Peanut Butter Maple Cookies

Sully just turned one and we threw a "Milk and Cookies" themed party. It required lots of baking and 4 different types of cookies! I made Ranger, Sea Salt Chocolate Chip, Hodge Podge cookies (recipe already posted) and my hubby's all time fave cookie, Peanut Butter Maple. 

These were the first cookies I ever baked for the hubs, my then boyfriend. My family has been making these for years. They have a special secret ingredient, that make them extra tasty :)

Peanut Butter Maple Cookies 

(makes 3-4 dozen)

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup creamy butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 TBSP maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 1/s tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pkg of peanut butter chips

Combine all ingredients together in order, dry ingredients last. Drop by tablespoon on greased cookie sheet (I used a silicone mat). Bake at 325 for 13-16 minutes. 

Enjoy!!!

Beef and Bacon Chowder modified

I found this recipe over on Purely Primal and it was a hit in our house! Whenever the hubby has seconds are keeps telling me it's delicious I know it's a keeper. I tweaked the recipe a bit and next time I'm going to make it in the crockpot. I thought I'd post how to do it in the crockpot for future reference.  And seriously this hit the fall comfort food spot.

Crockpot Beef and Bacon Chowder 

• 3/4 lb ground beef, cooked
• 5 strips of bacon, chopped and cooked
• 1 package of sliced mushrooms, sauteed
• 1 small onion, chopped and sauteed
• 1 large white sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups of shredded carrots
• 2 cans of coconut milk, full fat
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• fresh minced garlic, to taste
• 16 oz carton of chicken stock

Cook ground beef with fresh garlic in skillet over medium heat. Remove beef and add to crockpot. In same skillet cook bacon until crispy. Add to crockpot. In a new pan, saute chopped onion and mushrooms over medium heat and add to crockpot. Add carton of chicken stock, sweet potato and carrots. Mix all ingredients together in crockpot. Season the soup mix with salt and pepper. Cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 4-5 hours. 45 to 30 minutes before crockpot is done cooking add both cans of coconut milk and stir. Let soup simmer the last 45-30 minutes. Serve by itself or with a salad. 

*Note, you could skip cooking the onions and mushrooms in a skillet and just add to the crockpot, they might not be as flavorful though. 

Variations: 

• Italian sausage instead of beef
• omit carrots and add kale
• add different types of squash

This is a great "base" for lots of paleo soups. I think I'm going to try a Paleo Baked Potato Soup next. 

  

Girl time and day 4 and 5

My week hasn't gone exactly planned with the hubby being off work but I'm still eating right, just not getting my workouts in like I planned. I'm realizing that I have to workout first thing in the morning or else I won't fit it in. Now I just need to make myself do it ;)

Quick recap of what I ate yesterday Day 4:

Breakfast: Leftover orange ginger roast

Lunch: Fruit smoothie and some almonds

Dinner: Spaghetti squash with a meat sauce (quick and easy meal)

Exercise: None :(

Had a killer headache today, not sure if it's part of the detox or no caffeine!?

Today started off a little rocky when we overslept but I got a lot of sewing done....leggings and infinity scarves oh my :) And I made my favorite whole 30 breakfast, don't tell D (it's her fave too).

Day 5

Breakfast: Banana pancakes, avo and chicken apple sausage

Lunch: Sauteed spaghetti squash, chicken, bacon, green beans and garlic (Oh em DELICIOUS!!!)

Dinner: Chipotle Salad, avo, salsa, and steak

When your bestie texts you that she can come get you in 20 minutes to go have girl time. You get off your booty and rally that ish! I forgot how much I love having adult conversation, you kind of lose that when you're at home with the babes all day. It was so nice tonight chatting with my girls, shopping and playing with makeup. It was so needed! And it's always fun to bring home new makeup ;) 

Banana Pancakes (note don't cook in coconut oil, they cook really hot)

• 2 bananas
• 4 eggs
• dash of cinnamon

Makes 5-6 small to med pancakes. Mash bananas and mix with whisked eggs, add in cinnamon to taste. Cook on medium heat, I use a lid to help evenly cook both sides before flipping. Typically I cook using Kerrygold Irish Butter, but I was out so I used coconut oil. I wouldn't recommend it since it cooks really fast, I was cooking on low heat and it was still making the pancakes really dark. They were still tasty though. And if you aren't doing the whole 30 and just going Paleo, you can top with Pure Maple Syrup or Honey.

Round 2 day 2 of the Whole 30

Today was Day 2 of the Whole 30. I'm not gonna lie, I was bitter today.  There were M&M candies taunting me (no I did not partake). My husband ate leftover calzone, but holy man am I glad its out of the fridge! And then I had to make my precious D a sandwich for her lunch. So there was lots of bitterness, but I'm over it. 

I also didn't get my morning workout in. I'm finding that I really love working out in the morning. I don't have to think about it the rest of the day and I'm way more productive when I workout in the AM. But at least I played indoor soccer this evening, even though the hubs messed up his ankle :(

Made something new for dinner tonight, Orange Ginger Rump Roast in the crockpot. It was pretty good.

Orange Ginger Rump Roast

• Roast
• Naked Orange juice (no additives)
• Coconut oil
• Ginger
• Sliced Oranges

Place roast in crockpot. Poke with a fork all over roast. Top with spats of coconut oil. Poor orange juice over roast (1 1/2-2 cups). Sprinkle with ginger, to taste. Top roast with sliced oranges. Cook on low for 7 hours. 

What I ate today:

Breakfast: Chopped apples and pears, 1 tbsp ghee, cinnamon and slivered almonds. Heat mixture and stir together. 

Lunch: 2 Fried eggs, small avocado, 4 sausage links (whole 30 approved)

Dinner: Orange ginger roast, roasted broccoli, broccoli slaw topped with red wine vinegar

Exercise: Indoor soccer

Side note, finally tried coconut oil as a facial moisturizer, AMAZING! My skin was so soft this morning! And I smelled like I was at the beach ;)

Simple fall cookies

Fall is in the air around here. Pumpkins,changing leaves and scarves!

I came up with these cookies the other day on a whim. The base is a classic Weight Watcher's recipe for pumpkin muffins, but I took it up a notch. 

Introducing the 4 ingredient fall cookie aka pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

These are soft "cakey" cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• 1 15 oz can of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie)
• 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix box of yellow cake mix with the can of pumpkin (do NOT add the extra ingredients on the back of the cake mix box). Once mixed thoroughly, add pumpkin pie spice and chocolate chips. Grease cookie sheets. Using a cookie scoop drop dough on sheets and bake for 15 minutes. Makes approximately 15 minutes. 

Variations

• You can use spice cake mix instead of yellow (I haven't tried this)
• Nuts
• Omit chocolate chips and do cream cheese frosting

Friday nights and a little nostalgia

Growing up Friday night's meant family night. Pizza and a movie and picnics in the front room.  Sometimes we'd make our own pizza (taco pizza is what I remember) or we'd pick up Papa Murphy's or Figaro's (if you're from the Dell you know that place was the ish) and super convenient to picking up movies at the old Hollywood Video.

The hubs and I decided that this tradition was a must. Now that D is getting older it will be easier to do this tradition, until recently it hasn't been very fun to watch movies with a chatty D :)

My fave part of friday nights is making Homemade Pizza or Calzones. Dylan loves helping with the "toppings." And they are just sooooo good, I mean my calzones put Papa Murphy's to shame. 

Creamy Pesto Calzones

Roll out your dough and place on greased cookie sheet

Take Ricotta and spread on half of dough. Do the same with your Pesto.

Top with your favorite ingredients

Fold dough in half and take your fork and seal the edges. Poke some holes in the top of the dough too.

Bake at 425 for 18-20 mins or until golden brown.

Cut int and enjoy some serious deliciousness

(Can you tell this picture was a complete after thought....whoops)

Stacy's Calzones

Ingredients

• Prepared pizza dough (i really like Wincos and Safeways)
• Pesto (Costco's is the best deal)
• Light Ricotta (small tub)
• Italian shredded cheese blend
• toppings (sausage, pepperoni, olives, canadian bacon, mushrooms)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Grease cookie sheet.
2. Roll out dough and place on cookie sheet.
3. Take ricotta and spread over half of dough. Then take Pesto and do the same.
4. Add toppings (we did canadian bacon, italian sausge, turkey pepperoni, olives and mushrooms) There's no right or wrong way to layer these ingredients.
5. Top with shredded cheese.
6. Fold dough in half. Use a fork to "seal" the edges. Poke holes in the top of dough to help vent.
7. Bake at 425 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. 
8. Slice that bad boy up and enjoy!

Every time I make this I usually make 2 because it always gets gobbled up and because the leftovers are delish!

Love.

Stace

The first day of fall

The first day of fall in the lovely Pacific Northwest means rain, and lots of it. I'm not complaining. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, maybe because its the start of the holidays, almost my birthday or because I can justify boots, scarves and hoodies.

In honor of the first day of fall crockpot baked potato soup needed to happen.  It's one of the hubby's favorite meals. He likes it so much that he will get up early to heat it up for his thermos for lunchtime. 

Crockpot Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 5 lbs of russet or yukon potatos, diced not peeled
• 2 cloves of garlic or the equivalent of minced garlic
• 64 oz of chicken broth
• 16 oz of light cream cheese
• toppings (sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon, green onions)

Instructions

• Cook potatoes, garlic and chicken broth on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.
• Puree/blend half of your potato/broth mixture with both bricks of cream cheese. (we like our potato soup chunky so I don't puree the whole soup)
• Serve soup with any of the above toppings

Note this makes a TON of soup so I'd half it if you are a small family. My family love this soup so I cook the whole shebang and we just eat it for lunch throughout the week.

If you're feeling extra fancy and don't care about the bazillion calories serve soup with this garlic cheese bread. You can thank my bestie for finding the little delicious number.

I'll post pics of the soup after it's done cooking :) Happy first day of fall!

Love,

Stace

Mexicana Bowl

If you know me, you know I'm a meal planner. I hate it, but I do it because it saves me money and I don't have to think about what's for dinner every night.  Whenever I do my meal planning and huge grocery shopping trip I always make sure that dinner that night is quick and easy.  Somehow grocery shopping always zaps my energy and makes me a little moody (I blame Costco and all the old people/kids that stop for samples)

While Sully and I did our epic grocery trip I made sure to get something quick and easy for lunch and came up with a simple dinner idea. When Jason and I started dating, he came over once and had one of my family's fave quick dinners and it soon became one of his favorites. Nothing fancy, but super easy and tasty.

Crispy Chicken Ceasar Salad

• 1 lb of chicken strips (we get the spicy ones because they have less breading)  
• 2 bags of Light Ceasar Salad Mix

Chop up your chicken and mix it in with your salad mix. I have to make a double batch because my husband and daughter love it, and it's just way too easy!

But back to why I started writing this post. My girlfriend Lindsey made these yummy wraps when we went camping together. I took her idea and changed it a bit and came up with a new dinner. I got a stamp of approval from the hubs and D was "ok" with it but not a fan of the "green leaves" in it ;)

The Mexicana Bowl

 Grab your crockpot, a slow cooker liner (because they're genius!), carne asada and your favorite marinade (I used Lawry's Steak and Chop)

Toss in the meat in your crock and cover in marinade. Cook on low 4-5 hours.

 Now that it's all cooked, it's time to chop it all up. 

Get the rest of your ingredients for the rice portion of the dish. (Brown rice, black beans, cilantro, cumin, salsa)

Microwave or cook your brown rice. Chop up your cilantro (I used about a 1/3 of this bunch) Place rice in a bowl, add cilantro, 3/4 cups of black beans, cumin to taste and 1/2 cup of Salsa and mix together. 

Now the fun part. There are lots of ways you can eat it. You can take your rice mixture, chopped up steak and place it in a bowl and top with sour cream, avocado and more salsa. (That's what we did)

 Or you could take all of the same ingredients and put it in a tortilla or make a lettuce wrap. I didn't want to waste extra calories on a tortilla so I did without and still thought it was delish. D wasn't a fan of the cilantro...because she's 5 and picky. Sully on the other hand loved the rice mixture and avocado.

Mexicana Bowl

• 1 lb of carne asada (this made a double batch for leftovers)
• a bottle of your favorite steak marinade (Lawry's Steak and Chop)
• Brown rice (i cheated and used Uncle Ben's 90 second version)
• Fresh Cilantro, chopped (1/3 of bunch)
• 3/4 cup of Black Beans
• 1/2 cup Salsa (i used Jason's Uncle Tab's famous homemade salsa)
• Cumin, to taste
• Avocado
• Sour Cream
• Salsa for topping

Grab your crock and add meat and marinade, cook on low 4 to 5 hours. Take your cooked meat and chop it up.  While chopping, cook your brown rice. Place brown rice in bowl. Add chopped cilantro, black beans, cumin to taste and your salsa. Mix together.  Now add the meat to the rice mixture and top with avocado, sour cream and salsa. 

This could easily be made with chicken. You could also add tomato, onion or cheese to the combination as well. I just used what was handy. Enjoy!

PS best part of this recipe is that you will have lots of meat leftover so it's great to use in other dishes...nachos, fajitas, just meat and a veggie side or steak salad :)

PSS what's your best advice for concurring the grocery shopping dragon?

Love,

Stace

Moments mean cookies.....right!?!?!

I was in search of something quick and easy to make with Dylan. She loves to help in the kitchen.....my kitchen aid is like the holy grail to her. I did a quick little search on pinterest and I found this little gem of a recipe for peanut butter cookies.  The perfect "faux" baking recipe, only 4 ingredients and I had everything on hand.

We grabbed our ingredients and got to work. 

(Of course I forgot to take pictures of her mixing)

Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter
• 1/4 cup of oil
• 2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. I used a spring-loaded cookie scoop, and then rolled in sprinkles....because who doesn't love cookies with sprinkles. Place on cookie sheet and slightly flatten. Bake for 8-10 mins. 

Enjoy your handiwork

And watch your baby gobble them up!

Wondering why we used orange sprinkles....because it's BEAVER NATION baby! And treats are required when one is watching football!

Rooting for our teams is kind of a big deal around here :)

Love,

Stace

Oh what a rainy day

Woke up yesterday to lots of rain.  You can't have a rainy day without boots, raincoats and umbrellas.  

So we waited for the bus and investigated the puddles. 

Rainy days to me, mean crockpot dinners. This is one of our "staple" dinners during the fall.  You can even make it Whole 30 compliant.  

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

 Get your veggies (onion, sweet potato and baby yukons)

 Rinse of your whole chicken, and discard the "insides)

 Chop up your veggies

 Grab some seasonings and butter (i forgot to take a pic) I used sea salt, rosemary and Irish Kerrygold butter (whole 30/paleo friendly)

 Place the chopped onion in the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken in the crockpot, add chopped sweet potatoes and yukon. Put pats of butter on chicken and potatoes and season accordingly.

 Set crock on low cook for 5-6 hours or 3-4 hours on high.

 Now you just have to resist the delicious smells coming out of your kitchen all day.

Tada, simple and quick delish dinner.  We usually make soup out of the leftovers :)

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

• 1 organic whole chicken, rinsed and insides removed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 sweet potato, chopped
• 5 baby yukons, chopped (omit if doing whole 30 or Paleo)
• 3 TBSP of butter (I used Kerrygold)
• Sea salt, to taste
• Rosemary, to taste

Place chopped onion in cavity of Chicken. Put Chicken in crock pot, add potatoes.  Place pats of butter on top of potatoes and chicken and seasonings. Cook on low 5-6 hours or on high 3-4 hours. In addition you can add carrots or other root vegetables.

Last but not least, what I've been working on in the studio. Matching baby bestie leggings and turban headbands.

Of course I had to test it out on Sully :)

And I also tried my hand on a pair of leather moccasins for little man. 

Happy Saturday! 

Love,

Stace

An unbelievably big day today

Today was a big day; we talked about it all summer. School clothes were made and bought, a new backpack and supplies were packed and unpacked over and over and learning how to spell her last name was her big accomplishment of the summer. Back to school night and meeting her teacher was a hit! She was able to meet her new teacher and did a scavenger hunt in her classroom....PS my daughter apparently knows everything.....and really likes to pop that hip!

Last night I prepped myself for this big day with packing her lunch and writing her a note.....it was really weird packing her a lunch FYI. Side note these wrap mats are amazing!  You could easily make them or wait for them to go on sale on Zulily like I did, but I would def pay full price for them.

Alarms were set, an outfit was laid out and I had one little girl that excitedly fell asleep for the big day. Mommy on the other hand, felt like it was her first day of school and slept awful :)  Waking up the sweet little lady to tell her it was her first day of Kindergarten put a smile on my face. Of course she didn't want to get up because she was still tired, but once she realized that she got to ride the school bus it was game on! Breakfast was had and a special note from Auntie Jen and Uncle Brett was read and then we were off, but first we had to get our special "first day of school' pictures out of the way. I mean, she accessorized people, pictures were a must!

Off to the bus stop we went, she practically ran which is always fun when you're carrying 20+ pound baby brother :) Daddy was able to sneak in a quick "good-luck-on-your-first-day-of-school" call while we walked to her bus stop. 

She waited all by herself and then it happened.......

Just like that the Blue bus was here to pick up my big girl for the first day of Kindergarten and boy was she excited! So excited in fact, that she forgot to say goodbye :) No tears were shed, but let's just say it was eerily quiet at our house and 7 hours of no questions asked blew my mind! ;) 

A morning walk with Sully and the G-rents and then a little booty shakin' "parking lot" Zumba with my little sidekick started my day off right and probably was the best way to keep my mind off little Miss D being gone. And yes I did do Zumba in a parking lot, because we're uber cool....and because they're refinishing the hardwood floors in the grange. 

Between nap time, errand running and wasting time on the interwebs it was time to pick her up before I knew it! 

She came home more excited then when she left! Fave part of the day....recess.....OF. COURSE. (There she goes poppin' that hip again....must be from her Dad's side) My Grandma asked her if she missed us and she promptly replied, "no!" I can act like I'm surprised, but if you've ever met this little lady you know that she means that in the nicest sassiest way possible. Of course since it was such a big day that meant she needed special treats, so brother bear and I whipped her up some hodge podge cookies before she got home from school. 

Today was a whirlwind but a happy lady, tasty treats, a balloon and cupcake from Auntie Jen and then ending the afternoon with a bike ride with her friends was just what D needed for her first day of Kindergarten <3 

Thank goodness for no tears, smiles and memories being made!

Love,

Stace

In case you want the Hodge Podge Cookie Recipe

(expect soft and chewy type cookies)

Hodge Podge Cookies (makes 4-5 dozen)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 4oz pkg of instant vanilla pudding (other flavors can be used)

2 eggs 

This is the basic recipe but I add extras. Today I added 3 mashed bananas, 3/4 c oatmeal and 1 1/2 c of chocolate chips.

Mix flour and soda together and set aside. Mix butter and sugars together. Add vanilla. Mix in instant pudding and eggs. Once mixed, add to flour mixture. Add additional "add-ons" if you'd like. If not, bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes.

Add On Ideas

chocolate chips

white chocolate chips

chopped nuts

banana

oatmeal

m&ms

I've made these cookies with vanilla and butterscotch pudding. Our fave add on combo is vanilla pudding with butterscotch chips (1 cup), nuts (1 cup) and oatmeal. They always "disappear" rather quickly. Enjoy!