Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

As I mentioned last week one of my goals for this year is to make healthy choices for me and my family.  I love cooking and baking and for the past 6 years I have strived to do so as healthy as possible.  And yes you can make healthy baked goods!  Husband tested and approved!  Last week I was trying to find a recipe for oatmeal cookies made with honey, I used to have a great recipe but it was from a borrowed cookbook and I returned and of course I did not write down the recipe.  But thankfully I came across this one that is very similar!  A tip I discovered when I made them the first time, make a day ahead and place in an air tight container and enjoy the next day, they are SO much better.  I do this with most spice type baked goods, it allows the spices to marinate.  I also omitted walnuts this time around, they are a great addition but Hanna has a tough time chewing them up!  And she LOVED these cookies and no guilt for letting her enjoy 1 ... or 2 if she is a good girl!  

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies 

Recipe adapted from www.wholegraingourmet.com, 2008. 

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour 
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)

Wet ingredients

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup applesauce 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg (beat with 1 Tbsp Water)
• 1 tsp vanilla

Yummy ingredients

• 1/2 cup raisins 
• 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
2. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. (Hint: when measuring out the honey, spray the measuring cup with oil or baking spray--your honey won't stick!)
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. 
4. COOL the mix for 20 minutes in the fridge.
5. Preheat the oven to 335 degrees (lower temperature due to the honey in the recipe which will burn more easily).
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto your baking sheet. 
7. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. The cookies freeze very well and make a great snack! 

(Sorry for the poor lighting in this one ... my camera is NOT the best!)

Enjoy and please feel free to comment with any questions.

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Faith

As I mentioned last Friday we had the joy of meeting our close friends sweet new baby girl, Faith.  We don't have any pictures of us with her because I did not want Hanna and I near her as we were fighting a cold.  Hanna did have fun playing with Faith's big brother Elijah though!  We had so much fun and it was so good to see all of them.  Enjoy the pictures of this sweet girl!  

The last one is my favorite, love mommas and babes!

Organize It!

Yesterday, the hubby and I tackled cleaning and organizing the garage.  We have many projects we would like to begin this year but the garage was number 1 on the list.  In order to do the other tasks it was a must to get our garage in order!  This six hour task resulted in a few mini organizing tasks for me to tackle this week.  Rather than push it off, I decided I would get it done today as I knew it would probably reorganizing other areas of the house.  And did it ever!  Thankfully the bulk of it is done and it only took me about three and half hours with little breaks to run after my very active Hanna!

Here is a shot of my project at the beginning.

See when the hubby and I got married he had no "keepsakes," "memorabilia"or anything of that nature ... he is not sentimental about material items.  I on the other hand had boxes of belongings, not that were put to use on a daily basis but that I had kept and accumulated over the past 22+ years!  Everything from my baby shoes, first pair of ballet slippers to my last pair of point shoes, five American Girl dolls, high school programs ... the list could go on but I think you get the point.  I have managed to consolidate those original boxes into the above shot.  Oh and the tote on the left is wedding stuff ... NOT getting rid of that!!!

Anyway to make room in the garage we have to move these and so I am going to try to consolidate once again!

 

All you other sentimental readers I am proud to say I only ended up disposing of a handful of items.  But I was able to consolidate down to 1 large tote and 1 medium tote, pictured below.  And I found a new home for them in the small storage area in our basement.

I was able to take the following items and find homes for them elsewhere.

All in all a very productive day for me!  Any projects going on in your home?  Remodels, organizing?  Well off to read to my sweet Hanna!

Have a lovely evening.  See you tomorrow for our first Wordless Wednesday, can't wait!

Psst ... ignore the lovely green carpet ... that will be leaving someday!!!  A post all about it when it happens!

Compassion in the New Year

Many of you may have made a New Year's Resolution or set some goals for the new year.  Here we are, Day number 16 and you may be thinking ... I can't do this, I am a failure, it has only been 2 weeks and I can't even stay committed thus far ... but I have news for you!  You can do it!

I have learned over the past few years that life happens ... it is hard to say "no," to a chocolate chip cookie, my workout plan doesn't always mean strapping Hanna into a stroller and going on a 2 mile run, spending 30 minutes every day journaling or reading can sometimes just be praying during my shower because the day has already flown by.  All that to say, I am not perfect, I have set many goals for the year with the understanding that if I slip up I can choose to make tomorrow a new day.  To pick myself up, dust myself off and keep running.

This weekend I heard a comparison I thought might be helpful to get my point across.  In a race, if a runner stumbles and falls do the judges order that they go back to the starting line and begin the race again?  No!  Rather the runner is encouraged to get up and continue to run from where they fell.  The same applies to you and I.  I have a goal this year to make healthy choices for myself and my family, yet this weekend I indulged in one of my favorites, Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (recipe will be provided on an upcoming Thursday I am sure).  Does that mean I say, that's it, I give up, it is no use, I can't do this!  On the contrary, I realize that a little is not going to set me back from my goals.  I can still make healthy choices!  I learn to forgive myself and move on.  I have some more personal goals as I am sure some of you might as well.  You might say it is not the same!  But what I can tell you is that in Lamentations 3: 21-23 we are reminded,

"Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:
Because of the L-rd’s great love we are not consumed, 
   for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness."


So have hope and know that you can begin again!  

A New Year

It has been too long!  Life seems to go by so fast and unfortunately the blog has taken the back seat.  But I have a plan and a goal to start back up and post Monday through Friday with the following plan!

Blessing Monday:  Mondays are not known for being the best day of the week so my goal is to bless my readers in some way on Monday, it may be a word of encouragement, a giveaway, an inspiring story.  Anything to help brighten your day and bless the week ahead!
Anything Tuesday:  My thoughts, passions, facts, new information about children or parenting I may come across or ... anything else!
Wordless Wednesday:  1, 2 or 100 pictures that share a moment that I find worth sharing with you!
Recipe Thursday:  A recipe that has been proven the be tried and true and most importantly Husband approved ... he is my best judge, always lovingly honest!
Fun Friday:  Crafts, activities, family, friends ... anything and EVERYTHING FUN!

And since it is Friday I guess I need to share something FUN!  My dear friend (also my Maid of Honor in my wedding) has welcomed baby #2, Faith, into the world.  Faith is living proof of her name ... more on that another time perhaps!  We are so excited to be taking this wonderful family dinner this evening and to meet Baby Faith.  Perhaps we may get a few shots of her to share for Wordless Wednesday.  I hope you have something fun to look forward to this weekend, I would love to hear about it!

Would love to hear your thoughts about my plan and any ideas you might have for me or questions you may have to inspire a post.

Have a fun weekend with your hubbies and babes!