From the kitchen

Today was a fantastically slow day. One of the biggest changes going from working in corporate America to leaving the rat race is that holidays and market closures don't matter all that much anymore. Which, in essence, is a bit sad, but on the other hand...as I commented to Dad the other day, "every day is a holiday!" I'm not quite sure he found it as amusing as I did. :)

But truthfully, holidays are still a great blessing in that Thomas and I get to spend a bit more time with Jonathan. I love that.

Evidently, the trip to the Zoo on Saturday knocked us out. Thomas was in rare form at Mass on Sunday (until he climbed into Joey's grandma's arms and she saved the day!) and he slept for a few hours afterwards. I used up the rest of my Costco rotisserie chicken for chicken tacos, and made an easy homemade guacamole using Penzey's adobo seasoning. And the Wee Ski fell asleep at 5:45 pm. He is definitely his mommy's son.

Thomas slept until 7:30 this morning, and took another 2 hour nap midday, and another catnap later on. I couldn't believe how much I got done.

Jonathan went into the office today for half a day, but we were able to have breakfast together and "lunner" in the afternoon when he got home. With Jonathan's laptop out of commission (again - curse you, Dell!), I loved checking things off my to-do list, using an actual pad of paper and not tasks in Outlook.

Today, I finished the laundry, washed all the towels & rugs in the bathrooms and kitchen, steamed the kitchen floor, made two loaves of sweet bread (to die for), baked homemade mac & cheese with bacon (also to die for), cleaned off the counters, pulled the last of the Christmas stuff together to put away, swapped out Thomas's 6-9 month clothes for 12+ month clothing, and got it all put away. Oh, and I made an awesome batch of monster cookies.

These are so good...and have no flour. Lots of oats. Good stuff.

It only used half a bag of my Valentine's M&Ms, so I'm guessing that another batch is on the horizon soon. The other bonus? The dough isn't tasty (as in sugar cookie or chocolate chip cookie tasty), so I wasn't taste testing as I was baking. Less hidden WW points, you see. :)

Here's the recipe...

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Monster Cookies
about 3 dozen cookies

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, slightly softened
• 1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter, well-mixed
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup M&Ms (I also added a half cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips)

The directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F and line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in baking soda, then oatmeal and mix-ins.
• Drop onto cookie sheets and flatten slightly. Bake at 350°F for 8 1/2 minutes. Do not overbake!
• Remove from oven when slightly golden. Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes until they have firmed up enough to remove to wire racks.

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You'll find the new header -- celebrating this blog's 5 year blog-iversary on January 27th. It's coming up next week - so there will be some incredibly awesome giveaways to celebrate. And the giveaways are all things I love...but you'll have to check back to find out what they are!