(Written for The River Current publication; Thursday, January 31, 2013)
Yesterday I set aside some time to spend
the day with my parents. Their situation
is difficult in that my mother now resides in an assisted living facility and
my father remains at home, still proudly waving his ‘banner of
independence’. It is very difficult seeing
them in two separate places; both alone and without each other.
Typically when I go for my visits, I feel I quickly
buzz through giving them each only an hour or two of my time. Because it is becoming increasingly difficult
for my father to get around on his own, yesterday I suggested I would pick
him up and together we would go spend some time with my mom.
Deciding to make a day of it, I set about
planning and preparing a meal that I could share with my father after returning
from our visit. I prepared for him a
meal that was quite similar to what my mother would have typically made for us
as a Sunday meal. A fork-tender roast
nestled amongst red skinned potatoes and baby carrots; a warm loaf of bread
fresh from the oven and simple (but good for you) whole wheat chocolate chip
cookies.
Nothing exotic, but as my mother used to
say…"Just good food". My dad loved
it. I didn’t bother telling him that the
roast was from a grass-fed cow that Rick had purchased earlier last year. Or that the carrots and potatoes were
organic. And that the cookies were made
from fresh and organic ingredients.
Those details would not have made much of a difference to my
father. His joy came from the two of us sharing a
meal together; a meal that reminded us both of the love my mother used to
share with us on a daily basis. The fact
that it was also nutritionally beneficial to him was something I was (secretly) proud to share with him as well!
WHOLE GRAIN CHOCOLATE CHIP
COOKIES
In a medium sized bowl, beat
together:
2 organic eggs
1 cup of
organic pure cane sugar
¾ cup of
coconut oil
2 Tbsp. organic
milk
1 tsp. vanilla
In a large bowl, stir together:
1 ½ cups organic unbleached white whole
wheat flour
½ cup organic wheat bran
1 cup organic regular rolled oats
½ cup organic shredded coconut (optional, in case you are not in love with coconut
like me)
½ cup chopped organic walnuts
1 ½ tsp. aluminum free baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. sea salt
Add the egg mixture to the flour
mixture; stirring until just combined.
Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes and then drop with a
tablespoon scoop onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 375, for about 13
minutes or until the bottoms are lightly browned.
Nutrition Profile, per cookie: 94 calories, 5 g fat, 9 mg cholesterol, 19 mg
sodium, 11 g carb. 10 g sugar, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein
This made me laugh--> "I didn’t bother telling him that the roast was from a grass-fed cow that Rick had purchased earlier last year."
ReplyDeleteI often keep small health secrets in the kitchen too :)
Hope you enjoyed your time with your parents.
And those cookies look yummy! I'll be sure to write that one down.