E: Variety & Oatmeal Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookies

How has your week been so far?  Mine as been a litttttle exhausting. Monday night, Frank hurt his leg jumping on the bed. We thought his discomfort would disappear by Tuesday morning, but it didn’t. We took him to the vet where they had to partially sedate & x-ray/examine him. The result: Frank tore a ligament in his knee. Its only a partial tare, so he is on rest & medication. Hopefully he won’t need surgery. I’m just glad my baby is OK:

 

Rewind: Monday night, I used the leftover turkey sloppy joes to make up two different plates for Josh & I. I love using leftovers and giving them a new spin/adding variety. For me, I made a spinach salad with steamed green beans, carrots, cheddar & a baked tortilla:

 

Josh also had steamed green beans, but his turkey sloppy joe portion was reheated, topped with cheese & jalapenos and served with a baked tortilla for dipping. He also had a couple pumpkin chocolate chunk bars for dessert:

 What is one of your favorite re-uses of leftovers?

On Tuesday, I decided to try a slightly adjusted take on my big oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I always get nervous about messing with a good thing, but had faith in this small adjustment. I replaced a little of the flour/oats with cocoa powder (I next plan to try this with the awesome carob powder that my friend Kelley brought me). The result was a very yummy batch of Oatmeal Chocolate, Chocolate Chip cookies:

Ingredients:

• 1 stick margarine or butter, softened
• ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon skim or 1% milk
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ cup cocoa or carob powder
• 1 1/4 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat margarine/butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda and powder mix well. Add oats and chocolate chips and mix until combined.

 

2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. 3. Bake ~12 minutes for a chewy cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

 

 

On a side note, the baby is continuing to receive some rocking gifts. I wanted to share a few and send out a few thank yous:

1. Our friends Ryan & Alexis sent us tons of cute stuff including this bulldog onesie. She will definitely be hanging out with Frank in this outfit:

2. Our friends Chip & Jill dropped off an incredible package filled with a super soft blanket, picture frame set and adorable clothes from Old Navy. The one on the left is a hoodie outfit- too cute!

Thank you :)