WCS: Cookie cheat

Each person has his fear. Or fears. Me? I have two main fears: I am afraid of (1) fire, and of (2) tight, enclosed spaces. The fear isn’t really of the abnormal sort, not enough to call me a case of pyrophobia and claustrophobia. I’m just afraid of fire. Period. It took me a long time to learn how to use matches and light candles or the stove. And until now, I never use lighters (good thing I don’t smoke, else I’ll probably always have a box of matches, which doesn’t seem very fashionable). I’m uncomfortable with enclosed spaces, for fear of getting locked in and suffocating (which is also connected to my fear of drowning). Morbid.

However, the combination is most unfortunate because:

Fear of fire+
Fear of tight,
enclosed spaces=
Irrational fear of ovens

Yes, I’m afraid of ovens. So if you’ve criticized my posts, you now know why they only relate action on the stovetop. I am irrationally afraid of the oven. I have this lurking feeling that either Hansel or Gretel will push me in and shut the door.

It’s a real misfortune for me because I love baked things: cakes, cookies, casseroles...  and the fear has barred me from learning to bake.

But early this year, I promised myself that I will learn to bake. Force myself to learn if need be. I want to be able to bake the delicious cakes mom and dad make, and all the cookies, pies, casseroles and baked things in the world. Mom herself doesn’t turn on the oven. She asks dad to do it. So perhaps, I’ll get dad to teach hubby to light the oven, too. LOL

And this evening, I am happy to report that I have kicked off my baking career. And what better way to do that... than by making NO-BAKE cookies!

Cheater. Hahaha!

Thanks to my beloved Yummy.ph, I secured a recipe for No-Bake Oatmeal Drops. Great, since we have a pack of oatmeal nearing expiration. Hahaha! The other ingredients are equally commonplace, so I didn't need to drop by the grocery anymore.

Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/2

cup milk* in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and

and remove from heat. (*I used evaporated milk)

Add 3 cups quick-cooking oats, 1 tsp. vanilla

and 3 tbsps. peanut butter. Mix well.

Drop in heaping tablespoons on a baking sheet lined

with wax paper*. Allow to firm before serving. (*As
seen here, I used a plate lined with a torn glasserine
sandwich bag. What a cheap cheat.)

The recipe yielded almost 30 cookies (my output was 29, LOL, perhaps there were a few pieces that were too thick). I finished the recipe in less than half an hour, just in time for dinner.

Assembly took most of the time, as I really made effort

to make the drops more presentable, using a spoon to
to smoothen the edges. Still, the recipe is very easy.

I left the cookies on the plate where I formed them and ate my dinner of sinigang na isda and rice. Mom and dad were looking at the drops with some sort of suspicion, and were surprised that I was actually already finished. "Hilaw?" mom asked me. "No-bake," I emphasized. "It's a no-bake recipe nga e."

The no-bake cookie was moist and chewy. And very

oatmeal-ly rough. Like eating whole wheat bread. It
looks like kakanin here.

I cut the sugar, so it isn’t very sweet. Good thing i did it. The peanut butter was of the creamy sort and was sweet enough to compensate for the reduction.

At dad’s suggestion, I popped a few pieces in the electric oven (still not the real oven, LOL) and toasted them for less than 10 minutes at 175°C. But he didn’t get to try it as he already brushed his teeth.

Baked no-bake oatmeal drops. I just browned it a bit.
These actually resemble the photo on the recipe at
Yummy.ph compared to the no-bake pieces.

So I just tried it myself.

The toasted cookie was still chewy, but a bit dry and
crumbly. This really felt like cookies in the mouth.

The baked cookie (right) appears to have “risen”. If you ask

me which is better, I think I prefer the baked one. Of course,
the brand of oatmeal might have something to do with the
texture, as the one I used is one my family doesn't really like
(kaya nga meron pa e, enough to make 3 cups).

I immediately reported to hubby, who’s on night shift, that I made cookies. He immediately asked, “Paano ka nag-bake? Marunong ka na magbukas ng oven?” I just told him I’ll let him sample when he came home in the morning. I didn’t tell him that I cheated. Hahaha!

Little brother came home late tonight. I let him try a piece of both the original no-bake and baked versions, and sure enough he preferred the latter. So I finally decided to toast all the others. Little bro ate a couple more pieces while updating his Facebook page. It seems like he likes it, since he would normally stop at the first piece he tried if he didn't.

I wasn't eating everyhting tonight so I stored the
remaining drops in one of my trusty Lock 'n Locks.

The oatmeal I used is a brand my family doesn't like much, one which I bought because I expected it to be good--mainly because it's branded. Turns out, my folks prefer SM Bonus. Hahaha!

Hmmm...maybe I will try using SM Bonus next time. =)

P.S. (3/16/2011): I brought a few pieces as baon, just to see how it'll be if not eaten at once and stored for a while. Will post a follow-up to this. ^_^

No-Bake Oatmeal Drops

Recipe on Yummy.ph

*BB*

Odes: An attempt at healthy eating

23 FEBRUARY 2011. I admit, I am not much of a healthy eater. I really want to start eating healthy, but "healthy" food often comes with higher price tags. =| Of course, as Danes would put it, I could look at it as an investment for my health. But I would need to work it into the budget. Plus we've got other people in the house to consider (my younger brother for example, is much less of a healthy eater than I am). And usual conditions aren't that conducive to healthy eating (canteen fare, guilty treats constantly circulating in the office, fast food choices along the way home, etc). Unless I prepare our baon food everyday, which I can't do yet. I can only whip up a quick breakfast for hubby and me and prepare his morning and afternoon snacks, and I do so with ready-made stuff like store-bought peanut butter, hotdogs and the like.
Hubby and I went out on a quick dinner date on Wednesday (payday!) evening. We dropped ourselves off at Festival Mall. After walking past several restaurants, we settled for Kenny Rogers Roasters, where we don't usually eat, on the third floor. Originally, we wanted to have the baby back ribs and the usual things we order.

Then, we caught sight of Kenny's Healthy Meals menu. For some reason, we took a fancy to it and chose our dinner from there. All meals already come with drinks so I must say the price is reasonable.

Wow, this is new. Haha!

I tried the Classic Healthy Plate (P185). It consisted of a quarter of KR's signature roasted chicken, a vegetable salad, a corn muffin and fruit salad.

My plate. A classic beauty indeed. Just looking atit made me feel good already.

Hubby went for the Low Calorie Meal (P185) composed of grilled fish (not sure what kind of fish it was) with a salty sauce, rice and steamed vegetables.

A pretty simple-looking meal (but costs as much as mine).

I find the staff at that branch pretty attentive, ready with a glass of water, asking if we'd like the dessert to be served. We were seated at one of those round cushion benches (meant for a group of 6 or 8) and I really felt comfy and cozy.
Near the end of dinner, we had dessert brought in. We shared a cup of frozen yogurt. At P55 for a "large" cup (plus P10 for your choice of topping), it must be one of the cheapest yogurts out there (as some would go over P100).

The perfect dessert to cap off a healthy meal: yogurt!

I commonly find yogurt too sour so I'm not much of a fan. I once tried that P25 cup of Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt and ended up just forcing it all down kasi sayang naman. Those were one of my healthy-eating attempts. But I never bought that again. So I was certainly glad to discover Kenny's tasted good. Even hubby, who I know isn't into yougurt, enjoyed it. There are around five different kinds of toppings like chocolate, but since the implied theme for the night is "healthy food", I chose fruits. My classic plate included a small fruit salad similar to the toppings we had on our dessert. So I dunked the remaining pieces into our yogurt cup and we need not fight over the fruit. =)
After the meal, I was full but I didn't have that sort of heavy (and guilty...and lousy...and regretful) feeling which I would have after a usual big meal.
Will be back to try the other healthy plates. And the yogurt. I'm sure hubby will like that. =)
*BB*