summer 2012: treat tuesday #1, sunflower seed spread cookie dough bites

good morning afternoon!

today is tuesday. treat tuesday, that is.

i spotted today's treat on a sweet little site called pinterest.  
oh, pinterest.
how much do you love that site?!

so today's treat... Sunflower Seed Spread* Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites.
that's kind of a mouthful, isn't it?!

the original recipe created by texanerin, is found here. it calls for peanut butter*. however, since we are a peanut free household , i substituted sunflower seed spread for peanut butter.

you can buy sunflower seed spread almost anywhere these days. we typically buy ours from trader joes or we get the sunbutter brand from target. these two varieties contain some sugar, which the kids prefer. without the kids knowing, i've purchased another brand that contains no sugar and they won't eat it. i think it's pretty good, but it's silly to buy something they refuse to eat, so we go with the sugared versions (3g per 2 tbsp).

baking with sunflower seed spread as a substitute for peanut butter has been easy. the taste and consistency are both great. i've read that sunflower seed spread can turn baked products green due to a chemical reaction, but this has not happened to me yet. just thought i'd throw that out there in case someone tries these cookies with sunflower seed spread and the next day they are green. that would be a little alarming.

so back to the cookies. er, cookie dough bites. if you haven't actually checked out the ingredients yet, you are in for a surprise. these little goodies are packed full of protein and fiber. the main ingredient... chick peas! (aka garbanzo beans, for those of you who are only familiar with this bean as the odd looking thing soaking in what smells like pickle juice at many a resturant salad bar).

what exactly does this mean? well, friends, it means this tasty little treat is not only yummy, but a healthier alternative to your standard peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. it means you can have two for breakfast and not feel guilty!

now for the recipe...

 Sunflower Seed Spread* Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry with a paper towel
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons natural sunflower seed spread (or peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt if your sunflower seed spread or peanut butter doesn't have salt in it
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used enjoy life dairy, nut, and soy free mega chips and i added probably an extra 1/4 cup, because well... i like chocolate!)

  
Directions (copied from texanerin's site):

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Make sure to scrape the sides and the top to get the little chunks of chickpeas and process again until they're combined. Put in the chocolate chips and stir it if you can, or pulse it once or twice. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. With wet hands, form into 1 1/2" balls. Place onto a piece of parchment paper. If you want them to look more like normal cookies, press down slightly on the balls. They don't do much rising. Bake for about 10 minutes. Yields about fourteen 1 1/2" cookie dough balls.

a few things i did differently: i put the chick peas in the food processor first, just to make sure they were fully chopped up. you know, because they are chick peas. i also placed the dough balls on directly on my cookie sheet, as i don't have any parchment paper. they turned out fine and didn't stick like i thought they might. finally, my dough bites were not really dough bites. my dough balls were maybe 2 in. and i needed to cook them for about 15 min. the recipe yielded me 10 regular sized cookies. slightly squishing them with a spatula made them look more like cookies, as the way you put them in the oven is the way they come out--the shape doesn't change much during baking. i flattened them a bit once i took them out of the oven.

these treats are really rich, in my opinion. we had them fresh from the oven and they were good and gooey. all i could think about while gobbling it up was that it would taste even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. texanerin and many of her commenters said these cookies need to be eaten warm. mine have been out of the oven for a while and are definitely room temp by now and they still taste pretty good, i think. i thought the dough was pretty yummy, in small amount. it was really sweet, but the cookie itself doesn't taste sweet... just indulgent.

i will definitely make these again. very few ingredients, super easy clean up, and most of all a healthier and delicious treat!

do you think this is something you will make? 

zach drying off the beans

zach chopping up the beans

ben wants in on the chopping fun

before

after

thanks for reading about this week's treat!

make it a mini goal kind of day

it's that time again... the summer list has been made and plans are underway for yet another wild and crazy parker family summer break! i will share the list soon, i promise. it's not on my list today. (more on that later.)

as i mentioned yesterday, i reaaallly needed this break, but once it started, all i wanted to do was relax and simply veg out or read a book. my batteries needed some serious re-charging  and i would've been so happy doing nothing at all... with or without starbucks (or a margarita) in hand. preferably with, of course.

on monday, i set out to do just that... relax with a venti iced coffee.

too bad for me, my children view summer break a little differently. i was a wreck all day, because i had nothing planned for them. they were bored and wiggly and getting on my each other's nerves... a lot. it was not a great day. i apologize to my dinner guests if i seemed a little grumpy--i was!

unfortunately, tuesday was not much better, as i was too tired to actually plan anything on monday to do the following day. bummer for everyone.... again.

wednesday started off with a dentist appointment... with all 4 kids in tow. exciting! who knew the dentist would be crazy busy, as in standing room only, at 8:15 in the morning?! but an hour later we left with treasures from the treasure chest, sealants on the teeth, and ... the new-found knowledge that natalie has an extra tooth! apparently this is hereditary and i hear my dad has/had an extra tooth? anyone else in the family want to claim responsibility for this little gift? we find it charming and just another reason our baby girl is so special :)

thursday (yesterday) marked the day where i truly got my act in order. it all started with a to-do list. lists are amazing things, i tell you. there is something very satisfying about checking things off! i felt very productive and the day registered low on my stress-o-meter. hooray for that, right?! we even did a little crafting. that's right, craft thursdays are back!

this really isn't a revelation. lists are a must-have in my everyday life. i have even been known to add things i've already done just so i can check something off. ha ha!

this is my list today.



check and check.

how cute is my to-do list? it's even more fun to get things done when your list gives you a little pep talk. you can get your very own mini goals notepad here.

what was on your list today? did you get it done?

ben turned 5... 4 months ago!

well hello there! it's been a while, i know. i just finished up a super busy school year and am ready for SUMMER!! (it couldn't get here fast enough.) i'm so excited to be back and share the on-goings of the parker family, but first there is something i need to do. i actually typed this post, oh, 4 months ago... on ben's actual birthday. i needed to add pictures and well, i just got around to it. but i can't continue my blogging adventure without wishing my beanie a happy (even if it is extremely belated) birthday post!

*********************************************

5 years ago today i met a little spunkster named ben.



my labor with ben was the longest and hardest labor. he was being stubborn and didn't want to come out of the only home he'd ever known.

at 7 lbs 9 oz, he was my smallest baby and i recall marveling at how tiny his fingers and toes were.



the hospital was pretty crowded that day, so we began the discharge process just 12 hours after his birth. the nurses said i was an old pro, no need to keep me in the hospital. ha! we were in the comforts of our own home the night of ben's birth day. kinda cool, i think.

 

ben was an easy going baby. he was a horrid napper unless he was snuggled up in someone's arms, but everything else was easy! i didn't leave the house for about 6 months after his birth, but that's another story!

 

 

at 5 years old ben is my cautious, but super enthusiastic kid. he has a lot of energy and a bit of a temper. i attribute that partly to him being the 3rd brother... sometimes he has to fight for what he wants or to be heard. it is something that has earned him a spot in the preschool "thinking chair" on more than one occasion. but he's learning from it!

 


 

 

 


ben is also very affectionate. he likes to cuddle and be near others. he loves to give hugs and kisses and he is very complimentary. rarely does a day go by that he doesn't say "i love you" out of the blue or tell me i look pretty. sweet ben.

 

ben has been looking forward to his 5th birthday for a long time. we made a chain to count down the days. ben loved this and it helped curb the "is today my birthday? what about tomorrow? how about the next day?" questions.




happy birthday to my big 5 year old ben! i love you sooo much!















leave a note wishing ben a happy 5th birthday!!

the road called parenthood

sometimes you can be chugging along down the road of parenthood when BAM! suddenly you collide head first into reality. it's funny to think that something that has been there all along could be so surprising. maybe that's what we call "denial?!"

we recently received taylor's inter-district transfer request to attend ACMS. i'd type the whole thing out, but remember, i'm in denial. :) i'll give you a hint... the MS stands for middle school. *gasp!*

of course i've dreaded known that taylor would be going to ms next year, but i haven't thought that much about it. honesty though, it freaks me out just a bit. okay, a lot. i asked taylor's teacher to retain him, but he said no. bummer.

then today i was filling in important dates on the calendar when i see that coming up at the end of february is the family life preview night for 5th grade parents. OH.MY.WORD. my son is not old enough for that discussion!! please say it's not so. here we go again. *fingers in my ears* denial, denial, denial.

on the road of parenthood, i feel myself chugging along, slowly approaching a bridge. i have no idea what's on the other side. clearly i'm terrified. but i find comfort in knowing that many a mom and dad have crossed this bridge before ... and survived.

is this what i felt like 10 years ago, tucking my newborn baby into his car seat for the very first time, carefully loading him into our car and then pulling out of the hospital parking lot... onto the road of parenthood for the first time ever?

i don't think so. babies are cute. middle schoolers, not so much! ha!

so all you veteran mamas and papas out there... do you have any pearls of wisdom to share? what got you through this "exciting" (ha ha) time? what should i do? what should i definitely not do? my stomach is doing flip flops here, people!!

as a side note, can i just say that i'm incredibly relieved that i teach first grade and not fifth!! hello, the grossest things we deal with are nose picking (and eating... ewww!) and potty talk. thank goodness!!!


here's tay building a volcano for a school project

stop the presses... it's 2012?!

i realize it's been 2012 for 16 days. i'm a  little behind in posting. by now you should come to expect that from me!

happy new year everyone!




click here for 2011 video.

2012 has been beautiful. weather wise, anyway. seriously. 65 degree days. do i wear sandals or sneakers with my jeans today? even the plants are confused!

it's been business as usual around here. plan, prep, clean up, work, school, repeat.

i've been working on my 35 things list. just a little bit.trying to be a little more organized. if only pinterest weren't so distracting.

zach is finishing up his learn to skate class. on saturday he jumped. like both feet got off the ice. considering i've broken my arm a few times skating, i'm impressed. and overjoyed for him.

ben had an azaing week at preschool. his teachers have commented on how much his behavior has improved since the beginning of the year. a mama loves to hear good things about her chickadees.

taylor entered our school's math bowl and will be competing with a team in a math competition. he was so anxious to find out if he made the team that he begged to go to school when he was suffering (quite miserably) with the flu. goofy kid! so proud of him though and can't wait to see my little professor shine.

natalie spends most of her time singing and dancing and learning new words and taking care of her stuffies and baby dolls. it amazes me how strong that instinct to nurture is. as a mom of three boys, this is completely new and different.

joe has been busy working on a little project for me. i'm thinking it will make a good little post in the future, so for now mums the word.

i hope 2012 has been treating you well. are you sticking to your resolutions so far? i didn't make any this year.

35 things... an update

remember when i posted this? it was almost 6 months ago. which means i have just over 6 months to get as much done on my list as i can! how is it going you ask? let's see...

35 things i want to do when i'm 35... 

1. sew a pillowcase dress done!

2. learn to play the guitar

3. make a skirt

4. make homemade cinnamon rolls

5. go camping

6. go to the snow

7. have date night once a month have done this 2 out of 5 months

8. run a 5k

9. paint my bathroom

10. make 5 freezer meals--one for each wednesday during a given month

11. re-do hallway pictures

12. organize kids' storage bins

13. send birthday cards to family and friends

14. read harry potter, book 1, to my children

15. make another (better) rainbow cake did it!

16. get a family picture taken go lions!

17. go out to dinner in a dress

18. eat clean for one month working on it...

19. write to sony at least every other month

20. go to seattle

21. lose 10 pounds i've gained 5, so does that mean i need to lose 15 now?

22. take kids to the ocean

23. organize family photo albums

24. ben's baby book--1st year

25. natalie's baby book--1st year

26. go to nevada

27. visit great grandpa

29. support darien at disney world

30. visit family in michigan

31. teach kids how to do their own laundry-ha!

32. design and make a headboard for our bed

33. go on field trips with my kids

34. tile bathroom floor

35. write a children's story

wow, i feel so unaccomplished. i better get busy! maybe i should have made a "5 things i wish i'd done when i was 5" list instead?! ;)

help!

natalie pulled a dress out of her drawer and put it on her head. thinking this is surely a sign that she wants to wear the dress, i put it on her. she pranced about, cute as can be. that's when i saw it.

a piece of the underskirt (?) had ripped apart from the dress and was dangling about. oh no! what shall i do?!

you think i should sew it? wellllll... ok! 


( i will put a photo of the finished product here)


i love that i can say that :)