Day 23: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

I have a confession to make.  I tricked you.  I didn't put "Healthy" in the title just in case it would sway you from reading this post.  You see, these cookies are healthy.  They are "clean" and they are delicious!  If I were giving out awards for chocolate chip cookie recipes, this would win for healthiest, most creative, and perhaps one of the most tasty!

I first pinned this recipe back when I was a new pinned and though, "Ooohhh...I'm going to make those really soon!"  Several months later, I finally got around to it and I'm so glad I did!

The unique thing about these cookies is the main ingredient.  It's not flour.  It's not almond meal.  It's garbanzo beans.  That's right!  Chickpeas!  Who would have thought!?!  The recipe is found at a blog called Texanerin Baking.  And, I'm telling you these are delicious!  They are best hot out of the oven, or, they can be baked, frozen and heated up in the microwave and are tasty that way.  These cookies are packed with protein and only about 80 calories each.  Make sure to visit Texanerin Baking to get the recipe!  (I'm not posting here because I followed the recipe exactly, so Texanerin Baking gets all the credit!)

5 Wonderful Years!

5 years...Then and Now

A few weeks ago, on July 2, Troy and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. Seriously, I have no idea where the time has gone! I in no way deserve the amazing husband that God has blessed me with, but I so extremely thankful for him! I remember when our wedding day was drawing near and a few people would say to us, "Oh! You are getting married. (Insert snide laugh here) Just wait. Your lives will NEVER be the same!" or they would say something a long the lines of, "Get ready...the 'ol ball and chain!" To those folks who gave us that "advice," I beg to differ! Yes, marriage is hard work, but the pleasure and joy that comes from a good marriage is WELL worth the "work!" We don't tie each other down (or weigh each other down, like a ball and chain would), we strive to lift each other up---spiritually, emotionally, and even physically---i.e. keeping each other from eating that extra scoop of ice cream! :) When we first started dating, we had one goal in mind, namely, to strive glorify God more together than we could apart. I still am reminded of how good of a goal that is to keep! Sometimes, when we are in the midst of sleepless night with kids, mounds of laundry, a sink full of dishes, bills to pay, and a social life to balance, its hard to keep that perspective. But, in the end, it pays off!

I love my wonderful husband. God has given him a such a caring spirit, a tender heart, a keen sense of humor, and an amazing ability to communicate (which helps in the marriage!). Troy has an incredible sense of joy, rooted in Christ, and he has such an immense love for the kids and myself. I am so thankful for these last 5 years, and look forward to many, many more years of marital bliss! I'm sure, with God's grace, it will only get better from here!

For our anniversary get away, we left the kids with my mom and sister (THANKS A MILLION!) and headed to our favorite place---the beach. We got an unbelievable deal on an ocean front hotel room in Huntington Beach at The Shorebreak Hotel. The room was amazing. We just had to open our sliding door and there was the pier and the Pacific ocean staring back at us. The people at the hotel were very friendly. They even gave us a homemade card with the staff's signature and chocolate covered strawberries for our anniversary. They also gave us free Chardonnay, made a wine cooler for me, and gave us free water (the nice kind---in a glass bottle!). Seriously, folks. This is the place to stay! It was extremely relaxing, just the rejuvenation I've been needing for quite some time! We also went to Duke's and shared a Hula Pie for desert (YUM!). After spending a night at the beach, we headed to lunch and to see Knight and Day. All in all, we had a wonderful time! We need to do that more often!

We arrived to find this thoughtful card and these delicious chocolate covered strawberries!
The view from our bed.My complimentary wine cooler. Don't worry. I only had a few sips, so I avoided getting a migraine! Me and my guy relaxing!On the pier.
Our view from our table at Duke's. Beautiful!
Mmmm. Hula Pie!
Our breakfast on the balcony: Strawberry Kefir, Bagels with cream cheese, and fruit!
We loved our room!View from our balcony!

Dos Logos

The other night, we took advantage of the wonderful Spring weather and took an evening stroll around the shops and the lake at Dos Logos. David and Robyn came with us as well. Robyn is now 30 weeks pregnant, so the time for little Ivy to come is drawing near!

We got Pink Berry at the end of the walk. It is a rare treat, but well worth the little walk! Jackson loved Pink Berry's chocolate frozen yogurt!

Christmas in a Flash

Christmas seemed to come and go this season. Here is a bit of an overview!

Preparation

This was the first year that Jackson was able to take part in the preparation of Christmas. He helped decorate "his" tree with little Peanuts Nativity ornaments. Troy shared all this Peanuts Christmas decorations with Jackson and there were even some he could play with!

Jackson was also able to help with some holiday baking. We pulled a chair up to the counter and he helped me make chocolate brownies and frosting. He was really good at holding the measuring cup while I measured ingredients and helping me stir everything. His specialty, though, was the taste-testing the frosting! I did a lot of "baking" this season. For some reason, I really, really enjoyed it. I found a few recipes that turned out really well. One of my favorites was the Oreo Truffles. They were really rich, but absolutely perfect with a glass of milk! I also made some Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies that were delicious. I suspect these delicious desserts may be the cause of my lack of weight loss this holiday season!

Parties!

We had a few parties to attend this season. We hosted our 4th Annual Tacky Ski Sweater Caroling Party. That was a success, although, Troy and I were very tired after it and decided to do this tradition every-other year, perhaps. I know all you party-goers would be disappointed to hear that! For this party, everyone (or almost everyone) came to our place sporting their tackiest of tacky sweaters. We had a contest for the tackiest sweaters. Tim and Michelle were our finalist, and Michelle was voted the winner. We also went to a near-by nursing home and sang Christmas Carols. This was my favorite part of the night. I enjoy the smiles and reactions we get from the people in the nursing home.

We also attended our 12th Annual Citrus Group Party. I look forward to this party every year. This is a yearly get-together of the "Citrus Group" (a group of Troy's friends from college) and their wives. This party is always fun because all his friends have really become my friends too. Kimm always does a great job of hosting! We ate dinner, talked, laughed, cried (well only some of the kids, who will remain nameless). The kids decorated gingerbread men (Thanks, Tess!). We also had a gift exchange and the kids had a used book exchange. All together, as it is every year, it was great fun!

The Mission Inn

Every year, we try to make it to the Mission Inn to look at the beautiful light display there. This year, we actually made it to the lighting of the Mission Inn! We went with Joey and Kirsty and met both of our families down there. Jackson really enjoyed the fireworks. We also had the opportunity to go down to the Mission two more times with friends. Every year it seems there are more lights up! Apparently,

there was over three and a half million lights on the Mission Inn for the 2009 Festival of Lights. Amazing! The only critique I have for the Festival of Lights is that they keep their stores in the downtown mall open later! We were trying to find a place to eat around 7pm on a weeknight and every restaurant was closed! It seems to me that they are missing out on a lot of business!

Presents

It has become somewhat of a tradition to give our families framed photos of us for Christmas. This time around, I wanted the photos to be special and creative, so I asked my brother-in-law, David to take them. They turned out well! I'm posting some of my favorites. To wrap the framed photos, I purchased a roll of plain brown paper for 25 cents, and a set of finger paints from Target. I rolled the paper out on the floor, put the paint on paper plates, put Jackson in some old clothes, and let him have a go at decorating the paper himself. I loved to see his creative side come out! He got paint all over himself, me, the kitchen floor, and, of course, the wrapping paper. It was well worth it because each recipient of a photo frame also got a little masterpiece from Jackson! I may make this a tradition as well!

Family

The holiday season is always a fun time to get together with extended family. Troy's aunt and uncle from Missouri came down for a visit the week of Christmas. We had a blast going to their favorite sandwich shop, D'elias Grinders, which, I'm going to say has wonderful sandwiches, my favorite being the Chicken BLT. Its always a treat to go there!
We also went to Logan's Candy Shop where we saw candy canes being made. This was very interesting to watch and we got fresh, warm samples at the end of the tour. I will never eat a cold candy cane again! (I hope Angie doesn't mind, I borrowed the photo from her blog!)

Dress

Madelyn's first Christmas dress...sweet!

Christmas Day

Sorry folks...Christmas Day deserves a blog post of it's own, so I will post that ASAP! :)

No More Frosted Animal Cookies?!?

Troy called me with sad news this morning. Mother's Cookies Company shut down abruptly last week. With the rising costs of materials, and the frozen financial market, it appears they couldn't borrow money to stay in business. This is very sad news! Mother's Cookies has been in business since 1914. That is 94 years! This means the frosted animal cookies that I so fondly remember as a favorite childhood treat are no more! The scrumptious cookie mix with chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, fudge sandwich cookies, and animal cookies is no more! Well, I don't know about you, but I am going to the store today and buying a couple bags if they are still available. Jackson needs to know the sweet goodness of a frosted animal cookie!

*To read more on this story, CLICK HERE.

Cambria Mini Vacation - Day 1

I have come to the conclusion that Cambria is one of my favorite places to visit. Troy, Jackson and I joined Troy's parents in Cambria last week for a little and much needed get-away. This was Troy and I's second time visiting Cambria, which is located just below San Simeon (Hearst Castle). Cambria is a great combination of a little mountain town with pines and an old down town and an little ocean town with great little inns right on the water. We took advantage of the White Water Inn's Elmer Dill's Getaway Special, which was an AMAZING deal! We got the hotel room (w/ breakfast) for $125 a night, along with two gift certificates (one $15 and one $50) for restaurants in town. The normal hotel room price for the inn is around $200, just to give you an idea of how good of a deal this is. The inn basically does this to entice visitors to stay during the week, so the deal is only good for week nights.

Cambria has beautiful shops and restaurants with gorgeous gardens.Jackson wore a special vacation outfit!Jackson observed the Pacific Ocean's waves for the second time in his life.Ahh....it is so beautiful! The sound of the waves rhythmically crashing on the rocks is such a relaxing sound!Jackson and TroyTroy, Me, Gary, Carolyn, and Jackson enjoying the sunset on Moonstone Beach.

Cambria has some really good restaurants, but the Main Street Grill isn't one of them. When I walked in the cafeteria-style restaurant, it was somewhat musty and a bit on the dirty side (the tables were not clean). I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich, which was actually really good. Troy and Carolyn had the Tri-tip sandwich, and that wasn't bad, either. It was nothing to write home about. However, when Troy was in the bathroom, he noticed that one of the employees walked out of the a bathroom stall, right past the sinks, and out the door. When he asked for the manager, the employees claimed he wasn't there. Ewww. That is all I have to say!

For dinner, we ate at The Old Station. Troy and I ate at this restaurant on our first visit. The service was amazing then, and still is great! The food is good as well. They also have great desserts. We wanted to try their very popular cobbler, but every time we tried to get some, they were out! This is a good place to eat with the family!

That concludes Day 1 of our trip....visit tomorrow to see Day 2!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe...EVER!

For years I have been on the search for just the right chocolate chip cookie recipe. Not too doughy, but now too hard...just the right amount of chewy goodness. It seems I have found it. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com and tweaked it a bit (I always do!). I used whole wheat flour, so it is a bit healthier, and it is surprisingly delicious! My dad ate the cookies and enjoyed them...and I'm not sure if he noticed the difference in taste...which means there isn't much of a difference! I also used more vanilla. So, in the end the recipe turned out a bit different. Feel free to try to recipe yourself!
Ingredients:
1 c butter flavored shortening
2 eggs
3/4 c white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 c brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 c whole wheat flour
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy (beat them on med-low). Add the eggs on at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into creamed mixture.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, until light brown. Due to the fact that the dough is darker because of the wheat, it may be hard to tell what "light brown" is. Cookies will still be a bit doughy and light brown around the edges. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Double Date (+ 1)

On Friday night we went on a double date with Joey and Kirsty...and, of course, Jackson! We ate dinner at the Chili Pepper in Orange. This was my first time eating there. I really enjoyed it! I ordered Fajitas. They were very tasty and a great price! In fact, everything there was really decently priced!

After finishing up our Mexican food, we headed to the Orange Circle and had an ice cream sundae at Watson's Drug Store & Soda Fountain. This sundae was no ordinary sundae. It came in a salad bowl. Yes...that's right. A salad bowl! We couldn't finish the sundae between the four of us! Overall, we had a great time and enjoyed hanging out with Joey and Kirsty!

Jackson got his first balloon from a waiter at the Chili Pepper.
Kirsty with our GIGANTIC ice cream sundae!
Jackson discovered another baby in the mirrors at Watson's.The family at Watson's.