Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Round 2

Sadie1 Comment

A couple weeks ago I posted a recipe for chewy oatmeal cookies.  Well as we know, I am an oatmeal cookie addict, so I decided to try yet another chewy oatmeal cookie.  This one is from the blog How Sweet It Is, which is a fabulously beautiful food blog, which a great combination of interesting yet do-able recipes.

Her original recipe only calls for chocolate chips, but I decided to add a little more je ne sais quoi.  Which means, instead of chocolate chips, I went with butterscotch chips, M&M’s (autumn colors of course), and chopped pecans.  Basically I look for any excuse to make monster cookies with as many add-ins as possible.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies with M&M’s, butterscotch, and pecans

Yields about 30-40 cookies, adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 Tbs cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
  • 1 1/2 cups M&M’s
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method

  1. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  2. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt), set aside.
  3. Beat eggs and vanilla into butter and sugar mixture.
  4. Add dry to wet and beat to combine.  Add oats and other add-ins.  Mix to combine, do not over mix.
  5. Allow dough to chill for 30 minutes and preheat oven to 375.
  6. Bake cookies 9-11 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

Wallflower Syndrome

CarrieLeave a comment

This weekend I went to see the much anticipated Perks of Being a Wallflower.  It was a moving story about a freshmen boy who was not accepted by his classmates.  He was adopted into a group of seniors who were an “island of misfit toys.”  This movie was extremely thought provoking and I recommend it to anyone that wants to reflect on their own lives.  I have been reflecting on my own life and realize that I just might have suffered from Wallflower Syndrome myself at some point and maybe still do.

1.  Fitting In

It’s so difficult to figure out where you fit in.  I have a lot of different groups of friends and can’t say that I have one particular group that I fall into.  Right now, I have been struggling with the fact that I don’t have a significant other.  Most of my friends are in serious relationships or married.  While there are times where I wish that I had someone to share moments with, I have to remember that I fit in no matter what.  My friends like me for who I am, and my relationship status does not define me.

2.  Enjoying Life’s Moments

Don’t let life pass you by.  You can’t take the moments that you have with anyone for granted.  Last month, my friend’s 38-year old sister passed away and reminded me that life is too short.  If you want to make your life count, you have to take chances.  Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone to make things happen.

3.  “We accept the love we think we deserve.”

This is the best line from the movie.  It might be hard to swallow, but it’s the truth.  I often wonder why I have not experienced falling in love yet.  I let this quote settle into my mind and think about the experiences I have had with others.  Maybe I don’t think I deserve love.  I look around and see that I have so many things to be grateful for.  Maybe I am scared of love because if I find it, my life will be perfect.  You can’t upgrade from perfect and that scares me.  I am scared of failure.  I shield myself from falling in love because it is the one thing that will make my life perfect.  And nothing is perfect.

Success!

Sadie3 Comments

I survived the half marathon!  Thanks for all the well wishes along the way!  I had such a great run!  I had a vague goal of beating 2:10 because I wanted to try to break a 10 min average mile.  But I had a really good race, and I felt like running fast so I ended up at 2:04 which put me at an average of a 9:26 mile.  I’m feeling pretty good about it.  It was a perfect day for racing: warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to keep you from sweating like crazy.  All in all it was a great experience!  Congrats to all my fellow runners!

Here are some of the songs on my shuffle that got me through the race:

  1. Va Va Voom by Nicki Minaj
  2. I Cry by Flo Rida
  3. 2 Reasons by Trey Songz feat. TI
  4. Hummingbird Heartbeat by Katy Perry
  5. This Head I Hold by Electric Guest (random but awesome)
  6. Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys feat. Nicki Minaj
  7. I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift
  8. Your Body by Christina Aguilera
  9. We Run the Night by Havana Brown feat. Pitbull
  10. Katy Perry Mega Mix by Katy Perry and Tommy Sunshine

After the race I hung out with my parents who came to Richmond to cheer me on.  My mom is a big fan of the VMFA (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts), so we spent the afternoon there checking out their Chihuly exhibit.  It was mainly all kinds of crazy blown glass.  Here’s just a sample of the stuff we saw:

What’s on your workout mix these days?