Monster Cookies: not new to Pinterest, but new to us!

A couple days ago I received a text from my older sister, "Have you ever had monster cookies?"

Being the cookie fanatic that I am, I did a quick recipe search.

They should call this the "Every Cookie" cookie. Its basically a peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal, M&M, Peanut M&M cookie... all in one. Yes. Its intense. Its delicious. Its a diabetic-coma experience.

Here is the recipe we used with our own edits and instructions.

Monster Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup White Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Butter (Softened)
• 1 Cup Peanut Butter
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
• 3 cups Quick Oats
• 1 cup Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup Peanut M&M's
• 1 cup Mini M&M's
• 1/2 cup  Milk Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer- beat sugars, butter, and peanut butter. We used a natural peanut butter that was very creamy, which made our cookies gooey and soft. Regular peanut butter will work fine.
3. Slowly mix in eggs one at a time and vanilla extract.
4. Add oats 1/3 cup at a time, baking soda, and flour 1/3 cup at a time until fully combined.
5. Stir in all M&M's and chocolate chips.
6. Scoop out with 1/4 cup measuring cup, and roll into a ball then flatten with hands until about palm size. 
7. Placed on lined baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes- till the outside looks done but the center is still gooey. After removing from oven, leave cookies on the warm baking sheet; this will help the centers to bake a little more.

Makes about 16 jumbo cookies. 

Happy Baking!

Kaylee

White Chili & Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Today is a perfect autumn day.

Bright leaves have begun to fall. The cool, crisp air smells like wood-fire stoves burning. And since early this morning the fog has been shifting through the hills and over the valley.

Its a chili-and-cornbread kind of day.
Here's our favorite...

White Chili

4-6 Servings

• 1-2 Cooke Chicken Breasts (Chopped or shredded)
• 1 1/2 tsp Chili Powder, Cumin, Oregano {I just do an even blanket of each across the onion}
• 1 tsp Salt
• Pinch of Garlic Powder
• 1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 Can Chicken Broth
• 2-3 Cans White Beans {Great Northern}
• 1 diced Tomato
• **Grated Cheddar Cheese and classic Cornbread Muffins.

1. Brown diced onion in a large pot with a little oil. Blanket onion with each of the spices and Worcestershire Sauce.
2. Add remaining ingredients, excluding cheese and cornbread. Warm on medium-high heat.
3. When ready to serve,  top each portion with shredded cheddar cheese and mash in a cornbread muffin.

For dessert.

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1/2 Cup & 2 tbsp Butter
• 3/4 Cup Peanut Butter
• 1/2 white sugar & 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 & 3/4 cups flour

1. Combine butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Blend together.
2. Add baking soda, salt, and flour with mixer.
3. Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
4. Roll dough into balls and bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, 7-10 minutes {Until edges are very lightly browning- don't overcook!}
5. Chomp, chomp, chomp... enjoy. 

Our Favorite Turkey Meatballs

These are the best meatballs. Ever.

Not that we're really meatball connoisseurs per say... but these are without a doubt our favorite.

So flavorful and yummy. We eat them plain; we eat them with marinara sauce and spaghetti; we eat them as cupcakes with mashed potato 'frosting'; we eat them here, there, and anywhere.  Last night we had them with potato salad and roasted summer squash.

Oh, and there are no leftovers.

And why I love them most???

They are low points. :):

Servings: 12   Points+: 2 per serving

Happy mid-week!

Menu Printable

I need my menu to be on display. 

If I don't see it, I forget it.
And I forget it, then I forget to thaw it.

And if it's frozen, well then we're getting take-out for dinner... and that defeats the entire purpose of menu planning. 

You can find our weekly menu on side of the fridge; usually handwritten on a nice tacky piece of notebook paper with torn edges. This has worked well.

But now we're gettin' fancy.

My honey-bunny left his laptop at home this morning, so I whipped this up this little number on Publisher. 

{Click to Download and Print for yourself!}

After printing the menu I simply slid it into a clear sheet protector and wrote out my menu with a dry-erase pen. Next week we'll erase and start over.

Now. About yesterday's menu planning. Want to know how it went?

Monday- BBQ Sloppy Joe Sliders & Spinach Salad

Tuesday- Cajun Cabbage & Oven Frieds

Wednesday- Slow-cooker Chicken Thigh w/ Chili Corn, Brown Rice, & Broccoli

Thursday- Asian Turkey Meatballs w/ Lime Dipping Sauce & Bacon Beans

Friday- Mom's Tortilla Soup w/ Juanita's Chips & Caesar Salad

Saturday- Leftovers w/ Something Green

Sunday- Soup Sunday* {youth fundraiser}

Happy Tuesday!

Love,

Kaylee

Monday Menu Planning & Meatloaf Cupcakes

Hadley is down for an extremely early nap. Sweet little baby... this weekend wore her out!


So now I am sitting down to menu plan for this week because I neglected to do so before we left town last week. And, well.. the cupboards are bare.


Here is a household favorite we enjoyed last week...

Skinny Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato Frosting
Barely adapted from: Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes


Meatloaf Cupcakes:

• 1.25 lb of 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 3 tbsp onion, minced
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs {We sometimes use oats}
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 egg
• 1tsp kosher salt

Mashed Potato Frosting:

• 1 lb (about 2-3 medium) gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 2 tbsp fat free sour cream
• 2 tbsp fat free chicken broth
• 1 tbsp almond milk {or regular}
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• kosher salt to taste
• dash fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme

::Preheat the oven to 350 degress, and line a muffin tine with foil. 

:: Peel and cube potatoes, then place with garlic in a large pot with a pinch of salt and enough water to cover. Bring to boil; cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

::In a large bow, mix the turkey, zucchini, onoin, breadcrumbs, ketchup, egg, and salt. Use an ice-cream scoop to place the meatloaf mixture into the muffin tins. Flatten down the top of each cupcake with a fork. Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from tins and place onto serving tray.

:: Drain and then return the potatoes and garlic to pot. Add sour cream and the remaining ingredients, and then mash until smooth. Season with salt & pepper. 

:: Pipe the potato frosting onto the meatloaf cupcakes and serve. {We usually pair these with green beans and steamed broccoli}

Yum!

Servings- 6

Serving Size- 2 Cupcakes

WW Points+ - 6 pts per serving

Love,
Kaylee

The Wedge Salad

We recently discovered this little bit of brilliance: The Wedge Salad. Apparently it's been around for years; we must just live in a cave. :)

We played around with the recipe to perfect our own preferred level of yumminess, and now we want one with every meal.

The Wedge Salad
Slightly adapted from: Lexie's Kitchen

1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/8 Cup Honey
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
6-8 Strips Bacon
1  Tomato- diced
1 Avocado- chopped
1/2 Cup Cilantro- chopped
1/4 Red Onion- diced
1 head Iceberg Lettuce- quartered
Blue cheese crumbles
Buttermilk Ranch dressing

In a small saucepan combine balsamic vinegar, honey, and salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer into a thick syrup. {This is a little tricky, sometimes it simmers longer than others but boiling for about 30 sec. to start seems to do the trick. Play with it. You want syrup consistency- not liquid}

Brown and crumble bacon; set aside. Prepare remaining produce.

Assembly:
Arrange and top lettuce wedges evenly with a spoonful {or two} of Buttermilk Ranch dressing, tomato, avocado, cilantro, red onion, bacon and blue cheese crumbles. Last, drizzle the top with balsamic glaze.


*To make this a main course, just add some chicken!

Healthy Buffalo

Okay, I'll admit it. As cliche as this sounds... I am a sucker for Buffalo Wings. Especially the messy ones just slathered in sauce. Mmm, the messier the better. And, honestly? When I think no one is watching, I even lick the leftover sauce from my fingertips. Yup, can't help it. 

However, we are currently on a Slim-Down mission in this household. So I was thrilled to stumbled upon a Buffalo skinny-recipe. And this one earned an "unbelievable" on the Husband Scale. 

Buffalo Turkey Wraps

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 pound lean ground turkey
1/2 cup onion, diced finely
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup carrot, diced finely
1 cup celery, sliced thinly
1 head iceberg lettuce, leaves removed to form cups
salt and pepper  
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo wing sauce 
Blue cheese crumbles or 

Blue Cheese  or Ranch dressing to drizzle over the top

*Frank's sauce does tend to be on the spicy side, so I started with 1/4 Cup and worked my way up to what we could handle.

1. In a large skillet, saute the onions over medium heat until soft. Add garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add ground turkey, season with a dash of salt and pepper, brown meat and cook until cooked through. Drain any grease if necessary.

2. Return meat to pan and stir in the wing sauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a couple of minutes.

3. Prepare lettuce cups. Place spoonful of meat into lettuce cup, top carrot and chopped celery.  Sprinkle with some blue cheese crumbles and/or dressing. Wrap up and start eating!

Yum! Served this with Sweet Potato Oven Fries and some greens. 

Above All, LOVE

"Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away..." 

Song of Solomon 8:7

"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." 

Colossians 3:14

"Above all, love each other deeply..."

1 Peter 4:8

Homemade Valentine Cards for our Loved Ones

My Valentines

Blowing Kisses

Our Valentine's breakfast. Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy.
*Recipe Here.


Happy Valentines Day, Nicholas. There's no one else I'd rather spend forever with than you. 

9 Months, Pumpkins, & Apple-Pie Sauce

My little girl is growing up too quickly. Way too quickly.

Technically she is still a baby;  in less than a week she will be 9 months old ... but how is this possible when it was just last week she was born? It's hard to believe she was once so small now that she is starting to look like a toddler in her big-girl pajamas.

These days are passing too quickly, so I am determined to savor every sweet moment. Event the moments such as now, when she is tearing apart the nursery behind me and talking to me in the little language only she understands. That's my little girl. 

Hadley and Me

First trip to the pumpkin patch... she wanted them all.

Favorite fall thing we've been doing this week..... making and canning applesauce. {Mmm.. Yum!}

Once you go homemade, there's no going back. It is just not the same. 

Here is my favorite recipe. It's simple, easy, and tastes jut like Apple Pie! Hence, I call it:

Apple-Pie Sauce

• 6-7 Apples {I like Honey Crisp Best}
• 1/4 Cup Water
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• 1/2 Cup Raw Sugar

Peel, core and chop apples. {I don't have a fancy apple peeler, so I just use a potato peeler and an apple cutter, then chop the slices into chunks}

Place apple chunks in a pot with 1/4 cup of water, then sprinkle Cinnamon across the top {I never measure here, I just go by look.. enough to almost cover the top} and add a few dashes of Nutmeg, then mix around. Heat on Med-High until you hear a bubbling boil, then turn the heat to Med-Low and cover. 

Let apples simmer until soft and mushy, then use a potato masher to smash to sauce. Add 1/2 Cup of Raw Sugar and mix and mash some more. 

Then eat at least one bowl while still warm. Delicious. 

I like it in my oatmeal, my husband likes it on toast with Peanut Butter, and we all like to heat it up and eat it as a dessert. Hadley likes the sugar-free version. {Mostly because that's the only one she's had.}

Peaches and Cans

Back in the day {before babies} Mom was quite the canner.  Mom canned almost everything, and at a great price; free! She and her friend, Teri, knew the "right people" who would allow them to come glean. {Very Ruth of her, if I do say so.} This went a long way in helping with my parents then tiny budget.

This year I asked her to teach me.. and she was more than delighted!

 Mom had a pressure-cooker explode on her when she was young, so she is very anti-pressure-cooker. We used the water bath method to can peaches. 

First we sterilized our jars and rings, and placed our lids in a small saucepan with a little water to simmer. {Not boil. That is important for some reason, but I can't remember why}

Then we rinsed the peaches {fresh from the Yakima Valley- where all the best produce comes from :) }and placed them into a pot of boiling water to blanch for 30-60 seconds.

After blanching, we tossed the peaches into an ice bath to cool. After this the skins just slipped right off. We then halved our peaches. 

{Mine were a little ripe, so some weren't as firm as you'd like}

We started the light syrup... 9 cups water, 2 1/2 cups sugar: bring to boil in a medium saucepan.

Then we packed our peaches face-down {pit side down} in our warm jars. Mom was fast at this; I was distracted by how pretty they looked. 

We packed the jars just to the top curve and then covered with syrup, leaving 1/2 inch of space. We used a butter-knife to get out the air bubbles; wiped the rim of our jars; then screwed on the lids. 

"Tighten with your fingers, not you whole arm."  - Mom

After this we placed the jars evenly on to the rack of the canner, and lowered into warm water, with just about an inch of water covering the jars.  {Pic is pre-water. Sorry} 

Then we waited. And waited. And waited for that large pot to boil. It was a long time. {It probably just felt longer.} You have to wait for the water to be boiling before you can even start the clock. 

By this point Hadley was tired of all this...

{couldn't help the cute baby pic}

Once boiling, you then start the timer base on altitude. I believe we set the clock for 25-30 min. 

After they were done, we carefully removed the rack and lined the jars up about an inch apart on a towel to cool. As the jar lids seal they making a popping sound.. this is Mom's favorite part.. but since I had fans going I missed it. 

I left the cans on the counter overnight to cool. 

I've already been mixing some of these in with my morning oatmeal. YUM!
I think I may love canning. Jellies, Apples, Apple-butter, Applesauce and Garlic Pickles may be next. :)

{Family- expect some for Christmas}

A Special Thanks To:
Mom- for teaching
Rachel- my in-house photographer
and Nick- for keeping an eye on the baby.

Summer and Avocado-Corn Salsa

By the school calendar, summer is over! And  although I am ready to get back into a more structured routine, I miss it already.
Our summers are usually a whirlwind of trips, activities, and projects; this summer did not disappoint!
We did, however, stick pretty close to home. {With the exception of a church Camp-out and a few Eastern Washington trips.}


Some of our summer favorites...

Our Family- Independence Day

Hadley Grace

Hadley's first Fourth of July!

Favorite recipe of the summer...

Grilled Chicken with Avocado -Corn Salsa

{Yum!}

• 3 1/3 tbsp fresh lime juice {I use 2 limes}
• 4 tbsp chopped cilantro {or more}
• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt & pepper {to taste}
• 4 {6 oz} Boneless/skinless chicken breast-halves
• 2 ears fresh corn {we use white}
• 1 large ripe avocado

Combine 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp cilantro, and Salt & Pepper in a large Ziploc bag; add chicken. Now, shake around a bit to coat the chicken, then refrigerate at least 20 minutes. Grill Chicken.

To prepare Salsa- Grill corn till tender {or microwave in a  shallow dish with 1/4 cup water and covered for 2 min.} Use a large knife to cut the corn from cobs. 

Combine corn kernels with avocado, cilantro, lime juice, and salt & pepper.. then serve over grilled chicken!

{This is really so yummy that the salsa could be eaten as a salad.} 

{I do ;o)}

What did you do this summer?

It's not still Monday??

Well it's a busy, busy week- so each day is just rolling into the other without my even noticing. :-)

I am currently trying to get Hadley down for her nap. She thinks it's play-time so she is just jabbering away in her swing, talking to her little lamb mobile friends and kicking her feet. She thinks she's funny. Mommy thinks she needs to take her nap.

This week is a week of planning and preparing for a big {and have I said "busy"?} weekend! What's happening this weekend? Well a few things...

First- This Sunday is Hadley's Baby Dedication; a small ceremony in which Nick and I make a commitment to God, witnessed by our family and friends, to raise Hadley {and any future kiddos} in a way that is pleasing to Him. We will aim to be careful of what influences we allow into our home, and will search the Word {the Bible} and seek Godly counsel in determining our "parenting style". Amongst others, our primary goal is that Haddie would come to have her own relationship with Jesus Christ.

We chose this weekend because on Monday: Hadley will be three months old, it gave enough time for family and friends to make arrangements to attend, and because...

Second- This Saturday is Nick and I's 6 year wedding anniversary. {Happy Anniversary, Babe!} Yes, it's hard to believe such time has flown by, yet here we are. I am so thankful. I am so very blessed. Truly I am married to my best friend. Many people make this claim, but in our case this really is true. There is no other person I would rather spend my time with... and in the few times we've had to be apart it was JUST WRONG. :-) Nicholas Lee truly is my better half.

I could go on, but I'll spare you and save the rest just for him. ;)

Third- This Sunday is also the seven year anniversary of the day Nick and I first met- on our first {blind} date! If you can call dinner at Applebee's with your older sister and two other guys a date. I'll blog those details another day, but for now I owe a very big "thank you" to my big sis, Laurin. THANK YOU!!!

Lastly- It's a big, busy weekend because we have family and friends coming into town for all this hodgepodge of events. There are rumors of the Woodland Park Zoo and a Mariner's game in the mix. ;-)

One of those dear family friends just so happens to a photographer!{Adam Breckenridge Photography} He will be shooting Hadley's dedication and fun pictures of the weekend. We are also hoping to get a lovely, little family picture {would you believe we don't have one pic with Nick and myself and the baby in it yet?}

I have decided that it is officially time to stop hiding from the camera. I mean, we all know it's just baby weight, right? ;o) Otherwise Hadley may have doubts about me really being her mother and being there for all those little experiences. So I'm putting on a bold face, and will be stepping around to the other side of the lens. I go with the confidence that a) Weight Watchers works, b) I am a member, and c) two pounds a week seems measly, but it's permanent!

{Excuse me while I blog a self pep-talk.}

On that note... here are just a few of the recipes for this weekend:

Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches

• one beef rump roast {or any kind of beef roast really}
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 packet of dry Italian dressing mix
• 1 jar of pepperoncinis

*Toss all ingredients into a slow-cooker and cook on High for at least 5 hours.

*Then shred beef roast and serve beef at pepper on a hogie bun with a little mayo.

*Take a bite and then realize that this recipe is simply genius.

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

My new favorite from the Pioneer Woman. She know's her way around flavor!

Recipe here.

And as for the sides and desserts... well that I haven't figured out yet. However, I am pretty sure cupcakes may find their way in there somewhere.

Happy Tuesday! This lady's off to finish my grocery list...

{What are you cookin' this week??}