A day for baking!

Today was nasty rainy, and I had a game night to go to (where dinner was provided) so I said I'd bring a chocolate dessert! Cookies from scratch, it is! This recipe is adapted from Toll House's recipe on the back of their chocolate chips. Each step will have a photo (follow my number system).

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 & 1/4 cups quick cooking oats (NOT instant, big difference)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup (or 2 sticks) of butter (softened) - Set this out ahead of time so you don't have to carefully microwave it!
3/4 cup granulated sugar (white sugar)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (mash it into the measuring cup... can be light or dark variety)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I use vanilla I bought on a cruise in Mexico, so it's double strength. I always cut it in half)
2 large eggs
2 cups (a 12 ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped nuts (I usually don't do this... to be honest I keep forgetting!)

Preheat the oven to bake at 375 degrees F.
Step 1: Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa into a small bowl.
Step 2: In a mixer, beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy.
Step 3: Add eggs, one at a time, to the sugar/butter mixture, beating well after each.
Step 4: Gradually beat in flour mixture. (Add about 1/2 cup, mix well, then add more.)
Step 5: Stir in morsels by hand. I do about 1/2 cup at a time, and use a fork.
Step 6: Grease a 10x15" pan (cookie sheet).
Step 7: Spread the mixture out on the pan (I had to use my hands)
Step 8: Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. Don't overcook them. Cook them long enough for them to be set. Then cut into bars! YUM!

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::The End::

Corn Chowder!!

I'm not sure if I've posted my corn chowder before, but here it is!!! I take this recipe and play with it a little. I used red potatoes instead of white, and canned corn. And a little extra butter with the onions ;)

BACON!!!

It's been a while!!

Sorry for the lack of posting! Things have been crazy around the AD household!! So for today, I bring you lunch:

::homemade guacamole::

What were my ingredients you ask? Well I used avocados, diced fresh tomato, diced yellow onion (white is also good for this), lemon juice, salt, and some red cayenne for extra kick!!

Tips for making up a recipe as you go: Try the food off of whatever it will be eaten. For instance, I tried this and thought it was perfect, then used a chip and it didn't have enough lemon. So from then on I tasted with it on a chip and it came out delicious!

Another night out!

So we've been eating out a LOT lately, and tonight we went with some friends to Texas Roadhouse! They are famous for serving up peanuts in buckets! Here's a peek...

Chicken Stir-Fry with Brown Rice

Tonight I stir-fried chicken, red bell pepper, and a yellow onion. For sauce, I used some of Mrs. Dash's spicy Teriyaki marinade, some soy sauce, and a little bit of worcestershire sauce. Here's the result!

Healthy Spaghetti? Yes!!!

So tonight we started our healthy dinners at home. Tonight was spaghetti, with whole wheat pasta. The sauce made from sauteed onions, zucchini, and squash, and canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. It was delicious!!!

So I'm going to be transparent...

Ok, so I want to show that I'm a completely honest person, and here's my proof.

My husband and I have done some thinking and neither of us can really put a finger on why WE chose to do this Daniel fast. It's almost as if we were going with the flow. I hate to think that we are stereotypical Christians that just do as the church tells us. In my opinion, if you're going to fast or give up something, it should be about your heart and not "Oh, well since everyone else is doing it, we should or we'll be left out." This was our reason for NOT doing it last year, but we gave in this year.

Anyway, all of this is to say that we won't be doing the fast anymore. We will be eating better, cutting back on the foods that affect my bad cholesterol, and also cutting back on pasta and other bad carbohydrates. We will be having brown rice instead of white, and when we do pasta, it will be whole wheat. We will also be incorporating a lot more vegetables into our diet.

Ok, so that was rough for me to admit, but I hate being fake. Fakeness is what is wrong with the world today. Thanks to all of you who read through this, it really means a lot! :)

My meals will hopefully start up again tomorrow, and we will end up postponing New Recipe day to Sunday and we just might be learning to make Hummus!!!

Daniel Fast- Day 1

So tonight, light red beans with sautee'd onion, some garlic and cajun seasonings, on top of brown rice. It was actually really good!!!

So, an explanation

So the next three weeks, the food on here will be drastically different... It will be vegan... Why vegan, you ask? Well, I'll tell you!

My husband and I are joining our church in what is called the "Daniel fast." The fast is based off of a passage in the Bible:

Daniel 10:2, 3 “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.”

My husband and I will be fasting with our church from today through January 23rd. We consider this fast to be like our monetary tithe that we give to God with every paycheck. A tithe is basically 10% of your income, but we are called in the Bible to give the FIRST 10%, not the second or third. God wants the first fruits of our blessings. He should get it anyway, because without Him we wouldn't have been blessed!! So our church collectively decided to give up the first fruits of our year!

We are giving up meat, dairy, and all the fine foods (anything processed, like bleached flour, pasta that isn't whole grain, white rice, refined white sugar, etc). Those things aren't good for our bodies anyway, and yet in America they have taken control over our lives. We let our taste buds and desire for those fine things rule what we eat, and that shouldn't be how it works. So we are also taking control over what goes into our bodies and not letting our desires rule what we consume.

I am hoping that this fast will not only help us in the short-term but become a way of life in some aspects, like avoiding certain processed foods and limiting the intake of refined products that have no nutrients.


So, if you read all of that, you get a gold star!!! Thank you to my faithful readers, as you stick with me through this difficult 3 week span coming up! I don't know what I'm going to cook but here's hoping it's interesting!!!

New Years Eve party!

I didn't really have time to take more and better pictures!! Sorry they're so lame!!!

::A GREAT oven shot!!::

::The table decor and food::