Soft Gingerbread Cookies

You know what I'm talking about - those storebought gingerbread cookies are hard as a rock. I made this recipe up an hour before meeting my boyfriend's family for Thanksgiving, because I wanted to give everyone a little treat. We didn't even have cookie cutters, that's ok! We drew out a gingerbread pattern from online, made a wax paper template, and cut them out ourselves from the dough!

• 2 Eggs
• butter - softened- 1 1/2 sticks
• Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp
• Brown sugar - 1 cup
• white sugar - 1 cup
• ginger powder - 2 tbsp
• maple syrup (leftover from a friend in Canadawho gave me a souveneir)
• - 1/4 cup
• baking soda - 1 1/2 tsp
• all purpose flour - 2 cups
• wheat flour - 1/2 cup

Beat butter,brown and white sugar, and syrup until well mixed
Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium until slightly fluffy
Then add the flour and baking soda, and mix well for a few seconds
cool the dough a little in the fridge, roll out, put on a sheet pan, bake at 375 for 10 minutes or less until the edge is a little brown.

Then take out and cut into gingerbread shapes, and add quick frosting touches. You'll have a soft homemade gingerbread cookie that everyone will be talking about!

Simple Salsa

Salsa's a very healthy snack that you can whip up in under two minutes. Again, here I added my leftovers - I had some extra golden raisins and believe it or not, some cocktail onions that were at the back of my fridge. I chopped some fresh tomatos and garlic, took out my favorite Sun Chips and sat down and enjoyed a little tv with my healthy salsa snack. Go ahead, take a load off, rest your feet on your table, and crunch away!

"Don't Throw The Pumpkin Out!" Soup

I know. That pumpkin's been sitting around decorating your place all through November. Maybe you're tired of looking at it, but "Don't Throw The Pumpkin Out!" Use two ingredients and turn it into a perfect pumpkin soup

• Cut it into four slices, scoop out the seeds, put on a baking sheet and bake in the oven. Bake for an hour
• Saute some brown mushrooms
• Add the pumpkin insides to the brown mushrooms, add some water and simmer until the sauce thickens
• Puree everything. Put back into the pot, warm up and serve.
  

It's perfect as is, but if you have a little truffle oil, add a drizzle, and it's divine!

Haka Mom Soup

This is a tribute to my Mom. My mom always used to make this very delicious and nutritious soup for me. We would have it on special occassions. Now I make it for my friends on my special occassions. It's fun for parties, because you can set out on the table each ingredient in different bowls, and then everyone just adds their favorites to make their own unique soup!

Recipe
Cooked rice

Chopped long beans
peanuts
fresh dill
onions
cabbage
pickled radish
chinese brocolli
chives
broth - chinese oolong tea, or dark tea, sauteed spinach, mint or basil

Spoon some rice into a bowl, add any of the ingredients above, add a small amount of broth, and enjoy!