In the Midst of a Project …..

This feels really strange writing this at night when I generally write in the morning, or nap time. I started a painting project on Saturday, meaning painting the inside of our entire house, and that, along with my usual work, I have been spending my days climbing up and down a ladder trying to keep more paint on the brush, and the walls, then on me. After some initial issues with the paint just not wanting to cooperate, ok maybe it was the operator, I think I have it down to a science. I am tired though, between painting, running errands, taking care of the kids, cleaning, and cooking, I’m pooped. I’m going to apologize for the pictures, or lack of, I had to take a few quick shots before they all disappeared!

In that case you are going to get lucky, and I won’t be very long winded tonight. 😉 After only taking the kids out to play yesterday morning, and not after their nap we paid for it in them bouncing off the walls last night, so I made sure that this afternoon around 3:00 pm I took a lunch/smoothie break and sat on the steps getting my tan on while the kids ran around in the grass. I still can’t believe that it has gone from 28 degrees at night to 86 during the day, literally within just a couple of days.

These oatmeal cookies are a classic! What I like best is they aren’t too sweet, most recipes call for about 2 cups of sugar, I just couldn’t do that. I reduced the sugar considerably. Something else that surprised me is that I have NEVER made oatmeal cookies that haven’t spread out on the pan, this batch was perfect! No spreading, no lacey looking effect, just perfect, bite size oatmeal cookies. I also had a triple win… my 4-year-old liked them (had to hide them so he’d stop eating them, and he is super picky when it comes to cookies.), hubby liked them, and I like them. So, there you go, can’t go wrong with these little babies. And I can vouch that they are super easy since I made them while I was painting therefore they only took a few minutes to throw together. That means you can toss a batch in the oven, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip and Almond Oatmeal Cookies

By Angie Gouchenour

33 servings

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter (2 sticks) – room temperature

¼ cup Truvia zero calorie sweetener

½ cup packed brown sugar

4 egg whites

4 teaspoons vanilla flavoring, or extract

1 ½ cups wheat flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch sea salt

3 cups old fashioned oats

2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips

1 ounce raw almonds -chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375’f

In a large bowl cream together the butter, Truvia, and brown sugar

Add the egg whites, and vanilla, mix well

Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix until thoroughly combined

Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and almonds

Using a scant 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop drop the cookies onto a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper, then lightly flatten with the back of a spoon

Bake for 11 minutes

Remove from the oven and transfer them to a cooking rack

2 cookies= 118 calories