Thursday, December 18, 2008

A workout for me and my oven!

Hi everyone :) Thank you all for the well wishes yesterday! You guys are the best ;) ;). My procedure went well and they determined the cause of most of my digestive issues! I felt great after waking up from the procedure and was sooo happy to eat again! I was also very happy to get back to normality today! I went into work and then came home and got a start on my baking! Josh and I are going to a party at one of his coworkers houses tomorrow. I told them I would bring cookies and could not decide on a single recipe, so I made three!!

My favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies:

Hershey's Chocolate Chip Coconut Macaroon Bars:

Ingredients:
3-3/4 cups MOUNDS Sweetened Coconut Flakes
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup HERSHEY'S MINI KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates (I just used regular chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Stir together coconut, sugar, flour and salt in large bowl. Add egg whites, egg and almond extract; stir until well blended. Stir in chocolates. Spread mixture into prepared pan, covering all chocolate pieces with coconut mixture.

3. Bake 35 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven to wire rack. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cover with foil; allow to stand at room temperature about 8 hours or overnight. Cut into bars. About 24 bars.

Pecan Pumpkin Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups oats, uncooked
3/4 cup walnuts (they used 1 cup raisins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter. Beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in flour mixture, oats, and raisins. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and flatten dough if desired. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool several minutes on cookie sheet and move to wire rack. Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.


Final cookie plate for tomorrow (I also have another to bring into work tomorrow!!)

About half way through my baking, I ran out to teach Body Step and take Body Pump! It felt soooo good to workout since I couldn't really do so Monday- Wednesday! For dinner, I made something quick and easy- English Muffin Pizzas served with Fruit. Josh's plate:
My plate:
Mmmm the muffins got so doughy in the oven! Delicious! Phew! I'm ready for a shower!

31 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Hooray for the procedure going well; and HELL YES for all those baked goods and a great dinner!!

Anonymous said...

great cookie platter! haha i totally love that you took a baking break to work out! And good news about your procedure :D

Anonymous said...

Oh Erica, I'm so glad everything went well! You are the sweetest! You sure have a lot of energy to cook, teach class, TAKE class, and work full-time! I admire you.

Unknown said...

SO glad to hear that things went well!!! yummy goodies :)

Anonymous said...

hey lady! im glad that you feeling good and that they seemed to find what they needed to find. all of your cookies look yummy. you are amazing at bouncing back!

Balance, Joy and Delicias! said...

great work with those cookies!!! They look so yummy~~~~

And so glad that your procedure went well..... :D

Pizza is the greatest easy dinner, isn't it? It's always so good!

Anonymous said...

So glad your procedure went well! Wow, those cookies look amazing - all three. I think I want to try the Hershey's Chocolate Chip Macaroon Bars. I'm sure all of them will be a big hit at the party tomorrow night at your office. Have a good Friday!

Trying To Heal said...

sooo glad the procedure went well and things were determined!

the cookies look great too!

Esi said...

You are too much! I am glad everything went well.

B_Hlthy said...

phew! SO GLAD your procedure went well and they figured stuff out! AND you can eat again ! sigh of relief... fake pizza is yummy too!

HangryPants said...

Glad you are ok! Cookies look delishhh.

Anonymous said...

Was it an EGD? I must have missed the post where you said what you were going in for. I hope the solutions to the digestive issues work well and quickly.

I've had my fair share of digestive issues. All within 4 months. To many test and procedures, and even surgeries. One of the biggest reasons I decided to get healthy =)

Yummy Macaroons! One of my favorites.

Anonymous said...

Love your baking delights! Almond extract? I'm going to get some!
And I'm glad all is well!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that everything went well and that you were able to get back to eating food again - what could be better?!

All of the baked goods look delicious - they are gonna be a hit! And I've never tried English muffin pizzas before - great idea!! You know it's on my to-do list :o)

TGIF!

Pearl said...

wow! all those cookies and muffins look great!

Anonymous said...

**drool**

Anonymous said...

Love your cookie plate! Awesome job!

Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point said...

im glad you know your diagnosis!! that is such a relief sometimes. hey if you ever want some holistic medicines to take, too :) let me know!

K from ksgoodeats said...

Glad everything went well, girl!!

You are such a great baker! Everything looks delish :)

Danielle said...

Glad to hear everything went well! You didn't waste any time in the kitchen huh? ;) Everything looks delicious!

lauren said...

so glad everything went well with your procedure! all of your cookies look great - especially those bars...whoa.

Meghann said...

Glad everything went ok! You are a baking fiend my friend!

Krista said...

SO glad your procedure went well!

Awesome baking, girl!! :)

Diana said...

Those all look delish! And I love that you had English muffin pizzas for dinner! That was one of my favorite meals as a kid! :) What kind of muffins did you use? They look so fluffy!

Katie said...

My goodness, you've been baking up a storm! Thanks for all the recipes. I LOVE chocolate oatmeal cookies, and I can't wait to make those macaroon bars!

SO GLAD your procedure went well. Bet that's a load off your mind!

Becca said...

Glad everything went ok!

Your killing me with your goodies!

Every Gym's Nightmare said...

so much baking!

Im glad everything went well- and your dinner looks great!

Kelly Turner
www.everygymsnightmare.com

Anonymous said...

im glad everything worked out!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad it's over and everything is A-OK! So much better when you have answers!!

Fabulous cookies! Yum!

Have a great day!

Chef Jeena said...

Glad everything went well for you Erica. :-)

Your cookies look fabulous I would be stuck for choice and have to choose one of each. :-)

Maris said...

What a great lineup! Happy to hear your good news and can't wait to read more of your great recipes.