Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies and Lotsa Vintage

I love the holidays!  But, a four hour drive with an almost two year old is not so festive.

SCROLL DOWN TO AVOID THE MOMMY RANT

My parents have 3 Weimaraners!  Yikes !  They also have many many adopted and foster Chihuahuas.  My mom is the head of Chihuahua Rescue USA for the Illinois Chapter.  Anyway, Snuffy was infatuated with the spastic movement of Sadie’s tail.  It had been a rough night so I was just glad she was entertained.  We arrived in my hometown at 11PM Illinois time.  We were hoping that our late departure would ensure a sleeping Snuffy…   Well, she slept for the last 2 hours of the trip and then awoke when we arrived at the hotel.  She proceeded to stay awake until 3:00AM!  We forgot the pack and play and she was not feelin’ the hotel crib that was provided us.  So, it was Snuffy, Pedro and I in one bed and Mallard and Peanut in the other.  I thought maybe Ms. Snuff would sleep in after her restless night.  No such luck.  She decided that 6:00 AM was an acceptable waking time.  So, I took her to grab some highly nutritious Holiday Inn Express breakfast.  I did pack her food but I thought, “Hey, it’s Christmas morning, I’ll let her choose whatever she likes on the the buffet!”  She ended up with scrambled eggs and banana.  I would have gone with the over-processed cinnamon roll but that’s me. After breakfast, I packed up my little morning glory and went to the “workout facility”.  I was working at this Holiday Inn when I met Mallard so I was aware of the vintage workout equipment.  I turned on some Mickey Mouse Club House and hopped on the eliptical.  What?  You don’t watch Disney Channel while you work it out? 

Soon, a sleepy-eyed Mallard stumbled in to rescue us from the vintage facilities.  It was time to get ready for a surprise early morning visit to Grandma Rose,  Papa Bill and Aunt Jillian! They welcomed us with open arms in spite of our early morning intrusion.  After we played with the  puppies and tested the doggy door, we decided to leave for Nan’s House.  On the way, I spotted my hometown Starbizzle and it was open!  Small Town Starbizzle open on Christmas!! I had to stop in and grab some black tea!   Nan didn’t mind our late arrival.  Sorry, no pics of the meal.  It was hectic!  I spent most of the meal chasing Snuffy   because we forgot our travel high chair.  After dinner came gifts and after gifts came naptime

END MOMMY RANT. 

Poor Peanut doesn’t get much attention these days.  While Snuff was sleeping, we took the oppurtunity show Peanut some love.

 

I had such a great time hanging out with my Little Sista, Jillian.  I can’t believe she’s driving now!  *Brace yourself for sappy speak*  My sister is such an amazing young woman.  She pulls straight A’s in high school, works at Domino’s, baby-sits three kids under age four and cheers for the high school football team!

The older we get, the more I see the resemblence that everyone tells me about.

What a lovely Christmas.

Unfortunately, our Christmas bliss was short-lived.  We waited until eight o’clock to drive back to Ohio so that Snuff would sleep.  All was well literally until the last two minutes of our trip.  We hit a deer at 1:00 a.m.   I hate knowing that we hurt an animal.  The vehicle wasn’t damaged too badly.  We’re guessing about $500 worth of repairs.  Snuff didn’t even wake up!  I felt so badly about the poor deer.  I needed some pick-me-up.  What puts you in a good mood?  Baking is one thing that lifts my mood. 

 

 

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1/2  cup peanut butter  ( I used Mighty Maple)

1/2  cup Earth Balance softened

1 1/2  cups raw organic sugar or Turbinado

1/4  tsp. sea  salt

1  egg or 1 TBS ground flaxseed mixed with 2 TBS water

1/2  tsp. vanilla

1-1/4  cups whole wheat pastry flour

Combine Peanut Butter and Earth Balance with an electric mixer. 

 Add sugar of choice, sea salt,  egg or egg substitute, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Stir in whole wheat pastry flour. 

At this point, you may refridgerate the dough for an hour.  If you are antsy like me, you can skip the refridgeration  

Shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls.  Roll ‘em in some raw organic sugar if you so desire… I did.  Place them on an oiled cookie sheet and press them into discs with the back of a fork. 

Bake at 375 for about eight minutes.

The Mighty Maple PB and Co. gave these awesome flavor.  It’s too bad Mighty Maple is dicontinued!  Bring it back PB and Co!

 

For me, baking is like potato chips.  Once I start, I can’t stop. 

 

 

Vegan Love Chocolate Chip Cookies

1  cup Earth Balance

1 cup Turbinado

1/2 cup organic brown sugar

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup  flax egg substitute

1  teaspoon vanilla

2-1/2  cups whole wheat pastry  flour

1  12-ounce package (2 cups) semisweet vegan chocolate pieces

 

Directions

Mix the Earth Balance, Turbinado and brown sugar. 

 Add the flax egg and vanilla and combine. Mix in the whole wheat pastry flour.

  Stir in the chocolate chips, chunks or pieces.

 

Mmmm….dough.

 

…and Mallard devoured these Vegan Delicias.

  no. questions. asked.

In fact, he had no idea that both the Peanut Butter Cookies and the Chocolate Chip Cookies were made with flax, earth balance and whole wheat pastry flour.

 

In other news, I got a Sony Camcorder for Christmas!!! I am not talkin’ Flip Cam, kids.  He bought the real deal!!  I can’t wait to VLOG!! 

My grandma (Nan) gave me a food processor for Christmas! 

Nan also heard that I was aching for a dehydrator

Behold!  The Vintage Dehydrator!

Healthy Snacks For Just Pennies! lol Circa 1992!

Nan said that Papa had bought this for her back in the day and she had never even used it.  All the parts were still in plastic.  It’s very basic.  I don’t know much about new dehydrators.  But, this one has no settings.  The instructions just say to slice fruit uniformly, place it on the trays and plug the dehydrator in.  It states that most foods take 24 to 36 hours to dehydrate. 

 Thanks for the detailed direction.  I tested my vintage gadget with some kale chips.

I have always had to make my kale chips by baking them in the oven.  I have also always kept it simple with some olive oil and sea salt.  The KC’s turned out okay after the recommended 24 hours.

  I can’t wait to step it up and try some of the raw recipes that I’ve been eye-ing.

My parents and grandparents like to give  each child a lil cash for Christmas as well.  I don’t mind a bit.  There is always something that I need that I wouldn’t normally buy for myself.

Like new running shoes.  These are …um ….vintage

 

I needed some new jeans too.  As I explained in my last post, I have returned to a very happy weight so  new jeans were necessary.

I loved this outfit.  I didn’t want to break the bank and get the shirt though.  Maybe another day.  I haven’t bought jeans in …a while.  I have one pair of skinnies to wear with boots.  My others are Silvers - not Silver Tab- but Silver brand.  They are …vintage?   I love them.  So, when I needed new jeans, I went to The Buckle.  I can always find jeans there.  I tried on so many pairs.  I loved Rock Revival jeans but I didn’t love the price.  So I got BKE’s aka TheBuckle brand.  They were half the price of Rock Revivals.  I also needed new work pants.  I have found that THE LIMITED is the best place for me to find work clothes.  They had pants BOGO1/2 off!  Holla! 

Okay, Bloggies, I must let ya’ll go now.  I was called to retrieve a sick lil Snuffy from the sitter today.  I won’t go into details.  I have done lots of laundry and I am accutely aware of everything that was once in her lil tummy.

Another Vintage  Item

After 5 outfits, I resorted to my T-shirt circa 2003.  That’s right, my daughter

is wearing my 50% Single shirt.  Mallard thought it was cute to mark out the 50% part when I accepted his proposal. ..nice.  The flu hair completes the look.