Chocolate Chip Meltaway Cookies (Egg-Free)

I'm not sure the exact title of these cookies, but it seems only fitting. I got this recipe from a cornstarch website and it has been awesome. These are succulent to all who try them, allergies or no. This is the recipe I've used for two years in replacement of regular Chocolate Chip cookies. The end result is not even close to a real Chocolate Chip cookie, but is uniquely delicious. I remove them right at the 10 minute mark to keep the cookie soft and extra luscious, although they are a little more brittle at this stage so make sure to cool completely. If you cook for longer, they have a slight crunch to them, but immediately melt away as you eat.

Chocolate Chip Meltaway Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. flour

1/2 c. corn starch

1/2 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Combine flour, corn starch and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add flour mixture and vanilla; beat well until blended. Fold in chocolate chips with a spoon. (If necessary, refrigerate dough 30 min. to 1 hr. or until easy to handle.)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Shape dough into 1-in dough balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet; flatten slightly with a floured fork.

Bake 10-12 min. or when edges are lightly browned. Remove; cool completely on wire racks. Store in a tightly covered container. Can be frozen. 

Oreo Truffles

  These are commonly referred to as "Oreo Balls," but the writer in me will not allow the title stand. I need something that sounds as delicious as these sweet balls of goodness are. Therefore, I give you:  Oreo Truffles. These are perfect gift for anyone you know that has nut or egg allergies. With three ingredients, they are so easy to make. Warning: these can be addictive.

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1-21 oz. pkg. Regular Oreos (with filling), crushed or processed in food processor

1- 8oz. block of cream cheese*, softened

Melted Chocolate for dipping (any variety)

*or Neufchatel Cheese (for a lower fat option)

Directions:

Combine Oreo crumbs and cream cheese in food mixer until mixed completely.

Roll with your hands into small balls and placed on waxed paper. If dough is too sticky, place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour and then roll into balls. 

Dip balls in chocolate and allow excess chocolate to drip off. 

Allow truffles to dry on waxed paper. Transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator or freezer.

Delicious cold, frozen or room temperature.

Perfect Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

      Inspired to do some baking magic, I attempted for a fourth time to create the perfect Egg-free Chocolate Chip Cookie. It was divine inspiration--no doubt. My seven year old son is allergic to nuts, eggs, and pet dander (not that you can cook with that). Anyway, it is difficult to find sweet treats that do not contain eggs. I have a couple I really enjoy (and will post recipes of those as well), but this one I figured out on my own and the results were amazing! I'm not a fantastic photographer, so there are yet to be pictures posted. But I will remedy that situation soon. Here is the recipe:

Perfect Egg-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:  

2 1/4 c unbleached flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 c butter (no substitutes)

3/4 c granulated sugar

3/4 c packed brown sugar

1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 c chocolate chips

Egg Substitute:

1 tsp unflavored gelatin

3 Tbsp cold water

2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp boiling water

Directions:

Begin by making Egg substitute: combine gelatin with cold water, constantly stirring. Add hot water and stir together. Check throughout the mixing process so the gelatin doesn't set completely.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Add egg substitute and beat well. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by the spoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet.  

Bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Butterfly Nursery

I started the redecorating of Heather's room first. I wish I would have taken before shots, but here are my unprofessional after shots. In this room I had a lot of help. Another wonderful neighbor of mine, Melissa, helped me with the name in vinyl. I used a stencil from JoAnn to trace the butterfly bodies. I cut out, painted and pinned the butterflies to the wall. Straight pins hold the butterfly wings off the wall to make them appear more 3-D. 

In the corner I made a mobile out of circles of scrapbook paper, held together by jump rings. I decorated the mobile with smaller cutouts of butterflies.

My talented sister, Andrea, made the curtains. She added dark brown ribbon bows to accent the fabric loops.

After 9 years I decided to re-cover my highly stained and dirty $80 glider chair and footrest from Toys R Us. With the help of my fantastic mother and sister we were able to finish the job.

Angry Birds Themed Bedroom

      I have been working on redecorating my daughter's attic space bedroom. She's 8 years old and loves Angry Birds apparently. I don't see her play it often, but when I asked her how she wanted her room decorated that was her first request. I put it off for months... mostly because I was busy, but I seriously thought she'd change her mind. Of course she didn't. So my next problem was overcoming the problem that she's a girly girl (though she won't admit it) and the fact that Angry Birds is in no way girly. So I had to really put two things together (without drawing bows on the bird's heads) and hope they'd come together well. Another obstacle to overcome was the knowledge that Angry Birds won't always be in style, so maybe in 5 years she'll be sick of it.
Here are the before pictures:

I repainted the space a beautiful custom shade of blue in three tiers, brushing the lines between each tier to give it a feathery blend between the lines. Then I started work on the birds themselves. Each bird, between free hand drawing on a piece of paper, outlining the stencil and redrawing on the wall to actual painting took me about 3 hours. Take note I am discovering new talents and trying new things--I have NEVER drawn Angry Birds in my life or painted murals on a wall before. I do not claim to be a majorly talented artist, so keep that in mind. Here is what the paintings look like:

Thanks to the input of my daughter and my husband we have a fairly interesting mural, that only took two months to finish (thanks to my baby and other projects)! Thank goodness this painting will last longer than a few months. If she gets bored with it in the next year or two she's just going to have to deal with it. Next project please!

Super Mario Brothers Themed Room

     I was able to find jumbo Mario Brothers Wall Stickers on ThinkGeek.com (one of my favorite websites).  I used these stickers on the main walls of the room. I also found medium and small sized stickers on other sites. They were cheaper, but not as good as the jumbo stickers.

This last picture is a warp tube I made myself out of a Homer Bucket from The Home Depot.

     The only problem I found with the stickers is that the slanted walls have more texture, so they didn't stick well. I'm still trying to resolve the issue. I tried super glue, which worked on the smaller stickers, but the jumbo Mario made a giant mess. I will try Modge Podge next. If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them!

Super Mario Brothers Clouds

      All of the things I've looked up on the internet about clouds have said that making clouds is one of the easiest things to paint because they are so forgiving. I never believed it until I did these clouds. I started with a simple shape drawn in pencil. To give a nice edge to the clouds I made sure to bring the wall color inside the drawing slightly so my white would be the last layer on the wall.  I used a primer and paint combo in white so I didn't have to do three coats (although I did two coats around the edges). I made the outside of the clouds with a handheld paintbrush using simple round strokes and filled in with a small paint roller. I outlined each cloud with an acrylic paint in an ocean-blue shade.

Adding the happy faces was the scariest part for me. I created my own stencil for the eyes using "Auto Shapes" in Publisher and then drew the smiles below. 

Hills and clouds together:

Super Mario Brother's Themed Bedroom: Hills

In this discovery process of mine, I have found that I have a true passion for decorating. I took four days this week to paint a background for a Super Mario Brother's Themed Bedroom for my soon-to-be 7 year old boy. Thank you darling husband for watching the kids from 7-9 and letting me work until 1am every day, except for yesterday when I stayed up until 2:30am. Also thank you to my neighbors for not calling the cops with my music blaring until the wee hours of the morning. And finally, thank you to my kids who let me sleep in until 9:10am this morning. 

I will post another blog with pictures of the room with the fun smiley clouds from Super Mario All Stars and the Jumbo Character Stickers I purchased at ThinkGeek.com another day, but for now I'll show you some before and after pictures of the hills that I painted. Keep in mind that I am not a professional wall muralist, just a regular mom trying to create something fun for my boy (and hopefully something useful and interesting to those of you that need ideas on how to make a fun space for your homes). 

Before:

Here is a little bit of a paint test (that I didn't use) and the tape is the outline for the hills.

After:

 (and what a difference I must say!)

Just a fresh coat of blue all over the walls and then variations of the same color of blue (I used 1 gallon and 1 pint of the wall color, which I color matched at my local Home Depot from a favorite poster. I also used 2 pints of Swiss Coffee as my white, but I should have just dished out for the gallon. It would have saved me money in the long run). The darkest hills are two parts wall color, one part white. The lighter hills are one part wall color, one part white. 

Of course in Super Mario World there is shading on the side of the hills. This is the part that gave me the biggest headache. I used a ruler and some gentle painter's tape to create the three layers of shadow on the right. The lightest shadow is 2", the medium shadow is the size of a thin piece of painter's tape (a little over 2cm), and the darkest shadow is 1". From the center of the arch down to the beginning of the shadows I drew in the angle. 

To create the colors I took equal parts of the base color of the hill and added the mixture for the darkest hills (two parts wall color, one part white).  For the second shade I did one part original hill color and two parts darkest hill. For the third shade on the lightest hill I used the darkest hill color. For the third shade on the darkest hills I actually used a separate darker blue acrylic paint in the same undertone to outline. I couldn't use the wall color to darken the shades because I wanted the hills to stand out from the walls. Very technical.

 To create the spots I used Microsoft Publisher and created a full page oval and printed it out. I cut out the oval and then traced it on the walls filling in with lighter shades of the wall color. The lightest dots are two parts white, one part wall color. The darker spots are the same shade as the light hills (one part wall color, one part white).

Communication is the Key to Good Business

      While watching a Simpsons rerun a few days ago there was a scene where Marge starts her own Pretzel business. Just as she's about to sell her first two pretzels the competition arrives in a shiny new food trailer. Everyone watches the truck roll in and someone says something like, "Hey, let's go over there. They don't even look like they need our business." Leave it to the Simpsons to hit the nail on the head.
     I've run my own business for 12 years and know how the little guy feels. It's hard to start a new business, attract customers, stay dedicated and make it work. The biggest lesson we learn is that we make mistakes along the way. I feel sorry for the customers I had to practice on and make mistakes with. But as of today I've reached the top 2% of my company twice, earned four free cars, and in my best month earned over $5,000 in commisisons (not to mention the $1000 in sales).  So I'd say I'd done pretty well, not to say I'm the best expert around, but I started at ground zero with no experience in sales and have learned quite a few lessons through personal experience, training, and through other's experiences. Plus my customers love me because I know how to treat them right.
     This past week I was reminded of one of the most important lessons you must learn early and quickly to stay in business, especially in this day and age where Facebook and Twitter run our lives: Communication.
     I hired a new businessman and his crew to come clean my windows, window screens and aerate my lawn. They did a quick 5 minute estimate and set me up for the next day at 3:00. They were 2 1/2 hours late for their initial appointment. I would have been happy to reschedule for another day, but every time I called they told me they were on their way. So I was late for a movie with my husband that night. I had to leave before they were finished and the result was a very bad, rushed job. After that they literally wasted 24 hours of my life waiting on appointments for the crew to come fix it.  Had they communicated in the first place I may still be a happy customer, but instead I posted on my neighborhood Facebook page not to hire the crew, which may or may not have ruined the start of this businessman's company. I really don't like my time being wasted I suppose.
     So I guess in the case of the Simpsons I feel bad that all too often I have that mindset that I shop at places that are usually nice looking, well-stocked (this will be a future blog), and have a good reputation. Places that probably don't need my business as much.  I really WANT to help the little guy--really I do! But, there's a reason the big companies that look nice are where they are--that is: reliability and good communication. A word to the little guy: make me want to work with you! Communicate with me if there's a problem, if you know you did something wrong, if the dirt is too dry to aerate, if your car broke down on the side of the road and you're going to have to reschedule. Don't make me call you. If I call you, then you've lost credibility in my eyes. I can't trust you. If I can't trust you, I won't hire you and within seconds I'll tell all of the people I know not to hire you. Communication is key!

Time Management

    With the recent change in my life I've had a hard time deciding to do with my time and when to get things done. I feel so scattered. I'll start a project only to stop halfway through and start a new one, thinking I have to get this done now or I won't ever get it done, then I proceed to start the process over again when I walk into the next room. Having a newborn throws a wrench into things, especially when I don't have a plan for the day. I find myself cooing at her, watching her wiggle around without getting anywhere, reading her books, singing to her, and thinking what a cute baby she is when my husband texts me and tells me he's on his way home from work. The house is a wreck, dinner isn't going to be ready by the time he comes home, and I wonder what happened to the day? Not that it's bad to love on your baby, that's not at all what I'm saying, but all things in moderation, right?
  I was in a good routine for about 12 years. (Potential exercise) In Mary Kay they had us write down our goals for 20 years from now, 15 years, 10 years, 5 years, and 1 year. Then we broke down, based on our 10 year goals, what ratio of our lives would be dedicated to which of our goals (mine: family 30%, business 15%, education 10%, spiritual 20% writing 20%, vacation 5%).  Then I broke down my activities for the previous day. We worked out how much of what we did was related to our 10 year goals. Based on 16 hours of productive time in the day, how much of that time did we spend working on something relating to our goals. You're doing good when 70% of your daily activity relates back to your goal. Well mine, at the time, was 89%! Looking at my schedule yesterday, I don't think I could say the same. So what happened? Well, change happened. My life is so different than before and since my life has changed my schedule needs to change too. My 12 years of time management training has kicked in and I've become reinvigorated. I can tell already (since 11am today) that I'm becoming more productive and thought I'd share!

  Let's begin with the perfect day.  It has been a long time since I've updated my perfect day, but having it helps me to know that I don't need to get everything done all at once and I even have my fun (reading time) planned into my day.
Question for you: What would you want to accomplish in a day to make you super happy and productive? Be generic but plan it out hour by hour, minute by minute, etc. 

  For example: I came up with my own plan today while sitting in Hillside Tire and Auto Repair in Sandy, UT (great place by the way) waiting for my oil to be changed.

Perfect Day Schedule

8:10-8:30 Spiritual Time (scriptures, prayer, etc)

8:30-9:00 Breakfast and get kids out the door

9:00-9:30 Feed Baby & get her ready for the day

9:30-10:15 Exercise

10:15-11:45 Clean
11:45-12:30 Study Writing/Feed Baby
12:30-1:00 Lunch/Errands
1:00-1:30 House Project/Errands
1:30-3:30 Writing/Feed Baby
3:30-3:45 Clean
3:45-4:30 Kids/Snack/Homework
4:30-6:00 Project/Kids
6:00-6:30 Make Dinner/Feed Baby
6:30-7:30 Eat/Family
7:30-8:30 Read a book
8:30-9:00 Kid's Bedtime
9:00-10:30 Project (Computer Related)/Feed Baby
10:30 Baby Bedtime
10:30-11:30 Project/Hubbie time
11:30-12:00 Get ready for bed
12:00 Bedtime

   You'd be surprised at how freeing it will be to have one of these, and even how much fun it is to plan out! I was so excited, I had to mentally stop myself from jumping up and down as I was counting and scribbling in the waiting room of the mechanic shop. I got so caught up that my 9 month old daughter squirmed out of her car seat without me noticing (no, she is not yet crawling).
 
 Of course the "projects" are broad and can be related to business, writing, home, school, or church activities (ex. decorate, clean, garden, paint, scrapbook, fill orders, scout training, email someone, enroll kids in extra curricular activities, call customers, blog, organizing, etc) and I have a daily task list that I fill out (Astrid app on the Android lets me categorize my tasks, so when that time slot comes up I just click on my list related to that slot and start with my Red Priority tasks-SO EASY) so I know what to do when the time comes. No more, "Nap time! I have 20 minutes to actually get something done!? What to do... what to do..."
 
  SO, what are you waiting for? Get out a blank piece of paper and list out the things you'd like to accomplish in a day. Break it down into time slots, accounting for even the little things. The first go-around may be kind of messy. When you're done, re-write it and post it--somewhere that you can refer to it often (I've put mine in a Google Doc so I can refer to it from my computer or my cell phone depending on where I am). You can even print it out and laminate it if you want. Then you can mark it off as the day progresses with a dry erase marker (surprisingly rewarding).
   In Mary Kay they also teach us to fill out a 6 most important things list. You write out the 6 most important things that need to be done the next day. You fill it out before you go to bed at night. This is so helpful! Also if you need to call someone or some place, write down the number while you're making your list and the likelihood of calling increases dramatically!
   Obviously not every day will fit into this schedule, but having the schedule will mean that more often than not, you'll be able to have your perfect day. Yay for happiness and productivity!
   

Hard Choices

I cannot begin to tell you how good it feels to make a hard choice. Most of us think that making decisions is hard and painful, but I've realized that it's the indecision that is painful. The war that drags on in our head: Do I or don't I? It's almost impossible to get past. I have been in a war myself for the past 5 years, but suddenly I sat down and made the choice. That in and of itself has freed my mind, given me a passion, helped me see the possibilities. Now, the sky is the limit! The ghost of my prior self is floating to Heaven (luckily I don't have to pay for this kind of funeral) and my eyes are open. I feel like a kid on a roller coaster, a bird coasting on a gust of wind, a blind woman gaining her sight. It's miraculous and wonderful. What decision have you been putting off? What "shoulds" are on your list? Get up and make the choice. Either do it or don't. You are in charge of your life. Let go of the guilt and pain of indecision. Make that hard choice and LIVE THE LIFE YOU CHOOSE!

Taking the Leap

Today I'm "leaping" into a Premature Midlife Crisis with both feet! I've decided to rediscover myself, to chase after my passions and leave the rest, well... not behind... but to do it's own thing, which I'm sure it will.  Writing, spending time with my family, increasing my knowledge, getting more involved at church, building my faith, and actually reading. Ahhh... good luck to the rest!