Healthier Choc Chip Cookies

Hot. Fresh. Gooey. All over your face, Choc Chip Cookies. My M-K loves his chocolate chip cookies; always has and always will. I make a batch at least once a week for him and he is one happy camper! But the sugar, the butter, the eggs, was not helping his waistline, nor mine for that matter. I am a little nutty when it comes to healthy eating and I kee the junkfood at our house at a minimum, this however is one exception. With a little expirimenting, some adjusting and a lot of wasted flopped batches, I have finally come up with a recipe that makes us not feel so guilty about eating these little round blobs of YUM. It is the basic Tollhouse recipe that I have been using but better!

* You will quickly find that I am always searching for ways to improve the best. Sometimes I win and sometimes I fail but I love the challenge and seeing different outcomes!*

*Not-So-Pudgy-Hubby Chocolate Chip Cookies*

WET INGRIDENTS

• 
  
  .5 cup butter or butter substitute, we use Smart Balance Light


• 
  
  .5 cup natural apple sauce


• 
  
  2 egg whites


• 
  
  1 tsp vanilla


• 
  
  .33 cup white and brown sugar, each

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 
  
  2.25 cups unbleached flour


• 
  
  1 tsp baking soda


• 
  
  1 tsp salt


• 
  
  your favorite chocolate, or any flavor of chips

Preheat overn to 375 F. Cream the butter and sugar together for a minute or two. Add the apple sauce and mix. Add the egg whites and vanilla, then mix. It will be very liquidy and you may have to scrape the bottom of your bowl to incorporate all the ingridents together before adding the dry.

Add one cup of the flour and mix. I usually add my baking soda and salt now and mix again. Add the last of the flour and mix well. Sometimes I will add more flour depending on the consistency. If it seems wet I add an eighth of a cup of flour at each time, mixing in between. REMEMBER that it will not look like traditional dough that we are all used to. Once it is to your liking, stir in your chips of choice. Spoon onto your baking pan and bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

The cookies will not look like your traditional cookies. They will be round and almost cakey looking. But believe me, they will taste amazing and you will never know all of the shortcuts that you used. Pair them up with a glass of milk, we drink soy and rice, and you have a perfect end to a day! Enjoy!

The small things

You know what I love?

I love waking up on Saturday and enjoying the smell of fresh coffee. I love snuggling in bed with M-K. I love not hearing my alarm go off at 6AM. I love running around in my p.j's, no makeup, hair a little frightful and not having to conform to the rules of the average 9-5 day. I love that it is raining here in Seattle because it is a perfect excuse not to go anywhere at all.

That is what I love.

The sharper the better!

After quite a while of being MIA I feel the need to start my blog up. I have been crafting my heart out and need somewhere to share, vent and reflect.
Please stay tuned for more to come!

The clock strikes 12

I've been putting it off too long and I need to write, recap and share.

Let me just say that I hope everyone had a grand weekend! My weekend was filled with laughs, hugs, talks, Harley's, wind, too many beers and great food! Wow, that was a mouth full.
I love seeing my dad and miss him far too much. I don't get home as much as I would like and it is starting to pay a toll on me.

The familiar sounds, sights and being able to relax! Sometimes I forget how much I need my breaks from the real world, normality, bills, and life.

I also was able to see my grandparents. I love their home. My grandma has been very good about keeping and holding on to items that i grew up with. I always feel and touch my way around and daydream about when I was 4 years old, running around with not a care in the world. but sadly they are moving down to California to be closer to my great grandma. Its a wise choice and now I can see both at one time.

Yup, I am generation number 5!

I love this! My grandma has old country decor all over their yard and around my grandpas shop.

They are both immaculate gardeners and growers. Their property always looks like a park in a magazine.

And of course I couldn't forget Chuck. They have had him for over 20 years!

Button, button... whose got the button?

I DO I DO!

Blank gift tags

View more in my shoppe <3

If you cant choose

Today was still on the cool and damp side but that didn't get me down one bit.
First thing this morning I went to Target and picked up my prints that I ordered off of flickr - ps... I love that feature! - and hit the dollar store on my way home. I haven't been there in ages and thought a small peak was necessary.
I forgot how fun that place is! I loaded a cart up and left feeling not at all guilty about my little spending spree.

The item I am most proud of are these little baskets. In packs of two I got one of each color! Yellow, orange and pink. I organized a bit and used them all over my craft room.

While organizing I realised that I was running out of labels and tags. An item that is mandatory but one that I don't really like to take the time to do... resulting in me running out when I least expect it.

Earrings, earrings and more earrings! I posted more to my shop - http://teedle.etsy.com/ - and updated the existing ones with brand new pictures. I am still learning my camera and ways to take better pictures... even though its been over a year since I received it!

Remember that list I did a few days back? I am still working on it believe it or not. I must admit though that one of the items is a summer long work in progress. My garden. After a few days of leaving the soil alone I returned out there tonight for a few hours of work. My radish row, carrot row, sugar snap peas, and lettuce group have all been planted. I also transplanted my rosemary, lavender and basil out of their pots and into the earth. I still have my cucumbers, squash and maybe some corn to go.

And while I was gardening away I found these little wee mushrooms hiding in the blades of grass.

And to top this wonderful day off tonight, I went onto ETSY and my cute ABC Pillow was on the front page! How exciting!

Mark as done

Newly sewn washcloths added to my shop of goodies!

**I love the fabric!**

My first attempt to making kids clothing.

I would love to start making these full time! There is something about kids

clothing that gets my heart all warm and fuzzy.

The dress is adorable but I love these little bloomers!

I figured today is a great day to be creative. We have been getting some sporadic rainfall here in the Portland area. Its delightful! My list has shrunken although not completed. Will I get it done today? If I do, that's great... if I don't, I wont mind.

The joy of...

I happily was in the back yard yesterday with a few friends of mine... Mr. Rake, Mr. Shovel, Mr. Rototiller and Ms. Pair o' Gloves. Yes it is a tad late in the season but my procrastination seems to always get the best of me... either that or its my lack of looking at the calendar. I am about half way done, making the finished size about 5 feet by 10 feet. A small version of a garden but it will suit me very well. Very general about plants as well... two tomato plants, two pepper plants, a row of sugar snap peas, a row of carrots and radishes, lettuce, zucchini, strawberries and maybe a few herbs. The rest of my produce will have to come from the Saturday markets.

Kid you not, I am really feeling the outcome today. I think every muscle from my arms down to my toes is sore. I do admit I love this feeling because I know I worked for every ache and pain!

A few items to list on my agenda for today:

• I've got to get back in the studio and finish my little dresses, make an "Audrey" pillow and make yo-yo's for an upcoming project.
• Grocery shopping, along with purchasing knee pads for gardening, fencing of some kind and a few more seed packets. I will have to get a few bags of in-expensive potting soil to mix with our wonderful (not really) dirt we have here.
• Clean clean clean the house! I didn't do any of my cleaning this weekend and I am going crazy the way it looks.

I believe that is everything... I probably missed some things that I will have to run around later this afternoon and try to get done; the story of my life.

A new beginning

Updating, deleting, deciding... so many choices. So many options.