Back with Delicious Cookies

School has been absolutely insane but with classes winding down this week and just one final left, I have finally had a moment to breathe! So I made cookies! In my mind, I had been wanting to make a cookie with oatmeal, white chocolate chips, and dried cherries. I thought I came up with this combination all by myself, but turns out, so have some other people... Really great gluten free recipes are pretty hard to come by so I found a decent sounding recipe and tweaked it a bit.



Here is the basic idea of what I did:

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour (I used a gluten free flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (I used light and everything still worked out fine)
2 eggs
1 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 or 1 cup of chopped dried cherries
3/4 or 1 cup of chopped walnuts
*I also added vanilla extract. Probably about 1 teaspoon.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda and set aside.
Mix together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one.
Add flour mixture and oats.
Mix in chips, cherries, and walnuts.
Drop by tablespoon onto parchment paper covered cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-12 minutes.




After tasting the gluten free dough and watching them expand in the oven, I was convinced these would turn out absolutely horrendous. But much to my surprise they are simply amazing and super addictive! I am also glad I made them large! It makes them even better! Something about them makes me not feel guilty about eating them for breakfast. I will be making more very soon!


-Dani

Weekend thoughts

From yesterday- Sunday, November 4, 2012

I’ve been really snacky all weekend. Yes, “snacky” is a real word. Just ask my college roommates. Thankfully I was also in a baking mood this weekend. My latest finds turned out pretty good so I had to share:

http://www.cheekykitchen.com/2011/11/pumpkin-banana-bread.html
ok, this pumpkin banana bread seemed like a strange mix at first, but the more of it I ate, the more I liked it. I might make some more this week because I’ve just been addicted to pumpkin this fall. Instead of using the pumpkin pie spice like in the recipe, I just put in ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and some vanilla. It worked out just fine. I also did ½ regular fIour, ½ gluten free, just so I didn’t feel quite so guilty eating a lot of bread. Between us girls and our mom, we’ve decided that going gluten-free can pretty much solve any of life’s problems. And not even kidding… I think it might be true.
I also didn’t have the ingredients for the icing on hand, but hopefully next time I will. I LOVE this bread.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1915,148191-249202,00.html
This afternoon I made this delicious crab meat dip. Yumm it’s fantastic. I didn’t put any shallots in like it said to, partly because I’m not sure I like them but mostly because I still can’t find half of what I’m looking for in the grocery store here in Johnson City. This dip + tortilla chips= nice gluten-free snack. Perfect for Sunday after church.

It really has been a good weekend off work. But I was just thinking on the way home from church this morning that I think I’ve been in a little bit of slump this past couple of weeks. Maybe because it’s gotten a little colder outside (really though… this is Tennessee. It’s not actually that cold, people.) Maybe it’s because even though work has been going well and I’m learning so much, it’s exhausting. Or maybe a lot of it is because I simply just miss home. I miss my family, my friends, Lake Michigan... even school. Just everything really. And even though it’s so good that I have a lot going on here, it’s frustrating to not have time to keep up with everyone at home like I want to. And it's still just so hard to have changed pretty much everything about my life all at once. I still wonder sometimes if Jenny and I are crazy for doing this. But I think when it comes down to it, I’ve just started getting into the swing of things here and life has become… not comfortable… but “routine” I guess would be the word. I don’t want to go off into some big long rant here, so I’ll try to keep it short. But I was reading the devotion for the day from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers and the entry for today had everything to do with this. He says that “the evangelical message ought always lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same” I can’t let myself get into enough of a routine where it starts to feel like I’m just going through the motions of life. As Oswald Chambers says, “immediately I precipitate myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.” That is, when I act on what I truly believe the Lord is willing me to do. It’s only through paying attention to His voice through the little moments as much as the big decisions that we’re able to first of all, live according to His will and also really feel alive. I don’t know about you… but I don’t like when life gets so routine and predictable. I want God to surprise me with the plans He has for me because I’ve learned over the past couple of years that they’re by far better than anything I can come up with. But in order for that to happen, I have to be willing to listen and more importantly, act. When we truly listen and act on what God is saying, life is ALWAYS exciting. The crazy whirlwind of moving and settling in here is passed. Now it's time to dig in and figure out what God wants now that he has me here.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
I think that’s pretty exciting.

Ok, who's hungry? It's snack time again.



wishing I was here. So many good memories :)


-Megan

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

I know everyone right now is baking, eating, carving, and picking pumpkins so I apologize for the boring post. I had to taste these for myself though, hoping they would be worth the failure of trying to stay away from gluten.

Everyone in my house will tell you that I make amazing plain ol' snickerdoodles. Those and no- bakes are my specialty. My secret to snickerdoodles is surely the recipe though, not me. When I found this recipe on pinterest (of course) I knew I had to make them. Snickerdoodle + pumpkin sounds like a winner to me.

I considered using the amazing normal recipe I use and just adding pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin puree but I was too nervous that the puree might make the cookies too moist or something. The recipes aren't too different and Megan said she made these the other day and they were "awesome", so I just stuck to the recipe I found.

Like always, my dad was crazy about them. I couldn't help myself from thinking back to church this morning where they showed this clip from one of my favorite movies, "What About Bob". Luckily my dad wasn't this bad.





My mom's first word was "unique". I'm going to have to agree with her. They are really good, just not quite as delicious as the ones I usually make. My baking with pumpkin craving was satisfied but I think I will just make the recipe I am known for next time.



In other news, I'm so excited! The best sisters, Megan and Jenny, are coming home this weekend! So hopefully we can sneak a post in!


-Dani

Another Pinterest Success Story

Yes, this is a story of another Pinterest inspiration. A delicious one. I don't make dinner often, but this Chicken-Parmesan Bundles post on recipe.com inspired me to immediately get up and go to Kroger to get ingredients (I miss Meijer like crazy). I also like to surprise Megan with dinner when she gets home from working on my days off. =)



Ingredients:

4 oz. PHILADELPHIA cream cheese, softened
10 oz. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
1-1/4 cups Mozzarella cheese, divided
6 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese, divided
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
1 egg
10 RITZ crackers, crushed
1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

**Also handy to have toothpicks!

Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 375 degrees F.
2. MIX cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella and 3 Tbsp. Parmesan until well blended; spread onto chicken breasts. Starting at one short end of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired.
3. BEAT egg in shallow dish. Mix remaining Parmesan and cracker crumbs in separate shallow dish. Dip chicken in egg, then roll in crumb mixture to evenly coat. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
4. BAKE 30 minutes or until chicken is done (165 degrees F). Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve chicken topped with spaghetti sauce and remaining mozzarella.

So, I tweaked the recipe a little bit and cut down on the amount of chicken since I was only cooking for Megan and myself. And my technique might not have been the neatest... my bundles fell apart a little bit. But I've also never pounded chicken in my life, and I've never really made chicken on my own. I would say I did pretty well! And I would definitely make this recipe again -- it was FANTASTIC. Highly recommended. It probably has a ton of calories, but it was too good to matter.

-- Jenny =)

Fabric Flower Necklace

Confession: I have been making lots of flowers lately (there will be more on that later). Until now they have all been to put in hair. So I decided to try something different. A fabric flower necklace! I used a easier way (I call it cheating) to make the flowers for my necklace than the way I usually make flowers. I used this tutorial as a reference. I was lucky enough to find all the materials right in my house and the fabric I used is actually one of my dad's old shirts!

What a great way to dress up a simple shirt! I added a pearl in the center of each of my flowers for a little extra something. Also, my flowers are slightly larger than that of the tutorial and I did not make the chain as long. Overall, this was a very easy, non-stressful project to do and took me less than an hour!

-Dani

Tennessee crafts

So, here's the thing. I finally gave in and got a Pinterest. BUT I'm actually surprised at how much it's inspired me. Instead of just sitting there and surfing the internet more, I have all this motivation and some fantastic ideas for things to do on my days off from the hospital.

Yesterday I decided to take a trip to the craft store, which turned out to be a disappointment. (I miss my Hobby Lobby and JoAnn's!) But I picked up a few things and sat around in the sun with my puppy doing projects all afternoon, which was great.

First up, I bought a cute picture frame on clearance for just $2. I put a cute patterned paper in it and now we can just write on the glass with an expo marker... it's perfect for writing verses or quotes or just little messages! I also bought some of those cinnamon-scented pine cones and just put them in a little bowl with some scrap fabric. This apartment still smells pretty strongly like cigarette smoke and I've literally been doing everything I can think of to both cover up the smell and get it out of here. If you have any thoughts on that, PLEASE let me know. So gross. But the pine cones remind me of Michigan, so I love them. And I had a few leftover to put in the bathroom too.






Here's what I have on top of the bookshelf. I LOVE the candle in a mason jar (from Amber's wedding I think!) Then of course we have a picture of the family and I got some flowers to brighten up the room.


And here's the whole shelf:



I also decided to recover my lampshade since it was boring old white and looking pretty grosss. I bought a little piece of tan colored fabric and recovered it, then put a dark purple velvety ribbon around the edges. I also bought some flowers to put in a little vase in my room, so I pulled off a couple of those and glued them on the lampshade as well. Then (Pinterest idea!) I used a sharpie paint marker/pen to write verses on it. It's not perfect, but I think that's why I love it so much. Now I just have to recover the bottom of the lamp to match it.


There should be more to come soon :) Or maybe some pictures of these gorgeous East Tennessee mountains I've been enjoying.

Southern Peach Cobbler

Megan & I purchased several peaches at the local farmer's market a week ago, and having been at camp all week I didn't get a chance to eat them before they got too ripe! This afternoon was warm and rainy -- perfect for baking! Delicious solution: peach cobbler!

The recipe I used is "Easy Peach Cobbler" from myrecipes.com. I halved the recipe since I only had 2 cups of peaches instead of 4. If you want four cups, you will need approximately 6 peaches.

The part about letting the butter melt in the pan before adding the batter was weird. It says not to stir it together, but it all mixed itself up anyway. I also didn't have any lemon juice in my kitchen so I just left it out. Since I halved the recipe I used a 9x9 in. pan, and I baked it for about 25-30 minutes instead of 45. However, this stuff is so good I wish I had more peaches so I could have made the full 9x13 pan! Perfect with vanilla ice cream or whip cream!



- Jenny

Reese's Cookie Brownies

Reese's cookie brownies are very simple to make and are satisfying to both chocolate and peanut butter lovers. All that you'll need are Reese's peanut butter cups, chocolate chip cookie dough, and fudgy brownie mix. You can either use refridgerated break and bake cookie dough or make it from scratch.



Reese's Cup Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie
You will need: Reese's peanut butter cups, chocolate chip cookie dough, and brownie mix.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease muffin pan.
2. Press 1-1/2 break and bake cookies into each bottom.
3. Place Reese's peanut butter cup upside down on top of cookie dough.
4. Fill 3/4 full with brownie batter.
5. Bake for 18- 20 minutes, let cool, then enjoy!

-Dani

Love is like a butterfly...

I was inspired to make this project on the day of my good friend’s wedding. I was out for a walk that morning and came upon a patch of milkweed along the way. I was surprised to actually find several caterpillars munching on leaves, and figured that by the time Amber & Jacob got back from their honeymoon these little creatures would be chrysalises – a perfect gift, just waiting to hatch into beautiful “wedding butterflies.” I snagged a few and raised them for a couple weeks, gathering fresh milkweed leaves every 1-2 days (I had an internship with Michigan Butterflies last summer, making me an expert caterpillar-raiser. If you need more information about raising Monarchs, there are great websites available, or just ask me!).

Amber’s mom actually gave me a couple vases of flowers from the wedding reception – Mason jars to be more exact! I decided to use one of these for the chrysalises. Wedding-day jars and wedding-day butterflies! Once the flowers died, I threw them out and cleaned out the jar. My mom had some spare fabric in the basement, and I found some mesh/net white fabric to place over the top. It’s important to allow free-flowing air into the jar – otherwise moisture may build up and cause problems for the insects.

Once the caterpillars formed their chrysalises on the top of their temporary cage (a Tupperware container), I used my butterfly internship skills to pull the chrysalises from the top and hot-glue them to a stick. Remember to make sure they have plenty of space for the butterflies to emerge and open their wings!


I then decorated the jar with twine, flowers, and a small piece of paper with a quote reading:

Love is like a butterfly. It goes wherever it pleases and pleases wherever it goes.
I love this project not only because it combines some creativity with my Biology interests, but it’s for two of my great friends for a very special occasion. Congrats to you two & may your love be like the butterflies!

--Jenny

Summer is Upon Us

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. -Celia Thaxter

Summer is the best in my opinion. It's worth the long, bitter winters we have to put up with. Summer truly is a gift from God that I'm so grateful for every time it comes around. I came up with the idea to paint this sunny little collage as I was thinking about all the things I want to do this summer. I want to squeeze every last drop out of this sweet summer that I'm given the chance to enjoy.


-Dani

Can we get some skirt weather please?

For some reason, Dani sparked a little seed in me this weekend to work on some sewing. What she really wanted was for me to show her the ropes and teach her how to sew. But what ACTUALLY happened was me taking over and getting a couple projects done while she "supervised." No surprise there. Once I get going on a project, I can't stop.

The first skirt I started making is of navy blue jersey fabric. I pretty much followed the tutorial for the Socialite skirt on this link: However, I ran into some issues with the elastic thread they said to use. The waist band was bubbling up really weird, unlike how it's flat in the picture. I ended up putting strips of elastic in the waistband to give it some structure, make it tight, and just give it a little bit of a different look. In the end, I think I salvaged it but I wouldn't say it was my best work.





When I got stuck/frustrated with the first skirt, I started on another one for Dani. She picked a blue and white striped seersucker fabric and found this tutorial online for me to use. It was literally so quick and easy and SUPER cute...I was shocked! AND Dani loves it. Jenny bought fabric for me to make her one, and I have a couple of ideas for who else might like one. I wish I had found this tutorial sooner. I could have been making all my little restaurant hostess skirts for the past year and half! I'll definitely be making this one again!







-Megan

Psalm 18:30-36

Photo: Jenny Rose (Greeneville, TN)

As for God, his way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield
For all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
And makes my way perfect.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
He enables me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle;
My arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You give me your shield of victory,
And your right hand sustains me;
You stoop down to make me great.
You broaden your path beneath me,
So that my ankles do not turn.

-- Jenny