Stepping to the Bright Side: Cookies! At Last!

Good evvvvvening,

I'm officially blown away.

I just baked the best vegan goodie I've ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth. No joke.

More on that later...

This morning consisted of some last minute straightening up (we had a housing department inspection and I didn't want the landlord to think we're TOTAL slobs) + the last homemade iced coffee of the season...

...Bring on the hot stuff!

After everything was spick and span, I had a pre-yoga breakfast (I swear it tastes better than it looks):

plain greek yogurt
1 tbs ground flax
1 tbs chia seeds
a heaping handful of hemp-nola
raspberries

While it was really tasty, it was not the best thing to eat before a Vinyasa Flow yoga class. Everytime I went into downward dog, I could feel all the FOOD moving with my torso. Bleck.

I managed to get through the class and decided by the end of it that *I'm ready to take my yoga practice to the next level* I've been in different classes on and off for about 2 years and I have a basic IDEA of what I'm supposed to be doing, but I think it's time I look into going to an actual studio so I can work on proper technique and form.

As always, I'll keep ya posted ;)

After yoga, I ran to my car to avoid the chilly rain (yes, it's been this way for several days. I feel like I moved to Seattle without ever packing a box).

I came home to do a little work, had a blueberry, spinach and Sun Warrior protein smoothie:

THEN headed to the kitchen to [hopefully] make some magic happen.

I got this flawless recipe for Power Me Up Pumpkin Sesame Cookies from my new favorite blog www.ohsheglows.com.

The direct link to the recipe and her dazzling photography is here.

I've been uber-curious about this recipe ever since she posted it (about a week ago).

Cookies. That "power you up" and contain protein + pumpkin? How can this be?

To top it off, one of the main ingredients is white navy beans.

It all sounded a bit suspect to me, but Angela looks like she KNOWS what she's doing in the kitchen so I couldn't help but give it a go.

Thank the blessed Lord I did. (holla' to my Lost Colony loves)

First things first, I mixed 1 part chia seeds and 4 parts water

After 15 minutes (about the time it took to make the wet and dry mixes), the chia seeds had soaked up most the water and looked more like a gelatin than seeds in water. Neat.

I processed some raw rolled oats (these things are absolutely essential in my kitchen- good thing they're cheap ;)

Then it was time for the wet stuff.

It started off with the prime suspect:

drained and rinsed canned navy beans

Coconut oil- Solid at room temperature and super gooey, this plant based oil is the very definition of saturated fat. While it's generally a good idea to avoid saturated fats in large quantities, coconut oil is different. Since it's composed predominantly of lauric acid, there are all sorts of health benefits to be reaped from this little jar, including maintenance of cholesterol levels as well as easy digestion (great for weight loss).

I melted it down to this: