Snickerdoodles and Successes

Tonight for dinner I made potato cabbage soup and a healthy version of sweet cornbread. The soup is something I adapted from my childhood. My mom used to make me and my sister a bowl of steamed cabbage and from the way I remember it, it was kind of soupy. So, a few years ago I decided to re-create it. I didn't think that a meal of steamed cabbage would be too wonderful, so I made it into a soup and added potatoes to it. All I do for this soup is peel and cut some potatoes and put them in a soup pot with some olive oil. I sautee them a little because it helps them to cook a little faster. I chop an onion and throw it in there for flavor. Then I very coarsely chop a whole head of cabbage and throw it in there to wilt slightly. Then, I add some vegetable stock- not enough to cover the potatoes and cabbage, because the cabbage is going to cook down a lot. Then, all I do is bring it to a boil and let it simmer until the potatoes are cooked. At the very end, maybe 5 or ten minutes before it is served, I add a chopped tomato. This is optional and my fiance likes it without the tomato. He says the soup has a very eastern european taste and the tomato throws it off, whatever the hell that means! So this is what it ends up looking like.

I add like a tablespoon of cheddar cheese to it. It adds such a nice touch because with the way the cheese melts in the broth is amazing.

The cornbread was fair, at best. The recipe calls for fat-free plain yogurt instead of the oil, and a couple of other minor changes. It was supposed to be sweet cornbread but with only a 1/4 cup of sugar for 12 cornbread muffins, how sweet could it really be? The recipe also said to cook it for 20-25 minutes. I always put it in for the minimum but after about 15 minutes I could smell them so I took them out. I have always been told that, when baking, you know it is close to done when you can smell the food. Well, in this case, it was a little too late. So, yeah, maybe it was my fault. But, this, this was a texture problem. It was not crumbly like cornbread should be.

I topped it with a little smart balance and then peeled of the edges on the bottom and put it in my soup.

Upon starting the journey of changing the way I veiw food, I consulted Stephanie on a healthy dessert recipe. She gave me a wonderful recipe for Snickerdoodle cookies. These are made with whole wheat and not a lot of sugar, so they end up being a pretty healthy dessert.

Snickerdoodle Cookies
from Gold Medal Whole Wheat Baking

1 1⁄2 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon


Heat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, beat 11⁄2 cups sugar, the butter and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Stir in flours, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

In small bowl, mix 1⁄4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Shape dough into 11⁄4-inch balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture; place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets.

1 Cookie: Calories 90 (Calories from Fat 35); Total Fat 4g (Saturated Fat 2.5g); Cholesterol 20mg; Sodium 70mg; Potassium 40mg; Total Carbohydrate 13g (Dietary Fiber 0g); Protein 1g

So, I made these twice. Once on Saturday and then I made them tonight too. The first time, when I was softening the butter in the microwave, I put it in for five seconds too long a it was partially melted. This time, I softened it just right. Now, one would not imagine that this little detail would make such a huge difference. The first batch was not as firm as this one. I had a hard time rolling them into a ball and coating them. By the time they reached the cookie sheet, they were more like deflated balls. This time, though, the dough was extremely firm and very hard to mix, so I ended up mixing it with my hands instead. Rolling them into balls was very easy and when they were done cooking, they were like 3D semi-circles. The differences: The first batch made for a normal looking cookie, but still wonderfully soft-baked. This time, they came out very puffy and I actually pushed them down when I took them out of the oven. The first batch had a wonderful surface area ratio, so the cinnamon sugar on the outside was perfect for the size of the cookie. This time, they were still wonderful, but not as good as the first batch.

Still yummy, but huge cookies. So, the next time I make them, they will definately by done using melted butter.

This was my first full week following the advice presented in the book I spoke about in my last post. Now, while this pains me in a way only imaginable by women who struggle with weight problems, I am going to be brave and post my honest-to-goodness weight. Last week I weighed in at 206 pounds. Whew, that was not fun, but what's done is done. The good news is that this week, I weighed in at 202.8 pounds. In one week I lost 3.2 pounds, just changing the way I look at, approach and feel about food. This is exciting, but it is not something I have never encountered. A few months ago I started a diet where I would count calories, and I allowed myself 1200 calories a day. I lost ten pounds in two months, plateaued, gained six back and gave up again. What is promising about this, though, is that it is a change in the way I feel about food, thereby lasting a lifetime. My only qualm is that I do not think I should be weighing myself. I am the kind of person that will weight myself everyday. I justify it by saying that it is a way to tell how what I eat affects my weight. But, we all know this is not true. In all reality, the fluctuation from one day to the next is most likely water weight or something to that effect and that me weighing myself is really the neurotic ex-bulimic girl inside me trying to burst out. So, I am going to throw the scale away, and focus on eating healthy. The weight loss will follow, but it will not be the main concern from day to day.