Binder Recipe #2

 

 

Reese's Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup Reese's Creamy or Crunchy Peanut Butter (I used Skippy brand)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups (11-ounce package) Reese's Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chips

 

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Beat butter, sugar and peanut butter in medium bowl until creamy.  Add egg and vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, blending well.  Stir in chips.  Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.

3.  Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges.  Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet.  Remove to wire rack; cool completely.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

 

Personal Notes:  I've never seen a mixed bag of peanut butter and milk chocolate chips.  I happened to have both on hand, though, so I mixed them myself.  When I saw how little dough there was, I only added about 3/4 cup of the chips.  If you want seriously overloaded cookies, I guess add the whole amount.  These cookies have good flavor.  They are crispier than chewy.

 

Verdict:  Discard.  Yes, they taste good.  But I've never really met a cookie I didn't like, so that's not shocking.  These weren't "knock-your-socks-off" delicious, and I figure I can find a million recipes for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies quite easily.  Plus, I am not such a fan of crispy cookies.  I prefer mine chewy.  Especially right out of the oven.  These were pretty much crispy from the get-go... Unless I ate them while burning my mouth.

 

My little kitchen helper.  That's a bucket of flour.  Fortunately she was more interested in banging on the top than figuring out she could open it... :).

9 Months

Dearest Lynnaea,

Today you are 9 months old.  You’ve now been “out” as long as you were “in.”  It is amazing to know how much you have developed since you first began…  And even more amazing to have seen that development in the last 9 months.  To have experienced it with you.

This past month has brought many new adventures to your ever-growing world.  For one thing, you saw snow!  And you tasted it, which was not impressive to you!  But you kept taste-testing, just to be sure.  You have learned how to open the Tupperware drawer in the kitchen.  You have learned how to get to the kitchen!  (And everywhere else in the house, I might add!).  Mommy now knows what other moms have meant when they say they don’t even get privacy in the bathroom!  Yes, you’ve even found your way in there when Mommy is in there. 

You love to be where the people are.  If Daddy and Mommy are in the kitchen…  It’s only a matter of seconds before we hear your little body wiggling and headed our way!  And then you hang out there with us until one of us leaves.  I’m not sure our kitchen is made for 3 people, but you don’t seem to mind the cramped quarters J. 

In addition to your awesome crawling abilities, you are also pulling up on everything.  The couch, your chest of drawers, the box full of 900 wipes, the computer chair, the dining room table chairs…  Pretty much everything is suitable to you.  And you are starting to move along those items as well.  Mommy is in no rush for you to walk, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to get there pretty soon.

Your newfound freedom has brought with it consequences you don’t quite enjoy.  You’re learning that we sometimes fall down (but you’re very good at getting back up and trying again!).  You’re learning that sometimes we bonk our heads… and that it hurts.  And you’re learning that there are some things you just aren’t allowed to touch (and doing so results in time out if you do it after we say no).  These items are the ones we feel are not safe, such as electrical cords and indoor plants (because we learned the hard way that you’ll eat these and we’ll have to find out if it’s poisonous or not!).  It’s true, we’ve had people raise eyebrows about the fact we have already started time out (5 minutes in your crib).  But you’ve learned.  You aren’t touching electrical cords anymore.  And when you head to the plant and we say “no,” you turn around and do something else.  And, for the record, we know you know what you’re doing…  Because when you start to reach for the trash can and we say “no,” you smile at us…  And sometimes you touch it anyway.  So you get time-out.  You are a smart baby girl.

Everyone still tells us how alert you are.  You’re also very interested in taking everything in before you decide to smile.  Like new faces.  You stare people down for a good 2 or 3 minutes before you are willing to give them a smile.  It’s pretty funny!

Another hilarious little quirk about you involves the stackable rings you got from Mommy’s best friend Julie…  I don’t know why, but you can’t stand for those rings to be stacked!  So Daddy and I use that to entice you over if we want you to come our way.  We stack the rings, and you jet over to take them apart!  And we can easily spend 5 or 10 minutes re-building and watching you take them apart.  It cracks us up.  You are quite the character.

And, most recently, and much to my joy, I think you’re starting to learn to snuggle on purpose!  When you start to get sleepy and I pick you up, you are starting to lay your head on my chest.  It only last for about 5 seconds, but I love it.  And night-time, when you sleep on me for five or ten minutes after your last bottle, is still my favorite time.  Not because I don’t enjoy being with you during the day and seeing you explore (and trying to keep up with you!).  But because I enjoy holding you so close.  I cherish those times.

I am grateful every day for you, my sweet baby girl.  I wish I had words to express the joy I feel as I watch you learn and grow.  The happiness that fills me as I hear you laugh.  And I am grateful every day that your daddy blesses me to be able to stay home with you.  I simply cannot imagine not being around for every adventure and every new experience.  This is my dream come true, and I am so thankful you came to me…  That you helped my dreams come true. 

I love you, Baby Girl, always.

Love,

Mommy

Binder Recipe #1

Okay, truthfully, this isn't really the first binder recipe I've made.  But I have now decided to blog the recipes I try. 

A couple reasons for this:

1.  To document it and note if it's worth keeping or not.
2.  To actually update this blog more.
3.  To include things in this blog that demonstrate I actually do stuff not baby related (not that there is anything wrong with all the baby focus.  She is my joy and pretty much the focus of my time.  She is why I am home.  But I still think it's good that I have other interests.  Moms need those!)
4.  I can keep these recipes digitally and clean out that darn binder.  Or something.  I haven't really decided how to go about that, because I do plan to actually compile them in the binder -- the "keepables."  So, eh... We'll see how I do things. 
5.  To drive my dad crazy.  He loves my food blogs. 


So here we go!

Traditional Macaroni and Cheese

 

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

1 2/3 cup dry small elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

 

Combine cornstarch, salt, mustard, and pepper in a medium saucepan.  Stir in evaporated milk, water, and butter.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil for one minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted.  Add macaroni, mix well.  Pour into a greased 2-quart casserole dish.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake at 375 for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and light brown.  Yield:  6 servings.

 

Personal notes:  I used medium cheddar, because I don't like sharp and never buy it.  I also only used 1 1/2 cups cheese, as I opted not to sprinkle any extra on the top.  I also taste-tested prior to baking and think this could just as easily be eaten as a stove-top only mac and cheese and skipping the baking step.

 

Verdict:  Keep.  It's decent.  I prefer my mom's, but Jeremy really liked the sharp tang of the mustard in this recipe.  Which probably would have been sharper if I'd used sharp cheddar, so I'm really glad that I didn't!  This is very creamy, which Jeremy also really liked about it.  Creamier than the one my mom makes.  I think it will nice to make this as a change-it-up type thing every now and again.

Why It Seems I (Almost) Never Blog...

I will explain in pictures. 

This is what I've been up to lately (in addition to laundry, dusting, dishes, etc).

 Making 2 I Spy quilts...  (I've almost completed phase 2 for the 2nd quilt!  March should be about beginning to make rows!)

Cross-stitching Christmas ornaments for the kiddos.

Crossing off the things on my February Goals list that I wrote on the white board...

Slowly, but steadily, making my way through 986 pages of this book (it's getting better and more tolerable, thank goodness!  I'm almost 300 pages in!  Woohoo!)  This does, however mean I won't be crossing off at least one of the goals for February, which was to finish one book for pleasure.  Because I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be whipping through the next 600+ pages before the end of the month.

 

Trying to work my way through trying at least one of these recipes a week:

 And my favorite reason for being a blog-slacker (as opposed to a blog-stalker):

Keeping up with my sweetness.  This beautiful baby is everywhere these days!  Pulling up on everything.  And so very proud of herself! (And into everything too, by the way ;).)

This is how I find her after a nap.  Love this baby!!!

 

And this is my favorite part of the day:  snuggles at bedtime.  It's the only time she snuggles me anymore.  And I cherish it.

 

I get very few picture of her sleeping anymore...  So the other night when she was tuckered out, I snapped a couple :).

Lynnaea's First Snow!

We had an unexpected snow last night.

About 2 inches.

So this morning, I bundled up my baby and took her outside for about 5 minutes.  Sat her on a blanket.  She mostly looked around.  Mainly at the other kids that live in our apartment complex who were out there making a snowman.

So here are a couple pictures from her first foray into the powdery white stuff!

All bundled up in the cute monkey hat and mittens from her Aunt Monica!

Yep, Mommy gave her a snowball.

She tried to eat it.  Because everything goes in her mouth.   And she was highly unimpressed.  This is a cute picture, but there was an even more hilarious face shortly before this that I missed.  Bummer!

But she tried it again anyway...  Just to be sure.

Then we came inside and got all warm and snuggly and bunny-coated up for church :).  Look at my baby girl!  8 1/2 months.  And with the sweetest smile and prettiest eyes!  No, I'm not biased ;).

YIKES!

So I had this dream last night/this morning... 

Apparently I decided it was acceptable to walk to a produce stand in the nude. 

And look at the produce. 

And feel bad when none of the other shoppers wanted to buy the produce I'd just been around.

On the up-side, I did have the presence of mind (or decency) to not take the beaten path on the walk home.  And to try to hide behind the umbrella I was carrying.

And I did feel somewhat awkward in the dream.

But I feel way more awkward about it in real life!!!

Here's to hoping for better (and less disturbing) dreams tonight :).