Mountain Moods

  
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

(In honour of Martin Luther King day)

 ~~~~~

I captured the mood of the mountains at several stages this past  weekend. It always fascinates me how quickly the weather conditions can change.

We were expecting a big snow storm on Saturday but it didn't amount to much; at least not where I live.  We did get a mild sprinkling of snow on the mountains and in the city which you can see in the photos below.

The storm did arrive overnight on Sunday. This morning's news said that some schools were closed up the valley, about an hour or so away from me.  Big snowflakes were falling here outside my window a few moments ago and fog shrouded the mountains.
Right now though, the sky has cleared a bit and the snow has stopped.

I am not sure what the next few days has in store.  So far it is not too bad where I am but I intend to stay cosy indoors.  This is a good time for me to "catch up" on housework.

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Low-Fat Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

NOTE:  I've just been advised by a reader that she cannot leave a comment. I apologize to all bloggers who experience the same issue. I've recently set blogger settings to allow "embedded" comments. I know that this used to cause commenting problems for some people. Blogger's new comment feature requires "embedded" comments.  Hopefully blogger will soon resolve any issues associated with this change.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour (white or whole wheat)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup packed brown sugar (I used about 3/4 cups)

• 1/4 cup fat-free vanilla or plain yogurt

• 2 tablespoons canola or corn oil

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 1/3 cups uncooked old fashioned or quick-cooking rolled oats

• 1 cup dried cranberries (original recipe calls for raisins)

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350°F. Cover 2 cookie sheets with
parchment paper or use non stick teflon cookie sheets.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, cinnamon,
baking soda and salt together in small bowl.
COMBINE brown sugar, yogurt, oil, egg and
vanilla in large bowl. Add flour mixture to make
a blended dough.
STIR in oats and raisins.
DROP mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches
apart on prepared cookie sheets.
BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes until very lightly
browned. Do not overbake.

I made about 33 cookies with this recipe though it says you can make 40. I had to watch how much I put in each spoon. Surprisingly the batter spread well.

I slightly adapted this recipe from a Sun Ripe Raisin recipe book.  These cookies are low sodium, low fat and low cholesterol.

 My taste test reveals a crunchy cookie, not too sweet, quite airy and delicious.

 NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Daily Values:
Dietary Fiber 4%
Nutrients per serving (1 cookie): Calories 63, Protein 1.1g,
Fat 1.1g (Sat. Fat 0.1g), Carbohydrates 12.7g, Dietary Fiber 1g,
Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 63mg.
Note: Since I've added 1/4 cup less sugar, each cookie should be a few calories less than stated but that is only if you make 40 as per the recipe suggestion. If there are fewer cookies, the calorie count per cookie will be higher but still very reasonable.