TTFN

So. The day is here. It's my turn! Wish me luck as I keep my head low and try to stay under the radar. Good stories to come. I promise.

Be back Thanksgiving day.

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Pre-Box Bake

I had to do it. I had to bake something before I packed up the pans and mixer. For good reason though...because come Monday, I'll be taking a two and a half month hiatus on any sort of baking, cooking, reading, long showers, practicing (that's going to be the strangest), anything remotely having to do with entertainment. But hey, I WILL get to become best friends with an M16, throw a couple grenades, go through a gas chamber, go rapelling, become strangly accustomed showering with a plethora of others, oh the list can go ON! I really am though, quite excited about going to basic. I think it'll be one of things I'll never want to do again, but glad and appreciative that I did go through it.

Anywho, on to the food!

So I ended up whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. But, not just some ordinary batch of chocolate chip cookies. No no my friends. Theeese have chick peas and flax seed meal hidden inside...

I took a recipe from Jessica Seinfeld's (yes, wife to the infamous Jerry) recipe book and did a little tweaking (mainly just the flax meal part). Seinfeld's recipe calls for the chickpeas, but I decided to use up some of the flax meal we've got sitting in the fridge. Soooo, I replaced half of the butter in the recipe with a 3 to 1 ratio of flax meal. Result, fantastic-o. And plus, these are somewhat...."healthy"....right? So like, you can eat MORE, and not feel too horribly guilty.

● 1 cup packed brown sugar
● 5 tblsp butter
● 1 cup flax seed meal
● 2 egg whites
● 2 tsp vanilla extract
● 1 can (15oz) chickpea/garbonzo beans, drained
● 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
● 2 cups all-purpose flour
● 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
● 1 tsp baking soda
● 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a baking sheet w/ cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, butter, and flax meal until smooth. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla, then the chickpeas. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low until a thick dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop the dough by the tablespoon onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Press gently w/ a fork to flatten. Bake until the cookies are golden brown and just set, 11-13 minutes. Do not overbake. Transer to a rack to cool.
4. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

If you don't have any flax meal, no worries. Just double the butter and omit the flax.

Straight-out-of-the-oven-warm-cookie-delight.

Back to packing...
With cookie in hand! Muah hah haaaah!

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Things

Good friend Karen invited a couple of us over to her place of abode for dinner and hang time. Her beau, Ben, arrived in Cleveland for the weekend after a summer spent in Berlin. Super great people, super great friends. Karen, born and raised in Dallas on granny's homecookin', branched out and partook of the evening's entree...tofu veggie green coconut curry with rice noodles. So grood.

Been packing up the apartment. 3rd move within a year and a half....oye! The trek up to West Point should be a rather permanent one.

Got a call from Joe last night!! So great to hear his voice. His platoon won a hand-to-hand combat competition, which yields a proud and happy drill sergeant, always a good thing. In reward for their win, they're getting milkshakes today! Wahoo! He gives many many thanks to everyone who has sent him letters...and Teen Bop articles....and babywipes. :-)

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"Glaet Success!"

9:34pm
Was sitting in the living room, talking to mom on the phone....

BAT

flew by my face.

Hung up, put on Joe's winter coat, grabbed the oven mitts, a beach towel and a tennis racket. Woman on a mission. I opened up our windows and doors and turned off all of our apt lights except the lamps that sits right next to our porch. Mr. Bat flew swooped in circles, kept missing his doorway to freedom. Fiiiinally, he made a swoop pretty close to the porch door and so I came up beside him mid-flight and sorta guided him with the beach towel. Succes!!!!! Hory mory what a relief.

Mikki - 1, Bat - 0

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