what's cooking?!

so i've been tweeting about my oatmeal cookie obsession lately (if you don't follow me on twitter, just click on the link on the right sidebar) and the obsession has yet to subside... yep, at 10am this morning i was whipping up another batch.

hey! don't judge me! it's oatmeal, people! it's heart healthy and whole grains are very, very good for you.

anyway.... since i have been completely lazy on sharing our weekly menus and new recipes with you (bad mama blogger....), i thought that i would give you my super fabulous oatmeal cookie recipe, well it's my mama's but she won't mind at all if i share with you :)

preheat your oven to 350 degrees (i almost always forget to do this, so i eat way too much cookie dough while i wait for my ancient oven to heat up)

you'll need:

2 sticks of butter (softened) and yes to make them incredibly delicious it must be real butter

cream butter with 1C brown sugar and 1/2C sugar (i use organic raw sugar but granulated is fine, too). once you've creamed those together and taken a couple tastes, just to be sure :), then add 1tsp pure vanilla, mix some more. then grab 2 eggs from your chicken coop out back or the fridge, whatever :) and beat those in (one at a time) with your butter/sugar mixture.

good so far? great...

in a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients: 1 1/2C flour (i use half unbleached white and half whole wheat), 1tsp baking soda, 1tsp cinnamon and a pinch more for good measure, and 1/2tsp of salt.... stir it all together

now stir in the dry ingredients, about 1 cup at a time... oh hold on i have to take a bit of my cookie, oh that was good.... into the butter/sugar/egg. your dough will be nice and thick but it is of course missing something: oatmeal!! now just using my spatula or wooden spoon i stir in 3C of oatmeal (i do not prefer the quick cooking oats, i like the big old fashioned oats, i love the texture it adds to my cookies

yea! you've done it!! now just plop down some of this amazing mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, okay you don't have to use the parchment paper, but i do and it's my recipe, to there :) bake at 350 for about 8 minutes, and viola! you have the most amazing oatmeal cookies this side of the mississippi!!

now i have been experimenting with little additions to my cookie dough such as white chocolate chips or walnuts or even dried cranberries.... and while all of those are yum-o, i still just love this simple recipe without all the bells and whistles. and for all you freaks who ruin a perfectly wonderful oatmeal cookie by adding raisins (YUCK, YUCK, YUCK!!), i don't want you're commentary about how you added raisins and it was fantastic, gross :)

okay, i am off to clean up the kitchen after feeding five children (yes i had two extras today) this colorful, yummy, and simple lunch....

some all natural vanilla yogurt, with honey wheat pretezel, slices of nectarines and a drizzle of raw honey..... yum, yum, yum... enough said :)

my belief is: if it looks colorful and appealing to the eye, then the posse is more likely to eat it without any complaining

and the hot dogs are actually turkey dogs without any preservatives or anything artifical, organic mac-n-cheese (so good), grape tomates and baby carrots with cottage cheese... easy, cheap, and so healthy i can hardly contain myself!!

be blessed today!! let me know how you liked the cookies.... i'm off to put the toddler down for a nap (praise the Lord!) and then i have like a million jewelry portraits to create...