Oohey-Gooey Peanut Butter Cookies

Two food posts in ONE day, say whaaat?

I just couldn't not share this recipe immediately! I just made these Peanut Butter cookies last night and they are pretty amazing. Like, so amazing that I had to put them out of my sight so I would stop eating them!



Yesterday I had grabbed this Skippy Natural Peanut Butter from Walmart, and as you can see I grabbed a couple of other things as well! Like the Skippy Baking Cups because, why not have pre measured peanut butter for when I am making treats? And the Skippy PB Bites because, why not? Who doesn't love a bite of peanut butter that you can just toss in your mouth?



YA, we taste tested and they are kid AND mom approved!



So we got right to baking! Starting off with one bowl, getting the ingredients mixed well!



And a second bowl together the remaining ingredients



Then combine the two together



Scoop the cookie mix onto your cookie sheet



While your cookies are baking, mix together the powdered sugar and peanut butter for the filling



YUM!



Now flip half of the cookies



Add peanut butter



And top with the second cookie



And squish them together



Then try not to eat them all!

• 1½ cups quick oats


• ½ cup flour


• ½ cup sugar


• ½ cup brown sugar


• ½ teaspoon baking powder


• ½ teaspoon baking soda


• ½ teaspoon salt


• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract


• ½ cup Skippy Natural peanut butter (creamy)


• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened


• 1 egg

For the peanut butter filling:

• ½ cup powdered sugar


• 1 cup creamy peanut butter**

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F.


2. In a medium size bowl, stir together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.


3. In another bowl, mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg, peanut butter, and vanilla.


4. Mix the two bowls together, just until combined.


5. Using a cookie scoop, place teaspoons of the mix onto a cookie sheet. (I used a spoon to flatten out my cookies, other wise they might not be as flat as these)


6. Bake for 8 minutes then let cool.


7. Once you have your first batch cooking, Mix together the powdered sugar and peanut butter for about 3-5 minutes.


8. After cookies are cooled flip half of the cookies upside down. Add about a tablespoon of filling to each upside down cookie then place a second cookie on top of filling and press together.

*Recipe from bromabakery.com

**One thing to note is that the original recipes says to NOT use Natural PB for the filling part of the recipe, so I didn't. But I did use Natural PB for the cookies.

What are your favorite peanut putter treats? Check out PeanutButter.com to get a coupon and find more peanut butter recipes!

One Pan Mexican Quinoa

I can't believe it is almost Christmas! Who is ready? I am, I am! I decorated the house early this year and made treats, had Tyler's Christmas program at school, got shopping done early, I m in the spirit! However, I still have all of my wrapping to do and I'm hoping to get it done in the next couple of days during "quiet time".

But for now, I am going to share this awesome recipe with you. When I first started 21 Day Fix I was searching high and low to find recipes that I could make for myself but also for my family. I was making one thing for my husband and kids and another thing for me. And while sometimes that is okay, and it works out, sometimes it is just a pain in the butt!

I really wanted to find more meals that we would all enjoy together. And I'm not going to lie. This wasn't a favorite by everyone in the house. My husband hears the word "quinoa" and instantly backs away, and that is okay. We've had some interesting experiences with quinoa in the past so I get that he is hesitant! And Tyler and Zach didn't love it either, though they did eat what was on their plate, they weren't asking for seconds!

But my little eater, Summer, loved this One Pan Mexican Quinoa as much as I did. It is a tad bit spicy but even that didn't deter her, she loved it. One a plus side since the guys don't like it, it means more for me. I separate it into a few dishes and I eat it for lunch or dinner over the next few days.


You'll start with some olive oil over medium heat and cooking your garlic and jalapeno.



Then you add everything else into the pan.



And let it cook



Then add the avocado, lime juice and cilantro. (I actually skip the cilantro because I don't LOVE it)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 1 jalapeno, minced


• 1 cup quinoa


• 1 cup vegetable broth


• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes


• 1 cup corn kernels


• 1 teaspoon chili powder


• 1/2 teaspoon cumin


• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


• 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced


• Juice of 1 lime


• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Heat olive oil in a LARGE skillet over medium high heat.


2. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.


3. Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste.


4. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes.


5. Stir in avocado and lime juice

This makes a lot! And it is a little spicy but it is so delicious! A great recipe to try if you are doing 21 Day Fix or just looking for a healthy dinner! Give it a try and let me know what you think!

What is your favorite way to eat Quinoa?

Gifting Yankee Candle to the Car Lover in your life

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveAmericanHome #CollectiveBias

Christmas is right around the corner, my friends! Who is ready?

I very rarely get my shopping done early but this year the kids had pretty quick and to the point ideas on what they were hoping to find under the Christmas tree come December 25th. That makes it nice and easy to shop for them. Especially since I an get most of it done from the comfort of my own home and without little eyes watching me. After Summer shopped with me for Tyler's birthday and then told him most of the things he was getting, I didn't want a repeat so online shopping was mainly where it was at this year!

But one person that I always struggle to buy for is my husband. Ladies, I'm sure you can relate to this, yes? If not your spouse, then maybe it is your dad? Or brother? No matter who it is I have a awesome solution to make shopping for the guy in your life quick and easy.



Travis is the kind of guy that if he needs something, he goes and gets it. So when holidays come around I am always struggling to get him something fun, that he isn't going to expect. But I'll admit that we've had our share of duds. Like for Father's Day when we bought him golf clubs, which I was so excited about. But he has never golfed before and still hasn't....

So why make this hard on yourself? Instead, gift Yankee Candle® to the car lover in your life! Travis got a new truck not too long ago and so the timing couldn't have been better.

I headed to my local Walmart to grab a few items to make the perfect car themed gift basket.  Starting with the Yankee Candle® brand fragrances.



I love Yankee Candle® and have been using the Car Jar fragrances in my car for years. Clean Cotton all the way! You might even find a few clean cotton candles through out my house because I love the fresh clean linen freshness that it gives off! And they are not only perfect for the car, but other small spaces like linen closets!

This time, since I was buying for my husband after all, I decided to buy the Macintosh Apple because I knew he would like to have the change and I'll probably steal the clean cotton from him anyway. And they were easy to find in the Air Care aisle of your local Walmart.



I also grabbed a few other necessities. A bucket, wash and scrub sponge, rags, tire shine, cleaner, window scraper, wet ones and tissues. I even added in a fun little Hula doll!





So now I have a fun, easy and inexpensive gift for not only my husband but any car lover out there.

Now I have shared my ideas for the hard to buy for shopper in my life, What do you get the hard to buy for shopper in yours?

Turning everyday moments into #FeelGooder Moments with Zone Perfect

I feel like so often people think that they have to get or receive something in order to feel good. Something has to be "happening" for them to feel good. But that is not true. Sure, those times when someone does something nice for you it does make you feel good and maybe even make you want to pay if forward. But why wait until someone does something for you? Why not start that chain yourself?



Everyone wants those moments that make them feel good about themselves, about their relationships, about their life choices.

A few of my favorite things are:

Getting a pedicure
Getting my hair cut and/or colored
Exercising
Eating healthy food
Going to a movie with the kids
Having a date night with my husband

You get the drift, yes?

But what about even smaller moments? The #FeelGooder moments?

Like eating healthy food and starting my kids off on making good food choices while they are young.
Buying the persons coffee that is in line behind me.
Renting a movie and eating popcorn on the couch with my husband and kids.
Or coloring in a coloring book with the kids.
Making a holiday countdown.
Making holiday treats to share with our friends and family.
Filling a paper bag with food and toiletries to donate to a shelter.

If you ever look on Pinterest you have probably seen something called a "Blessings Bag". It is where you take a Gallon size bag (or something similar) and you fill it with items that a homeless person could use. With it getting colder rapidly in the Pacific North West it is a great time to donate items to the shelter, or if you see a person on the side of the road asking for help. So I decided to put together some of these little bags to help out people in need.



Some of the items I decided to put in my bag include:

Deodorant
razors
Shaving cream
Shampoo
Conditioner
Chap stick
Hand Sanitizer
Body Wash
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Mouthwash
Granola Bars
Hair ties
Face wash

I will also be adding brand new socks and some cotton gloves, but I didn't have any to show for my picture.



One thing I wanted to add in was Granola bars.



While I think any kind would be great, I picked the Perfectly Simple because of the ingredients in them and because they are packed with protein while still lower calorie to help keep you full for longer. They are individually wrapped which are perfect to put a couple inside of a Blessings Bag. And they come in four great flavors:

• Almond Toffee Crunch
• Bing Cherry & Almond
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk
• Roasted Cashew & Dark Chocolate

I have tried all 4 flavors and I will say that the Oatmeal Chocolate Crunch is the best!!

Want a coupon to get $1 off of your own Perfectly Simple granola bars? Get it HERE!

What do you do to create #feelgooder moments in your life?

Rubbermaid Party Platter and Garlic Roasted Shrimp

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TraditionsToGo #CollectiveBias

Happy December my friends. I cannot believe another month has come and gone. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are staying warm while getting ready for Christmas. I have to admit that I did some Thanksgiving night shopping. I had never done that before but I thought it would be fun to take my 13 year old and head out and see what was available when we got to the store and I was surprised at how many things we managed to get off of our list.

And I don't want to brag or anything (maybe I do a little...) But with the exception of my dad, my holiday shopping is DONE! Ya, it's the first of December and my shopping is DONE! That has never before, in the history of my life, happened before! Now I am just going to sit back and relax and enjoy the festivities. Oh, and wrap presents....

For Thanksgiving this year we went to my husbands aunt's house. I have to say that as much as I love hosting the holidays, it is always nice to let someone else host and I just get to bring a dish or two. It takes some of the pressure off and I get to enjoy it more.

This year was no different. I made the amazing Garlic Roasted Shrimp that my grandma made for years. It has been a family favorite for longer than I can even remember and though she has been gone for a long time, it is a tradition that I will carry on for years to come!



I headed to Fred Meyer to pick up this awesome Rubbermaid Party Platter that I have had my eye on. I've been meaning to grab it and kept putting it off and when I got to the store it was the last one on the shelf. No kidding, it was my lucky day!

The thing I love about this Rubbermaid Party Platter is that it is light weight and easy to use. I love that I can fill it with four different foods if I want and have a place for a dip in the middle and I don't have to worry about it spilling. t made it especially nice to get my shrimp and cocktail sauce safely to its destination!



So easy to make, and delicious. They are always a hit for any event I take them to and they don't last long!



I remember thinking that these must be complicated to make. But really, they couldn't be any easier.

Ingredients

 

Shrimp:

• 2 lbs. of Shrimp (I buy the ones with the shells, but remove them)


• 4 garlic cloves, minced


• 3 Tbsp of Olive Oil


• 1/4 tsp of ground red pepper


• 1 teaspoon of dry basil


• salt and pepper

Cocktail sauce:

• 1 C. Ketchup


• 1/2 C. Horseradish


• 1/4 C. Chili Sauce


• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

 

Preheat oven to 350°. Thaw shrimp in cold water and remove shell. In a separate bowl, add garlic, oil, red pepper, salt and pepper and basil, mixing until combined. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Spread shrimp on cookie sheet sprayed with non stick cooking spray and cook for 10 minutes.

For Cocktail sauce, combine all ingredients, mixing well. Refrigerate to combine flavors.



I also wanted to share a fun and easy craft.



I bought a yard of burlap because I decided I wanted to make a banner. Buuut then, I found these awesome prepacked pieces and that just made it soo much easier because it already had the precut string and premade holes! So I grabbed two packages, came home and cut the letters with my Cricut and ironed them on.

One thing I've learned about using iron on vinyl is the time you leave the iron on isn't as important is how hard you press down on the iron. Also, after you move the iron, let the plastic sit for a moment (at least 10 seconds) before pulling it back. Just my two cents!



Now I am all ready for the holidays!

How would you use the Rubbermaid Party Platters to take your traditions on the go? I'd love if you would share your ideas!

Pull Apart Pizza Bites

It is time to share my recipe for The Secret Recipe Club again and I think this one is a recipe that any parent can appreciate.

Most all kids love Pizza and mine are no exception. So when I am looking for a good recipe I am looking for a few different things. One is that it is easy to make. Another is that it won't take forever. And last, if my family will eat it.

I loved looking over Our Good Life's recipes because there are so many to choose from that fit into the above criteria. These Chocolate Amaretto Creams look amazing and so do these Lemon Bits Oatmeal Cookies, But I finally settled on the Pull Apart Pizza. It just sounds fun, right? Terri loves to bake along with traveling, reading and decorating. Sounds like my kind of friend!



It is super easy because it has very few ingredients, which I like!



Cut up the biscuits. I chose to cut them into 6 since I am using the mini pans.



Chop up the pepperonis



Mix everything together







Put the mixture into the (sprayed) mini pans



Bake on 350 for 19 minutes



Cool for a few minutes and then flip over to remove pizza. I had to use a knife on a couple to get them to come out!



Pull Apart Pizza Bites

• 4 T extra virgin olive oil


• 1 t Italian seasoning


• 1/2 t garlic powder


• 2 cans of biscuits


• 40 slices of pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni)


• 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°


2. Cut each biscuit into 4 or 6 pieces.


3. Cut pepperoni into small pieces


4. Add olive oil, Italian season, garlic powder and cheese to the bowl and mix


5. Add biscuits and pepperoni and stir until well coated


6. Spray your pan with cooking spray then add biscuits


7. Bake for approx. 20-25 minutes


8. Flip pan over plate to remove pepperoni pizza bites

So as you can see I used a pan that made 6 individual Pull apart pizzas. I cut the recipe exactly in half and it worked perfectly for the amount I needed. I also cut down the baking time to about 18-19 minutes and I lowered the original heat from 400 to 350 and it was plenty hot! I think even if you were doing the large pan you could cut the temp to 350°.



Now that I have shared my recipe, check out the other below!