Flourless Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Oh-My-Delicious. I don't really know how else to describe these. Well, easy, affordable, quick, high-protein (5 grams per cookie), and delicious! Makes 14 cookies. I also really love these with dark chocolate chips on top. Kind of similar to a peanut butter cup.

Ingredients 

1 cup of Peanut Butter 
(If using fresh ground, increase sugar to 1 cup, add a pinch salt)
2/3 cup Sugar
1 Tbs Vanilla
1 Tbs Ground Chia Seeds
3 Tbs Water
(Optional add-ins. I like dark chocolate chips. I only put them on top while cookies are cooling)


Directions

Grind whole chia seeds in coffee grinder, table blender, or some type of grindy thingy until it is like a coarse powder. Add 1 Tbs of ground chia to 3 Tbs of water. stir together and let sit for 10-15 minutes . . . this is your vegan egg.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Measure 1 cup of peanut butter and put in bowl. Add sugar, and vanilla. Mix together. Add chia egg and incorporate.

Scoop cookies onto nonstick cookie sheet -- try and make them similar in size and get between 12-16. I use a melon scooper. Use a fork to make traditional crosshatch peanut butter cookie pattern in the top while flattening out.

Put in preheated oven and cook for 9-12 minutes. They won't look done . . .they are. Take out pan, and let them cool 5 minutes on the pan --allows a little more cooking time. This 5 minutes is when I add the chocolate chips on top. Just press them into the cookie. After the 5 minutes,  remove from pan and eat them or put on newspaper to finish cooling before storing.

Zucchini Pasta

Super fantastic pasta made from sliding zucchini through a mandolin. You can choose the thickness you desire -- thin or linguine! Serves 2.

Ingredients 

2 Large Zucchini or 
Yellow Summer Squash
1 Onion
1 Jar of Favorite Pasta Sauce
2 Tbs Olive Oil
Splash of Red Wine (Optional)


Directions

Cut off both ends of the zucchini and cut long-wise down the center. Prepare the mandolin with the slicer in place for the desired width of "pasta" you want. 

Place a cutting board underneath the mandolin, or have a super, super, super clean counter!

To get the longest lengths of "pasta", lay the zucchini with the long, flat side you cut against the mandolin. This picture doesn't show that because I learned the hard way this is easier :)

You will have to occasionally remove the already sliced pieces from under the mandolin, or the will clog up you motion. Once you have run them through, they should look like this:

Delicious! Add these to a pasta pot set to medium high heat, and let them start cooking. While the "pasta" is cooking, dice onions, and saute on medium heat in 1 Tbs olive oil. 

After five minutes, there will be liquid in your "pasta": you need to drain this out. Then add a Tbs olive oil and saute for another 4 minutes.

Add a splash of wine to the onions, and add the pasta sauce; bring to a simmer while the stirring the "pasta". Adding the onions and wine the pasta sauce adds a fresh, "homemade" quality to the sauce . . . if I had more time, maybe I would make sauce, but I have to slice the "pasta"!

Plate the "pasta", top with sauce, and enjoy this completely vegan, gluten-free, deliciously epic meal. (Optional, add Parmesan or Nutritional Yeast Flakes on top)