carnival cookies...anyone???

Once in awhile I like to try to bake "good for you treats" - ex. chick pea brownies - and generally I am the one who eats them...just me.  I bought a new cookbook called Super Natural Every Day - and I love it!   I made these yummy treats today.  They are really good!  On the way home from picking up Sophie, I told her about them.

Me:  Sophie I made these cookies today called Carnival Cookies and they are so good!  They have everything you eat at a carnival in them:  peanuts, popcorn and chocolate.

Sophie:  And cotton candy?

Me:  No, but they are awesome!

Sophie:  I'll be the judge of that.

Sophie:  How about I just eat the leftover popcorn?

At least I thought they were good!  And now I will proceed to eat the whole batch.

Carnival Cookies from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson

Oven 350 - line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix in bowl - 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/4 cup barely warmed coconut oil.
In another bowl - 1 1/2 cups oats, 1/2 cup almond meal, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt
Add dry to wet and fold in 2/3 cup shelled whole peanuts, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 1/2 cups popped corn.
Firmly shape heaping tablespoon sized dough into balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake 14 to 17 minutes.

They are yummy...if you like that sort of guilt-free dessert thing!

bribe-em with cake

 When the Stake asked the youth to join a choir for upcoming Stake Conference, Alex had no problem signing up.  Matt, on the other hand, was NOT into the idea.  I told him I would make him any dessert he wanted if he would go.  He requested chocolate cake with caramel frosting.

 If you haven't tried it, MAKE THE CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE ON THE BACK OF THE HERSHEY COCOA CAN!!!!  It is so good.

Frosting was Nicole Quealy's apple cake frosting recipe.  G.O.O.D.

family taste test time!

I couldn't help myself. I was in Target (home away from home) browsing the Halloween section, when I beheld these babies. I grabbed a box without hesitation as well as a chocolate Halloween pop tart box, brown sugar flavor and s'more flavor. I was going for a fall theme, but they don't make apple flavor anymore (lame), so I picked s'more flavor even though it is totally a summer flavor. I figured at least they would get eaten over a fruit flavor. Tonight we taste test!

p.s. - Pier One has the most adorable Halloween stuff right now - really cute jewelry for girls and fun decorations :0)

Oh She Glows Cookies...oops

In an effort to make my treats that I make too often a little healthier, I made these today. I love the flavor, but almost broke a tooth! After a little research on healthy baking, I found out that "spelt" should read "spelt flour". NOT SPELT BERRIES. I immediately ground my spelt berries into flour and will now try "Oh She Glows Cookies - take 2". And I will eat the first batch because the flavor is yummy! I might just suck on them and spit out the spelt though.

My lesson for today

Yesterday, I made a spontaneous decision to go to the temple and hit the 8:30 am session. I dropped Matt off at school at 8:01 and raced to PCH to head over (is the freeway faster??). Anyways, I pulled in to the temple at 8:30 figuring there was NO WAY I would make it, and to my surprise, as I rounded the corner to go to the changing room, THE DOOR WAS STILL OPEN! Woo Hoo!! I made it. It was great! For an immediate blessing for my temple service :) I went to Sprinkles Cupcakes on the way home. I got my usual - Red Velvet plus one I haven't tried (carrot...yum) and then one more for Steve (coconut). So I ate the carrot one on the way home. So good. Then, during a particularly stressful part of my day, I ate the Red Velvet. Okay, so I should be set for treats for the day, right? Well, Steve got home and I handed him the box with the Coconut cupcake in it, expecting him to eat it right then and there. No. He didn't. He said he was going to eat dinner and then the cupcake for dessert. He put the cupcake on his end table, beside me.

Now, my lesson for the day. I read this today .

I AM THE MARSHMALLOW EATER!! I have no self control. I learned that I have a lot to work on in this area. Not only in the area of patience, but treat control! Why is it so hard?

Dessert + Friends = Party

After church, I got to work on making Honey and Oats Pie (yum!) for a little Valentine's get-together.
It is so fun to just relax and sample yummy dessert and hold babies...
...and visit with great people.


Here is Steve showing his latest iPhone app...

I think the babies are yummier than the dessert.
But that didn't stop me from diving in to THIS stuff! So good.

The Grove and the American Girl Store

My camera doesn't have a flash anymore so my pics aren't that great...but we love this store!
This is little girl heaven. I wished I were 7 again the whole time we were there. We did a little scavenger hunt and Sophie got a poster.

Sophie got to make a bookmark after the scavenger hunt.
Love this place!
We love Jane Lynch! She was kind enough to pose for a picture with her number one fan.
To reward Matt for hangin' out with us at the American Girl store, we went to Lamonica's and Ice Cream at Diddy (?) Rees afterwards.


This is heaven in a cup. I got chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate chip walnut cookies. Mmm.

I love rhubarb season!

This is one of my favorite times of the year because of rhubarb!  So far this month I have made 2 different rhubarb crisps and this rhubarb pie.  This week...rhubarb muffins!!

Sophie takes after me with her love of rhubarb.  Before I rolled out the dough, I chopped up some of the veggie and gave it to her with a little bowl of sugar.  She ate all the pieces.  Then she asked for some leftover pie dough and made her own little pies by rolling a piece of rhubarb in sugar then wrapping it in a piece of dough.  Then she rolled that in some cinnamon sugar.  We baked them and she took them to school the next day in her lunch box.  She also made a platypus out of the pie dough scraps, sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar and gave it rhubarb eyes.  

I promise you will love this cookie...

Jumbo Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies (Here it is, Autie!)

Cream 1 cup soft butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup sugar.  Add 2 eggs one at a time.  Add 2 tsp. vanilla.  Beat well.

In a separate bowl:  2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt.  Whisk and add to wet ingredients.  Don't over mix.

Add 2 2/3 cup coconut, 1 cup chocolate chips (semi sweet) and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips.  Don't over mix.  Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes.  

Enjoy!!

Mmmm.

In the mood for ice cream?  In St. George?  Go here.
We stopped here after a dinner with the family for "a bit of ice cream."  In fact, I ordered a 'mini' Grasshopper shake.
Little did I know they mean business at this shake place.  A 'mini' was about a quart of ice cream!  
No complaints from me!
Here is Sophie with her mini shake.
And Alex with her mini German Chocolate Shake WHICH by the way didn't even melt overnight.  Seriously!  Alex ate not even a quarter of this thing, left it on the dresser at the hotel and ate it for breakfast the next morning.  
Here are Sophie and Andrea enjoying their mini shakes in the parking lot.  I will return!

The verdict

The results from the last post are in! I guess I'll be sharing :)

What to do...

This has been sitting in my cupboard for awhile now. I think I am ready to use it up. I am in search of a great Nutella recipe. First on the list are these. I hope I'm not the one who eats them all. My kids (and husband) are afraid of anything that has flecks, discolorations, colorations, texture, or anything else 'unknown' to their palates. I've tried that whole 'sneak it in and they'll never know' thing (pureed' veggies in spaghetti sauce, tofu in banana bread, wheat germ in pancakes, etc.) If there is a HINT of flavor different than the usual - I eat it all so as not to waste. This recipe is pure sugar and yumminess, right? So I shouldn't be left with 7 dozen cookies with my name on them, right? We'll see what happens.

Christmas Wreath Cookies

I love these! We make these every year. I remember receiving them from a lady in our ward for Christmas when I was about 6 years old. I couldn't believe the ingenuity! I thought she was brilliant. Anyways, I still love' em. Here is the recipe (just in case you don't have it already!)

Wreath Cookies

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a large pot. Add 40 large marshmallows and stir constantly. When melted, add 1 tsp. green food coloring, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. almond extract. Stir and add 4 cups cornflakes. Spray foil lined cookie sheets with Pam and drop mixture by spoonfuls onto sheet. Butter your hands and form into wreaths (if you can...we usually leave them as lumps). Decorate with red hots or any other red and white candy. Yum! Merry Christmas!

Highly recommend....

Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. It is the perfect liquid meal.

Here is the description from the store: This delicious sweet and salty combination brings together our rich, indulgent Signature Hot Chocolate and the flavors of buttery caramel and smoked sea salt. It is topped with whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and a sprinkle of our sea salt topping - a combination of artisan sea salt and Turbinado sugar from Hawaii.

Michele recommends Hazelnut Signature Hot Chocolate...time for a taste test! Bring on the Hazelnut!!

Good Morning General Conference!

We have this tradition of cinnamon rolls for General Conference morning. It has taken some time for me to figure out the bread making thing...LOTS of unsuccessful attemps. But these turned out pretty good.

The Canadian in me wanted to try making a maple glaze this year, and they were yum-o.
To make the glaze, mix 1/2 a box of powdered sugar, 1 capful maple flavoring, 1/8 cup melted butter, 1/4 cup milk, and a pinch of salt.

The Conference was excellent, as was the fun mid-session lunch and bike ride with our buds. We love Conference weekend!

Molasses Cookies Part 2

I finally made Kelly's recipe for Molasses Cookies. I must say, they are good, but I think I like my original recipe the best.
The kids will be home from school within the hour to give their opinion.
I think these taste wonderful fresh from the oven and have the perfect soft texture. As they cool, the flavor reminds me more of a gingersnap rather than a molasses cookie. But I like it! Here is the recipe:

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Cream together shortening and brown sugar. Stir in egg and molasses and mix well.
Fold in dry ingredients and stir. Cover and chill till firm (1-2 hours). Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough into small balls and roll in white sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes.

(For some reason, the ingredients link to Recipezaar Dictionary. So if you ever wanted to know more about, say, molasses, you can just click the link.)

I do have to ask, WHAT HAPPENED TO TRADER JOE'S MOLASSES COOKIES??? They were there and now they aren't. They were a staple for my secret stash. I hope they sell them again soon.