed Potato Salad with Parsley." Made with red potatoes, parsley and chives and coarsely smashed together with a fork, this simple side dish salad is perfect any time of year.

Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies made a healthy and pretty Thai Hot & Sour Noodle Salad this week. Natashya says, "Here is a pretty easy-peasy recipe for a cold Thai noodle salad. It is open to creative variation and has the wonderful quality of being able to sit patiently and wait for you to create the rest of your dinner. The flavours are nicely balanced and intense, a great noodle salad."

The second submission this week from Joanne at Eats Well With Others are these hearty Thanksgiving Turkey Burgers made on homemade brioche burger buns. Joanne says, "I adapted this recipe for Thanksgiving burgers that I had seen on A Year In The Kitchen a LONG time ago. And while it doesn't really taste like Thanksgiving, it does taste delicious with the cranberry goat cheese. The only thing that would make it better would be if I added a layer of stuffing. And some gravy. But that might be vaguely excessive, don't you think?"

Wow--what a great selection of dishes this week! Thanks to everyone who participated. If you have a soup, salad or sandwich you would like to share, click on the logo on the side bar for all of the details.

Have a great week!

Apple-Cinnamon Kukicha Tea--A Warming "Simple Saturday Sipper"

I have been drinking a lot of kukicha tea lately--kukicha tea, also called "twig tea" is a Japanese tea blend where the twigs, stems and stalks of the green tea plant are slow roasted repeatedly which gives it a slightly "roasty" and nutty flavor. It is considered to be high in antioxidants and be a healthy tea that is very balancing to the system. Although kukicha tastes great plain, and iced with spices and juice (see that post here), I thought it would be good mixed with apple cider, orange juice and cinnamon for a cooler weather "Simple Saturday Sipper."

Apple-Cinnamon Kukicha Tea

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Makes 2-3 servings)

3 cups unsweetened apple cider or juice

juice of 1 orange

2 cinnamon sticks

2 kukicha tea bags

orange or lemon slices to garnish

Place apple juice, orange juice and cinnamon sticks in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, add kukicha tea bags and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into tea cups or mugs and serve garnished with a cinnamon stick and orange or lemon slice.

Notes/Results: Very good! The natural sweetness of the apple cider and orange juice combine well with the roasted flavor of the tea and the cinnamon adds a nice touch. A perfect warming cup for a cold, blustery afternoon. A nice alternative to mulled cider, I will make this throughout the season.

What is your favorite cold, blustery day drink?

Nigella Lawson's Gingery-Hot Duck Salad--Fit for a Goddess!

This week our theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs is "Goddess Goodies"--those foods that make us feel good, that nurture, delight and sustain us. We were supposed to channel our inner goddess to come up with one of Nigella's recipes that our inner goddess (or "IG"), would like. My inner goddess has not been too happy with me lately since I drastically cut down on the sugar and dairy consumption for awhile to see if it would improve my breathing, so I decide to have a conversation with her and see if we could find a recipe we agreed on. It went a little something like this:

Me: "Hey IG, we need a "Goddess Goodies" recipe for IHCC, what should we make?"

IG: "Chocolate!"

Me: "No, remember we are cutting down on sugar. How about a salad?"

IG: "How about chocolate?"

Me: "I know--how about this salmon and shitake one?"

IG: "Or we could make something chocolate!" (IG has a one-track mind!)

Me: "This noodle soup looks good!"

IG: "Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!"

Me: "Wait! What about this salad that's topped with lots of nice rich gingery slices of hot succulent duck!?"

IG: "That will work!"

So my inner goddess and I got it worked out and selected Nigella's Gingery-Hot Duck Salad, from "Nigella Bites." It is in the "Temple Foods" section, so named because as Nigella says,"It's my term for the soothing, pure, would-be restorative food I make for myself after one binge or late night too many. "Temple" as in "my body is a..." Well mine's not but this is what I eat when I want to feel it is. And don't think--as if--I'm counseling deprivation or restraint, but rather the holy glow of self-indulgently virtuous pleasure...." Works for me! This is a dish with good balance--some nice greens and a low-fat citrus dressing for me and some nice, meaty decadent duck for IG. I wanted to take the duck skin off to save a little fat but IG put her foot down and we ended up leaving the skin on. I guess if you are going to go duck, you have to go all the way! I did make a couple of additions / changes, noted in red below.

Nigella says: "I don't buy into this anti-meat drive. Indeed, I am vehemently pro- protein. Nor am I fat-phobic, so I tend to leave the fatty layer of skin on the duck breast before I griddle (or fry) it, but remove it, before cooking, by all means if you have succumbed to the lure of the lean. And if that's the case, you'll pleased to learn that not one drop of oil need go into the dressing. However, I often sprinkle a little toasted sesame oil over at the end, which is why I've still listed it in the ingredients. Your call. The salad itself is a slight reworking of a Cambodian beef salad I often make; here the lime juice in the steeping-mixture (which turns into the dressing) is supplemented with orange juice (Asian evocations of duck a l'orange and all that), but in season, around January, use instead of this combination, the fragrantly acerbic juice of one Seville orange."

Gingery-Hot Duck Salad

Nigella Bites, Nigella Lawson

(Serves 2)

1 duck breast
2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
1/2 lime, juiced (I used a whole small lime)
1/2 orange, juiced (or 1 Seville orange)
1 small red chile, finely diced (I used 1/2 tsp of sambal oelek)
1/2 piece fresh ginger, grated
Sesame oil, few drops (optional)
2 ounces (1/4 cup) baby spinach, watercress, lamb's lettuce or a mixture (Note: I used about 3 cups total of a mix of watercress and baby spinach--so about 1 1/2 cups per serving)
1/4 cup chopped scallions, for garnish

2 Tbsp pomegranate seeds, for garnish

Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium-high heat. Cook duck breast, fat side down, if not removed, for 10 to 12 minutes flipping with tongs, until it is lightly pink inside. Remove from skillet or griddle and place on cutting board, allowing meat to rest. While the duck is resting, begin the dressing.

In a medium bowl, mix fish sauce, lime juice, orange juice, red chile, grated ginger, and sesame oil. Stir using a spoon. Take baby spinach and lay across a decorative plate. Slice duck breast on a diagonal into thin slices. Place the juice from the cutting board and the duck slices into the dressing. Toss the duck slices in the dressing using your hands or tongs. Place the duck and dressing on top of spinach. Top with orange zest and serve immediately.


Notes/Results: Absolutely delicious! I think this may be my favorite Nigella recipe so far. The salad is the perfect combination of flavors--salty, sweet, tangy, spicy and nutty from the sesame oil. I realized I forgot to buy a red chili so I substituted with with some sambal oelek (chili paste) which worked just fine. Although they are not listed in the recipe, Nigella shows the salad with scallions on top so I added them and then I also added about 2 tablespoons of pomegranate seeds for some sweetness and a bit of color and they were a great pairing with the duck. I served the salad with whole grain baguette and half made a filling dinner. (BTW on the recipe it says 50 g or 1/4 cup of spinach or arugula which did not seem near enough so I ended up with about 3 cups combined or about 1 1/2 cups of the greens per serving). Both my inner goddess and I were happy and content with this one, the other half of this salad will be lunch tomorrow and my inner goddess has suggested we make it again this weekend. (I even let her have a square of dark chocolate with sea salt as dessert!) ;-) I will definitely make this again. Note--if you are not a duck person still do try the dressing as it is delicious--marinate some tofu in it or use a grilled chicken breast and you'll still have a wonderfully flavorful dish.

You can check out what "Goddess Goodies" the other IHCC participants selected and what they thought of them by following the links on the IHCC website here.

So what foods / dishes does your inner god or goddess crave? ;-)

Pomsake Sparklers for Cook Red to Remember

You are probably thinking it must be Saturday since you are seeing a drink recipe on my blog, but rather than being one of my "Simple Saturday Sippers", these Pomsake Sparklers are part of Cooking Red to Remember, an event being hosted by Angela at Spinach Tiger. World AIDS Day was December 1st, and December is AIDS Awareness Month and Angela, who tragically lost both a brother and a cousin to AIDS, is encouraging everyone to cook something using red as the ingredient in order to remember those lost from this terrible disease and those who are living with it.

Although we may sometimes forget about or overlook AIDS, according to amfar, it is estimated that there are approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and that one-fifth of those people don’t even know they have it. One third of the people with AIDS are between the ages of 13 and 29. Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, 1.7 million Americans have been infected with HIV and more than 550,000 have died of AIDS. Worldwide it is estimated that 33 million people now live with HIV/AIDS and 2 million of them are under the age of 15. Women account for more than one in four new HIV/AIDS diagnoses and deaths caused by AIDS. I have lost two friends to this disease and know many others who have been touched by it in some way. After reading Angela moving post, (here), I decided to join in and make something red to remember.

I knew I wanted to do something with pomegranate seeds and had a lovely sounding saffron rice dish that baked in the oven picked out to make. Unfortunately I was out of the plain brown rice the recipe called for, (of course I have every other kind of rice or grain you can think of!), and I tried to substitute brown basmati rice, and basically I ended up with a hard grainy mess beyond repair after it spent considerable time in the oven. Instead of crying over grainy, hard rice, I switched gears and put together a drink I have been thinking about as a holiday cocktail. Just three ingredients, pomegranate juice, sparkling sake and pomegranate seeds and you have a beautiful and refreshing drink--perfect for your holiday party. If you can't find sparkling sake, prosecco, champagne or any sparking wine will work.

Pomsake Sparkers

by Deb, Kahakai Kitchen

(Proportions are for one drink)

1 ounce pomegranate juice

1 Tbsp pomegranate seeds

3 oz sparkling sake

Place pomegranate juice and seeds in the bottom of a champagne flute and pour sparkling sake in. Stir, serve and enjoy!

If you would like to join in and Cook Red to Remember, you have until December 7th to post your dish and send Angela your link and photo at SpinachTiger@me.com

Things I Am Loving This Week

It is December! Can you believe it?! And it's Tuesday which means that it is time for the "Things I Am Loving This Week"--those (mostly) food related things that I am enjoying and want to share.

First up, a good use for Thanksgiving leftovers, I made these Mini Turkey Pot Pies because I love pot pie. Actually they are leftover-leftovers in this case (so would that be leftovers²?), since I used my leftover turkey bones to make stock, and then the stock and leftover turkey meat to make soup and then used some of the soup, mixed with leftover turkey gravy and added potatoes and extra turkey to make the pot pie filling. (Whew!) For the crust I used this simple one from one of my classes and used a whole grain pastry flour. It ended up quite flaky and good.


To control portions I used my small ramekins that hold about 2/3 of a cup of filling, making it a perfect size with to go with a salad for a not too heavy dinner. In this case it was a kale salad with cranberries and toasted pine nuts, and I also added a small cup of leftover cranberry sauce. Yum!

A couple of weeks ago I expressed my love for Lara Bars--a frequent snack and/or meal replacement for me. This week, I tried and am enjoying Dr. Andrew Weil's answer to the Lara Bar "Weil by Nature's Path Pure Fruit and Nut Bars" that I finally found in the health section of one of my local grocery store.

There are five flavors: Goji Moji (Cranberries and Goji Berry), Pistachi-Oh!, Chocolada Walnut, Banana Manna (Banana and Almond), Chia Razz (Chia, Raspberry, Cashew). I have only tried the banana and the raspberry chia ones so far but found them to be very good, perhaps a bit "stickier" in their texture than Lara Bars, but the flavors are excellent. I love that they have just a few natural and organic ingredients, yet make a nice sweet treat.

You may have seen it before but I just love this video from the folks at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. The employees there all got together, wearing pink surgical gloves and dancing to Jay Sean's "Down" for breast cancer awareness. From the nurses to the cleaning crew, to the cafeteria, lab techs, administration, surgical teams, etc., they are obviously having a blast and they make me smile every time I watch so I thought I would share it. The video helps raise breast cancer awareness in a positive way and the glove manufacturer (Medline) is donating a part of the video's proceeds to fund mammograms to women who cannot afford to get them. What's not to love about that?!

Finally, I can't help but love this little face! ;-) We had some stormy, cool, "blanket" weather over the weekend and since they don't come out that often here, Max likes it when the blanket appears on the couch just as much as I do.

He likes to hide under them and burrow and snuggle and will occasionally come up for air. And it has been awhile since I posted a Max picture. ;-)

So what things are you loving this week?