Moldy Cookies...Oh My!

This week I decided to give my kids a treat and bake them cookies. I had found a sugar free peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe and wanted to experiment with reducing the butter, along with substituting the peanut butter with sunflower butter. I was so excited to see if they would be good enough to eat! 

Everything went really smoothly until I wanted to use a fork and put hash marks on the cookies. The fork stuck and tore the cookie apart. What? Oh well. I baked them and let them cool on a rack for a couple hours. 

I am not a fan of sunflower butter, but I have to admit they turned out fairly well. My husband really liked them and my kids were happy as well. I was counting this a success. Since baking cookies is rare, I don't really have anything quality to store them in. So, I put some in a plastic bag and the remaining cookies in the freezer. 

Much to my surprise, less than 24 hours after being in the bag, I went to take one out for my kids to share and found an odd green layer on some of them. Unbelievable! Mold? Really? Needless to say...nothing was eaten out of that bag! 

I'm not certain what caused them to mold that quickly. Perhaps there was too much moisture in the cookies?

Here's a lovely picture of our mysterious science project. The expression on my husband's face when seeing these was priceless. I wish I had gotten a picture of that too. 

Veggie Lasagna

I hadn't planned on writing about this veggie lasagna today, but couldn't resist after serving leftovers of it for lunch. Please excuse the picture. It doesn't do it justice.

I've never been overly enthusiastic about lasagna, it's usually too cheesy and has some form of meat in it. This one appealed to me because it seemed veggie heavy and cooked in a crock pot. Busy mom = love of crock pot meals.

This lasagna is great, easy to make and every delicious bite has vegetables in it! We only have one little person in the family who is holding out on deciding to try this dish, but I can live with that. I have a feeling it will be a favorite for the entire family before too long. The biggest challenge is actually convincing my husband to leave some for leftovers!

Veggie Lasagna (Crock Pot)*

2c Spinach, Broccoli and Zucchini
1 15oz Container Ricotta Cheese
1/2c Parmesan Cheese, shredded
1tbsp Dried Italian Herbs
1/2tsp Garlic Powder
1/2tsp Sea Salt (finely ground)
1 Large Egg
1 25oz Jar Pasta Sauce (I use tomato basil sauce)
1 Box Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)
1 1/2 - 2c Mozzarella Cheese, grated

1. Defrost vegetables, if needed
2. Place vegetables in a food processor and pulse to chop
3. Place the ricotta, parmesan cheese, herbs, garlic powder, salt and egg in a bowl and stir to combine
4. Pour half the pasta sauce in the bottom of the crock pot
5. Place a layer of noodles on top of the sauce, covering entire surface, breaking the noodles to fit the pot
6. Layer half the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles, followed by one cup of the chopped vegetables and then one cup of mozzarella cheese
7. Repeat with another layer of noodles, followed by the remaining ricotta mixture and chopped vegetables
8. Pour the remaining pasta sauce on top of the lasagna and top with the remaining cup of grated cheese
9. Cook on low for four hours

*Adapted from the weelicious.com recipe for Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna http://weelicious.com/2011/09/14/crock-pot-veggie-lasagna/.