Oatmeal Banana Cookies

A nice break from banana bread. :)

I saw this on Allrecipes.com and thought, hmmm, how bad could it be?
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Oatmeal-Cookie/Detail.aspx

I altered the recipe, of course, and I think it came out really well. I copied the recipe and edited in my changes below.

* 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup shortening
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 cup mashed bananas (3-4 medium bananas)
* 1 3/4 cups quick cooking oats
DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.
3. Cream together the shortening and sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Add egg, banana and oatmeal. Mix well.
4. Add dry ingredients, mix well and drop by the teaspoon on a max paper coated cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 15-20 minutes or until edges turn lightly brown. Cool on wire rack. I froze half in a large freezer bag and kept the rest for snacks during the week. They are great with a glass of milk, lactose free of course. ;)


I know the pic is dark but it's all rainy and tornado-ey outside so my kitchen is dark.

Why I made changes:
I lowered the temperature because I made my first batch at 400 and the bottoms were burnt :( at 375 then were nicely brown on the bottom but were moist on top. I reduced the sugar because I don't like things too sweet but feel free to mess with it. I thought about leaving it out all together and using honey as a sweetener but haven't done that yet.

Also, for you peanut butter lovers, I could see this working well with a 1/2 cup peanut butter if you add 2 tablespoons or water or milk to then think it back out.

Mushroom Ravioli Sunday

When Sabine, my mother in law, came to visit, she made raviolis with me using won-ton wrappers from the vegetable section of grocery stores. We made raviolis with pesto and ricotta in them but I couldn't resit the urge to make mushroom stuffed ones.

1 package won-ton wrappers
1 15 oz carton riccotta cheese
8-10 small mushrooms, preferably a non-button mushroom for more flavor (I used creminis)
salt
pepper
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water



Won-ton wrappers!

Chop the mushrooms super fine with a sharp knife as seen here.

Blend them into the ricotta and add salt and pepper to taste. I know, it doesn't look like a lot of filling but you don't need much for each ravioli.

Lay out the wont-tons on the counter and add a 1/2 teaspoon of filling in the center of each sheet. Brush egg was on 2 of the 4 sides, two sides that meet at a "T". This is important to make the wrapper stick and egg wash doesn't stick to egg wash so only do two sides that will touch plain wrapper. Press the ravioli closed from the center point outward making sure to remove any air that may be inside.



Place them on a cookie sheet and freeze for an hour or until firm. Then transfer to plastic bags.



To cook, place in boiling water* and watch them closely. It should only take a few minutes, maybe 3 for them to be done (they should turn translucent and taste just barley gummy). *Make sure that water is at a rolling boil before you put them in, since they are frozen and they will lower the temperature of the water.

Serve them with whatever sauce you like or plain. You can float them in broth as a soup if you use a filling that suits that too.

Other filling suggestions
ricotta and pesto (mix 1/4 cup pesto into ricotta cheese) - Sabine
Italian sausage and parmesan cheese - Samantha
shrimp or crab and cream cheese - Chinese restaurants
spinach and cheese (make sure the spinach is cooked but drained dry)
anything you can think of...as long as it's dry, holds shape, and tastes good to you :)

They can also make dessert raviolis with a fruit, cream cheese, or chocolate filling when fried and topped with powdered sugar.