Apple Dippin Peanut Butter Cookies

from: allrecipes.com

Ingredients
5 1/2 pounds apples – peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.

Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

from: Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

from: Parenting.com

Ingredients
Salad:
8 oz long fusilli
1 cup snow peas
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice or apple-cider vinegar

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions; add snow peas to the boiling water about one minute before pasta is done. Drain and rinse under cool water.

Mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar in a large bowl. Add the pasta and snow peas; mix well. Add chicken and carrots; toss to combine. Top with sesame seeds and scallions, if you like.

Nutritional Info (1 cup(
279 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated), 277 mg sodium, 20 mg cholesterol

from: Everyday Food

Ingredients
1/4 cup Basil Pesto, (two cubes defrosted)
2 precooked store-bought pizza crusts (8 inches)
1 sliced plum tomato
2 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread basil pesto on each of two pizza crusts.

Layer each crust with plum tomato; sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese. (Or, layer with just cheese, using 3 ounces thinly sliced fresh mozzarella.) Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Transfer to a baking sheet; bake until cheese has melted and crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Slice, and serve immediately.

from: kidscuisine.net

Ingredients
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup vanilla flavored granola clusters
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup apples, diced to about 1/4 inch (I used fuji)

1/2 Cup turbinado sugar, or other sugar of choice to roll cookies in

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until mixed well. Beat in peanut butter until combined then add the egg and vanilla until well combined.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, granola, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix in the wet ingredients, then the apples, until just combined. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough, roll into sugar ,then place onto a silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet. With tines of a fork, press down slightly making an X on top of each cookie. Bake for 9-11 minutes. Cookies should look somewhat soft inside when you take them out. Let cool/finish baking out of oven for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Birthday Party

Saturday was one of our best friend's kids birthdays. Mr. Liam turned three! Matt and I were there not long after he was born and have spent a lot of time with him over the past three years. He and Tabby are great pals (despite being almost a year apart) and always have tons of fun together. He is a delightful little guy and we loved celebrating his birthday with him. It was a swim party, so in addition to the cake and balloons, singing and presents, there was swimming. And a big ol' waterslide. Tabby apparently doesn't really remember the last time we took her down a big waterslide, so she was really excited for this and went down dozens of times (with one of her many adoring adults). Can you guess how long it took her to pass out on the way home? Yea. That'd be about 5 minutes … and only that long because she was starving and busy mowing down her snack.

We rounded out the day with a trip to the dog park and a dinner with my parents and sister. I made *awesome* cookies too. Yay me.

Bye Bye Binky

I am trying not to jinx this by saying it too loudly, but it looks like Tabby is done with the binky. Usage had been dwindling over the past little while. She hardly ever used it during the day and primarily needed (wanted) it when she was sleepy or in her carseat (one of her sleepy spots).

She's been a big pain with teeth brushing lately and we've been with holding bedtime stories if she won't cooperate with us and that had been working. But last night she gave us no end of grief about the teeth and Matt said that if she couldn't let us brush her teeth she couldn't have her binky. We both thought this would do the trick. But she stood fast on the teeth brushing issue (clearly a battle for another day) and went to bed without her binky (and without stories). She normally goes right off to sleep without a peep but last night it took her almost 20 minutes to go to sleep. Matt wanted to rush in and offer up the teeth brushing bargain again, but wouldn't hear of it. It was a more restless night's sleep, but she hasn't had her binky since.

Today she was without it all day at the sitter's house and only asked for it when she was tired in the afternoon when she got in the car with me and then once later. Tonight when Matt put her to bed (I was away, losing at Bunco) she didn't ask for it and went straight off to sleep, no whining at all.

Everyone said it wouldn't be as bad as we'd feared and they were right. She did awesome. Matt seems to be a bit sad about it … the end of an era … her baby era. And I am not entirely without similar feelings. But it is nice too.

And I feel like it will be long enough before the baby is born that she will be completely over it and won't bug us if he has one.

Daddy's Girl

A conversation with Tabby.

Scene: Tabby an I are upstairs in my bedroom. We have just awoken from our customary 2-hour early evening nap. Matt is downstairs making “breakfast for dinner.” The smell of bacon wafts in on the evening air.

Me: “Ready to get up, Tabbers?”
Tabby: Yes!
Me: I think Daddy's downstairs making dinner. Are you hungry?
Tabby: Bacon?!?
Me (about to fall over laughing): You smell that too? Smells good. Let's go get some bacon!
Tabby (medatatively): I like bacon.

Pesto Pizzas

from: allrecipes.com

Ingredients
5 1/2 pounds apples – peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.

Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

from: Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

from: Parenting.com

Ingredients
Salad:
8 oz long fusilli
1 cup snow peas
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice or apple-cider vinegar

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions; add snow peas to the boiling water about one minute before pasta is done. Drain and rinse under cool water.

Mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar in a large bowl. Add the pasta and snow peas; mix well. Add chicken and carrots; toss to combine. Top with sesame seeds and scallions, if you like.

Nutritional Info (1 cup(
279 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated), 277 mg sodium, 20 mg cholesterol

from: Everyday Food

Ingredients
1/4 cup Basil Pesto, (two cubes defrosted)
2 precooked store-bought pizza crusts (8 inches)
1 sliced plum tomato
2 ounces grated mozzarella cheese
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread basil pesto on each of two pizza crusts.

Layer each crust with plum tomato; sprinkle with grated mozzarella cheese. (Or, layer with just cheese, using 3 ounces thinly sliced fresh mozzarella.) Season with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Transfer to a baking sheet; bake until cheese has melted and crust is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Slice, and serve immediately.

Baby Boy

I feel totally guilty because I sort of forget I'm pregnant half of the time. This kid seems like he's getting the short end of the stick compared to his sister. By this point in my pregnancy, Tabby had a whole nursery completely stocked and ready to go. This kid has a box of clothes in his sister's closet. And the plans for his arrival aren't real extensive … We'll be putting up the pack 'n' play in the master bedroom and installing the infant carseat bases.

I'd love to have things more ready, but we're running out of time. Hopefully Matt will have Tabby's toddler bed done in time and we'll be able to transition her to it so that the crib will be ready to go when the baby is reay for it and reorganize Tabby's room to accomodate both of their things.

And when is he coming? We're still not entirely sure. We met with the OB on Friday and the scheduled C is pretty much a done deal, but we don't know a date yet. It will be around 39 weeks, near April 24th. Meanwhile, he's busy be-bopping around. Baby wiggles are the best part of being pregnant for sure. Otherwise, I'm kind of over it. Sleep is fitful and inadequate and depending on the day, I can sometimes take it fairly well and sometimes not. I am working hard at not being too grumpy. Matt is too nice to let me know my win-loss ratio on that battle.

Birthday Weekend

We officially spoiled the heck out of the kid this weekend. We started out on Friday with a b'day dinner with Uncle Andrew. Saturday was a more formal celebration. We hit Build-a-Bear to start off, which Tabby seemed to enjoy but found overwhelming. She took away a very cute dog with cammo clothes, red ear flowers and a pink fuzzy dog bed … pretty funny.

Tea was a bit more to her liking, particuarly the tea part. She wasn't terribly hungry by the time we could have tea, which was sort of a bummer, but she did get hugel into opening presents. She got lovely things from everyone … books, clothes, a computer, gardening tools, little animals, cooking tools, and on and on. Totally spoiled. Best of all, she got tons of attention from her guests and had a great time. We went back to our house afterwards for a nap (Tabby) and playing with the new toys. She was begging for bedtime by 8 PM.

Today with the weatherman promising temps into the high 50s (ended up low 60s!) we headed off to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day and we had a picnic lunch outside and soaked up the sun. Tabby was totally into the animals and loved running around like a crazy girl. Of course she crashed on the way home and we both had a nice nap.

Now it's late and I'm happy to say that we had a great weekend full of lots of fun and the house is even reasonably clean and in order. Yay!

Links for the Weekend

32 weeks today, people and I may actually get to see my doctor (last seen 12 wks ago) today!

For no particular reason … a few links for you:
• Some cute birthday cakes … sorry Tabs, maybe next year
• Next time you're at IKEA, why not dress as a pile of paper
• these storage tins are very cute
• a recipe search dedicated to all natural recipes
• I will have to see if my Borders has these great kiddo plates & containers
• great Babble article about vaccines and autism
• I vividly remember making snowfall icecream once when I was a kid … I will have to do this with Tabby next winter
• check out these neat storage bins
• this coat rack/calendar thing is a neat idea
• $26 bucks nets you 17 meals
drop off your old cell phone at Best Buy
• I guess In God We Trust isn't cutting it anymore
• DIY a portable art studio for the kiddos
• I seriously ♥ these glass jar frames
One Penny Post takes most of the manual labor of mailing a postcard … but so does Premium Postcard … for less
• Hope I can make it to San Fran before this cool tiki bar closes!

That's it from me for now … have a great weekend! Over and out.

UGH.

Do I have to be a grown-up today? Seriously? Work stress. Personal stress. Headache. I'm so not in the mood to keep calm and carry on.

Let's make a happy list.
• Tabby is so freaking cute and sweet I could just about burst when I look at her.
• Tabby got lovely b'day wishes from people near and far (thanks!) and loved them all.
• The five hours of sleep I got last night were mostly uninterrupted and pretty good (no weird dreams).
• This kid is making his debut in approx 60 days, probably less if we go ahead with the C. He even has a name.
• It is gorgeous again today … 66!!
• My sister has sweetly agreed to watch Tabby so Matt and I can make quick work of the 5 errands we need to run tonight.
• I do not have to cook tonight … and actually, I haven't cooked all week.
• The magic faeries clean my house tomorrow.
• I get to go to prenatal yoga on Sunday.
• I remembered (!) to renew Tabby's prescription AND move my hair appointment AND make reservations for Tabby's b'day party.
• One Tivo, three eps of The Office I haven't watched. W00t!

Sesame Chicken Salad

from: allrecipes.com

Ingredients
5 1/2 pounds apples – peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well.

Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness.

Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze.

from: Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Dried banana chips, granola, or shredded coconut, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.

from: Parenting.com

Ingredients
Salad:
8 oz long fusilli
1 cup snow peas
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1 scallion, thinly sliced (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice or apple-cider vinegar

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions; add snow peas to the boiling water about one minute before pasta is done. Drain and rinse under cool water.

Mix the peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar in a large bowl. Add the pasta and snow peas; mix well. Add chicken and carrots; toss to combine. Top with sesame seeds and scallions, if you like.

Nutritional Info (1 cup(
279 calories, 8 g fat (2 g saturated), 277 mg sodium, 20 mg cholesterol