Well, the end of National Cookie Month is officially here!  I’d like to say we’re going out with a brilliant, unique recipe, but we’re not. I can promise you this though, it’s easy and delicious! Oh, and pretty healthy – depending on what you mix into it. To keep a little balance, I’ve also got a recipe for some actual FOOD too – chicken meatballs which I’m now addicted to. Bon appetit!

Chickpea Cookie

These two words don’t seem like they go together, but they definitely do. You’ll never want to eat chickpeas any other way again. Word of warning, chickpeas are really high in carbs and fibre, so if you’re immediately post-competition, bodybuilder-lean, and dehydrated, use moderation when eating this… or you might bloat and look like a blow fish. Hypothetically speaking, that is.

• 1 can chickpeas (drained)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 TBSP vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp brown sugar (I used Stevia)
• 1 TBSP cinnamon
• 1/2 cup raisins or peanut butter / butterscotch / chocolate chips (or get crazy and use them all – obviously the less healthy option)

1. Find your food processor which is likely buried deep in a storage closet.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
3. Put all ingredients in the food processor and blend until creamy. You may have to stop and push the mixture down the sides to get everything blended evenly.
4. Spoon the mixture onto a greased tray, or take the lazier way and put it into a greased baking dish.
5. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. It will be “spongy” when you take them out, they’re really good slightly under-done.

I wasn’t fast enough to get a picture before Kyle dug into this masterpiece. Remember, moderation is key with chickpeas!

Chicken Meatballs

Now that you’ve had dessert first, we can enjoy some amazing meatballs. Last weekend I decided to take ground turkey out of my meal plan to see if it was the item disagreeing with my stomach. To be honest, I’m not a fan of ground chicken – I find the texture a little blahhh – but had the desire to make meatballs and figured that was safe in terms of hiding the texture issue. And it did.  Oh yeah, this is how I cook – with no measurements – so these are rough estimates… good luck!

Mine were slightly larger than golf ball-sized. Feel free to add other veggies to the mixture (shredded zucchini, bell peppers, jalapenos). This is a great way to “hide” vegetables in food!

• 2 standard packs of ground chicken
• 1/2 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 TBSP minced garlic with jalapeno (store bought jar)
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/2 cup chopped spinach (optional)
• seasonings of choice (oregano, Italian, onion powder, salt and pepper, hot sauce)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mixture should be sticky enough to easily form into balls.
3. Form mixture into golf ball sized balls on a tray.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes. Cut into one to ensure they’re cooked through.

These are going to be a staple in my week now. I’ve enjoyed them in a wrap, with sweet potato, and even on a salad. They were ready from start to finish in about 30 minutes and this recipe provided about five meals for me, but I eat a lot of protein per meal, so this stretches pretty far.

One of the best meals I had all week!