Weekend Snippets

Here's a few photos from my much needed chill weekend. 

I took the morning to sleep in and when I woke up I made breakfast for the family. The Sunday morning breakfast consisted of pumpkin pancakes and roasted butter and brown sugar apples and bannas. I must say it felt very "fallish". 

Later that day Andy and I did some work on the house in Helotes. Correction... Andy did some work and I just followed him around keeping him company and semi distracting him.

Instead of going out for lunch I made us a snack. Apples and cheese with a fall-flavored Bluemoon. Deeeelicciouss!

 Then I ended my weekend with a birthday dinner for Austin! Happy Birthday!!!!

Life Lately, and my decision to continue blogging.

I contemplated throwing in the towel and calling it quits on my blog, but after some thought I have decided against it. My initial reasoning for wanting to stop blogging was because I felt I didn't have enough cool or exciting content, but then I realized that I was forgetting my original purpose for having a blog! My blog was started to document my life just as it is. So if from time to time the content is lackluster or a little boring, that is okay. My life isn't always action-packed and bursting with fun, so I should not make it seem like it is by only documenting the fun times. I want to give a real picture of my life so that years from now I can read back through my blog and see exactly what I was doing in my 20's and 30's.

So this is what I have been up to lately: A little bit of cooking, some exercise, family time and an entire week with Kennedy!

My dog knows how to smile for the camera!

Homemade sweet potato and black bean burger. Click link for recipe: http://cookieandkate.com/2013/sweet-potato-black-bean-veggie-burgers/

We were exhausted after a 4 mile run!

I joined a running group with my friends from church!

Sunday Family Hangout at my grandmas house!

White Chocolate, Cranberry & Walnut Pumpkin Spice Cookies

A few months ago I came up with this rockin' recipe. Not only is it easy, it tastes deliciously homemade too. So here's what you need...

Shopping List:

1. Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice Cookie mix 
2. 1 Egg
3. 1 stick of butter
4. 1/2 cup of cranberries
5. 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips
6. 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (or nuts of your choice)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Mix into a large bowl egg, butter and 2 tablespoons of water.

Measure out the cranberries, walnuts, and chocolate.

Chop walnuts (skip if you bought pre-chopped walnuts).

Pour into dough mixture.

Stir until mixed well.  

Then bake on a stone for for 12 minutes until golden brown on the edges.

Let cool before transferring to a tray. Then enjoy!

Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slice and bake cookies are already so good to begin with, but when you add a drop coconut pecan icing they become amazing!

Here's what you need.....

Shopping List
Betty Crocker Rich &Creamy Coconut Pecan Frosting (14.5 oz)
Immaculate Baking Co. All Natural Chocolate Chunk Cookies (or any brand you prefer)
Parchment Paper
Milk (for dipping)

Here's what you do.....

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

                                  Open package and break apart dough into individual pieces.

 Line baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Thanks for the rolling pin Mrs. Fisher and Allie! Love it!

Smash dough pieces until they are about the size of a silver dollar. 

You can use anything for the filling.... Nutella, peanut butter or even some cream cheese frosting.

Using a very small spoon place a drop of the icing in the center of the 

dough then top with another piece of dough to make a sandwich. 

Once complete, you should have 12 Coconut Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookie 

dough balls on your tray. 

Bake for about 11-13 minutes. 

Let cool and enjoy with a glass of milk. 

* Pointers to help achieve the perfect cookie:

• Spread cookie dough out on the baking sheet as much as you can, because using two pieces of dough for each cookie makes for a really big cookie. I made the mistake of using just one baking tray, which caused the cookies to touch. 
• Don't overdo it with the amount of frosting you use. Too much and the frosting will seep out and make a sticky mess. 
• The colder the cookie dough the easier it is to flatten, transfer and fill with the frosting. 
• If your cookies do end up touching edges, like mine did, use a small cookie cutter to re-achieve a circle shape for your cookies. 

Let me know what you think of the recipe!