Espresso Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

When I saw this cookie recipe in Annie's blog I pinned it and planned to make them for my dad for Father's Day. I think they were a hit. Just the right amount of chewiness. The coconut and espresso flavors weren't as prominent as I'd hoped. I even added an extra tablespoon of espresso powder...but they were still super tasty!

Espresso Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. espresso powder
1 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. coconut extract

1 c. dark chocolate chips

1 c. shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and espresso powder and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla and coconut extracts. Slowly add all the dry ingredients, beating on low speed, just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and coconut.

Using a medium cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes in the preheated oven just until cookies are set. Let cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Homemade Taco Salad Bowls

For Margot's birthday party, we set up a taco salad bar...super easy! You gotta have the taco shell bowls to go with it of course. I decided to make my own. I'm so glad I did! They were really easy and really tasty. The recipes I read said to use empty tin cans to bake them on but I found that using oven-safe bowls worked much much better and gave me the shape I was looking for. I will definitely revisit this one again and again!

Taco Salad Bowls

Ingredients:

10 12-14 inch flour tortillas

1/2-3/4 c. warm water
2-3 tbsp. vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place 4 oven-safe bowls upside down on 2 cookie sheets. Place a square of aluminum foil over each bowl. Place the warm water and oil in a pizza pan and whisk to combine. Immerse a tortilla into the water mixture and shake any excess off. Drape the tortilla over the foil covered bowl. Repeat with 3 more tortillas and sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake in the preheated oven for 5-6 minutes, until tortilla holds its shape. Using oven mitts, take the tortillas and foil off the bowls with turn the bowls right side up on the cookie sheets. Now, place the par baked shells down inside the bowls and bake an additional 2-3 minutes until crisp and light golden brown. Remove from bowls and cool on racks. You'll have to do this in several batches until you've used all your tortillas. Makes 10 taco salad bowls.

If I won an award...

...it would be for "worst blogger".  I have not done well with keeping up with my blog during our move. We've been in our house for 3 weeks and it's not been 4 weeks since my last post. Sorry people. Moving is crazy! And we had sick kiddos on top of it. So I guess I have a pretty good excuse.

After we moved in, Margot got the stomach flu. As soon as she was well, Amelia got the stomach flu. She also got a nasty case of Impetigo on her face...all while working on 6 (yes, 6!) teeth. After the girls were both well, Randy and I traded off watching the girls and working on our other house to get it ready for our tenant. We had endless days of cleaning, painting, weeding etc. But we're done with that now! Our awesome renter moved in Friday and (hopefully) we won't have to worry about that house for a while.

We're mostly unpacked now. we've been working on that in between everything else. And Margot's room is the only one in the house that's mostly the way I want it. My brother and his wife are moving into our upstairs in a couple months, so right now we're mostly focusing on getting it renovated and ready for them. I spent over 20 hours (with the help of some friends and my mom!) in the last 3 days cleaning and painting up there. And then we'll be re-doing to bathroom. I took lots of before pictures and I'll be sure to share the end result with you all!

We are loving out new place. Even though we have lots do to still, we are enjoying all the space! We spend tons of time in our huge, grassy backyard. And we've already had friends over a few times and we're getting ready to celebrate Margot's 3rd birthday here in a couple weeks. It feels like home.

So stick with me as we work to get things done on the house and I'll be sharing lots of pictures as we make progress! Here are a few from my Instagram account...

Amelia playing in her new room

Margot's room

Randy's loving having a backyard to take care of

This is where I can find these two most of the time

Plates I've been collecting from thrift stores and such for the last couple months.
Added a few more to the left side since this picture was taken.

1 more week...

...until the big move! This is the reason you haven't seen me around lately. I have been busy sorting, packing, cleaning, labeling, organizing and painting. Oh, and browsing the furniture section on Craigslist a lot. We got some awesome deals! Remember how we live in an 855 square foot home right now? So we don't have much to bring to the new, huge place. Not anymore! Craigslist helped us get an entire living room set (couch, loveseat and chair), a really nice dining table and chairs, a desk and some bar stools. Also, a washer and dryer from the appliance section. Hooray!

Life is a little chaotic right now but I wouldn't have it any other way. We'd move tomorrow if we could! Margot asks me every day "am I move to my new house today, mom?" and I tell her "only 10 more days, 9 more days"...and today I got to tell her, "only 1 more week!" Her face lit up (she has no idea how long 1 week is) and she gasped and said "1 more week?? I'm so excited!". So we're all ready to go :)

I knew next week would be even busier with the actual moving day (the 15th) and then unpacking all week after that. So I spent the whole morning yesterday in the kitchen making some meals to stick in the freezer for us to eat next week. I know I won't be thinking about menu planning, grocery shopping and cooking so I'll be glad I did the work now so I won't have to worry about it next week. This was my first time making freezer meals...I hope I did them right! I made penne with sausage and creamy ricotta, sour cream enchiladas and a chicken pot pie. They all looked like great recipes and they're from some of my favorite blogs and websites. I "healthified" them a little bit by using low fat and whole grain ingredients. I also made my brother a birthday cake for a little family party last night....it was de-licious. Everyone loved it. And one of the simpliest recipes ever! I will definitely make it again.

So, that's a little of what I've been up to! Hopefully I can keep up with posting more during this transition...we'll see what happens!

all my little meals, ready to go into the freezer!

one way to get to the girls to the new house :)

Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

So these are probably my new favorite cookie! Super chewy, great flavors, perfect summertime cookie. Not the prettiest picture, sorry! The only change I made to the original recipe is that I doubled the amount of coconut and added an extra egg. I'm glad I did because I think it prevented the cookies from spreading too much like the original recipe says they do. I didn't have trouble with that at all. I can't wait for an excuse to make these again!


Chewy Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 c.butter, softened
1 ½ c. white sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one large lime
3 tbsp lime juice
1 c. shredded coconut, toasted*
½ c. sugar (for rolling cookies)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside. Using a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut until fully incorporated. Roll spoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar until evenly coated. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned on the edges and slightly doughy in the centers. Let stand on cookie sheets for a couple minutes before moving to cool on wire racks. Makes 4 dozen cookies.

*to toast coconut just put in an even layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch it closely, it goes from white to burnt really quickly!

It's probably time I tell you...

...we're moving!! Hooray! It's been in the works for several months now but I haven't made the official announcement on my blog yet. So here it is! Just about 6 weeks to go and we'll be out of our little 855 square foot house into more square footage that I have ever dreamed of.

It's got 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a 2 car garage....my girls will each have their own room! Poor Amelia's been living in our walk in closet since she was born. Works for now! This house is such an enormous blessing and has come at just the most perfect time in our lives.

And the coolest part is that it's the house my husband grew up in. His parents are about to become empty nesters and recently snagged themselves a swanky condo and gave us an awesome deal on their house! I am beyond excited and I have SO many ideas for our new place that I can't wait to get started on. I'm sure I'll be sharing lots of them with you in the near future :)

P.S. This is my 300th post!

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

I made these for Easter this year for the kiddos and my sister who can't have gluten. I think everyone else gave them a try, too! I was happy with how they turned out but I thought they could definitely be more Nutella-y. The hazelnuts and chocolate chips on top are a must!  It gave the that great Nutella flavor. I'll make them again but I'll try 3/4 cup of Nutella instead of 2/3 next time.

Nutella Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

1/4 c. butter (plus more for the pan)

10 oz. bag marshmallows

2/3 c. Nutella

6 c. Rice Krispie cereal

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped, toasted hazelnuts

Directions:
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Once mixture is smooth, remove from heat and stir in the Nutella. Next, stir the cereal in until well coated. Coat the bottom and sides 13x9 pan with a little bit of softened butter. With butter on your fingers, press the cereal and Nutella mixture into the buttered pan. Sprinkle the hazelnuts and chocolate chips in an even layer all over the top and press firmly with your fingers until they're no longer lose, but attached to the top of the treats. Allow to cool at least 1 hour, cut and serve.

Happy Easter...a day late!

We had a lovely Easter! How about you? My sister, her husband and their three kiddos have been in town for the last week and we've been having a great time with them! We had a big family lunch and egg hunt yesterday. It was a fun, relaxing day.

I wore a dress voluntarily for the first time since my wedding...and heels, too! Randy had a new outfit from Forever21 and the girls both wore ruffly dresses I found them at thrift stores. Don't we all look cute?? ;)

I was in charge of dessert and I made Nutella rice krispie treats (for the kiddos and my sister who can't have gluten) and then a 3-layer carrot cake for everyone else. Recipes coming soon!

Glazed Bell Peppers and Snap Peas

It's a fact that I'm no good at coming up with side dishes. I usually just throw a salad in with our meal, which isn't a problem at all, but it gets a little routine after a while. This last week I challenged myself to make a new side dish with every meal. This was our favorite one! I found this yummy recipe in my South Beach cookbook. I loved it because it used two of my favorite veggies plus balsamic. Gotta love balsamic! It's really pretty and colorful, too.


Glazed Bell Peppers and Snap Peas

Ingredients:
3 c. snap peas, ends trimmed
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-2 inch slices
1/4 c. water
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. Splenda (or 1 tsp. white sugar)
1 tsp. olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place the snap peas, bell pepper and water into a skillet with a tight fitting lid. Cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 3-5 minutes, or until most of the water is gone and veggies are crisp-tender. Remove the lid and allow any remaining water to evaporate. With the heat over medium, drizzle veggies with the olive oil and add garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes., until the garlic is fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the glaze, combine the vinegar and Splenda in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, until mixture is reduced to 2 tablespoons. Remove from heat and toss with the veggies until evenly coated. Serve hot. Makes 4 servings,

Turkey Taco Peppers

I read a few different Mexican style stuffed pepper recipes and then made this one myself. I wanted to make something that would use up several ingredients I've had lying around for much too long. This did the trick! And they were pretty tasty, too :)

Turkey Taco Peppers

Ingredients:

3 bell peppers

1 small onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground turkey

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1/2 c. chicken broth (water would work fine)

1 c. cooked rice or orzo pasta

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the bell peppers in half horizontally and remove all the seeds and white parts. Place, cut side up, in a baking dish. Saute the onion over medium/low heat in a little bit of olive oil. Once they are tender and translucent, add the garlic an saute another 2 minutes. Turn heat up to medium and add the turkey. Cook, breaking it apart as you go, until it is no longer pink. Sprinkle with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and stir well. Next, stir in the tomato paste and chicken broth. Bring to a bubble and cook until broth has reduced slightly, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the rice or orzo and spoon the mixture into the pepper halves. Top each pepper with a pinch of the cheese. Pour half a cup of water into the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, if desired. Makes 4-6 servings.