Happy Sunday!

I haven’t seen the movie in years, but for some reason the other day I was thinking about the movie Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

While I could probably recite every line from the first movie, the 2nd one I have only seen a few times. But there is one line that I remember well. Right after Nora has her baby her dad (Steve Martin) tells her, “There’s no way to be a perfect parent, but a million ways to be a really good one.”

While I am not insinuating that healthy eating and parenting are much alike, I believe that this particular lines applies to healthy eating quite well, too. Think about it, “There is no way to eat a perfect diet but a million ways to eat a really good one.” Let’s start with the first line. While some of us may think we do, there really is no way to eat a perfect diet. For, if a diet is so strict that it never includes occasional treats that wouldn’t be much fun, so is it really perfect at all? But others might argue that a diet that includes treats and indulgences is not perfect because these ”treats” might not be totally healthy. But, I see no reason to eat a perfect diet.

I also believe that different people are meant to eat different ways. While I do believe that there are some things that are inherently wrong in life, (I could write quite a little bit on moral relativism, but not today) I do not think that this philosophy extends to food. It seems like there are some carnivores who insist a healthy diet must include meat protein. Then, there are vegans and vegetarians who try to make omnivores feel guilty for including animal products in their diets. Or, people who insist on never eating anything with more than 5 ingredients and look down upon those who do not eat “all natural” foods. Can we please just all love and respect each other? What works for you may not work for me and vice versa. For example, you may need more protein in your diet and I may need more fat. There are tons of ways to be totally healthy; we need not get caught up in finding the perfect way and enforcing it upon others. We are all created differently and require different things to fuel us.  I think this is a beautiful thing and our various food choices should be embraced and certainly not judged.

Alright, on to more fun things: Chocolate Chip Cookies. Last weekend, with the family home, I made regular ol’ chocolate chip cookies. I feel a bit bad because I used to make cookies for my brother regularly, but the last few months before he went off to college I really didn’t make him anything because I was so focused on eating healthfully. I was so into healthy eating that I sacrificed bringing joy to family? Not worth it! I made up for lost time by whipping up some über delicious cookies. The whole time I was making them I was thinking about how easy it would be to make a few substitutions and, in turn, make the cookies way more nutritious. But, it wasn’t the time to take the risk of producing sub par baked good so I proceeded to follow the recipe. But this weekend was a whole other story. I set out to make healthy cookies that did not taste healthy at all. Not just cookies that I and a few other bloggers might enjoy, but cookies that people with totally normal taste buds would like and not guess that they were healthy. I set out on my mission, and, all in all, I think I was pretty darn successful in producing a healthier cookie without sacrificing any flavor. The texture is a tad bit more cake-y but still a really yummy and not healthy tasting cookie!

• 1/2 cup + 2 T whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour (I just blend my regular oats up in my magic bullet until they are flour-y in texture)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup butter softened
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup sucanat (Which I also blended up in my magic bullet)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (I used 60%, if you want something darker just chop up some baking chocolate)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, and salt. In a larger bowl beat together the butter, applesauce, sucanat, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in the egg. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats and chocolate. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes; remove and let cool completely. Enjoy! Yield: makes about 2 dozen.

Delicious

With studying, mid-terms, and travel I’m not sure how much time I will be able to devote to blogging in the next couple of weeks. However, I’m working hard to post more regularly than I once did, so I was wondering is anyone interested in doing a guest post? If you are, please email me at theflourishingfoodie@yahoo.com.

Have a wonderful day!

Ann Claire