Lactation Cookies

When my daughter was just a few weeks old, I found this recipe somewhere on the interwebs for "lactation cookies", that promised to boost milk supply for nursing mamas.  Boy, did these things work.  The only drawback is that they are so delicious, I couldn't stop eating them!  Considering the individual ingredients, they can't possibly be "light" in calories - but nursing mamas need extra calories, right?  Right??

Anyhoo, no need to be a nursing mama to enjoy these amazing cookies.  My husband stole plenty of them as a matter of fact.  If you are nursing, I can't promise they'll boost supply, but they'll certainly boost mood!  Cookies are happiness.

Preheat oven to 350

3/4 c flour (I used 1/2 c almond flour & 1/4 c coconut flour)
2 c oats
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt (original recipe called for 1 t, but they turned out a bit salty so I reduced it)
3 T brewer's yeast
1 c ground flaxseed (3/4 c also works well)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar

3/4 c almond butter
1/2 c butter
1/3 c water
2 eggs
2 t vanilla

Handful each - chocolate chips & chopped nuts (optional)

Blend dry ingredients together (top section); beat wet ingredients together in separate bowl (bottom section).  Mix both dry & wet together, then stir in choco chips & nuts.  Drop by big ol' spoonfuls onto greased sheet or parchment-lined sheet, bake at 350 for 12-14 mins or until lightly tanned.  Enjoy :-)

Banana "Ice Cream"

This Paleo-ish diet I've been on, as I've mentioned, hasn't been too difficult.  Mainly because I don't have a sweet tooth.  Every once in a while though, especially in the summer, I crave something sweet and cold.  Those are the days I wish I wasn't lactose semi-intolerant (lactose averse?), because ice cream is really the best thing to cure that craving.  Luckily, somewhere (probably Pinterest) I stumbled upon this crazy idea to make "ice cream" out of frozen bananas - and it really is the next best thing to the real thing.

For one serving:
1 banana, peeled, frozen

Misc additions:
Raspberries
Sliced strawberries
Chopped almonds
Almond butter
Honey (if you want it sweeter)
Unsweetened cocoa powder

Throw the banana in the food processor with the blade attachment and whirl away, til it's fully creamed.  You can add the cocoa at this point to make it like chocolate ice cream, or any of the other misc additions to blend them in.  Or add them afterward for a little chunkiness.

So far I've tried freezing the banana both ways - with the peel on, and peeling it first before freezing.  Freezing with the peel on seemed to keep the banana from getting too hard; when I peeled it first, it was more difficult to cream in the food processor.  It just took longer, and at one point I had to stick it in the micro for 15 seconds to soften up.  But, freezing with the peel on was messier, because it was a little tricky getting the peel off of the frozen banana!  I think from here on out I'll stick to peeling them first, just because I don't like the messy/sticky hands.