Waffle Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's 105 outside and you really want chocolate chip cookies but dread heating up your kitchen with the stove. Well now you don't have to, unless that is, you don't have a waffle maker, then I feel sorry for you. 


This recipe is super easy and taste great. These cookies are great for dunking into a big ice cold glass of milk.  Let them cool and they will be crunchy. At first, they feel... well,... like waffles. Soft. But then as they cool, they get crispy like cookies. 


The dough is more a batter than a dough. But don't let that fool you. It will be a little watery after you mix all the ingredients together and you can even place it in the fridge while preheating your waffle maker, so the dough will set a little.


I recommend using mini chocolate chips or chocolate chunks for this version.


You really have to keep an eye on these. They burn fast! Of course, it depends on the temperature setting of your waffle maker, but you should know your little gadget and adjust the settings as needed. 


It's a fun way to cheat the heat and still enjoy a crunchy cookie! 

Waffle Chocolate Chunk Cookies

makes: about 3 dozen

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c granulated sugar

1/2 c butter, melted

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 c mini chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar ( I used 1/2 bar of Hershey Special Dark )

In a microwave-safe measuring cup, melt 1/2 cup of butter. 

Pour it into a medium mixing bowl. Set aside

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients ( flour, soda and salt ).

Add chocolate chips or chunks to dry ingredients. Stir.

Add both sugars to your melted butter and stir together until smooth. 

Add egg and vanilla and stir again.

Add the dry ingredients with chocolate and fold it in. Do not over mix.

You can place the bowl with your dough in the fridge while preheating your waffle maker.

Scoop the dough by teaspoons and bake for about 2 minutes. 

Check on the cookies, they burn fast! You can bake them for another 30 seconds if you want them more brown and eventually more crunchy.

Let cool on a wire rack. They will crispy up as they cool.

Dove Body Wash-DIY Style

So lately I've been making more products myself that I would normally buy in order to save money.  This adventure was homemade body wash.  I had no idea it was going to make so much, as the blog I followed didn't say how much it made in the end, just that she "allot." Vague.

You will need
- 8 oz bar of soap (any bar will do, but read the label to make sure you are using 8 oz. For some soaps that’s one bar and others it’s 2 or 3 bars) I used 2 bars
- 2 Tbsp of Glycerin (found by the band aides and not soap aisle, found mine at CVS)
- 1 gallon (16 Cups of Water)
- Stock Pot (large one)
- Containers for soap (example milk jug)

1. Grate your soap like its cheese (use cheese grater or cut up very small chunks).  Put in stock pot with the water and glycerin.  Heat on Medium until all of the soap is dissolved (if you grate it goes faster)


2. When all is dissolved, you will have what looks like soapy water (that’s normal)









3. Take off the heat and let cool for 10-12 hrs
4. After the cool down it should be thick

5. Beat with hand mixer, adding as much water as you want in order to get what consistency you desired. 

After being mixed. While its mixing you
can add more water to thin it out, thus
making more body wash.

6. At this point you can add in perfume and fragrances
7. Funnel in to a container

Caroline getting in on the action.

This is what I ended up with when I was done. I used a variety
of containers just so I could get it put away.  Next time ill know
to save jugs.

Cost:

2 bars of soap $3.00

Glycerin $5.00

Total: $8.00

This supply should last me quite some time. I would say its totally worth making considering  one bottle of dove body wash is around $3-5 depending on size. 

Coming up next.....homemade fabric softener and reusable shopping bags made from dog food bags.

Home Made Soap

These are what you need to buy.

So it order for us to save some money and become more earth friendly, I decided to try making my own laundry soap. I know a couple people who have made this and love it, so here it is!

4  Cups - hot tap water

1  Fels-Naptha soap bar-grated
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. 

No it's not cheese :) It's the grated soap. 

Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. 

This is what it will look like after adding the hot water.

This is what it looks
like the next day, jell. 

Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

1/4 cup for front load machine.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

These are the only jugs I have,
 and I still have 1/2 a bucket
left of solution. 

*Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!

Borax- $2.98

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda- $3.29

Fels-Naptha bar soap $.98

Total: $ 7.25 

So, how many of you spend at least $7.00 on a jug of laundry soap?

I can make at least 6 more batches of soap with the 1 box of borax and 1 box of washing soda. As you can see, this will save you lots of money, and its super easy! It smells pretty good as is, but as you read above, you can add essential oils to make it smell pretty. Hope you give it a try!

Missing? No. Busy? Very much so!

Holy cow its been almost a year since ive "blogged." As many of you know, ive been a little busy with my new little wonderful bundle of joy!
Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen? I think so :)

So since i've become a full-time stay at home mom/part time nurse, i've decided to GO GREEN! My new few blogs will be about going green and what you can do to help out.  We are doing our part by using cloth diapers and wipes, more to come on that topic!

Just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and didn't quite forget about this page. Maybe now i'll have a little more (or less) time to  tend to this.

Hope everyone has had a great year and I look forward to hearing your thoughts or ideas about going green or even some recipies you would like to see, whatever!

Cheesy Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Bake

One word. YUM.  Enough said.

I love this time of year when all the produce is fresh and taste amazing. So I decided tonight I would attempt to create something amazing with amazing items.

Cheesy Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Bake

2 table spoons minced garlic

2 table spoons EVOO

1/2 large onion-chopped

1 side each of yellow, green and red bell pepper-chopped

1 1/2 chicken breast-cubed

(I had a 3 pack of chicken breast and that was going to be too much, so I saved the other 1 1/2 chicken breast for another meal. 1 package, 2 meals)

1 large bunch fresh spinach-chopped with stems removed

1 can artichoke hearts-drained and chopped

1 small can mushrooms-drained

1/2 cup light sour cream

1 table spoon spicy brown mustard

1/4 cup fat free feta (optional)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup croutons

In a large pan place EVOO, garlic and onion. Cook until onion is soft.  Added chicken, salt and pepper and cook until chicken is no longer pink.  Next, add the bell peppers, mushrooms, artichokes and spinach.  Place lid on pan and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally until spinach is wilted.

In a small bowl, mix sour cream, mustard, feta and 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Add sour cream mixture to pan and mix until everything is covered. Place mixture into a greased baking dish and top with croutons and rest of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling.  Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes.  Enjoy!!

Pizza Pizza!

Everyone should know that my husband LOVES pizza. He could and would eat pizza every day of the week if I let him and if he were a blubbery slob, but he's not.  So today I gave him two choices for dinner: Pizza, or Quiche. With an instant PIZZA! I knew I had to get to planning.  Since he's a growing man and can eat whatever he wants and doesn't get the extra baggage like some of us do, I decided to an extra ingredient for his side of the pizza-prosciutto. We already had an abundance of fresh vegetables and herbs (from the garden) so I didn't have much shopping to do in that area. 

Homemade Pizza Sauce

5-6 large Roma tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

3-5 leaves fresh basil (depending on how you want it to taste)

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until mixed.

This is where I think I might change it next time. I would strain off some of the juice with a cheese cloth or sifter because there was allot of juice after the pizza was done baking, making the crust more soft than we would have liked.   But either way, it was all good, how do you know for sure? Because all I heard while I was eating was Mmmmm, Mmmmm, this is so good lover :)

So for the pizza dough I used a packet of yeast "Specially designed for making pizza" (that's what it said on the package).  I thought, okay no waiting around for it to rise, I can just mix it all up and slap it on the pizza pan...well it was that easy, except when I removed the pizza from the oven, the only think that changed about the crust around the edge was that it got hard, no rise, no chewy dough, just crispy extras.  It was good, but I was hoping for something a little more thicker.  I'm wondering if it was because I used whole-wheat flour instead of the all-purpose flour that the packet of yeast called for. Who knows.  I used cornmeal and flour when I rolled the dough out, hoping it would make the bottom and top more crispy/less gooey.  But that didn't seem to matter.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Follow the instructions on the packet of yeast if you don't want to use whole wheat flour.  I used whole wheat flour and a tablespoon of flaxseed meal to "make it healthier". 

My husband loves meat, all types and lots of it.  So this is how the pizza was layered.  I placed a thin layer of provolone cheese across the entire bottom. Then on his side I placed  prosciutto, then all the veggies (green, yellow and red bell peppers, mushrooms, black lives, onions and some sliced basil). I did all the same veggies on my side.  Then I added slices of turkey pepperoni to my side and then almost half a package of regular pepperoni to his side. After all the veggies were on, a generous amount of mozzarella cheese and few sprinkles of Parmesan cheese were added to the top. 

So I threw the pizza in the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes or until I noticed that the cheese was "golden brown" and there were juices bubbling over the edge. The house smelled amazing and I was getting hungry!

And so, there we have it. A homemade, semi-healthy pizza made with love. Needless to say this pizza will be gone in 2 days, but I would much rather make a pizza like this anytime instead of buying a greasy pizza with processed meats and sauces. Nothing beats a homemade pizza and you know what ingredients are in it. Overall, DELISH!

So this is my FIRST ever official blog. I never thought I would have a blog, but then again anything is possible.  I've decided that my blogs will be about meals i've cooked for my husband and I, or just for myself. The blogs are endless and I hope to be wonderful.


On the menu tonight, well lets just say it's not a "common" meal that one would make, but I like variety in my meals. So tonight we had home made butternut squash soup and what I call "Pacos Fish Tacos."  Over-all its a very healthy meal, no preservatives and everything was fresh.  


Butternut Squash Soup


1 large butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut in small cubes.
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 TBS green onions
2TBS purple onions
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup chicken-broth (may add more depending on how thick you would like it)
salt and pepper 


Place the garlic and onions in a large pot and cook until soft.  Add squash and water and cook until soft-took about 20 minutes on medium heat, i left the lid on.  
Place entire pot of "goodness" into a food processor and blend until smooth.  Return mixture to pot and place on low heat.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer on low for about 10 more minutes and enjoy.  You can garnish with chopped green onions or oyster crackers.  




Paco's Fish Tacos (nope, don't know a Paco!)


2 pounds grouper fish fillets or whatever kind of fish you like
Cooking spray
Salt and pepper
1 lime
Hot sauce
Bib or green leaf lettuce leaves, for wrapping
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 cup cilantro leaves
3 sprigs fresh mint
3 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, finely chopped

Heat grill pan or nonstick skillet over high heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray. Place fish on grill, season with salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes on each side, until opaque.

Arrange lettuce leaves on a platter. Place jalapeno in a food processor with cilantro, mint, mustard and vinegar. Turn processor on and stream in oil. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Take the fish off grill and place on a serving plate. Break the fish into chunks and squeeze lime juice over fish. Add a few dashes hot sauce to the fish.

Pile fish in lettuce leaves and top with sauce and chopped red onions.

These actually turned out to be quite amazing, as did all of it. If you don't like hot sauce, don't add it. I give my husband the bottle of hot sauce and he adds what he wants, that way I can enjoy my food without having to chase it with a gallon of milk.