Friday, August 15, 2008

Cookies that Make Milk

I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, especially with a glass of milk to dunk them in.* When I got home from work today, Karen was making a big batch of'em, only with a twist. Apparently, oatmeal, brewers yeast and flax seeds all help with breast milk production in lactating moms. Karen was using Housepoet's Famous Lactation Cookies recipe that is all over the web, even posted by dads. Now, it's right here for you too. (*Silk brand soy milk is my favorite for dunking) This topic has been blogged pretty sufficiently already, so please visit the links for loads of insights.

With baby Jasper, milk is the main currency that he accepts in all transactions. So, Karen and I need to make sure that we've got plenty on hand whenever he wants it. We've got bottles and organic formula ready to go (link goes to cheapest deal online), but that's really the last resort. If I don't wanna start getting up with the little guy to bottle feed at all hours, then I better make sure that Karen is well supplied with the homemade milks (we like to pluralize the word for some reason).

Looks like cookie making is going to be my new hobby and I might even doctor up the standard recipe you see below. Of course, these cookies are chewy and delicious enough as is that anyone will wanna gobble'em up. Whether they result in lactating dads has yet to be seen. And, "who is Housepoet," you might be wondering? No idea. A prize goes to the first commenter who can clue me in.

Housepoet's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
Flaxseed Lactation Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal*
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats, thick cut if you can get them
1 cup or more chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of brewers yeast** (be generous)

Directions:
Preheat oven at 375 degrees F. Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream (beat well) butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Stir
flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the margarine mix. Beat until blended. Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to margarine mixture. Stir in oats then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment or silpat. The dough is a little crumbly, so it helps to use a scoop.

Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

Serves: 6 dozen cookies

*can be found at any local health food store
**IT MUST BE BREWERS YEAST, NO SUBSTITUTIONS.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:38 AM

    Ha Ha! I know who Housepoet is - well sorta. It's some chick's username over on Livejournal, and I don't think she uses it anymore for blogging. She's definitely a lactivist, and definitely outspoken, and I found her on a bunch of breastfeeding and cloth diapering forums over there.

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  2. That was quick. I hadn't even figured out what the prize was going to be. But, then again, now the mystery is "who is anonymous?"

    Meanwhile, I found Housepoet and her extensive archives of discussion threads. Pretty impressive. I'm just wondering what she's doing branding that recipe? Will we see boxes of these things at Target soon?

    http://housepoet.livejournal.com/

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  3. Anonymous11:03 AM

    The anon was me, the Sahara comment person - again. I like your blog, and visit often. Oh, and I had a question - my husband is doing graduate work at VCU and has been doing his classes online until this semester, when he will have to show up in person. I was wondering if you had any dinnertime recommendations in that area where we could meet him before his class. I have little kids (2 and 4) so I need someplace they will be welcome (none of that catty junk you posted about a few days ago).

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  4. Wow. A compliment. What a way to start the weekend. What's your husband studying? Class starts again on Thursday for me as well. There's a new place by VCU on Main Street called Mezza. They've got kiddy food as well as Middle Eastern. But the point is, it's right by campus, next to Piccola's. They've also got gelato. Of course, the air of inevitable failure might hit you in the face when you walk in. They've been mostly empty whenever I've got there. 821 Cafe on Cary Street is another good bet for laid back fun eating. A block east of there you can get bubble tea and slushes (I love taro slush w/boba). They've also got microwave noodlebowls (maybe not quite dinner food). Check one of the recent Style Weekly issues for a good suggestion on Vietnamese on Grace Street. For variety, go across the street to Mama's Kitchen for Korean. No idea how they're still open. But I'll bet you'd like Bi bim bap. And then there is the sure thing: Ipanema on Grace. Order a couple sandwiches and force feed your kids part of your side salads and sweet potato fries. How's that?

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  5. I will have to make note of this recipe. I too love oatmeal cookies and flax is soooo good for you on so many levels.

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  6. Anonymous7:23 AM

    Thanks for all the good suggestions; I'll consider them my prize for knowing about Housepoet. My husband is working toward an Environmental Science degree and for some masochistic reason has elected to take a public policy course this semester.

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  7. Anon: Another place that could handle your family's low-grade chaos is Aladdin's (Broad and Laurel). Search my site for a story about the place. Supposedly the steak and cheese is good there (Richmond Mag said it's the best in town), but I stick to their middle eastern stuff and the garlic knots app. Last semester I took public policy analysis and it ruined my blogging, family life, work schedule, and my sanity. But, I got an A. Your husband probably won't have the same demanding (but awesome) prof that I had. Good luck.

    BPB: We put flax in everything at my house. You hardly know it's there, unless you don't grind the seeds. Then they make an appearance a day or so later. ;0)

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  8. Anonymous10:17 AM

    His prof's name for this semester is Sultanat Leibert. And I messed up - it's prinicples of public administration, not public policy (not that I would have a clue what the difference it - my specialty is biology). Is this the same person? I hope not because his "easy" summer class just about killed us all!

    ReplyDelete
  9. anon: You should drop me a line through the email in my profile. I don't know that prof you mentioned and neither does ratemyprofessors.com. There's a lot of useful information in that one though, from the founding principles of the US to the rise of the modern administrative state and now to the corporate consultant model of ad hoc government. Lots of context that can be applied to any analysis.

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  10. Anonymous10:32 AM

    I just wanted to report back that this cookie recipe really works! I had been sick and wasn't making quite enough milk for little Jasper D. These cookies did the trick. The recipe makes a huge batch - we ended up freezing half the dough. We just baked what was left last night. Frozen cookie dough is ridiculously delicious so there weren't quite as many cookies this time around!

    ReplyDelete

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