Friday, Friday Friday!!!
   It's Friday.
   Today my parentals are coming over for a night to visit, and we are very excited about that. Then tomorrow is Caleb's 11th birthday (well, his party is tomorrow-his real birthday isn't for another 9 days!). 
   So, I've been busy getting things ready, trying to find that balance between making everything perfect...and remembering that it's just a birthday party, and if something is a disaster, it's ok! Anyway....still talking myself through it!
   
   Last August I posted about different s'more recipes and ideas. Find that at "Please Sir...I want S'More...". I know, I'm so clever using that line from Oliver Twist. Whomp whomp. 

   This summer, I am giving you my collection of s'more inspired ideas, as well as some others I found on the World Wide Web that looked so good!     

   This gluten-free s'more cheesecake is sooooo good! I think I should make one again soon! Click here to find the recipe

   At Liv For Cake, Olivia has created these beautiful, and perfect little s'more macaroons. A real (french) macaroon isn't as hard to make as you might think, so hop on over to Olivia's site for the recipe!

   I have been making these for years, and they are always a hit. Well, except with my one friend who hates coconut, but no matter, most everyone else likes these! And they are so easy to make, for realz. Click here for the method to the madness! 

   Whaaaaa? A deeee-lish chocolate chip cookie stuffed with the perfection of a s'more?!? Yes, that did happen. Right here, in my kitchen! Here you go.  :)

   Elaine at the Hungry Brownie made this amazing dip with chocolate chips, marshmallows, and using the graham crackers to scoop the goodness up! I may have made this for quite a few of my treat days! Visit The Hungry Brownie here to find out how she makes this magic happen! 

   This pie....oh, this pie!!! It made the list last summer as a must-try s'more idea, and I stand by that! The chocolate and marshmallows being so darned tasty is one thing, but then you get chunks of chopped up chocolate bar in there too, and BAM, you're swooning. And the crust and top are no mere plain-jane graham cracker with butter contraption, no! It's a delight that does involve graham crumbs, but is like a soft, homemade version. It's so good. It's soooo good. If I didn't eat Paleo (no wheat, sugar, dairy, or grains) 5-6 out of 7 days a week....I would be eating this all the time! Make it for a pot-luck, or when you're having guests over! I warn you! Don't make it unless you can share it, because if there isn't anyone to share with...you will eat it all....you've been warned! Head over here to find that recipe, btw.  :) 

   A good ol' s'more made over a fire is still one of my favourite things ever though; I've got it down to a real art. One of my sisters is a (sweet) evil genius too, and when we get a campfire lit, there's a-gonna be some fine s'more making going on! We recently used the new Oreo s'more cookie as the cookie in a campfire s'more. It werz goo-ood!

   And that's that. If you're looking for more s'more ideas (what the heck for?!?), Amy from amyshealthybaking.com has this Pinterest board and it is chock-full of them! I also like that her name is Amy, she has a healthy blog, but also an entire Pinterest board dedicated to s'mores! We are kindred spirits! 

   Have a great weekend everyone! 

xoxo

   

   I'm all alone!!! :(   Adam and the kids went to Bancroft yesterday to visit some friends at a cottage, but I stayed home to get some prep work done for Caleb's birthday party coming up, as well as getting things ready to have some friends over for dinner tonight. I also needed to get ready to "teach painting" at an art camp being offered by our church in Belleville. I say "teach painting" because most people know how to paint, but most people want and need some direction.

    I am (obviously!) teaching about impressionism, and am excited to bring some of the things I've learned over the years to the kids at the camp. If I could tell my 13 year old self what I know now, I feel like my paintings would have come without so much grief (though, I suppose, they may not have become what they are now without the grief?). I worked on 2 paintings (an apple and a pear) for years....seriously, for years! I didn't know how to get them 'just right' (whatever that is!). Then an artist couple had come over for dinner, and the husband said something so simple, but so profound. It was (basically) "to paint how you want something to look, not what you think others expect it to look like". I was like, "whaaaaaaa?" It was eye-opening!

    I was trying to do something with the apple and pear painting that was not me. I was literally fighting myself. So, I went back to these paintings (which were hiding in my basement, by the way, when my friends saw them and commented), and finished them within a few days. And I love them! All that to say, I am looking forward to working with the kids, and giving them the freedom to understand that art (especially impressionism) is what you make it. It's an expression, not a science. 

   Well, now that I've brattled on about painting, let's talk about food! 

   This little treat is a no-bake delight, perfect for these beautifully hot summer days! They have just a few ingredients, and can be made with any nut butter you want, and if you're not a paleo follower, you could change up the chocolate top (by simply melting some chocolate chips with a bit of milk). You could also use brown sugar in the base if you wanted to. I've never tried that though...so, it's an experiment you can do if you wanT! :)  My favourite part of these was how small I cut them! It makes them just the right size for a treat, just a wee bite.

Almond Butter Chocolate Treats
Adapted from The Big man's World

For the base:

• 1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
• 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Almond Butter (or any natural nut butter you love!)
• Pinch o' Salt
• 1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 Cup almond milk (or any milk or milk alternative)-The amount is variable because coconut milk absorbs A LOT of liquid!

For the chocolate top:

• 1 Ounce dark, unsweetened chocolate, chopped up small
• 1 Tbsp almond milk (or the milk of your choice!)
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup

Method:

Base:

1. Prepare a dish for your bites. I use a regular sized loaf pan. If your pan is too big, the bars/squares/bites will be really, really thin! So, choose wisely! :) Anyway, whatever you choose, use parchment paper to line the dish, and also to give yourself "handles" to lift the bars out of the pan when they are ready to be cut
2. In a bowl, sift in the coconut flour and almond flour (this is optional, but I like to get them "soft and fluffy"). Now whisk those sifted flours together with the coconut sugar, salt and cinnamon
3. Add the almond butter to the dry ingredients, and mix together. You'll need to get your hands in there to really incorporate it properly. It'll be crumbly once it's all worked in
4. Now add the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, and work into your crumbly mix. You want the finished product to be like a dense dough
5. Once you've got a nice 'dough', press it into your prepared dish and set aside.

Top:

1. In a small saucepan, place the ingredients for the chocolate top
2. Slowly (slowly!!!) warm them up, and once the dark chocolate is nearly completely melted, remove from the heat, and continue to stir to let the mixture fully melt and combine
3. Pour the chocolate over the almond butter base & spread it out
4. Cover and refrigerate for 2 or more hours
5. Once set, cut into nice, bite sized pieces, and put into an airtight container in the fridge where you can snack on them at your leisure! :)   

   Pretty simple stuff here, people  :)  

   I actually found the longer these stayed in the fridge, the more I liked them. I kept them for about 3 weeks, and the last few were the best. Just sayin'.
 
   Well, I've had my coffee, Adam and the kids just got home safe and sound, and now it's time for me to head into the big city! 

   Have a great day one and all!  

   So....about a month ago our chickens all got snatched up by a fox...or an owl, or something else. We're not 100% sure what got them, but all our girls were gone within a few days. Just big heaps of golden feathers here and there around the farm. :(   I'm not a chicken lover like some people are (doting on their birds, naming them, giving them "special treats" like herbs in an ice water bath in the summer...seriously, that's a thing), but I did enjoy taking care of them. I enjoyed that my kids could help collect the eggs, and bring them our scrap bowl, full of leftovers that the chickens loved to eat. And for that matter, I also miss not having them as our compost. 
   
   So, where once we had at least 2 dozen eggs ready for anything, we suddenly had none...I needed to buy eggs. I haven't bought eggs in forever. We bought a few dozen from a lady Adam knows from work, and a few dozen from a lovely older lady who sells them from her scrap feed, free range chickens. 
   
   But, more often than not...we had no eggs in the house. I just wasn't used to having to buy them, so we keep going, "ohh....there aren't any eggs in the house....I guess we should go buy some?" Or, I have the urge to bake chocolate chip cookies...and there were no eggs! Yikes! 
   
   Luckily, making chocolate chip cookie dough without eggs was something I had experimented with a while ago when I made this gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough. I had worked out a lot of the kinks of edible cookie dough because I wanted to eat it raw, and eating raw eggs are not such a great idea. Unless you're a dog. Which I'm not. 
  
   Anyway, I went back to that recipe, but tweaked it to make sure it would be stable enough to bake. So, here they are, egg-free chocolate chip cookies! They are actually a really simple cookie to make, and, although my preference is a super thick, super soft cookies, these little darlings were super deee-lish. They were a little crispy on the outside, but still nice on the inside. Thumbs up. 

Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2/3 Cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 Cup white sugar
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 1 Tsp vanilla 
• 2 Tbsp of milk (or water, or almond milk...just something liquid!)
• 1  2/3 Cup flour
• 1 Tsp baking powder
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 1 Cup chocolate chips 

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350˚  
2. Put the butter into a large bowl, and whip it up with a stand mixer, a hand mixer, or arm power until it's light and fluffy
3. Add the sugars and vanilla and keep beating until it's well incorporated, and light and fluffy again. 
4. Add the milk (or whatever liquid you chose) and mix until blended
5. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking powder until they are a well blended group of ingredients
6. Now add the dry mixture to the wet, and work together with a wooden spoon or on the lowest speed of your mixer. My (current) mixer sucks, and it's low speed is still blast-flour-in-your-face fast (hard lesson learned), so now I always add my flour mixture in by hand first. Once worked in, you can use your mixer again to really get the dough whipped up nicely
7. Stir in the chocolate chips...and try not to eat too many of them  :) 
8. Using a scoop (I used my small one for these), or just a spoon, place 1 tablespoon sized scoops of cookie dough on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-9 minutes. When I made these another time, I used my medium sized scoop (which is about 2 tablespoons), and baked them for 12-13 minutes. You decide, big cookies or small!  
9. Allow to cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack

   I know I don't have the butter whipped up before adding the sugars in the photo above...but I wanted a picture of all the ingredients, and well, this is what you get  :)  Also, the butter is cubed because I needed it to get to room temperature quickly, and that's the way to do it. FYI. 

   So, you can see these cookies have a fantastic golden bottom, are slightly thin, but still have some puffy spots. They really are so good. Sooooo good. 

   And that's that! It's Friday, it's a "nothing" day for us here (nothing planned), so I'll be working on a wee project outside...actually, it's not "wee" at all, but if I tell myself that I won't be overwhelmed and quit!! 

   I hope everyone has a good weekend! The kids and I are heading to the Tweed Fair tomorrow, then to a Belleville Theatre Guild picnic on Sunday. I am looking forward to both! 

   
xo  

   Hello all you people!

   I was going to wait until July 1st to roll this new site out, but I couldn't wait! 
   
   After waiting for a year I finally got the domain bushel-and-a-peck.com! Hazaa! I'm still working through Weebly because I'm used to the editor here, but my name no longer has ".weebly.com" at the end-it just has ".com"! 

   I'm hoping that this new look and having my own name will help me to really get this blog going! I've been at it since October 2013 (which, I realize in blog-land isn't that long), but I want this blog to really grow and change as I have! I plan in the next few weeks to add a new section to the site too-a health & fitness page! Although I have some crazy treat days, I am also really interested in health, and love fitness, and I want to share this part of me! So, look out for that!

   I hope you enjoy the new look; it feels fresh and happy to me, and I hope it helps you feel that way! 


    As for the recipe today (...speaking of health & fitness.....fail!), it's a classic peanut butter cookie, but way better. :)   I've made peanut butter cookies before, but these are a whole new breed of "yum"!  There is no flour to dull the fantastic peanut butter flavour, and the chocolate chip add-in is an obvious match made in heaven. I have also omitted the chocolate chips for a friend who doesn't like chocolate (I know what you're thinking, how can I even be friends with someone who doesn't like chocolate!!!) and the cookies spread more and were obviously flatter, but they were still soon tasty. 
   So, enjoy this super simple recipe! 

Flour-Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used crunchy this time)
• 2 Eggs
• ½ Cup dark brown sugar, loosely packed
• ½ Cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tsp baking soda 
• 2 Cups Chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper if your pans are not so non-stick
2. Mix with your muscles or a hand or stand mixer the peanut butter and the eggs. Add the sugars and baking soda, and keep mixing until it's well incorporated and fluffy-ish 
3.  Stir in the chocolate chips
4. Using a I tbsp scoop, or just a regular spoon, make dough balls and place onto parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten them slightly with a fork (classic pb cookie). Keep these darlings about 2 inches apart from each other
5. Bake 6-8 minutes. You're looking for a barely set cookie with a touch of golden on the bottoms. They will set up a bit more as they cool, fear not
6. Let cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then carefully transfer to wire rack, and let cool completely

   Simple. Tasty. The End.  :)  

   It's the first official week of summer holiday for us here, and Wednesday is Canada Day which we're looking forward to! Tweed does a big how-do with a parade and celebrations in the park. It's always fun, and we're having some friends come to be involved then come back to our place after to hang out and have dinner and a campfire (hopefully, if it's not raining!).

   Well, I'm excited about all of this! Let me know what you think of the new look!

   I hope everyone has a great day!

   So, I'm baaaack! 
   After the musical was finished on June 13th (sigh....a happy and a sad one), we packed the family up and headed to a cottage for a week. That was a fantastic time of hanging out with my beautiful sister and her fam, relaxing, and eating my weight in s'mores......mmmmm..... 

   Last year I posted a recipe from Martha Stewart for Early Grey Tea Cookies. I love those cookies, I make them often, but what I love more than a regular shortbread style cookie is a whipped shortbread cookie. Whipped shortbread is so soft, buttery, and melt in your mouth tasty. 
   So, I decided to try my whipped shortbread recipe with the addition of earl grey tea, and the results were (not surprisingly) fantastic! 

Whipped Shortbread Earl Grey Cookies


Ingredients:

• 2 Cups butter (must be butter, no margarine allowed!), room temperature
  
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves (from about 4 bags). I use my coffee grinder to do this job

• 1 Cup icing sugar

• 1/2 Cup cornstarch
  
• 3 Cups flour
  

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep a cookie sheet with parchment if needed (if you don't trust your pans)
   
2. Cream the butter really, really, really well on high speed!
   
3. Add the ground earl grey and vanilla and continue beating
   
4. Turn the mixer down, and add in small increments the icing sugar, cornstarch and flour. Trust me, use your lowest speed or else the icing sugar/cornstarch/flour poofs and chokes you in a cloud of white dust! 
   
5. Once all ingredients are added, continue beating the mixture. You are working towards a light and fluffy cookie dough, so give these cookies some good whippin' to live up to their name  :)
   
6. Scoop or roll out teaspoon sized balls, and place onto a cookie sheet once inch apart. 
7. Bake  for 7-9 minutes until the bottoms are just barely browned. Let cool 5 minutes, then take off of the cookie sheet, and move to wire rack to cool completely. 
   

   These cookies are a true cookie delight! They are light, but buttery, aromatic and delicious! For realz. For some other ideas for these whipped shortbread, look here at my whipped shortbread: three ways! 
    My blogging has been waining lately...whomp whomp. I'm hoping now that the show is finished I can try to put a little more time in here. We'll see though because this is the last week of school, then I'll be in summer-mode (read: lazy) and may be too busy with summer stuff! We shall see though, we shall see. Let's say it again: we shall see.

   

   Did you know there was such a thing as National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day?!?! Well, there is, and it's today! Who knew?!
   Well, truth be told, I don't really like pie that much. I also don't liked baked fruit....but, did you know rhubarb is a veggie? Whacko. Also, did you know rhubarb has laxative properties? So, basically I'm going to talk to you about a pie that is made with vegetables and can make you poop. I know, you can hardly wait! :)  Hahaha...oh my goodness, what's up with me today?

   Seriously though...ok, not too seriously because it is still me after all, we have a jumbo patch of rhubarb that grows in one of our fields, and I've never, in the 4+ years I've lived in this house, used it for anything! I have occasionally pulled a stalk out to eat raw (it's crazy sour, but if you peel the 'skin' back, it's only moderately sour, and somehow refreshing!), but that was all it ever did.
   Until I heard there was a National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day! 
   If there was ever a time to decide to walk the 40 ft out my back door and pick some fresh rhubarb for something, it was for today! 
   This paleo, bare bottom pie is really very simple to make, and it's 'bare bottom' because I didn't think a paleo crust could stand up to the juiciness of the fruit (...um, and veg), so I just made it a top! I could have also just crumbled it on top, but it isn't national Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Day now is it?

Paleo Strawberry Rhubarb Bare Bottom Pie

Ingredients

For the filling

• 2 cups Rhubarb, diced
• 2 cups Strawberries, diced
• 1 Tsp lemon juice
  
• 2 Tbsp maple sugar (or coconut sugar)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp arrowroot (or tapioca) flour

For the crust

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 cups almond flour
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey)
  
• 1/4 Cup coconut oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees
2. Put the strawberries and rhubarb in a  bowl with the  lemon juice, maple sugar (or coconut sugar), salt, and arrowroot (or tapioca) flour and mix well. Dump this mixture into a pie pan
3. Mix the shredded coconut, almond and coconut flour, cinnamon, salt and maple syrup (or honey) together in a medium mixing bowl
4. Roll out a piece of parchment or wax paper onto the counter (you'll need this for the crust). Mix the coconut oil into this dry mixture with your hands or a spoon until the mixture is all stuck together and well combined, then pick the dough up out of the bowl and plop onto the paper you prepared
5. Flatten the 'dough' into a circle, the size of your pie pan. Now lift the paper up, and gently fold it so that the dough is on the outside. Place the dough onto the pie, then lay the other side down, so that you now have the top on your pie, and the paper facing up. Carefully peel the paper off your pie
6. Cut a few slits into the pie, and open a little hole in the centre. This will help the steam get out of your pie
7. Bake for 25 minutes, checking occasionally. When the topping is browned and the fruit and vegetables :) are bubbling, remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.It doesn't have to completely cool or anything, you just don't want to burn your mouth!

   I've actually never seen rhubarb at the grocery store or even a farmers market...I suppose it must be somewhere though! If anyone lives close to me, feel free to come and collect some of mine for free! 

   So, on this National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day, I bid you farewell!  :)  
   Do you have any rhubarb stories to tell? Any yummy or different ways to prepare it? Do share! 

   I've already made cake mix cookies. Last April I posted the recipe, and that was that!
   I like to make cookies to bring to Friday night rehearsals when I'm in/helping with a show at the theatre, but one week my time got away from me, and I was seriously short on ambition!
   When I posted that cake mix cookie recipe last year, I confessed that the idea of making cookies out of a cake mix seemed dumb; why wouldn't one just buy a cookie mix if they wanted easy cookies? The answer is two fold, really. One: cookies made using cake mix are a cookie breed all their own! Part cake, part cookie? What the heck?!? It's crazy delicious! Two: Um....cake mix is always waaaaay cheaper than a cookie mix. It's true. Also, I guess this would be a third point, but I never buy cookie mix because I like making cookies and buying a mix seems silly. However, buying a cake mix when they are on sale is something I do because cake mixes make some lovely cakes. It's true. 
   So, it happened this particular day that I wanted to make cookies, didn't want to put in much effort, and decided to try the cake mix cookies again....only make them crazy simple!
   My recipe from last year was basically a cookie recipe with flour, sugars, butter, etc., but some of the regular flour was swapped out for cake mix. 
   This recipe today? All cake mix. Seriously....just cake mix, eggs and oil are all you'll need for these! Super lazy? Yup! Super tasty? Yup!    

Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 box of cake mix
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Oil (I've used vegetable, olive {the light tasting kind|, coconut oil and melted butter-all worked great)
• 1/4-1/2 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (basically depends on how chocolate crazy you are! You can also leave them out and just make vanilla cookies-which I've done too, and they are so tasty!)

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 Degrees, and have some cookie sheets ready. Use parchment paper if your pans are not so great
2. Mix first 3 ingredients in a bowl, then stir in the chocolate chips
3. Using a small Pampered Chef (or P.C. style) scoop, or just using 1 tablespoon, scoop the dough onto the cookie sheets, giving at least 2 inches between each cookie
4. Bake for 7-9 minutes, until lightly golden but not fully cooked. They will finish cooking a little as they cool and set
5. Let the tasty morsels cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack

   Let's just talk about variety here for a moment....how about strawberry cake mix with white chocolate chips, or chocolate cake mix with score bits, or peanut butter chips? How about chocolate cake mix with nuts added in? Seriously, you can make these what you want them to be! And amazing will always be the result! 
   So, although I believe in baking from scratch (I find it therapeutic!), sometimes baking like this can also be therapeutic too! I mean, getting such a fantastic bunch of cookies from some crazy simple ingredients is amazing! Maybe I'm overly excited about these, but I think it's legit.  :) 
   
   Anywho, tonight marks the start of week 2 for The Drowsy Chaperone, and I'm feeling excited! Last week with the preview, opening night and running for the weekend went well. My Mom and Dad came up to see the show, and help me out by watching the kids while I was away, and it was a pleasure to have them! 
   Below are a few photos from one of our last rehearsals from 2 weeks ago. These beautiful photos are from Sean Scally, a talented photographer who is involved with the Theatre Guild.

   So, that's it! Have a great Wednesday! 

   Hello there. How are we today? I'm feeling cold.
   I know it's spring, but seriously, a lot of days you need to be sitting right in the sun to be warm. If you're in the shade, or in the house, you're freezing! So, although hot-chocolate cookies seem like a lovely winter treat, they really hit the spot on any cool day! 
   Made with hot-chocolate mix, chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows, these cookie honest-to-goodness taste like hot chocolate....only cold. They are super-yum. 

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 Cup butter, room temperature

• 1 Cup white sugar
• 2/3 Cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tsp vanilla
• 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Cup of hot chocolate mix. If using packs, this is about 4-1 ounce packs. This time I used a combo of hot chocolate packs, and then I topped it off with some homemade hot chocolate mix (equals parts sugar and cocoa)-you can see the multi-coloured, multi-layered hot chocolate mix in the measuring cup pictured below
• 1 Tsp salt
• 1 Tsp baking soda
• 3/4 Tsp baking powder
• 2 Cups chocolate chips

Method:

1. Place mini mallows into the freezer. Yup, do it. :)  If you don't freeze them they just vanish in the cookies. Seriously...they just melt into nothingness.... :( 
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and get some cookie sheets ready (use parchment if your baking sheets aren't the best, the mallows can be pretty sticky once cooked and melty!). Set aside
3. Cream butter using your arm power, an electric mixer, or a stand mixer. Add the sugars and continue to cream together 
4. Beat in eggs then the vanilla until combined
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, hot chocolate mix, salt, baking soda and baking powder
6. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in small amounts until its all been incorporated
7. Fold in the chocolate chips
8. Now fold in your marshmallows from the freezer
9. Using a 2 Tbsp scoop, or just using a regular tablespoon spoon, make balls of dough, and place onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Tried to work quickly(ish) so your mallows stay as frozen as possible
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are just set and golden brown. The cookies will still be soft. They will continue to cook as they cool so don't bake them until they look really "done"-you'll ruin them! 
11. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan

   I bought new cookie sheets and they are the BEST! So, I didn't have to use parchment paper. 
   You can see that the cookies are still poofy and soft-looking out of the oven. This is how they should look! They will flatten and cook a little more as they cool. You can also see the many hot chocolate mixes I used for this batch!

   Well, alrighty. 
   I hope everyone has a good weekend, doing what you're doing! Today is a p.a. day for the kids, I have rehearsal tonight, then a full dress rehearsal on Sunday evening. We have a paid preview on Tuesday, then we open on Thursday! Ahhhhhh!!!!! I'm a little nervous/excited. I can't believe the show is opening next week; it feels like we just did auditions a month ago, not 5 months ago! 
   Anywho, happy weekend to all, and to all a goodnight! :)

   I thought today was Monday.....
   Turns out its Tuesday and I'm loosing touch with reality! :)  
   Adam was working all weekend, then yesterday (which was Monday, incidentally) we just got things done around the ol' homestead. 
   So, anywho, today I bring to you a simple recipe for a paleo tortilla. We do a "Taco Tuesday" night every few weeks here, and I am always happy to just pile all my taco toppings onto a mountain of salad. We were low on the leafy stuff though one day, and I thought it might be nice to have an alternative to my usual taco salad and actually have a vessel to carry my taco goodness in.
   I started searching the web for some good recipes, and they all had either cauliflower which I didn't feel like cooking, mashing and draining, or coconut milk, which I was out of, or one million eggs to make up for the crazy amount of coconut flour used (coconut flour is very absorbent!).
   Simple is my main objective in the majority of my recipes, so I just thought, "well, these will only be for me (we had regular, gluten free taco shells for the rest of the family), so I don't need to make a million of them, I'll just aim for 2-3!". And I set off on the task!
   The result was a simple, 3 ingredient tortilla that was bendy, but strong, and was totally satisfying!    

Paleo Tortilla

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 Cup water
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour
• Salt, pepper, or any other seasoning you want!

Method:

1. Whisk up the egg whites, then add the water and continue whisking until well combined
2. If you have something you can shift the coconut flour into the egg white/water mixture, then sift it in. If you don't, then simply place the coconut flour into a separate bowl, and whisk to break up any little lumps, then add it into the egg/water mix
3. Whisk together until smooth and combined
4. Put a large frying pan over medium heat, and put a little grease into the pan to warm (I've used olive oil, coconut oil, and even bacon grease)
5. Once the pan and the oil are warmed, use a 1/4 cup measure to scoop some of the tortilla batter out, and pour it into the pan
6. Pick up the pan and swirl it gently to spread the tortilla out
7. Let the first side cook for a minute or two. Gently lift up the tortilla to see the colouring and decide if it's done enough to flip over
8. Once flipped, the second side only needs a minute to finish up. Remove the tortilla from the pan, and place onto a cutting board while you finish with the rest of the batter

    That's it! I've made these a few times for a few different purposes. Once I added cinnamon to the batter, then once they were cooked I spread some almond butter in one of them, and rolled it around a banana! It was a great snack! 
   I've also added cayenne pepper to the batter, then I wrapped up diced leftover chicken, avocado, tomato, & onion. Yum!
   So, these are a blank canvas, really! Use them as you please! 
   Have a great Tuesday!   

   Anywhooo, a regular fluffernutter sandwich is fantastic, but I decided one day to spread some butter on the outside of it and fry 'er up (grilled cheese style).....oohhhhh man! Yum-o!

Fluffer Nutter Grilled Delight

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread (regular, gluten free, or sprouted-it matters not!)
• Peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
• Marshmallow fluff
• Butter

I obviously can't list exact amounts of the ingredients because it's a bit preference based! I also feel like you would be shocked and horrified at the amount of p.b, fluff, and butter I use.....whomp whomp  :)

Method:

1. Heat a frying pan over medium heat
2. While the pan is warming, spread peanut butter onto one piece of bread, and marshmallow fluff onto the other
3. Now put that sandwich together, and spread butter onto the outside of the bread and place into the pan to fry
4. Because fluff is so smooshy on it's own, you don't really need it to "melt", you're just looking to warm up the insides, but more importantly, to fry up the outsides. If you're heat is too low, it'll take too long for the bread to grill, and the peanut butter and mallow-fluff will come melting out, leaving a mess in your pan, and your sandwich very empty. Thumbs down. 
5. Once grilled and perfect, devour! 

   So, in case you needed another crazy-delishous, totally bad for you, definitely not anything but a dessert sandwich, check out this one (pictured below).  
   What the-? Am I right? That bad boy is peanut butter, Nutella, and marshmallows turned into a sandwich, buttered and fried, then dusted with icing sugar. Mmmm, I haven't had this one in a while. I think I'll whip one up on my next treat day!  

   Alright, well, that about sums 'er up. 
   How's the spring going for everyone? Our gardens are coming up happy, although some bossy tiger lilies have taken over a portion of one of my gardens. And that's after they were completely trampled and squashed last year by our chickens who found those plants particularly comfortable and would get cozy and barge right into them, scratch at them, push them down, and turn them into a lovely sitting spot. Perhaps this is the tiger lilies revenge? They may be like the flowers in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; you know, talking and being sassy and what-not? We just saw a local High-School's production of the show this past weekend, so I was thinking of my lilies while I watched that scene! 
   Anyway, after last week of wearing tank tops and having back-sweat while driving, we go to today where the kids asked to wear hats, mitts, and scarves to school because it's so cold! Oh, Canada...so tricky. 
   Well, I should be off, many a task to complete today, and only so many hours to complete them in!