Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies

What to make when you don't have a lot of much of anything? After adding a little bit of this and a little bit of that {...okay a little more of  "that"  because I like "that"}... I present my very own

Seriously though, I resorted to a degree of improvisation this time to come up with this dough.  And all be it, these are healthier ingredient choices, they've got to taste good together {it was more or less a gamble at this point...call it a cookie and they'll eat it right?}  Just don't go too far, the kids and husband {after all he's known to be quite smart} will catch on if you start serving green cookies with spinach and broccoli in them, and no; you can't even pass these off at St.Patties Day or Halloween no matter how far you dice, or puree the veggies!

Honestly, I didn't have much of anything to make any sort of specific cookie, just a lot of small quanities remaining to choose from so I opted to throw them all together! ...Along with some other stuff to bulk it up, add some sweetness a little texture and less guilt when I decidely opt to eat more than the average two accompanied by a tall glass of milk.

Here's what you'll need - and don't get fancy on the measuring; as I said earlier it was "a little bit of this and a little bit of that"...

In a large mixing bowl incorporate everything:  Go on, all at once now...

1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp each - baking soda & baking powder
1 c. quick cooking oats (OR Special K 5 grain cereal is really good too for extra crunch or any other flake cereal you have on hand)
3/4.  chocolatey sweetness (my choice...chocolate chips, but you could also use rainbow sprinkles, spitz chocolate coated sunflower seeds etc.)
1/3 - 1/2 c. raisins (they're little, so we went long)
1/2 c. finely diced apple chunks, peel on
1/3 c. medium shredded coconut
1/2 c. unpacked yellow sugar (brown sugar)
1/2 c. granulated white sugar

Then, throw in 1 large egg {shell off, you know what I mean don't get cheeky now}
If it is too dry, add in second egg.
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. warmed (but not melted) butter or margarine (or peanut butter).

Mix it all together, Now here's the part the kids love-  knead it together with your hands, get messy, get mucky to incorporate everything.  Roll  the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2-3 inches apart for 12-15 minutes or until golden at 350 degrees F.

Cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool down the rest of the way. 

{I rotate my sheets around in my oven, top to bottom and spin them around too to even out baking...you can't tell me that your oven doesn't have a favorite hot spot destination?}

You should end up with a deliciously moist cookie.  Our batches yielded between 24-28 cookies.

Enjoy!

DIY Pancake Breakfast

It was an early start to the day to prepare these sweet little stacks of pancakes for the kids, but every bit worth seeing their reaction when they walked into the kitchen.  While working on the other plays on words I thought about so many types of foods or treats that could have little phrases to go with  and this is the one that first came to mind for pancakes.

After designing and printing out the tags on card stock, I punched them using my trusty 2" round punch and then mounted them to a popsicle stick with a glue dot.  Come breakfast time I divided the batter into 2 bowls and added gel food colour to get a rosey pink for one bowl.  Into the skillet in small dollar size rounds and piled high, I served them alternately with the original pancakes dripping with maple syrup and mini heart quinns (sprinkles.)  I stuck in a topper into each short stack and served them up to start off their special day!

Happy Valentines Day! Hope Your day is as sweet as mine!

Fun with Words Class Valentines

As usual I tend to go overboard {no pun intended...} when it comes to class activities and festivities for both my children. Now that my youngest is in kindergarten I had to do something totally quirky and fun for him to dish out to all this classmates...and what better time to share the love than Valentines Day! My girl had some fun little goodies to hand out too, but she opted for a more complex creation {I must have had sucker written all over my face...the things we do for our kids!}.

Admit it - Less Talking, More Doing.

Lately, I find myself searching and searching for ideas on what to bake up and present here to you. Honestly it's been bothering me because I'm afraid that what I put out her has to polished and perfect, then I realized that I'm just like everyone else...I'm your "Average Jo" - literally! {Jo's my name...really}. Plus, I am still trying to figure out all the ins and outs of this Blog.

I've gotten myself into a little predicament too... I was flipping through pictures and realized that I am not who I wish I could want to be. {Superficial! You're probably thinking} I know, only I can change this. I have to want to change and  I think nows the time, heaven knows I'm not getting any younger {and my knees told me that a week ago at my weekly volleyball night}!   

Rock Candy

Photo courtesy of http://www.megahowto.com/how-to-make-rock-candy, photo editing & enhancement by ME.

Some how my children and I got onto the topic of candy, perhaps it was a plea in disguise for me to let them eat junk for bed time snack instead of the fruit they ended up getting. Regardless, they wanted to "do" something so we opted to take a rip at making our own rock candy. How hard could it be?