recipe journal // 5

Mornings are my thing. I do not mind that I am a grandma in the sense that I like to eat dinner at six, go to bed well before midnight, and wake up real before everyone else in the house. My older brother loves to give me a hard time about it, but honestly I think I'm the one that's got it right. Those early hours are when I feel peace ruling in my heart. When I rise, I am prayerful and calm. My mornings have fallen into a rhythm these days and it is just so good. 

I have this great little teapot I got at an antique store a few years ago and I've waited a long time to finally put him to use in my own house. So, I've been boiling water every morning for tea while I figure out what I will have for breakfast. I usually have a bowl of oatmeal, a smoothie, or some baked good I've made that week and while I eat I open up my bible or write in my journal. Yes, sometimes I look through instagram or let myself become worried with all that comes with the day. I find though that being with the Lord in the morning, in some form or fashion, is what I need most. My prayer is that the Devil would not tempt me with his distractions, and that I would not sell-out to his cheap imitations of joy and fulfillment. 

I want to keep falling into the rhythm of hot tea, warm breakfast, and reading the living word. If I have the time after that to make breakfast cookies, while working on school work, like I did this morning, then I will do exactly that. Because mornings are for doing your thing (which in my case is cooking and eating and being with the Lord) 

These cookies definitely qualify for breakfast- especially if you slather some peanut or almond butter on them. These days they also satisfy my tastebuds for dessert- but that probably is not everyone's tastebuds. You can really mix in anything you'd like- chocolate chips, pecans, dried fruit, chia seeds. Think of them as "everything but the kitchen sink cookies" ...

Also, we got christmas lights and a sweet potted mum for our little porch tonight. Crazy how christmas lights make a shabby porch feel warm and happy! I'm in love.

Breakfast Cookies //

adapted from recipe in Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

3 large ripe bananas, well mashed

1/4 cup coconut oil (warmed so it is not solid)

2 cups rolled oats

2/3 cup almond meal (or any nut really- just ground in spice grinder)

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

2/3 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

optional mix-ins: 1/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped dried fruit, chopped nuts, chia seeds

method // in a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork, then pour in coconut oil and stir. add oats, almond meal, salt, spices, and baking powder 

and stir until well combined. add coconut and other mix-ins and stir again.

form the dough into 12-15 round blobs (using a spoon or your hands) and place on baking sheet. baked at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes, or until browned. 

recipe journal // 4

Dear October,
Hi! Hello! I can't believe you are already here. Welcome pumpkin recipe after pumpkin recipe and everything with apples. I'm glad it's time to celebrate you. I know that the cooler weather is on its way, but for right now I don't mind a couple more warm days. You are my second favorite month, with July taking up a little more room in my heart. I do love all the food that comes with this season though, more so than summertime foods. Something about fall is just nourishing. The warm food that sticks to your bones a little more, the leaves that change and become fiery orange while the temperature drops, the candles flickering inside of pumpkins all carved and ready for trick-or-treaters. You mark the beginning of all that October, I'm excited for thirty one days of you. Making homemade applesauce is one of my favorite things to do while you are around. It feels right to eat warm apple crisps in the cool of the night and to stir this thick, sweet applesauce into oatmeal in the mornings. The smell that wafts through the house as I make a pot of this is just bliss. I am thankful. I am thankful for you, October, for seasons, and for warm applesauce.
Your friend,
Katie

This is much less of a recipe and much more of a guide...
Here's what you do //

chop up however many apples you wish (any type works, i prefer the sweet varieties for this) and leave the skin on cause it's seriously the best part. add all of them to a pot and pour in some water (i used 5 large apples and a half cup of water) add a pinch of salt and a shake or two of cinnamon, if you'd like, but they are still delicious without cinnamon. simmer on low, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the apples can be mashed easily. mash to your desired consistency. i like mine thick and rustic, so I call it quits after mashing them. if you want super smooth sauce you can let them cool, and then transfer to a food processor.

to store, let the pot cool and then put the sauce in a jar and store in the fridge for 5 days. or to freeze, let the sauce cool completely and then transfer to freezer bags, flattening out each bag, so that they thaw quickly.

Wishing you all a happy and delicious beginning to fall!