Sun Bread, Miso Soup and the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

     As the health-conscious momma I am, (or maybe because I have a bit more baby weight to lose!) I am trying to make more of our foods from scratch rather than buying pre-packaged foods.  Last night I soaked several batches of beans and started two double-batches of bread starter.  While I should have been cooking said beans and baking said bread, I decided to make Josh a small pot of miso soup, bake some chocolate chip cookies with the kids and help Laiken make the sun bread he's been asking about.

     The chocolate chip cookies are our absolute favorites and can be found all over the internet with a simple search for "Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies".  The recipe we found makes about 112.  I don't think we actually came away with that many, but we had plenty to share with friends!

     The secret ingredients in these awesome cookies:

Shredded dark chocolate.  Mmmmm!!  The recipe calls for 8oz., but we use quite a bit less than that.

Ground oatmeal.  We found that the easiest way to blend the oatmeal is one cup at a time. 

Our solution to a fussy baby while we're busy in the kitchen--wear them!  Jonah was happy to spend some time in the back carrier while we finished our baking.  It didn't take long for him to fall asleep!

     I discovered the recipe for sun bread on someone's blog, but the recipe actually came from a book called Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven.  The bread has a rich, buttery taste that reminds me of Ritz Crackers.  If you plan to make this for more than a few people, I would definitely recommend making more than one batch, as the recipe doesn't make much.  We got about 16 smallish pieces out of it.

 Looks like I have myself a great helper with bread-making from now on!  

 

Making the sun was Laiken's favorite part.  He loved rolling the dough out into "hot dogs". 




Our sun bread was a bit over cooked, but with some peanut butter or butter on top, it was delicious!  We had ours for dinner with scrambled eggs, sausage and orange juice.

Miso Soup (serves 2-3)

3 c vegetable broth

1 c water

1 c cauliflower

1/2 c broccoli

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3-4 Tbsp miso

Place all ingredients in a 1-quart slower cooker and cook for 8-10 hours or saute vegetables until tender, place all ingredients in small pot and cook 20 minutes.  Miso soup is very versatile.  You can make it with any vegetables you have on hand: celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, onions, potatoes.