Taste of Tuesday: Cookie of the Year??

I attempted to try two new recipes last night, Meatloaf Parmesan and Cheesy Potato Gratin, and the meatloaf was delicious but the potatoes were a complete disaster.  Maybe not a compete disaster, they tasted ok, but they were black.  Yes, black. I'm not too sure what happened, I was actually trying to be proactive and prepped the potato dish last night.  I didn't google what would happen to potatoes if you slice them 24 hours before cooking but I'm thinking it might have something to do with turning black.  When I screw up a dish I really screw up a dish!

But the Meatloaf Parmesan was sooo good, I will make it again and try a different side, maybe Kraft Dinner? That one I can handle!

I still want to link up for Taste of Tuesday though and because I can't post a recipe without a photo, I dug into my iPhone album and found my favorite new cookie recipe.  I found this recipe on Pinterest via The Dough Will Rise Again and even though they don't look like a holiday treat, I made them and got so many compliments. Of the four treats included in my holiday platter, these cookies were hands down the favorite!

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Coconut Chewies

 

Ingredients: 

1 cup butter, slightly softened

1 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

 

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350°. Cream together butter and sugars until just combined.

2.) Add eggs and vanilla then mix until fully incorporated.

3.) Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the wet mixture. Mix until well-distributed.

4.) Add about 1/2 your flour, and mix until the flour is JUST incorporated. Scrape down the sides of your bowl, and then add the second half of your flour, mixing until just incorporated.

5.) Add oats and coconut, mixing until JUST incorporated.

Optional: 1 cup chocolate chips

6.) Roll dough into balls a little over an inch in diameter and place on lined cookie sheet.

7.) Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are veeeery lightly brown, but the center is still light in color and puffy. This will result in a very moist, very chewy cookies.

8.) Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack. Once they’re fully cooled, they can be stored in a ziploc bag or airtight container for up to a week.

 

I (and everyone else who gets my holiday treats!) am so very happy that I found this recipe, and it's perfect for any day of the year!  I think I will try them with mini chocolate chips too!

 

I can't wait to read what other people made because I will keep trying new recipes!

Today I am linking up with Ashley, Jessica and Mary for Taste of Tuesday!

 

 

 Does anyone else have as much trouble in the kitchen as I do?

     

Weekend Recap: Goodbye Christmas!

Monday. Today is the 'back to work five days a week because the holidays are totally over and it's now just surviving the winter blues until Spring' Monday.  I guess I should be thankful that we're not stuck in crazy winter weather like ice storms or power outages though.  

We had a GREAT weekend!  It wasn't very exciting but after all the celebrating over the holidays hubby and I were both happy to spend some quiet time at home, being lazy and watching TV marathons.  We were actually semi-productive though...

On Saturday, hubby brought me coffee in bed and then let me sleep in while he started taking down all our inside Christmas decorations (he's an early riser and I plan to put that to good use when we have kids!).  Eventually I got out of bed and helped pack everything up while he took down the outside lights.  I get the pleasure of crawling into our crawl space to store all the Christmas stuff so I didn't feel too bad that he did most of the taking down.  And Christmas was officially over as of noon at our house :-( Our neighbors still have their lights up outside - isn't the first weekend if the new year the unspoken clean up? Who else has their lights up?

After taking Milo for a walk in the gorgeous sun (a break from rain yay!) I put on pjs, poured a glass of wine and got comfy on the couch.  We eventually ordered dinner and watched a movie.  Oh and I did my favorite Saturday night activity: drinking wine and baking! I made peanut butter cookies and they were delicious. 

 



We had sunshine all weekend!!

Sunday morning I got up early enough to make us breakfast (a rare treat for the hubby, I'm so not domestic), finished the last of the baileys in our coffee (mental note, must buy more for next weekend) and munched on PB cookies.

Sunday morning treats



Then we actually left the house to run a couple errands before getting comfy on the couch again. One bonus about holidays are the TV marathons!  I did manage to prep a bunch veggies for snacking, portioned out all my morning shakes for the week, made hubby's lunches and then surprised him with nachos for an afternoon snack.  

Veggie prep



And just like that the weekend was over. 

Did anyone else have a chill weekend after all the holiday festivities? 

Milo is a very resistant cuddler and I love selfies, therefore a bedtime ambush ;)