Oatmeal Cookies

You will have to excuse my photos from the last few posts and my future couple posts. My poor computer is somewhere between here and Ontario and I am using a loaner computer. I dont want to load any of my own photos onto this computer so please bear with me. GUESS WHAT I JUST GOT BACK!! It was soo exciting to see Future Shop calling...my computer is back..how I missed her!! I love MY computer what can I say.

So anyways I made these delicious Oatmeal Cookies. I have to eat them all myself as I put raisins in them and Allen doesn't like raisins. I needed a break from chocolate chips. Anyways they are super moist and yummy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 3/4 cups rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth.

Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy. In a seperate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Gradually beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Fold in oats and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls (I would do tablespoons) onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

B

Countdown to Spring and Summer

Im getting pretty excited..or ansty for Summer or at least warm weather. Flowers are starting to bloom, temperatures going up...the sun is shining..ah can't get much better then the feeling of warmth from the sun! I just bought myself a orange lily that perks up our kitchen table!

Anyways here is a few Top 5's

Top 5 FAVE things about Summer:
1.Camping...smell of campfire...hot dog weiner roasts...late night sitting around the fire...OH MY cannot wait!
2. Late summer nights
3. Shorts, flip flops...
4. The feeling of the sun on my skin...
5. Barbecuing!

Top 5 FAVE fruit:
1. Pineapple
2. Berries...Im cheating here because I love alllll berries very much and I cant just choose one..
3. Peaches
4. Watermelon
5. Cherries

I took full advantage of the wonderful weather today. I made a pasta salad with feta and veggies and my new Tuscan Italian Dressing..YUMMY! I played outside with the pooch, did some cleaning of patio furniture...took some photos and checked out the flowers...

Here is some photo evidence..

Doesn't my dear pooch look thrilled to have her photo taken... I took this moments ago and now she is fast asleep...ahh... :)

Enjoy the sunshine....
B

Cooking update..

I have to first give a shout out to the boyfriend. He cooked dinner tonight. It was really nice to not have to think about what to cook tonight. We had steak (which was delicious especially since I dont remember the last time I ate steak), prawns and veggies. He did pretty good.

Anyways here are a couple of recipes that I have tried recently.

One I found on the Two Peas and their Pod blog. I made these delicious Lemon Sugar cookies and I cannot take credit for the photo. They were absolutely delicious. The recipe yields 3 dozen cookies, but I believe I made them a little too big as they spread out alot while baking. So I would definately make them the correct measurement when putting them on a baking sheet.

My other recipe post is for my weightwatcher hummus. Super easy and I love this recipe.

1 (15 ounce) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

*I added red pepper chili flakes and some epicure herb and garlic seasoning.

In a food processor or blender, puree all the ingredients until blended, but still a little chunky. This can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

B

Successful girls night!

I got together with some lovely ladies last night. We had an amazing visit while munching on delicious delicious goodies. One of my friends made a super easy chickpea, salsa, corn, cheesy nacho dip yummyness... another friend made a yummy chicken satay..

I made a weightwatchers hummus and a toffee crunch apple dip from For the Love of Cooking . It was yummy, but very sweet. I may play around with the recipe a bit more. I will post my hummus recipe asap.

In other news...I got a loaner computer for the next couple of weeks till I get mine back. Its throwing me off a bit with this different keyboard. I keep hitting other buttons by accident thinking they are the same buttons from my computer. I had to stop by my parents house to get the loaner computer and I went exploring in their crawlspace to see what things I still had hiding out down there. WELL I found some old Nancy Drew books that my mom had as a kid. I remember reading them when I was young, so I was pretty excited to find something from the past. I am going to start re-reading them again after I finish my book, Knit Part Two :).

Our dear poochie got spayed on Thursday. She was all dopey and drugged up Thursday night, but shes back to her feisty, hyper, loveable self. We found out what was wrong with her skin too...$517 later. She has a bacterial skin infection!! Seriously?! I know! This dog is turning out to be very high maintenance. :) Anyways she is on some meds in hopes of getting her skin back to normal. It will be great once she has all her hair back so that people don't think there is something seriously wrong with her.

Anyways, hope you are having a good Sunday. I think I may curl up on the couch now and have a little nap!
B

Lame

It must be one of those days...this is my second attempt at publishing this post...first one somehow disappeared. Anyways..Im a little grumpy this morning as I have to add to my To-Do list and Im not looking forward to them:

*take my laptop to Future Shop- my computer screen is going so if I move the screen it goes black and weird...BOO-URNS!!!!! I hate taking my computer to get fixed..:( DONE..there won't be very many posts for the next little while as my computer is on its way to Ontario to be fixed..cross ur fingers that its back sooner than later
*sort out all my paperwork to get my income tax papers in line...I hate being a grown up and having my income tax get more complicated...:(
*FIND A NEW BOOK TO READ! Im getting antsy and restless not having a book to read that I enjoy... SUCCESS! I found a few good finds today. I found the second book in the Friday Night Knitting Club series, The Constant Gardener and The Half Broke Horse. Super excited!!

In other news..Elizabeth Taylor passed away today at the age of 79. I watched a newcast about her this morning...she was quite the woman. I had another quote here, but when I lost my last attempt at this post..I lost it and I can't remember it as I just copied it off the tv... ANNOYING I know! Anyways here is another quote by her


"I don't want to be a sex symbol. I would rather be a symbol of a woman who makes mistakes, perhaps, but a woman who loves."

Spring Break...Spring Cleaning

Both school districts that I work for are on Spring Break so I get to sleep in without the fear of getting a 6am call out...I made a list yesterday of everything I want to get done this week...I even have two days without the pooch to really focus (she is going on a pack hike and then getting spayed the following day).. My lovely friend made me feel motivated to post my list... and goals for the week :)
*clean the office...or should I say organize the chaos... DONE. Took me 4 hours!! Now its nice and tidy :)
*laundry DONE
*clean out my car...give it some TLC by topping up all its fluids..
*get outside! Go for a walk...I really want to do a learn to run program...
*vacuum DONE 
*get warranty work done on our house...(new sliding glass door, get screw pop outs filled, get our split support beams fixed).. just waiting on the new sliding glass door
*clean up the backyard from land minds (joys of dogs) DONE
*READ READ...Im going to head to the library today..can't seem to get motivated to read any of the books I have sitting in my bookshelf. I have started two books in the last week and both I couldn't get into. Found the book The White Bone - should be interesting- written from the perspective of a elephant named, Mud. Scratch that- I cannot get into this book...HELP!?! I need some reading inspiration!
*start crocheting...new hobby I want to try
*print off new TOC cards
*organize my sub bag DONE
*do a sally ann run...Im on the hunt for a foot stool and a new end table...plus I have a ton of boxes full of stuff I need to get rid of!
*get my lovely bestie's stagette sorted out ;)
*find time to meet my lovely friend Amanda for a starbucks and a stroll DONE :)
*Caribbean night with friends in Nanaimo- cannot wait!

Snowshoeing!

Yesterday the boyfriend and I went snowshoeing with my parents. We were so lucky to have such amazing weather. At one point we were in tshirts as we were hiking up the side of the mountain. There are great, groomed trails for snowshoeing and it was pretty affordable. $22.50 for your mountain pass and rentals. Definately worth it. We hiked for an hour then breaked for lunch and then trekked on for another 1 1/2 hours. Great workout while seeing some amazing views.

No bake delight..

I got this recipe from a fellow blogger.. tried them today...so simple and easy to make and so good!

No Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Cookies:

1/2 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats

Combine the 4 first ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Mix until smooth, then mix in rolled oats.
Drop heaping tablespoons onto wax paper (I used tin foil as its all I had).
Let them cool and set up before eating.
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/06/30/no-bake-chocolate-peanut-butter-oatmeal-cookies/
YUM!
B

New obsessions..

I went shopping with my mom and Aunt yesterday and I found a new obsession....bowls!

I found this wonderful little treasure at Winners and it is my new fave bowl for my morning yogurt!



My other new obsession is LUSH!

A number of my friends suggested I try some LUSH products so I picked up this wonderful product, Aqua Marina. Well I also scored some free samples (woohoo)...I got Celestial moisturizer, Grease Lightning and two color supplements! It was a pretty cool score. I read their LUSH Times last night and now have a huge list of other stuff I want... Im official HOOKED ON LUSH!!

Have yourself a good weekend!

B



Babies dancing

I'm in the process of trying to find my friend my fave commerical..the one thats just clips of babies giggling..well I found this video..its been a long time since Ive seen it but I love love this video...

Top 5

Hiyah!...Here is another round of Top 5

Top 5 fave sweet treats:
1. 5 cent candy
2. Chocolate anything!!!
3. Fruit
4. DQ Blizzards
5. Pastries (donuts, cupcakes, cakes, pie...etc. etc.)

Top 5 fave articles of clothing:

1. scarves..love love love them!
2. my stinky moccasin shoes...
3. my winners ripped up skinny jeans
4. another winners purchase...my black and white flowy shirt
5. value village knitted sweater that i love to wear camping!

Top 5 dream vehicles:
1. Range rover
2. 2011 Ford Explorer
3. VW Golf or Jetta
4. Mazda 3
5. Toyota Tacoma

Top 5 shows Im watching:
1. Off the Map
2. Gilmore Girls (I know Im behind on the times)
3. Big Bang Theory
4. anything cooking related (Anna and Kristina's Grocery Bag..Rachel Ray...etc...)
5. Survivor

Working on it..

It is starting to be more clear to me...(especially with being in a relationship) that I might not be the most openminded person. My boyfriend is a very openminded, out of the box kind of thinker..I am not so much. Since I was young I've always wanted to be a teacher so I haven't really had a lot of career ideas...in general I just haven't been a big dreamer. I like to make lists or goals of things I want to accomplish and it bothers me if I can't check it off...since I don't want to fail...I tend to keep my goals/dreams/ ideas to a minimum. The boyfriend...not so much..he is very ambitious and likes to discuss all the ideas (even if they are sometimes a little hair-brained) and come up with a solution...So this is me acknowledging my attempts at becoming more openminded....

"without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success..." martha stewart

Spring Stir fry

Delicious stir-Fry!

Spring Stir-Fry in Peanut Sauce

1/4 cup Kraft Catalina Dressing
2 tbsp Kraft Peanut butter (I used chunky)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp oil divided
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
4 cups fresh vegetables, such as brocoli florets and red pepper strips
225g (about 1/4 of 900g pkg.) Fettucine, cooked (I used spaghettini)

Mix dressing, peanut butter, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes in small bowl; set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in large, nonstick skillet. Add chicken; cook on medium-high heat 5 to 8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet and place in a large serving bowl.
Cook and stir brocoli and red pepper in remaining 1 tsp. oil on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until crisp-tender.
Toss hot pasta, chicken, vegetables and sauce with 2 tbsp reserved pasta cooking water.

*Next time I will probably try and steam the red pepper and brocoli so they are more tender. I will also use rice instead of pasta. Pasta made the dish a bit too  heavy. My other change would be to add more red pepper flakes. I like a bit more heat.

Definately give this a try!!

Awkward and Awesome

I keep seeing all these fabulous bloggers doing an awkward and awesome post so I thought I would give it a try.

awkward:

When you are trying to leave a professional voice mail message for a parent of a student and end up combining two sentences into one jumbled, embarassing message.

Our fur baby is rocking a weird dry skin thing on her back...kinda nasty and dont wanna take her to the vet since shes going there next week to get spayed.

Coming into the living room to find the pup playing with a ball of yarn that I am currently knitting with..


awesome:

I finished my book! I have a reading goal for the year and I am getting closer and closer to reaching it! Wahoo!

Um peanut butter chocolate chip cookies...a little piece of heaven

Wearing my bangs down for the first time in what feels like ages. I got a hair cut and the hairdresser knew what she was doing...this connects to an awkward post...awkward when you walk into a salon to meet your new stylist and shes wearing knee high white boots and has purple hair...yikes..

Adding a tablespoon of cream cheese to spaghetti sauce...YUM

So that was my first attempt at the awkward and awesome...its a work in progress..
B

Crispy Oven Fish

I tried this recipe last week to remix our halibut and cod. (I don't have alot of white fish recipes). I found this recipe on http://www.food.com/. I read the comments at the bottom of this recipe and used them to tweek this recipe for optimal results. Here it is:

Crisy Oven Fish

1 1/2lbs fish fillets
1/2 cup milk
1 egg (I added this to the recipe)
1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips (we used Salt and Vinegar)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp thyme (I used chilli flakes instead)
2 tbsp dry breadcrumbs.
3 tbsp butter, melted (I used olive oil instead)

Put milk and egg into a shallow bowl.
Combine potato chips, parmesan and spices in another shallow dish.
Dip fish in milk, then coat with potato chip mixture.
Sprinkle a greased baking dish with the bread crumbs.
Put fish over crumbs; drizzle with oil or butter.
Bake, uncovered at 500 degrees for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Next time we are going to try whole wheat chips as you couldn't really tell we used Salt and Vinegar chips. We are going to use less parm. cheese as well to make it a more healthy choice.

In other news, I finished my book Glass Castle last night. Such a crazy book. Follows the life of family as they try to make ends meet and always seem to come up short. The mom and father are pretty disfunctional while the kids seem to be the adults. A must read!
B

Top 5...

A few of my friends know that when we are bored or chilling out (stuck in ferry line ups, hanging out around the campfire) I sometimes like to play Top 5.. basically you take turns choosing a category like food, countries to visit, greatest hits songs, and then take turns coming up with your own Top 5... I love thinking of my Top 5 and hearing about my friends choices!

Here are mine to get you started...Let me know what your Top 5's are or if you have any categories for me!

Top 5 countries or places I would like to visit:

1. Greece

2. Africa

3. Hawaii

4. Ireland

5. Peru

Top 5 dinner faves:

1. Pad Thai
2. Sushi
3. PASTA
4. Chicken Wings
5. Tacos

Top 5 fave songs:
1. The Roots- Seed
2. Soul 4 Real- Everything Little Thing I do
3. Frou Frou- Let Go
4. Radio Citizen- The Hop
5. Kings of Leon- Closer, Crawl, The End, Sex on Fire, Use Somebody...ok I kinda love KOL so I can't just choose one..
*Ok, I can't just do 5 so here are somemore of my greatest hits
6.Citizen Cope- Sun's Gonna Rise
7. Dave Matthews Band- American Baby
8. Enya- Caribbean Blue
9.James Morrison ft. Nelly Furtado- Broken Strings
10. Nikka Costa- Everybody's Got Their Something
11. Lupe Fiasco ft. Jill Scott- Daydreaming
*Ok I could go on and on...so I will stop

Top 5 fave girle movies:                               

1. Sixteen Candles

2. The Holiday

3. Under the Tuscan Sun

4. PS I Love You

5. Sex In the City

Top 5 fave flowers:

1. Lilies

2. Orchids

3. Frangipani

4. Gerber Daisies

5. Hibiscus

Let me know what you got for Top 5!

B

Honey, whats cooking????

I had some pork chops sitting in the freezer that I needed to use up. Allen and I have decided we are not fans of pork chops so I looked for a recipe that would add some spark to pork! Well I managed to find a recipe that makes pork chops a little tastier, but mostly I found a new recipe that would be good with chicken!!!

Honey Mustard Marinade

2 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp water
1 tbsp parsley (freshly chopped or dried)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground ginger

Combine and let your pork chops or chicken marinade for 6 to 8 hours. Bake or bbq till cooked through.
*The recipe suggests boiling the leftover marinade in a skillet then drizzle over the meat.

Another thing I wanted to add was that a few friends have suggested incorporating Hemp Seed Hearts into your diet. I looked online to see where they sold the product in my town and I had success. I bought a 1 lb bag for $14 dollars so its a little expensive, but you only use 4 tbsps. It is recommended on yogurt with fruit, salads and even adding it to your spaghetti sauce. Its tasteless so it can be combined in different places.

Here are some of the benefits of Hemp Seed Heart.

• Arthritis: The proteins and enzymes in hemp hearts help soothe the inflammation and reduce the swelling in many forms of arthritis.
• Food Cravings and Weight Gain: The best time to get your daily serving of hemp hearts is with your breakfast. That said, your body will then be satisfied and happily working with all the nutrients contained in the seeds, and won't irritate you with hunger pains or cravings for sweet or salty snacks!
• High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol: Left untreated, these serious health risks could lead you to having a stroke or heart attack. When used consecutively for three months, you'll notice a reduction in your cholesterol and blood pressure levels, which decreases your risk of stroke.
• Digestion and Constipation: If you suffer from frequent digestive or intestinal problems, you'll be pleased to know that hemp seeds help regulate the digestive system, and are easy to digest at any age! The coarse fibers and plant sterols found in hemp hearts may also decrease your risk of colon or prostrate cancer.
• Diabetes, Food Allergies or Intolerances: If you're unable to eat digest gluten (a form of wheat), lactose or other forms of sugars, hemp hearts are a godsend! You can have a nutritionally superior diet to that of your sugar-laden friends, and enjoy a greater feeling of fullness and satisfaction without having to worry about problem foods. Hemp hearts also contain no THC.
• Chronic Fatigue: If you're feeling tired all the time, your diet may be to blame! Hemp hearts are packed with proteins that give your body energy to burn! Bring back that youthful vitality and become more productive!

Enjoy!
B

Rainy day baking

So I searched high and low for a good, basic Orange Cranberry Muffin recipe and I found one and its soooooo good!
So here it is:

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped pecan or walnuts (I used walnuts)
1 tbsp grated orange peel

Toss cranberries with 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1 cup of sugar.
Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine eggs with milk; stir into flour mixture until just moistened.
Gently fold in nuts, orange peel and cranberries.
Fill paper muffin cups 2/3 full.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Yield 18 muffins (I managed to get 22 muffins out of it).

These are so yummy. A must try!!
B

Whats cooking good lookin'

My parents came up for dinner on Sunday night and we had a yummy dinner. My mom brought a delicious spinach salad and I made Sundried Pesto halibut with Hasselback potatoes. This was my 3rd time making the halibut dish (we are trying to use up all the halibut and cod we have in our freezer from our big fishing trip last year). The potatoes were a first try. They were good but the cooking times were off...so I ended up having to microwave them for a bit. I am frying the leftover potatoes up tonight for hashbrowns :)

Anyways the halibut is super easy. All I do is combine a couple tbsp of sundried tomato pesto with butter or margarine. I usually try and do more sundried tomato pesto compared to butter. Then all you have to do is add some fresh or dried parsley. Combine so it becomes a yummy butter.

Next, all you need to do is put some olive oil and S&P  on the halibut, then grill until cooked. Once the fish is off the bbq, put the sundried tomato butter on the hot grilled fish. Serve and enjoy!

For the Hasselback potatoes...in a frying pan saute some minced garlic with butter and olive oil. Next take 4 baking potatoes and with a sharp knife make slices across the potato the short way about 1/4 inch apart. Make sure to stop cutting before you go all the way through the potatoes. Then slather the potatoes with the garlic mixture. Cover them in tinfoil and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Then continue baking uncovered for 15-25 minutes (depending on oven and size of potatoes).  Next time I make them I will zap them in the microwave for a few minutes before popping them into the oven.

Happy cooking!

B