Healthier Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

I found this recipe for chocolate chip meringue cookies on Martha Stewart's website.  I tweaked it a bit to make it healthier, and you can of course leave out the chocolate chips (but they're the best part, right?)
http://www.marthastewart.com/336787/chocolate-chip-meringues

prep: 30 minutes
time: an hour and 30 minutes, possibly 2 hours
makes 30 cookies

Ingredients:
4 egg whites (put whole eggs in a bowl with warm water so they are completely covered)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup of sugar
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (you can use dark chocolate as well, and as many ounces as you want)

Process:
-Preheat oven to 225 degrees
-In a big bowl beat egg whites until they are frothy
-add in cream of tartar and keep beating
-then add in salt and vanilla extract and beat until you have soft peaks
-gradually add in sugar (around a tablespoon every five seconds)
-beat until peaks are stiff and glossy
-fold in chocolate chips with spatula

-spoon meringue onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 1 tablespoon at a time
-bake for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours until meringues are lightly golden brown on the edges
-turn off oven but leave meringues in for another hour.  (you don't have to do this, but it makes sure the meringues are dry)
-take meringues out and let them cool
-store in airtight containers

TIPS
*the first time I did this I get egg yolk in with the egg whites, so separate the egg whites out one by one just in case!
*try not to make meringues on a humid day.  I did this and nothing terrible happened, but the meringues turn out differently

Healthy Homemade Granola

This is a great healthy homemade granola recipe by Elizabeth Rider. http://www.elizabethrider.com/easy-healthy-homemade-granola-recipe/

I tweaked it a bit based on what I had in the pantry but it's basically the same.  Here's what I used:   

• 2 cups raw, whole rolled oats 
• ½ cup raw almonds and walnuts mixed 
• ¼ cup raw sunflower seeds 
• ½ cup craisins and dried dates mixed 
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• ½ tsp vanilla extract or almond extract (I used vanilla, probably will try almond next)
• 1 large pinch fine sea salt

-Preheat the oven to 300º

-Put everything in big mixing bowl and mix with your hands 

-Put the mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spreading it so it's in a thin layer  

-Bake it for 10 minutes, then take out and stir and put back in for 5.  Depending on how toasty you want it, you can take it out and stir one more time and put it back in for 2 minutes.  

-Leave it out to cool

-Put it in airtight containers to store 

The Start

So I don't really know how I feel about starting a blog, nor do I think I'll actually be all that good about posting.  However, I wanted to give it a try.  I recently started facing my fear and started baking.  I often find myself either doing clumsy things or being very unaware of my surroundings.  Needless to say, this makes me a very "Clumsy Baker".  For example, I made meringue chocolate chip cookies the other day.  I got some egg yolk in the egg whites, which meant I had to spend the next ten minutes attempting to scoop it all out.  Because of this, my egg whites didn't really end up in stiff peaks, as they should for a really good meringue.  But, the cookies still turned out good.  I wouldn't necessarily say they were meringues, but my family ate them anyway.  I guess being clumsy can at times have its advantages.  The purpose of this blog is really so that I can remember the recipes I used and if I altered them, which I often do to make them healthier.  Here it goes!