I’m not entirely sure why but despite the fact that it was in the 80s today and I live on the third floor of a building that does not have air conditioning, I turned the oven on twice.  It’s so hot in hurrr my coconut oil is entirely liquid:

I keep it on my dresser and put it on my face before going to bed.  I have some SERIOUS dry skin! Hopefully sweaty summer will make that all better and I can keep this coconut oil for cooking!

But I digress…I cooking was my way of dealing with Sunday?

Or something…

Tomorrow is the last day of the Spanish discussion section I TA.  Naturally, we’re having a party.  Naturally, that also means I made a sweet treat.

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Mama Pea’s White Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup vegan butter (I used EarthBalance)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup soymilk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (omit salt if you used salted almond butter)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and turn on some Beyonce/Shakira.

In a bowl combine  the wet ingredients and the sugars, once those are combined, add the dry ingredients except the cherries and chocolate.  Shake your booty a little bit (especially if Shakira’s Did It Again comes on) then fold in the cherries and chocolate.

Plop golf ball sized lumps of dough onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.

To counteract the vegan-ness, enjoy with a glass of milk (or if you’re like me… lactaid)!

After cleaning up and attempting to get some reading done for a few hours, I decided I should probably have dinner.  For some reason, I decided to get creative and for some reason that had to involve the oven again, again Beyonce and Shakira kept me company, this time Rihanna joined in on the fun.

Polenta Pizza

1 cup cornmeal
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
~1 cup pasta sauce
1-2 huge handfuls of spinach, chopped
4 oz mozzarella cheese
3 artichoke hearts, chopped

Step 1: Make Polenta
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  In a pot combine the cornmeal, water and salt.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Keep cooking, stirring constantly for another 5 minutes at least (at this point your should pretty much just be swinging your hips to the beat).  Then transfer and spread polenta on a greased baking sheet (totally forgot to grease mine). Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare toppings
Heat olive oil in a pan, add onions, garlic and red peppers.  Cook on med/low heat for about 10 minutes until tender and tasty! Mini dance party for 10 minutes while it all cooks… or you could wash some dishes… then add spinach, stir around til spinach is wilted (about 2 minutes).

Step 3: Prep Pizza
Spread pasta sauce on polenta, top with veggies, cheese and artichokes, bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Pretty tasty!  I was pleased! My friend, Liz, came over and enjoyed with me.  She liked it too!

I should probably stop dancing around the house and read, or at least go to bed so I can make the most of tomorrow.

Have a great night!