Soft and chewy Lactation Cookies Recipe

I love lactation cookies.  So much so that even when I'm no longer nursing I will still make them this way!  My kids love them too and they are healthy.  The thing I hated about other recipes I tried were too much sugar, hard crispy cookies, not enough oatmeal, too much sugar, not enough flavor, oh and did I mention too much sugar??  So here is what I came up with.  These stay chewy even after they cool and are so yummy!  



1 stick of butter
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 plus 1/8 cup flour  
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp very finely ground flax seed
2 tsp debittered brewer's yeast (I ordered the debittered NOW brand on Amazon, it lets you use less sugar)  

Mini Chocolate chips  (optional) 
Pecan chips (optional)

Cream butter with sugars, add Oatmeal.  Add egg and vanilla, then salt, baking soda, chips, pecans, cinnamon & flax.  Add the flour and yeast.  Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes depending on your oven (mine bakes a little fast)  just until they start to become a golden color and dry out.  Over baking will make them crispier so watch them closely.  

***Steel cut oats give it a nuttier flavor and with the pecans you can't hardly pick them out, if you are opposed to rolled oats try those instead.  

I have the sparkly blues....

....blue glitter that is.  I hate glitter.  Really really HATE glitter!  I know "hate" is a strong word but when it comes to glitter it's more than warranted and justified!  I also hate the fact that I failed in the beginning to enact a "No Glitter in the house" rule.  This most likely would have prevented my daughter from bringing it home.  I hate the fact that they even make it much less manufactur it in bucket sized canister.  And I really REALLY hate that it got left where Alex could find it and is now evenly spread all over my house on carpet and hard floor alike (he is good with even distribution) and that it is now stuck to my feet.  For the record, glitter doesn't wash off easily.  Also for the record glitter spreads. Fast.  Faster than the Chicken Pox in a Kindergarten class. So, if you see me all aglow sparkiling in the sunlight it is not because I have suddenly reverted back to my teenage years and made glitter a part of my beauty routine again.  It's because I have glitter stuck to me.  Everywhere.  Probably even where the sun don't shine. Did I mention I hate glitter???

Copycat recipe~Jason's Deli Portabello Wrapini

I LOVE Jason's Deli, love love love it.  They have delicious whole foods with organic and whole ingredients and are lower on sodium than most other restaurants and kids meals I can approve of. Sadly they are a far drive for me so I don't get to go often.   This is something I had there once and fell in love with so I have created my own version to have at home when I can't get there. 

You will need:
Flat Outs whole grain wraps
Bell peppers
Portabello Mushroom
Mozzarella cheese shreds
Red onions
Cucumber
Lettuce
Tomato
Guacamole
Lite Ranch dressing

Chop, dice and/or slice the veggies to your desired size.  I slice mine thin for easier consumption.

Saute the portabello mushrooms in a light spray of olive oil to tenderize them or broil them under the oven broiler for a few minutes.  Heat a nonstick skillet on low and put in one wrap to warm on one side so it is easily flexible and a little toasty but not darkening.  Flip the wrap over and then quickly lay in 3-6 portabello slices depending on their size, then spread the veggies over the mushrooms, sprinkle on cheese, add lettuce, light drizzle of Ranch and a smear of guac (I do the guac to the side of the mushrooms just for easier spreading)  then wrap and flip.  You have to be careful not to over stuff or the wrap won't wrap and you have a mess on your hands...errr.... skillet.  Once toasted remove, plate and cut in half.  Enjoy! 

This is a delicious light meal that is easy on the waistline and the heart.  Low in fat and sodium and high in whole grains and fiber while being SUPER high in taste!! 

Skillet Fried Meatloaf~Not your mother's Meatloaf (well it is my moms)

Growing up we had a different kind of meatloaf.  My mother made this most delicious version of fried or skillet meatloaf that just the thought of can make my mouth water. It's not an ooey gooey blob of I'm-not-sure-this-is-cooked meat like substance.  This one is melt in your mouth deliciousness.  I have no idea the origin of it, I've never thought to ask.  Probably something she came up with to use what was in the cabinets and on hand.  A lot of good family recipes were born that way.  I make it now for my own family and it is a huge favorite so I thought I would share it with you.  As always is the case with me I've fiddled with it until I've made it my own somewhat.  Here is my version.  I can easily feed 6 with leftovers for my husband to take to work the next day.  I usually make small patties.  The measurements are guesstimates to an extent.  I am one of those toss and shake it in til I think that looks good :)

Skillet Fried Meatloaf

1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup of bread crumbs
3 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp worstishire sauce
1 tbsp Mrs Dash garlic and herb or onion and herb

Mix together and form into patties of desired size and then fry in a skillet as you would hamburgers til medium well. 

Add to the top of the patties 1-2 cans of italian flavor diced tomatoes (depending on your love of tomatoes and how much sauce you want on your meatloaf, I use 2 cans) and half an onion that has been sliced into rings or strips  stir slightly to get the tomatoes one and over the patties and simmer on medium low until onions are tender (flip and stir as neccesary to keep them from burning, if tomatoes seem to be drying out add a little water.  You want the tomatoes to be the consistency of marinara when done) 

This is an easy and delicious meal.  While the meat is frying I put on carrots (simmered in a little butter and agave syrup) and some Mac N Cheese and mashed potatoes.  Wonderful comfort food for cold winter nights and so melt in your mouth tender!

Flying by the seat of my pants recipe night.....

Some of my best recipes have come when I was walking through the store and so lost at what to make that wasn't one of our major food groups.  See our food groups consist of Mexican which is the base of the pyramid and then italian and then everything else.  I get sick of the same old stuff and today was no exception.  I saw something that caught my eye in the meat department and picked up a couple of packages.  It was Oscar Meyer Southwest chicken strips.  Here is what came of it....

Here's the recipe:
2 packages of Oscar Meyer sliced ready cooked chicken breast in Southwest flavor chopped or hand shredded to smaller pieces (I found these in the meat dept at Walmart)
2 bags of boil in the bag brown rice
1 can of fat free low sodium cream of mushroom soup
2 1/2 cups of milk
1/8 cup of heavy cream (sub with milk and an tbls of butter if desired)
5 slices American cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 bag of frozen broccoli
Fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
Heat soup, milk, cream, salt, pepper and cheese on stove until cheese is melted, mix in rice, chicken and broccoli  transfer to baking dish and bake at 400 until rice is tender and it is browning on top, about 20 to 25 minutes. 

Turned out to be the easiest most delicious dinner I've made in a long time!  And all by tossing some stuff together that worked in my head hoping it would work in the pan :)  Try being adventurous yourself sometime.  Take out is always a phone call away if it doesn't work out.

Am I?

Beautiful that is....  I have a hard time believing it.  I find parts of myself pretty and likeable but I have the hardest time accepting all of me.  Really I have the hardest time accepting my middle section.  It's carried 4 children to term and has the scars and extra tires to prove it.  Because the outside of me makes me uncomfortable I don't let the inside show much eitheir.  I'm shy and quiet most of the time.  I remember fondly parts of my life, especially one year in particular,  when I was everything I wanted to be.  I was thin and pretty, outgoing and in charge so I know it is in there somewhere.  Somehow though in the chaos of life and marriage and being a mom I lost her again.  I like the me in my head, I wish she'd come out more often.  It's like a wrestling match everyday and it shocks a few people in the process but I am finally starting to realize that God and my Husband are both right.  I am beautiful and it's OK to let it show.  (But I am still going to work on getting rid of the middle section) 

Another Adventure in Raising Alexander

So my 2 yr old is a constant ball of energy.  We learn new things about what to do and not to do when it comes to raising him every day.  Things such as he can’t have red food dyes, he has to have a strict wake up, nap and bed time schedule, things of that nature (I have a suspicion he has his dad’s ADHD) .  He is curious about everything and tonight was no different.  He put a button cell battery in his mouth; one of those evil little tiny batteries in watches, flashlights and toys.  My oldest son pulled a baggie I had of them out a while back and dropped them, we have hard floors so they went rolling everywhere, I don’t know how many were in it so I didn’t know how many to find.  One turns up still on occasion.  Not sure if they are part of the original pack or if they just keep multiplying.  Anyway, back to tonight’s adventure.  Alexander coughs and spits out one of them.  We proceed to question him if he had swallowed one because my 10 yr old swears there was more than one (he’s known for saying anything to just have something to say so I’m not sure if I should believe him, he is also terrible at paying attention to details right now so he’s not really believable all of the time)  So we call Nana (my mom) and ask her what to do.  I get responses from my silly siblings like tie a string to a magnet, have him swallow a bulb and shake it at around see if it lights up, the neighbor has a metal detector, etc.  Goof balls!  Okay so truth be told I was thinking the same LOL  We hesitate to make too many calls to poison control too close together  for fear they get the wrong idea.  They don’t know Alex and what he is capable even with hawk eye supervision but luckily they were with my mom’s boyfriend who is a firefighter and he made a phone call for me.  I was advised to just make things move and so here we are at 11pm eating strawberries and Chex and drinking juice and I get the raw end of the deal tomorrow.  Ahhh, the joys of motherhood and another adventure in raising Alex!