{the best} chocolate chip cookies...

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Nestle's version of chocolate chip cookies, but {strangely enough} I like Weight Watchers version better!! The recipe is from their Best Ever Desserts Cookbook, which we use all-the-time! They have a fabulous version of strawberry ice cream and cheesecake and so much more!!

This recipe calls for some interesting and surprising ingredients. When I tell people what they are made of they are usually surprised {and excited}!!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies
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Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Adapted From: WeightWatchers Best-Ever Desserts

Ingredients
½ C quick-cooking (not instant) oats
1 C all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
4 TBSP unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¾ C packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅛ C white chocolate chips
⅛ C milk chocolate chips
(Or whatever type of chips you like)

Directions
- Preheat over to 350degrees.
- Put oats in a blinder and process until finely ground*. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl; set aside. with an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until blended.  Add the flour mixture and beat until blended. Add chocolate chips.
- Drop the dough onto cookie sheet one tablespoon at a time. With a glass dipped in flour press down each cookie into a 2 inch round.
-Bake until lightly browned along the edges, 9-11 minutes.
- Let cool on sheet for 1 minute then transfer to cooling rack for further coling.

As directed - 2 points per cookie.

*I buy quick oats, grind them all at once, and put them back in the container so when I go to make my cookie it is easier!!

sunday morning crepes {first}...

I seem to recently be going with the theme of "I've wanted to/have thought of trying {insert food here} for a while and I finally am!

I'd bought some crepe mix a few months ago at World Market. Yesterday I decided tomorrow was going to be the day to make crepes. I'd never made them before and only had them once in Paris...so I was worried it might take a while to perfect. Now, I did use a mix and I am really glad I did. At least now if I do try to make my own I'll know what the desired consistency should be! My husband went a little picture crazy {83 photos}...I couldn't be more proud. I'm finally converting him into a picture taker!!

In our crepes we had strawberry cream cheese (hand blended) and Nutella. The husband had never had Nutella until today...and he is hooked! We also had some fresh strawberries on top. In my life, it is a close tie between peanut butter & chocolate VS strawberries & chocolate...I don't know if I could ever honestly decide.

To make the strawberry cream cheese I took 4oz cream cheese and added 4 strawberries and 1 packet Truvia. It was perfectly sweet and tart. The Nutella was just regular Nutella.

I read the directions about 10 times and felt I was ready for any disaster...and none happened! We will certainly be having crepes again in the future!! The great thing about them is you can put whatever you please on them! Maybe next time I'll let Jason pick the toppings...maybe...

Strawberry cream cheese.

Pouring the crepes!! It went wonderfully!

store the crepes between wax paper.

then they don't stick to each other and it helps them keep warm.

Jason's!

My last one.

So delicious!!

Chocolate Scotcharoos...

I'd been craving this treat for a very, very long time. Funny enough I had everything for this treat in my pantry beside the Rice Krispies...I had bought the Karo Syrup a few months ago, that's how long I've had this on my mind!!

This is one of my favorites!! Peanut butter. Chocolate. Butter Scotch. Man, now I'm craving them again!!

CHOCOLATE SCOTCHAROOS
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Ingredients
For the Krispies
1 C Sugar
1 C Karo Light Syrup
1 C Creamy Peanut Butter
6 C Rice Krispies
For the Topping
1 C Butterscotch Chips
1 C Milk Chocolate Chips

Directions
Bring 1 C Sugar and 1 C Karo Light Syrup just to a boil, mixing well and stirring occasionally. Take off heat  and add 1 C creamy peanut butter and mix until smooth.

Add 6 cups Rice Krispies and mix until the krispies are coated well.

Put this mixture into a well greased 9 X 13 pan and press down evenly into the pan.

To make the topping you can either melt the 1 C butterscotch and 1 C milk chocolate chips together in a pan on the stove top or in the microwave. If using the microwave make sure to use 30% POWER, so that you will not burn the chocolates.

Pour the chocolates mixture over the top of the pressed down PB Krispies. Let chocolate cool and harden, then cut into 2 X 1 square and enjoy!!

Fun Frames ~ Egg Hunt

Keeping up with my Fun Frames has been really fun! This holiday {Easter} was hard for me to pick a word. I really wanted 'hippity hop' but I didn't have enough frames, and I don't think that many would even fit on the shelf. I decided on 'egg hunt' after seeing some awesome scrapbook paper at Craft Warehouse.

See Easter, for us, is about celebrating spring, family, growing, and a cute little bunny :) I called it "bunny day" and I wouldn't have it any other way. Wow, totally didn't mean to rhyme! Remember LAST YEAR's dessert?? I'm still deciding how to top that!!

Fun Frames with some additional decor {more on those later}

I'm in LOVE with my teddy bear rabbit! Also, this is the first 'subway art' I've created. It isn't quite as good as the girls at eighteen25 do, but it is a start :)

Rainbow Birthday Cake!!!

I've basically been plotting this cake for a year, maybe more...I can't remember when I first saw it here ~ at Almota Roses and here ~ at i am baker. I feel in love. I love rainbows. L.O.V.E them. Kind of (still) want a tattoo of one but I'm too chicken to do it. I've been known to pull over to take pictures of rainbows...okay, you get it :)

For some reason I was craving boxed cake, maybe it was because that's what I grew up on. More than likely it was the fact that my birthday was on a Wednesday and I didn't want to make a "from scratch" cake during the week. I also used canned frosting (gasp!) but I was CRAVING sugar...hum...weird.

Anyways, I had a blast making this cake. I used one boxed white cake in the 6 inch round cake pans from some Wilton decorating class I took. I'm not sure I'd readily make this for tons of other people but it certainly has that WOW! factor once it is opened.

Preparing the cake.

Tasty rainbow!

Teddy bear sprinkles!!!

It is GORGEOUS!!!

Taste the rainbow :)

love it.

crafty carrots...

Even as I type the post title it seems a bit weird. I was inspired by Martha's crepe-paper-carrots but thinking about my desire to use what I already have in the house for projects. Mine are certainly not as cute but they aren't too bad either :)

Directions

*The inside of the carrot color doesn't matter since you won't be able to see it. I only had 1 sheet of orange left so I used yellow on the inside.

1. Materials - 1 standard piece orange tissue paper. 1 standard piece other color tissue paper*. 10 pieces green tulle, cut into 2X6 inch pieces.

2. Cut inside tissue paper {color doesn't matter since it won't show} into 1/4ths.

3. Pinch tissue squares in the middle, crating a cone shape.

4. Gather open end of tissue paper sphere.

5. Using double sided tape adhere orange tissue paper to the inside color. Roll until the carrot looks whole.

6. Cut of excess.

7. Using double sided tape adhere the green tulle to the yellow part of the carrot.

8. Cut 1/4 inch strip of orange tissue paper and wrap around the shaft between the tulle and orange tissue paper.

shhh...I've had the flu :(

It's been pretty quiet over here because as the title of this post says, I've had the flu. This is my second fight with some version of it this year. Though it isn't as bad as in September when I was sick for 5 weeks, I'm currently on day 8 and on the up swing :)

I did feel better by yesterday, better enough to host a Pampered Chef Party! I'd never hosted anything before and it was really exciting to get to use some of the gifts we got for the wedding (which was over 1.5 years ago...). My friends from work came over, along with my Mom. Our consultant, Sara Califf, was great!!

The chocolate fountain was a hit, though a bit messy and troublesome at the beginning. It wasn't working quite right so I read the directions (duh!) and voila! problem solved. What was happening was it didn't have a "curtain" affect - because it had air bubbles in the center shaft where the auger is. After switching off the power for 10 seconds and then restarting it it worked like a charm. I am so happy. It was a bit messy to clean up so I"m not sure I'd want to take it anywhere else besides my own house...we will have to see.

I had 5 items you could dip in the chocolate - strawberries, graham crackers, pretzel rods broken into 3 inch pieces, Nutty cookies (the ones shaped like a peanut with PB inside), and marsh mellows.