Sweet Tooth Fairy

December 13th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Parenting

Guess who’s coming to our house for the first time tonight?

The Tooth Fairy is Coming Tonight

That would be the Tooth Fairy!

(You try and get a 5 year old to smile in such a way that she holds her lip out of the way! Go ahead! Just try!)

So yes, Ava lost her first tooth today! It came out just a half hour before we left for an OrKIDStra presentation of The Snowman this afternoon.

Holding Our Tickets for The Snowman at the RPO

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs is a children’s book that was made into a short animated film. Like the book, the film is wordless – but has an orchestral score.

The Snowman

We got all dressed up for a kid friendly trip to the theater.

Eastman Theater

The Snowman was being shown on the big screen while the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra played the score live.

The Snowman

The movie (and book) are very sweet and we all enjoyed the entire performance – from listening to the orchestra play holiday music before the film began to the holiday sing along after the film was over.

Dad and Max at Eastman Theater Mom and Ava

Feeling pretty Christmas-y after our holiday outing, I decided to make some not-quite-raw, vegan, no-bake Gingerbread cookies. I was inspired by Cindy’s version of Averie’s Raw Vegan Gingerbread Cookies and got to work on them this evening.

No-Bake Vegan Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup raw cashews
6 medjool dates
3/4 c rolled oats
1/4 c ground flax seed + another 1/4 c ground flax seed, set aside
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 Tbsp black strap molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger – to taste

My dates were REALLY hard, so I soaked them with the raw cashews in a bowl of water for about an hour. Once the dates softened up I added them along with the soaked cashews (which also softened up) to the food processor with the rest of the ingredients listed above. Averie’s original recipe didn’t call for molasses but Cindy used it and I loved that idea.

Black Strap Molasses

Black strap molasses has a pretty potent taste but I love that it’s such a good source of iron and calcium too.

Good Source of Iron

After all the ingredients were thoroughly processed, I transferred the dough into a bowl for rolling into balls. In a separate bowl was the remaining 1/4 c of ground flax seed for dusting the cookie balls with, to help with the stickiness factor.

Cookie Rolling Station

These cookies are perfectly sweet, and I love that they are vegan too. Although most of the ingredients I used are raw, rolled oats are not technically raw because oats are steamed before being packaged to keep them from going bad. I felt like these needs a little more “something” to them though and decided to use oats, therefore “No Bake” is the best I can do.

They are tasty and healthier than your typical butter and sugar filled holiday cookies. Make no mistake, I’ll still be eating my share of butter and sugar laced cookies this holiday season – but it’s nice having healthier treats around too. The molasses and ground ginger were such great flavors and have a very festive taste.

No Bake Gingerbread Cookies

They’ll keep in the fridge for at least a week – although there’s no worry that ours will last nearly that long.

Now I’ve got to go see how much money the Tooth Fairy has in her wallet. Here’s hoping she’s got some small bills – I’m not sure how a No Bake Vegan Gingerbread Cookie might hold up under Ava’s pillow all night.


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13 Responses

  • Jennifer says:

    Awww…so cool!! Congratulations, Ava!!! :) I bet she was excited! What a neat concert! Looks like you guys had a lot of fun.

  • Congrats to Ava! ๐Ÿ˜€ I still remember losing my first tooth. My brother told me he would help me wiggle it out and wound up yanking it out. We laugh about it now, but it was totally traumatic as a kid…haha. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    The “Snowman” looks adorable! And what fun to go to an orchestra presentation like that…love it!

    Lastly, love your raw cookie recipes! I’ve been coming so close to just buying a bag of cashews and dates lately so that I can make some. They look delish!

  • Erica says:

    Very exciting- congrats to Ava! The concert looks like fun- ya’ll look nice all fancied up ;). Yummy on the gingerbreads. I want to make those so bad.

  • Julie says:

    Congrats to Ava!

    I love Maxine’s pose in the picture with Zak. She’s saying “mmmmmcan I help you?”. Hah, too cute.

  • Katie says:

    I adore the Snowman, we have the video too, so beautiful…

    New music, food, fitness + giveaways – http://katiechangesforkatie.blogspot.com/

    Come visit! Happy MONDAY FUNDAY!

    Katie

  • Lizzy says:

    yay for Ava losing her first tooth! :)

  • Rebecca says:

    Aww yay for Ava losing her tooth! I used to get SO excited when that happened!! And that concert looks so cute and fun!

    I am giving away a pound of gingerbread coffee on my blog from a local coffee shop on my blog if you’re interested!!

    http://roseyrebecca.com/2009/12/13/uncommon-grounds-gingerbread-coffee-giveaway/

  • I hope the tooth fairy was nice to Ava! :)

    Love your holiday outing; I would love to take the toddler to a performance, but somehow I don’t think it would work out… Maybe next year…

    Good luck with all your “house stuff” and keeping two kitchens clean! That sure is priceless! ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Cindy says:

    What a great outing! I am so flipping jealous…I love orchestra music! gives me goose bumps every time!

    CONGRAT’S AVA….first tooth! My Pops chased me around our home with pliers when my first tooth was loose..

    and after you read my comment on your next post…you’ll probably think I have seriously crazed parents. Well, I do but my Pops was fun…he made me laugh so hard as a child…

    I also have to say I ADORE it when Ava makes her cute silly faces! She’s a nut that one!

    love to you!

  • holly says:

    these look amazing. CONGRATS TO AVA!

  • Erika says:

    Congrats on the first lost tooth! So exciting! My kids LOVE the snowman book and movie. I like it too since the music is just so calming and pretty. I do have to admit, I get a little teary when he melts!

  • Peggy says:

    I’ll have to try those! I made a quadruple batch of Averie’s Oatmeal Raisin cookie dough balls last night using some relatively dried-out dates that I found in a jar in the back of the cupboard. I added some agave to the whole cookie mixture for some moisture. I never thought of soaking the dates (I was in a hurry though so wouldn’t have had time). Can I get a hearty slap to the forehead, please?

    These look yummy! Will have to add them to the list. I’m also eying up your breakfast cookie. It would definitely make breakfast-at-5:20-a.m.-before-day-shift a lot easier and hopefully hold me through until my 9:30’ish first break.

    • Alison says:

      Peggy yes definitely soak them when you have time (it actually doesn’t take long at all!) they blend in easier and and smoother for sure.

      I LOVE overnight oats/breakfast cookies for just that reason – you can make them ahead and then look forward to them all morning. ๐Ÿ˜‰