Make it Monday #4: Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Time to link up with Ashley over at

for another addition of Make it Monday!

Today, I am sharing the BEST cookie recipe I have ever made!  Seriously.  MUST. TRY.  ASAP.

I originally made these cookies for our June dessert party.  The theme was "Desserts you can eat with your fingers" so a cookie seemed logical.

I found the original recipe through this pin.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Erica on Pinterest

Here is the recipe with the changes I made and some pictures to go with the directions:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (4.2 ounce) package instant Oreo Pudding mix

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 Hershey's Cookies N Cream Candy Bars broken into small pieces (I used 2.6 ounce King Sized bars) **I used 3 normal sixe candy bars and broke them up before taking them out of the package.**

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chipsn **I only used about 1 cup.  With 2 cups these cookies were a bit too rich for me.**

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in pudding mix until blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture and mix to combine. Stir in cookies n' cream pieces and chocolate chips. Batter will be thick.  **I didn't really find the dough to be thick, personally.**

Using a cookie dough scooper, place golf ball sized dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. You do not want to overbake these! Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooking rack. Store in air-tight container. Makes two dozen.  **I did use a scooper... but I got more like 4 dozen cookies!**

As I said before, these are the BEST cookies EVER!  Everyone who has tried them has said how good they are!  You need to go bake the right now.  Seriously... GO! :) 

Oh... and by the way... here are some additional steps you should follow in this recipe if you are a mommy or a wife...

1.  Entertain your baby with the measuring cups.  Of course, only AFTER they have been used and rinsed, so as to not contaminate these delicious cookies with baby drool! :)

2.  Bribe your husband with the extra cookies and creme chocolate bar you bought to do the dishes for you! :)

4th of July

Happy Independence Day!!!

In January, Todd and I created a calendar for his mom and my mom with pictures of Thomas wearing a different outfit for each month.  We had to pull from clothes that were too big for him for some of the pictures, but we were able to find something unique that fit each month.

This is the picture that was put into the calendar for July.  This was taken when Thomas was about 2 months old.  The outfit he was wearing was a 6-9 month outfit.

Fast forward 6 months, Thomas is almost 8 months now (can you believe it??) and actually wearing 6-9 month clothes.  So, what is he wearing today in honor of the 4th of July???  This exact same outfit!!!  I couldn't resist snapping some pictures to compare his little 2-month self to his now much bigger 8-month self.

Seeing these pictures side-by-side like this make me realize how much he really has grown up.  In the pictures from today he is really engaged and intrested in that flag!  And he sure fills out the outfit a bit better now...

I wish I had thought to do these comparison pictures throughout the year... but today was the first day where he was literally wearing the same outfit... so it kinda just struck me today!  But... I was able to find a few comparisons from earlier months.  ENJOY!

For each month, the first picture was the picture in the calendar.  These were taken when he was 2 months old.

March:

On St. Patrick's Day - 4 months old

April:

On Easter - almost 5 months old

May:

On Mother's Day - just about 6 months old

 June:

On Father's Day - 7 months old



Make it Monday #3: Baby Food

How I make baby food:

1.  Cut desired food into chunks.  If using frozen food, not need to cut.  This particular picture is pears.

2.  Cook your food, if needed.  Personally, I use my Pampered Chef Mircrowave Steamer because it is A LOT easier that doing it on the stove.  I simply add some water and microwave for 4-6 minutes depending on the hardness of the food.   Some foods, like bananas or avacados, don't need to be cooked first.





3.  I had read online, that when you are trying to make peas into baby food, it's best to soak them in cold water right after you cook them.  For some reason, this helps the shells be easier to puree.  Don't ask me why... but I found that doing this to any food helps just because the food isn't boiling lava hot after a good soak in some cold water!  So, after I drain my food, I pour it into a bowl of cold water.  For this picture, you will see peaches.  I was really bad at remembering to take pictures of each step, so that is why it's not all the same food!

4.  Put your food into a BLENDER and use the puree setting.  Blend for a few seconds until you don't see anymore large chunks.  Now, I say blender with enthusiasm, because I have tried using my food processor, and it DOES NOT work as well.  The puree setting on my blender works FANTASTICALLY!  For some foods, like carrots or peas, you can add a little water to help with the consistancy.  I usually use cold water, but sometimes I save the water I cooked the food in.  However, for some reason you are NOT supposed to do this with carrots... dunno why... something about nitrates... so use new water when making carrot puree. 

Now, of course, I forgot to get a picture of my blender... but I think you get the idea anyway!

5.  Pour the pureed food into ice cube trays.  I had read this idea online and a recent new-mommy friend of mine also suggested it, so I went with it!  This makes it very easy for storing and defrosting.  This particular picture shows some cubes of zucchini and some cubes of a peas/carrots mixture.

6.  Wrap your ice cube trays in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer.  Once they are frozen, transfer the cubes into freezer bags.  I keep a freezer bag for each type of food. 

7.  When you are ready to serve the food, simply pull out a couple of cubes and defrost them in the microwave.  Each cube is about one ounce of food, and Thomas usually eats 3-4 cubes per meal. 

What I really love about making my own food is that it gives us the chance to feed Thomas different foods in each meal without having to open many containers of baby food.  I like to make LOTS of food in one day, then I don't have to worry about it later in the week.  I just have to pull out some cubes and defrost! 

I also like that sometimes I can make the food a little less "smooth" so that he gets used to different textures in his food.  He likes to get a bit of soft peach and "chew" it a little! 

I have used a variety of frozen and fresh fruits and veggies, and each one has been pretty easy... even the peas!  I will say the peas were nearly IMPOSSIBLE in the food processor, but in the blender, no problem... they purreed easily.

So far, I have cooked, purreed and frozen these foods:

Carrots

Peas and Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Pears

Peaches

Zucchini

I am planning on trying squash, broccoli and green beans soon...

Happy (almost) Fourth of July and THANK YOU to all the men and women who have served and are currently serving our country in the armed forces!