I remember making a very simple peanut butter cookie last year that had only three ingredients: sugar, peanut butter and egg, so I went with that. Simple they were, but cloyingly sweet! Yuck! Of course, my nephew loved them, but my son didn't like them much, nor did I. Being the good steward of resources that I am, I hate throwing things away, so I decided to try and save them. I watched an episode of Americas Test Kitchen not too long ago which stated that sandwich cookies were the way to go to get the biggest peanut flavor for your cookie buck. Using about 2 T of cream cheese and 2 T of natural crunchy peanut butter, I whipped them together to make a filling, then spooned about 2 t between 2 of the overly sweet peanut butter cookies. The results, pretty good! After my long run yesterday, I inhaled 1 and a half of them with a glass of milk, which might have been 1/2 too much. But anyway, they are actually edible, if rich.
Next time, I may try a recipe which uses a gluten free flour blend in addition to the sugar and PB, and make sure to use extra peanut butter. This time, the recipe I used was:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
mix, scoop 1 T on cookie sheet, press down with fork, bake at 325 for about 10-12 min or until browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 min (ended up being more like 8), then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
I keep notes about what I cook and eat, not because I'm obsessed with details or food, but because I hate to waste. Other people I live with are not such good stewards of what they've been given, and I see this as a great travesty. God gave me dominion over the earth, including animals, flora and fauna, the soil and water. When I waste or destroy or am apathetic about any of these things, I feel like I'm letting Him down; letting humanity down; letting myself down most of all. With a bit of creativity and some learning, there's a lot of fun things you can do; reuse old containers, try new recipes, pick up trash with a group of friends, eat your leftovers instead of throwing them away, use your bathwater for plants, etc.
The first time I became consciously aware of the word, "stewardship" was in 11th grade AP English class. I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful teacher, Mr. Dave Scott, who was quite the philosopher. His class was never boring, always challenging, and very different than others. He used quotes by people like Steven Covey (of the 7 Habits fame) to get us thinking before we started writing our essays. He always left thoughtful comments and questions after grading our papers to push us even farther. I guess I used the word steward in one of my essays, and he made me aware of it in a comment. Since that time, I've taken great care to be the best steward I can. Merriam-Webster's definition is like a housekeeper: "one employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns (as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts)" (2013, www.m-w.com). Emphasis on the managing part, I see this as a daily duty. When I let small jobs pile up, they can seem insurmountable, but if I tend to them regularly, they are much easier to manage. Just like the cookies. :)
