Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I really LOVE facebook! Ahhh, good ol' fb. :) I love that I've re-connected with so many friends. I moved around quite a bit so I've found friends from all over the place. I even found my "little" brother, RY. Technically, he's my half brother but he's my brother nonetheless. It's great to check on him via fb and see that he's doing well. :)

It's fun finding old friends and I absolutely love it when old friends find me. My last friend request was from a good friend from 7th grade. I always wondered what happened to KS and now we have the chance to catch up. It's only been FOREVER! It made me feel really good when she said I was the first person she looked for from jr high school days. Sweet!

It's also a trip to get together with friends that I haven't seen in what seems like a gazillion years. I found my very first best friend, the other "AK." I think we were 3 yrs old when we met, we lost touch by the time we were 5 yrs old and then I hooked up with her for lunch last year. It was a trip to see our old pictures from birthday parties at the park. She cracks me up. What a fun friend!

Last year, a friend from 4th grade and I got together for dinner. We had so much to catch up on that we were the last to leave the restaurant. It was wild reminiscing about our days in elementary school and our time at summer camp. Jeez, the things we remember and the things we block out. Haha! Good times, KFM!

Then several months ago, I reconnected with my high school friends. There were eight girls in our freaky  little group.  At some point, we started talking about a mini reunion. I wasn't sure if we could pull it off as the majority live outside of the So Cal area. Well, we planned it and made it happen. Super cool I tell you! Out of towners from Nor Cal, AZ, WA and VA for our Weirdos Reunion 2010. AWESOME!!!

I have a vegan friend in the group so I put together a vegan spread. I like chocolate chips in my cookies but I left them out so HW could enjoy them. I only had milk chocolate chips, but if I had dark chocolate, they totally would've been in there. :) These cookies were chewy, sweet and satisfying. YUMS!

Tower of tasty treats!

Mmmm....gooood!

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Yield: approx. 2 dozen 2" cookies

Ingredients:

• 1.5 c brown sugar
• 1 c Nucoa margarine
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• 3 c oatmeal
• 2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c raisins (can also add some nuts and/or chocolate/peanut butter/toffee chips)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place peeled banana in stand mixer bowl. Mix until mashed well.
3. Add sugar and Nucoa and mix well.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and use Pampered Chef medium scoop to drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet about 1" apart. Flatten the balls of cookie dough to the size/shape of cookie desired.
6. Bake for 10-12 mins depending on thickness of cookies. ENJOY!!!

Source: Adapted from Simple Meals for Busy Families