Brookies...When A Regular Brownie Just Isn't Enough

I seriously embrace opportunities to cook for others.  Class parties (before everything had to be store-bought and pre-packaged), my husband's co-workers, church events, whatever.

You need food for something?  You've got my attention...and I've got an Allrecipes recipe box and Pinterest board full of contenders I've been meaning to try.

One of the neat things about Girl Scouts is the bridging ceremony they perform each year as the girls get older and move up to the next levels of membership.  After the ceremony there's food.

And really, that's the important part, right?

I jest...sort of.

Last year I took the bridging ceremony as an opportunity to try out Apple Slab Pie, which totally proved to be a winner.  It's been pinned about a billion times on Pinterest since then and is the fourth most viewed post on my blog of all time.

The bar was set high :-)

Low Carb Mozzarella Sticks...Seriously.

I watched 1 1/2 football games with my husband and step son this afternoon and I think I have another one on the way this evening.

Woo to the hoo.

There are more important things to discuss at the moment.

Low carb mozzarella sticks EXIST.

Seriously!

Without any weird flours, supplements, or ingredients.

No special trips to the store.

3 ingredients.  

Total deliciousness.

One of the most frustrating things when trying to stick to a low carb way of eating is the lack of snacks outside of a relish tray.

Sure, I've always got that awesome Buffalo Chicken Dip with celery stick dippers to fall back on, but sometimes a girl just wants something...decadent.  Cheesy, fried, goodness.

Grandma Martin's Breakfast Muffins

This morning was not a stellar moment for me as a parent.

Mornings sometimes just stink, and not just when you're a kid.

I was tired and didn't really want to get up, so I probably wasn't in the best of moods when I tried to wake my daughter.

She didn't want to wake up either, big surprise, right?

She also didn't have her clothes picked out.

Or know where they were.

Or have an organized closet.

Or dresser.

I was...frustrated.

Apparently This Is The Best Sandwich Bread Ever

Yesterday started out uneventfully enough.  I was out of bread.  I searched for a new bread recipe.  I baked bread.

Woohoo, right?

Nothing special.

Anyway, after the bread had cooled to that magic slightly-warm and sliceable state the sound of my electric knife drew my son to the kitchen.  He watched intently as each yeasty slice of bread fell to the side as I cut into the loaf.

When I was done, I handed him a piece.  Well, we know my son can be finicky about food, so I wasn't sure how this warm, soft slice of bread would go over.

I turned my head for a second...when I looked back at him his mouth was stuffed and in each hand was a tiny bit of bread- the only remaining evidence of the slice I had handed him.  He DEVOURED it!  I was impressed.

Today My Son Said "I Love You"

This one isn't food related and that's ok by me- I'm just super excited and have to share!

My son doesn't call me Mommy.

If I want to hear the word I can write it, because he'll read anything you put in front of him.

If I point to a picture of us he'll say "Mommy" when you ask who is in the picture.

My husband and daughter have had names for quite awhile.  

But he doesn't call ME anything.

I can ask him what my name is till I'm blue in the face and he would just repeat back "What's my name?  Who am I?" and giggle in that adorable way he does.

Last night, though, he was laying in bed next to me as my husband snored.  He flopped his head over on my chest, grinned at me, and said, "Hi Mommy!"

Oh my goodness.  Not only did he call me "Mommy" but he did it spontaneously, using his speech functionally, free of echolalia.

Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread - The Perfect Game Day Snack

The other day I wrote about our lazy -athon day in front of the TV and the awesome cookies my daughter made and I promised to write about this awesome snack.

Ok, so I've pinned lots of recipes like this on Pinterest over the past few years without following through and trying a single one of them.  When I was trying to come up with some movie-watching snacks that wouldn't require a trip to the store I remembered a delicious, crusty loaf of sourdough bread in my freezer.  A couple of months ago we went on a family trip to Rugby, TN and I brought WAY too much food.  One of the things I ended up bringing back home with me untouched was a yummy loaf of bread that I ended up throwing in a freezer bag and saving for a rainy day.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

I woke up to a gray day.  The kind that just oozes cozy laziness.  The kind that makes you want to cuddle up on the couch and start some kind of movie marathon.

When I suggested we spend our day having a Doctor Who-athon or a Lord Of The Rings-athon or pretty much any other kind of -athon my family was feeling, it was met with excitement- and one question...

What were we going to eat?

You can't have an -athon without good eats, can you?  :-)

I ended up making a double batch of my new favorite, Zucchini Tots, a loaf of Pepperoni Pizza Pull-Apart Bread (more on that one in my next post!), and these amazing Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ok, I take that back- my 8 year-old made these wonderful cookies!

I love sharing my love of cooking with her.  I love explaining the cooking terms, walking her through the directions, and seeing her excitement at the final result.

Easy Low Carb Pizza Crust That Actually Tastes Like Crust!

First off, let me apologize for not taking better pictures of this one.  The days are already starting to get shorter, dinner was running later than usual, and I was so excited to try this that I really didn't feel like setting up my crazy Winter-time setup for taking pictures of dinner.

Despite my poorly lit photo (yes, the others were so bad that I didn't include them at all!) this is a recipe well worth sharing.

I'm sure you've seen recipes for low carb cauliflower crust pizzas before- I've made them several times, and yep, they can be tasty!  But there is absolutely no mistaking them for pizza crust and they have to be eaten with a fork- at least the versions I've tried.

Zucchini Tots - My New Favorite Side

I thought I was done with writing about zucchini recipes for the year, I really did.

I've gone a little crazy with them, but they've received such great feedback I couldn't help but share this one more.  It's the last, I promise!  I think I promise.  I promise for now at least :-)

We already know that I love dippable veggies, right?

These definitely fall into that category.  They're so much like tator tots in size and consistency, I had a hard time stopping myself from eating the whole batch.  Seriously.

Ingredient-wise they're a lot like the Zucchini Patties I wrote about a couple of months ago, but rather than parmesan and mozzarella they use cheddar and they're baked in a mini muffin tin rather than being pan fried.

It's Pumpkin Time Again!

It may still be in the low 80's, and I might still be rocking shorts and flip flops, but that doesn't mean that I was any less excited to see mums and pumpkins in front of the grocery store when September 1st rolled around!  

Is it too early to get excited about Fall?

Don't care!

I think that the earlier school starts, the earlier my anticipation of cool, crisp air and the spicy, earthiness of Fall begins.

I admit it: I've been looking at all things apple, pumpkin, burlap, and Fall-colored on Pinterest.

Anyway, the other day my daughter's Girl Scouts leader asked if parents would be willing to bake cupcakes for a VA event for homeless veterans.

No brainer...I bake.  I'm a veteran.  Oh yes...and I had a pumpkin cupcake recipe I wanted to try. :-)