Successful Experimentation or Fantastic Failure

I cherish my memories of being a young mother with young kids. Even though it wasn’t easy, I loved cooking desserts from scratch and baking bread. Figuring out what I had to work with and finding a recipe to match was a challenge of its own. This was when I got really comfortable experimenting with substitutions or just leaving out ingredients entirely. Creating something that we would all enjoy and that I could save money by making it myself provided great satisfaction. Some were so good they became staples in our weekly menu, while others were such fantastic failures that we remember them with entertaining storytelling and great laughter.

These days, I am fascinated with making healthier plant-based desserts, dressings, and sauces. While I appreciate a good simple recipe, I always seem to change it a little. Today, I made an Avocado “Blue Cheese” dressing that, of course, I had to tweak it a bit, and I made a batch of what I will name Oatmeal Banana Bites (with raisins and chopped almonds). I am completely okay with creating what I call… “You better enjoy it, this will never be repeated” dishes LOL. You can ask Vic how often I say this because I can’t remember exactly what I put in it. I love to cook by feeling my way through the creation of the meal. In an attempt to share my successful experiments, I am going to put them here, and maybe I will be able to repeat them in the future. 

Avocado “Blue Cheese” Dressing

1/3 cup raw cashews (I might just try raw almonds next time)

1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

4 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tbsp of Almond Butter (this was a last-minute add-in to tweak the flavor… yummy! And yes, tasting as you go is so important)

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

3 tbsp lemon juice (I honestly didn’t measure this exactly; it might have been 3 1/2 or 4 tbsp, but next time, I will use 3. I was a little heavy-handed today)

1 tsp miso paste

6 tbsp nutritional yeast

4 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp onion powder

3 tsp Dijon mustard (I actually used 4 teaspoons of Dijon but will definitely use less next time)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Use on top of salad or your favorite cooked veggies.

Oatmeal Banana Bites

2 1/2 cups of oats

3 ripe bananas

2 tbsp almond butter

4 dried figs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tsp ground flax seeds

4 heaping tsp cocoa powder

Additional add-ins… raisins and chopped almonds. (Next time, I want to try semi-sweet chocolate chips… note: add semi-sweet chocolate chips to the grocery list)

Preheat your oven to 190° Celsius or 375° Fahrenheit. Take one cup of oats and blend into oat flour. Place in a mixing bowl. Combine all other ingredients in the blender until smooth. Add this mixture to the oat flour with the remaining oats. Add a handful of raisins and a handful chopped almonds. Scoop out a large spoonful, roll in your hands into ball, smush into flat disk, and place on the cookie sheet. This part is messy but fun. Repeat to fill a silicone lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. This batch made 18 cookies. I took the picture while the second cookie sheet was in the oven.

If you have read all the way down to this point, thank you. If you try making one of my recipes, let me know how it turns out… better yet, if you swap out, add, or delete an ingredient and come up with something you love, please share it with me. We all can make life a little tastier together.