Jinxi Boo

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - Vegan Style

2012-10-27T21:47:59Z

This is a repost of an older recipe blog I posted in 2009, but I have these cookies baking in the oven right now, so I thought it would be fun to revisit these little yummmies, in case you missed them the first time around. =)

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When I was younger (and older too), my mom made the BEST pumpkin chocolate chip cookies EVER!!

When I decided to commit to living a vegan lifestyle, I remember thinking, "Bye bye, pumpkin cookies ... I will miss you forever."

Well, after some trial-and-error, tweaking and tasting, I have arrived at a pumpkin cookie recipe that I think my mom would be proud of and that has helped me reconnect with a delightful memory from my childhood. You won't know it's lacking animal products. Really, I swear. Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1st Bowl Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

2nd Bowl Ingredients

1 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil (I use canola, but vegetable works fine too)
2 Tablespoons molasses
1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds
1 cup canned spiced pumpkin (*I use the spiced, if you prefer it plain, that works too)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Last

12 oz. vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips (*I use Ghiradelli's semi-sweet)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1st Bowl Ingredients together: flour, oats, baking soda, spices, salt.

Separately mix 2nd Bowl Ingredients together: sugar, oil, molasses, flax seeds, pumpkin, vanilla.

Add the 1st Bowl with the 2nd Bowl. Fold to combine. Then fold in chocolate chips.

Spoon onto greased cookie sheets (I drop about a Tablespoon size, give or take a bit).

Bake 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch your first batch to note the time. Mine seem to vary a bit each time I make them.

Enjoy!

Makes 4 dozen cookies

Polishing the Grindstone

2012-10-20T19:10:44Z

“Life is a grindstone.

Whether it

grinds us down

or polishes us up

depends on us."

- Thomas L. Holdcroft

Photo by Effree

Seeds Are Sprouting in Our Square Foot Garden

2012-04-06T15:28:50Z

It's been two weeks since I planted our first little round of seeds in the vegetable garden and guess what? They are REALLY GROWING!!!

I feel like a kindergartner planting that little lima bean seed in the Dixie cup and setting it in the sunny window of the classroom, anxiously awaiting the outcome. Seriously, so much fun!

I have been tending to the boxes each day with water and love, keeping them free from debris and falling leaves. Watching, hoping, watching, and waiting.

And here we are! Two weeks in with beautiful little sprouts popping up and out of the soil. Some veggies are bigger and more brazen than others. The radishes are true champs; and the peas are already looking hearty and beautiful.

I'm so excited! I know it's a very minor step in the process, but I just had to share the progress photos with you.

I have also since planted seeds in four more SFG boxes and we have six more lined up and ready to fill with our Mel's Mix recipe of:

1/3 vermiculite
1/3 peat moss
1/3 compost (from as many sources as possible)

It's been such a fun process so far and I can't wait until these little babies are growing into edible food for my kitchen!

I'll keep you posted.

Happy Spring!!

First Round of Seeds Planted in our Vegetable Garden

2012-03-20T16:42:25Z

I'm so excited to report that yesterday we planted our first round of vegetable seeds in our Square Foot Garden. We have four SFG boxes full of soil, with nearly 10 more to fill...but this was a great start and we are so excited to actually have seeds in the ground.

We planted a wide array of veggies that we eat often here in the Caddel household and I am now ready to lovingly attend to the cute little symmetrical squares to be sure that they are happy, sunny, and well-watered as we move forward to the sprouting stage.

We used this great soil recipe called "Mel's Mix," which comes highly recommended from those in the SFG circle. It includes:

1/3 vermiculite
1/3 peat moss
1/3 compost (from as many sources as possible)

If you are interested in learning more about the Square Foot Gardening method, I highly recommend reading this book. It's very easy to follow and a really great way to grow your own food. We have built 14 of the SFG boxes and utilized almost all of our backyard to accomodate them.

We figured that if we are going to do this, we might as well go big and move forward down the road to self-sufficient gardening. You can also see a glimpse of our composter back in the right-hand corner of the yard. We are really enjoying using it too - it's such a great tool for a home garden. The whole planning, building, and planting of the boxes been a great learning experience and lots of fun so far!

Seeds planted in the first four of our Square Foot Garden boxes (click to view larger)

I will keep you updated as to the progress of our seeds; as well as when we move forward with filling the next round of boxes with soil and planting round two.

Fingers crossed for some pretty little sprouts popping up soon.

And I will leave you with this beautiful little quote from May Sarton, which says:

"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. "

The Interesting Adventures of Healing a Head Tattoo

2012-03-16T15:13:45Z

Last Saturday, I snuck in a pretty substantial ink session with Mike DeVries down at his MD Tattoo Studio in Northridge, California. He worked on portions of my head tattoo, a project that we began, along with Mike DeMasi, almost five years ago. The three of us are ready to revive what we started up atop my head and I'm so excited about it (especially after seeing what beautiful creativity Mike unleashed last weekend).

Let me tell you though, I had forgotten just how tricky it is to heal a head tattoo.

The first few days are fine, as the close Bic-shave that's necessary for tattoo work to be done on the dome is still quite fresh, and the ink is easy to clean and take care of.

But man, when those prickly hairs start growing back (which is super quick), it not only forces the ink up and out, but it sort of collides with the aftercare products (btw, I'm currently using Ink Butter and I love it) as well. Because let's face it, lotion + fuzzy hair = sort of hilarious trying to make the two cooperate and become friends!

Now that my ink is starting to flake off, it's extra itchy, as if there is colorful dandruff exfoliating from my head. Maybe Head Tattoo Shampoo could be a new market for Head & Shoulders! Not to mention if I used a cleaning service at my home, like Busy Bee Cleaning Services, I can only imagine what they would think as they ran a vacuum over the carpets.

I'm not complaining though, don't get me wrong. I am SUPER excited to get this head tattoo rolling again. It's just quite an adventure...this head-healing scenario, and so very different than healing most tattoos.

Not to mention that I dare not shave my now-fuzzy noggin for at least another week or so...and believe me, the clippers will be begging me to bring them out and switch them on once you can't see traces of ink any longer. Doh! ;) Plus my dry cleaning service doesn't mind the extra business (LOL).

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Soiree Cookie Recipe

2012-03-13T16:48:12Z

If you have bananas that are getting mushy and showing signs of brown spotting, don't let them go to waste! There are many uses for them; even if you just peel, smush, and freeze the bananas, you can use them at a later date in baking.

Bananas are a great vegan substitute for eggs in many recipes and I use them often, so having a few tucked away in your freezer is a smart idea.

If you see your bananas closing in on their last day, one fun usage for them is this cookie recipe. I call them Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Soiree Cookies because they are like a little party of ingredients that collide and delight!

They are really easy to make, so let's get started.

Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Soiree Cookies

Ingredients

2-3 very ripe bananas (depends on the size of the bananas as to whether you use two or three)

2/3 cup canola oil

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour (add extra tablespoons if necessary to get it to good creamy consistency, when blending the flour mixture - see below)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 cups quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal

1/2 cup of raw, unsalted sunflower seeds (can use a different kind of nut if you prefer)

1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli's semi-sweet)

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray baking sheets with oil (or use parchment paper, which is what I prefer).

2) In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas well.

3) Add oil, sugar, and vanilla; then mix with bananas.

4) Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until just moistened.

5) Add oatmeal, sunflower seeds, and chocolate chips.

6) Make sure that oats are well moistened (if dough is too slippery, add a few tablespoons of flour until the consistency is nice and creamy).

7) Use a cookie dough scoop or spoon to add little round dough balls onto cookie sheet.

8) Bake 10-13 minutes depending on oven - watch them carefully after about 10 minutes.

9) Remove from pan and let cool. Store in an airtight container.

10) Enjoy!

*Makes about 4 dozen

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Optimism Through Rose Thorns

2012-02-25T19:45:39Z

Instead of wishing that roses didn't have thorns,
be glad that thorns have roses.

Photo by Nigel Wedge

Calling All Artists and Octopus Lovers: Introducing the Eight Arms of Inspiration Project

2012-02-21T19:56:40Z

Things have been busy around j-boo headquarters in recent weeks. My newest book project has consumed most of my time as of late, and it's been equal parts: researching, corresponding with artists, receiving submissions, organizing galore, networking, word-spreading, stress managing, and most importantly.. having fun! This shindig that I speak of is none other than Eight Arms of Inspiration: The Octopus Art Project.

You can read all of the nitty-gritty details on the website, but the gist of this art book project is that we are bringing together an all-star cast of artists from around the world, collecting photos of their octopi-inspired artistic treasures, and building it into a hardback, coffee table-style book full of eye candy.

This collaborative effort seeks to honor the artists' work, while supporting arts education and keeping creativity alive in schools; as ten percent of the profits from book sales will go to an incredible charitable organization called donorschoose.org that connects donors to classrooms in need.

While I am thrilled to once again work alongside my tattoo artist friends, this project is particularly exciting because the door is open to artists of not only the ink industry, but also to those skilled enough to: draw, paint, sketch, photograph, sculpt, sew, build, carve, write a poem about, crochet, design a piece of jewelry, bead, woodwork, knit, and the list goes on.

So if you are a creative soul or you know of someone who is, please forward this information along. We are currently accepting submissions and will be until April 6th. This is your chance to bring octo-creativity to life and share your work with others. The reception so far has been amazing and I am blown away by the excellent artwork that has already been sent to my inbox. Please spread the word and be a part of the Eight Arms of Inspiration troupe.

For questions on how to submit, please visit the Eight Arms of Inspiration website.

For Facebook users, please join our FB page so you can keep up with the latest and also catch glimpses of the submissions that are rolling in.

Tentacle love,
Jinxi

The Power of Listening

2012-02-15T18:02:23Z

"Be a good listener.
Your ears will never get you in trouble."
- Frank Tyger

Someone to Love: Valentine's Day Sentiments

2012-02-14T16:53:09Z

"I don't believe in destiny or the guiding hand of fate.
I don't believe in forever, or love as a mystical state.
I don't believe in the stars or the planets
or angels watching from above.
But I believe there's a ghost of a chance
we can find someone to love
and make it last."
- Rush, "Ghost Of A Chance"

Photo by LordKhan

*This is a repost from a Valentine's Day post on JinxiBoo a few years back...
but I love it so much, I figured that it wouldn't hurt to play it again, in case you missed it before.