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Saturday, March 12, 2011

We Must Increase Our Bust: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Remember Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret?  The book my mother read before she let me read it (I read it clandestinely in the library anyway)?  That book told me more than anyone else ever had, up to that point, about my body.  It was also hilarious, in the way fourth grade could be:
    “If you ever want to get out of those baby bras you have to exercise,” she told us. 
    “What kind of exercise?” Gretchen asked. 
    “Like this,” Nancy said. She made fists, bent her arms at the elbow and moved them back and forth, sticking her chest way out. She said, “I must — I must — I must increase my bust.” She said it over and over. We copied her movements and chanted with her. “We must – we must – we must increase our bust!” “Good,” Nancy told us. “Do it thirty-five times a day and I promise you’ll see the results.”
Ah, Margaret.  Ah, Nancy.  If only there were a companion book for the infertile woman, the pregnant woman, and -- where I am now -- the breastfeeding mother.  No one ever tells you, for example, that your child who latches perfectly at the hospital will develop a lazy lower lip and begin to knaw, inexplicably, on your boob.  Or that fenugreek tea, which you are drinking to ensure a good milk supply since you are older, you know, can actually be bad for hypothyroid patients like yourself because fenugreek affects  thyroid levels.  You look wistfully at the box of Mother's Milk tea you just bought (your fourth or fifth box so far, you can't recall--you've been drinking three cups a day religiously since you got home from the hospital), and wonder, now what?  You're eating oatmeal every morning ... how else can you beat back those demons of lactation insecurity?  I must increase my bust, you think.

Enter: the oatmeal cookie.  With flaxseed.  And brewer's yeast.  How often are you told that you should eat cookies for health reasons?

They may not be quite as effective as fenugreek, but I think I will be sending some of these to some very lucky nursing moms I know.  You can also make them if you're not nursing; they're really, really good; I know some men who eat them by the dozen.  You can pretend you're making them for a new mom, and snag a few dozen for yourself.  No one will be the wiser.  And as an added bonus, if you're not pregnant, you can eat the raw dough.


Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies for Nursing Moms, Friends, and Anyone Else

1 c. coconut oil (or Olivio)
1 1/4 c. coconut palm sugar
3/4 c. sucanat
4 T. water
2 T. flaxseed meal (found at health food stores; alternatively, get whole flaxseeds and grind them in a small Cuisinart or blender before using)
2 large eggs (using eggs with omega is beneficial, but not required)
1 1/4 t. vanilla
2 c. flour (whole wheat is best, but half and half is fine)
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1/4 c. brewer's yeast (NOT nutritional yeast; found in health food stores)
3 c. oats, thick cut work best
1 1/4 c. or more bittersweet (60% cocoa or more) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix flaxseed meal with water and set aside.

Beat butter and sugars well.  Beat in the eggs.  Beat in flaxseed mix and vanilla. Sift together the flour, brewer's yeast, salt and baking soda, and add to butter mix. Beat well. Stir in oats and chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet an inch apart; bake for 12-15 minutes.  I found that just shy of 12 was perfect, and they continued to bake just a bit while cooling, but stayed nice and chewy.  I have yet to have anything useful to say about how they stay, though, because I keep eating them as they come out of the oven.

13 comments:

  1. You totally made me chuckle remembering "Are you there God it's me Margaret"... too funny. I wonder if it will resonate for our daughters now that pads with belts are truly a thing of the very distant past.

    Thank you so much for the cookie recipe! I am TOTALLY going to make these as soon as I get home from the hospital. I'll go make sure I have all the ingredients; that will be so yummy! I wonder if Dh will mind eating "nursing mom" cookies... :)

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  2. lord, i loved that book! (& read it in secret as well...)

    the cookies look delicious! 10 mos into nursing & i could probably still use the help right? or at least a reason to justify eating the entire batch of cookies? ;)

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  3. Those look wonderful I will be making them. ACtually I think I will make the dough, freeze it the day or two before I go to hospital and then I can just have my mom bake for me. Hope nursing gets better. I saw about 7 lactation consultants between hospital and home with G. She had a problem latching left side only. But OF COURSE WAS FINE AT HOSPITAL also. The best advice I got was to not let her nurse until she was latched on properly, even if it took 20 tries. Which it did often. THe second best thing was to google Jack Newman, he is great and his down loadable handouts with pictures helped as did he when I emailed him. GOod luck.

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  4. a new baby & you still offer cookies to a fellow mom? the term "supermom" comes to mind ;)

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  5. Golly, I want a cookie. I want a cookie right now. The close up just about did me in:)

    And oh no as far as the fenugreek. I had no idea it could mess with you if you're hypothyroid. Drat. But I also had no idea oatmeal was good, either.

    As for AYTGIMM, you're absolutely right. If that was the bible for prepubescence, where is the guidance for later life?

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  6. I just sent you an email from sometimessurprised@gmail.com :)

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  7. I loved that book too. One of my favorites.

    Just stopping by to tell you that I made your Dal recipe tonight and it was amazing.

    xoxo

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  8. Goodness those cookies look good. I hope they do great things for your bust, too. :)

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  9. Those look so good. I wish I had the excuse of being a newly nursing mom to make them for myself. I guess I'll just have to come up with another excuse :)

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  10. I love Judy Blume! Are You There God, It's Me Margaret was one of my favourite books growing up. Those cookies look fantastic...I'm filing the recipe away for future use.

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  11. Yeah!!! And excuse to bake chocolate chip oatmeal cookies ALL FOR ME!! :-D

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  12. They're in the oven now; no trouble finding linseed or brewer's yeast at my favourite organic shop. BTW brewer's yeast is yummy sprinkled on popcorn - I used to have it like that when I was a teenager a billion years ago.

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  13. I've put some walnuts into the next batch - and a bit of coconut. I thought the walnuts would go with the nuttiness - and the coconut was next to they so why not! I also put in a little less sugar. I know, I know - but the first batch did seem quite sweet to me. They give me something to snack on while pumping that I can pretend has some benefit. :-) (Probably shouldn't eat the quantity I've been eating though - oop.)

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