Crispy Coconut Cookies

Two weeks ago I cut out diet coke AND sugar from my diet.  I have been enjoying water, green tea and fresh fruit to fulfill all those cravings.  Thankfully, I don't miss either one!  Here comes the real test...making cookies for my family!  Cookie dough is my favorite treat.  I will make cookies, only so I can sample the cookie dough.  :O)  I made these crispy coconut cookies dipped in chocolate and Landon loved them!  I was tempted, but I stayed strong!  I just grabbed a few raisins and kept on baking!

Here's the recipe...hope y'all have a great weekend!

Crispy Coconut Cookies (allrecipes)

What you'll need:

1/2 cup butter

1/1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 cup crushed cornflakes 

1 cup oats

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking powder

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream the butter and sugars until smooth.  Stir in the egg and the vanilla.  In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and add to butter/sugar mixture.  Add the oatmeal, cereal and coconut and mix until combined.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are light brown at the edges.  Leave them plain, or dip in melted chocolate.  Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Peanut Butter

We got through a lot of peanut butter in our house.  I love the simplicity of making my own peanut butter.  No added sugar, preservatives or oil!  I use stevia in my peanut butter to add a little sweetness and always make at least half of it into dark chocolate peanut butter by adding dark chocolate cocoa powder.  :O)  Antioxidants, right?!?

All you need are peanuts and a food processor.  The food processor does all the work!  Just add the peanuts and allow it to grind them until it turns to peanut butter.  It will turn into a thick paste like in the first picture, but after about 4-5 minutes you will have creamy, warm and fresh peanut butter!  Use honey roasted peanuts, add some sugar, salt, stevia or chocolate to your peanut butter according to your preference. Keep it refrigerated.  If you need it softened, give it a warm water bath for a few minutes.  Mine doesn't make it to the bread...I just grab a spoon.  :O)

Plain & Dark Chocolate.  I am hoarding the jar to the right.  :O)

Wishing time would slow down...

The more I try to hold on to these moments when the girls are small, the faster they seem to fly by.  Time began to move much more rapidly once the twins were born.  I took the girls for a trip to the zoo this week.  Besides wishing I would have invested in a triple stroller, we had a fun time together and made some sweet memories.  Once I got home and loaded my pictures, I realized I had taken some simliar pictures of Brooke a couple years ago.  It was so fun to look back at how much she has grown.  It makes me smile...and tear up at how grown up she is.

 By the penguins.  This has always been her favorite exhibit!

On the turtle...wishing time would slow down! 

Getting ready to go into the rainforest.  Love her smile here.  

All my girls together...then and now.  amazing.

I'm so thankful for my trusty camera that has captured all these precious moments with my girls!

Mod Podge Love

I had to share the "secret" to some of my easiest projects - MOD PODGE!  

Every time I post a picture of something I have mod podged...I get lots of emails with questions, so I thought I would share on here!  I have covered glass, plastic and wood so far with mod podge using fabric and scrapbook paper.  SUPER easy, and always looks great.  Just start by "gluing" the fabric/paper down...smooth it out with a brush or your fingers and put a coat of mod podge over the top of your project. You'll end up with a beautiful finish when the mod podge dries.  I haven't tried using pictures yet, but I'll let you know how it goes when I get a chance to try it out.  :O)

Here are a few pictures of the various things I've tried...

A couple years ago, I actually poked tiny holes in real eggs and blew the inside out.  ha ha.  Crazy. I used a paper napkin to decoupage that beautiful damask.  Because of the tedious process and my impatience, I only ended up with 2 eggs.  :O)

Brooke's Room - The B is just a wood letter covered with some scrap fabric.  

Old wood frame covered in fabric to match the twin's room.

Light Plate covered in Fabric.



Old Dresser - painted and used fabric & furniture mod podge on the drawers.

Christmas Ornaments covered in scrapbook paper.
  I also used a glitter spray paint to add some extra shine.

Easter eggs covered in pages from an old hymnal.  This time I used plastic eggs instead of real eggs.  SO MUCH EASIER.  :O)



For LOTS of inspiration and "how - to" tips visit:
http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/
http://choosetothrive.blogspot.com/2011/04/damask-mod-podge-easter-eggs.html
http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/2011/02/stumbles-and-stitches.html