Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

I did not think it would happen, but it did: I am sick of Halloween candy. The fact that my husband and I anticipated at least 160 trick-or-treaters and saw only six left us with a virtual ton of leftover candy beckoning to us from our Spiderman Halloween buckets. And I have eaten much, much more of it than I wish to admit. It has been delicious, but its sugary sweetness left me with a craving for a deeper, more satisfying dessert experience.

Such as homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies, to be precise.

Yesterday, I decided that I was finally going to bake some cookies that did not have leftover Reese's peanut butter cups in them. I was longing for a cookie that was both chewy and crispy, dense but not overly fluffy. I found this recipe for chocolate chip cookies over at the smitten kitchen (my very favorite food blog of all time). I ransacked the baking cupboard in search of nuts, but only came up with a bag of coconut flakes. Unaltered, I find coconut flakes to be a little on the sweet, chewy side, and I was going for crunchy...

...so I toasted them.

That nasty looking concoction at top right is my simmer pot, which was brewing a spicy blend of orange rinds, a cinnamon stick, four cardamom pods, and eight whole cloves.

I subbed the coconut for the nuts called for in the sk recipe.

Goooolden browwwn cookie perfection!

To try this at home: First, toast 1 1/2 cups of coconut flakes in a skillet over medium heat. Stir the coconut frequently until it begins to brown, then constantly until it looks like the second coconut picture above. Then, follow the directions in the original recipe, but substitute the coconut flakes for the nuts. Or keep the nuts and the coconut flakes, which I will be doing next time. Another substitution I made: these cookies demand serious chocolate, so I used Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips.

Mmm... cookies, milk, and SEC football on ESPN3.

The No Poo Experiment and a Black Tea Rinse for Hair

It's Saturday, the day of the week when I take care of the time-consuming activities that just can't be completed on a busy weekday, like cleaning out the fridge, baking bread, and updating my budget.

Today, I'll also be clarifying my hair by doing a no-poo wash (1 tsp baking soda in 1.5 cups water, gradually massaged into the scalp) with a black tea rinse.

I arrived at this method after several unsuccessful attempts at going totally no-poo, beginning back in June after reading this article on Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest website. I have many theories about chemicals in beauty products, but my main motivation was that I wanted to see if I could live without my shampoo and conditioner. Other motivation for no-poo included claims of increased volume and body, decreased oil-production (I have VERY oily skin), and increased time between washes.

My first no-poo experiment worked relatively well for a couple of weeks, but I noticed that my ends were getting pretty dry, so while on vacation in New Hampshire, I switched back to regular shampoo and conditioner for a few days both as a cure for the frizzy ends and for travel convenience.

I tried again in August and succeeded for an entire month, no-pooing my hair every other day and wearing my hair up on the off-days. At the end of the month, I began to have crazy dandruff. I had never had a problem with a flaky scalp before, so I got a little freaked out. A quick Google search revealed that tea tree oil mixed into the bs solution could help, but I found that it mostly made my hair smell like tea tree oil. I switched to Head and Shoulders for a while, then back to Herbal Essence's Hydralicious Featherweight Shampoo and Conditioner, which I used before this experiment with no trouble. After about a week, my dandruff disappeared.

On the no-poo forums, I read many horror stories about going back to regular shampoo after no-poo, but I experienced no ill effects, except for buildup, which was typical before I tried no-poo. I have very fine type 1b hair, and I find that buildup from shampoo and products happens pretty quickly, leaving me with dull, lifeless locks. Hence the solution I am blogging about today: a once per week bs no-poo with a black tea rinse.

I still wash my hair with the HE shampoo and conditioner combo during the week, but on Saturdays, I clarify with bs/black tea. During my extended no-poo time, I used an acv rinse, but found that the scent clung to my porous hair no matter how much I rinsed. One day I had some leftover raspberry black tea, so I tried that, and I don't plan on going back to the acv. My hair is softer, shinier, and better smelling than it ever was with the acv.

So, on Saturdays, I brew some black tea in my ingenuiTEA. I use about a teaspoon of tea leaves and a cup and a half of boiling water, and then I let it sit until it's cool. I strain it into a plastic cup (not glass - too dangerous for the shower), and rinse my hair with the tea and then water after washing with the baking soda. It works great!

French Oven Beef Stew

School has been back in session for a month, and I have to admit, starting the school year in a new district has been challenging in ways that I did not imagine, specifically on the home front. During the summer, I spend hours browsing the internet searching for new recipes and many more hours concocting them in my kitchen, but lately, my internet searches have been limited to lesson plans and instructional materials for the middle school Language Arts and Literature classes I am teaching this year. Being a displaced New Englander, most of my old standbys for weeknight dinners are better during cold weather, so it was with a thankful heart that I welcomed Tropical Storm Lee and its cold front this weekend! It has been the perfect time to snuggle up in our house and think of recipes that will be easy to make for the fall, which led me to rediscover a recipe for French Oven Beef stew that can be made in a crock pot or dutch oven (by my husband on his day off!). I spent this evening cooking ahead, and now our freezer contains a gallon bag of French Oven Beef Stew mix, ready to go.

French Oven Beef Stew

(from one of my mom's friends)

1.5 lbs stew beef, cubed

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, sliced

4 medium carrots, sliced

1.5 cups tomato juice (I use three 5.5 oz cans of V8)

⅓ cup tapioca

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

¼ tsp pepper (or to taste)

½ tsp basil

4 medium red potatoes, cubed in bite sized pieces

This can be made to freeze, as I did, and then put into the crock pot for four hours on high or eight hours on low, stirring occasionally.

To bake, combine all but potatoes in a 2½ quart casserole or dutch oven. Cover. Bake at 325° for 3½ hours. Put potatoes in for the last hour. Stir occasionally.

My beef stew, ready to go into the freezer.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!