Rainy Day Meetup & Doughy or Baked

Yesterday I met my friend Amber for a coffee and girl talk at Corner Bakery.   The meetup was wonderful, even though the photos aren’t.

No kids, no men, just us.

And Amber’s sprained ankle courtesy of a racquetball injury.

Poor thing that she has to wear flats which is very un-Amber like.  She’s normally in heels.  But she’s on the mend and will be breaking out her 4 inchers, soon.

We drank coffee, gabbed, laughed, and caught up on each other’s lives.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  I just posted a couple days ago about how important it is to have friends.  And seeing Amber just reinforced that.  Can’t wait til our next meetup!

Earlier in the day I ran errands, got a workout in, but since the weather turned cold, dreary, extremely windy, rainy, and dismal, the workout was a streamlined special.  20 minute outdoor run + 20 minute indoor yoga/pilates/core work/weightlifting moves.  I think I run faster when it’s freezing outside.  I pretty much run for dear life and get back in the house, asap.

I came inside and ate green food.

With Vegan Creamy Lemon & Herb Dressing

And because it was so cold out, and because I needed some planned leftovers to have on hand going into the week,  I made a Cheezy Vegetable Bake

So easy.  Throw in whatever you have on hand that you need to use up, and bake with cheeze or cheese, or both.

And voila, a complete meal.  Add extra beans, tofu, or lentils if you want to bump up the protein.

And for dessert, I couldn’t resist a few No-Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Thanks for the compliments on those and for letting me know if you’re a Heath Bar or toffee fan.  And also for cluing me in on your favorite candy bars.  Now I have some ideas for more recipes incorporating candy.  Not a bad thing at all.

And if you’re more into a baked dessert, you could try baking some cookies rather than just eating dough.

Peanut Butter Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Peanut Flour, Vegan, GF)

 

Or bake some Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, GF, dehydrate to keep raw or bake in oven)

Questions:

1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?

Some of my bests:

spending time with Skylar

a great 4 mile run on Saturday before Sunday’s nasty weather

No Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

meetup with Amber on Sunday

It was all great.  Even though I did work all weekend, too. Ugh.

2. When was your last friend meetup?  What did you do?

Sometimes it’s fun to take a walk or stroll around shops and walk and chat, but with Amber’s ankle, we weren’t going to do any walking or strolling.  And honestly, it felt great to sit on my butt for an hour.

Not to mention, it was cold out and rainy and awful.  Coffee inside on a rainy day was perfect.

3. Do you prefer Baked Cookies or just the Cookie Dough?

As a kid, I ate so much raw cookie dough, with raw eggs and flour.  And I lived. Sometimes I would go a little too crazy though with the raw cookie dough and get a stomach ache but it was worth it.  (I also used to drink Orange Julius with raw eggs, too.  And they were great.  And I lived.)

I still love raw cookie dough.  Thus, all of my cookie dough bites and balls recipes.

However, if a cookie is baked to perfection, meaning barely crunchy on the outside yet perfectly tender, moist, warm, and gooey in the middle, that is a hard act to beat.

So I am torn.  Depends on the cookie.  And the chef’s skills.

Cookies or just Dough for you?

P.S. If you’re just catching up on posts since Friday, here are mine:

• No Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
• Sandwiches & ‘Shrooms
• It’s Good to Have Friends
• The Tall & Short Of It
• Free Grocery Money
• Stash & Store

Have a great Monday!