Colorado Crockers

*Picture stolen from a blog who had a similar recipe to this* I have discussed before that is have an intense dislike for mornings. It was bad before kids bad has gotten progressively worse. I feel like every morning the sun greats me mockingly, reminding me of how little sleep I managed to get the night before. Enter the breakfast cookie. Matt has been traveling again. This means I am up with the kids. On mornings he is home, he gets everyone breakfast before leaving for work. When he is gone, I stumble down the stairs, cheery babe in arms, and growl a greeting of  'morning' to any small person I happen to pass. My kids learned while they were quite little not to bug mommy before her morning coffee. These cookies buy me time to make a real breakfast. It holds over small tummies until my eyeballs stop rolling into the back of my head. I suppose they could be a meal if you are on the run bright and early. I refuse to commit to being anywhere wit...

They say "when life hands you lemons..." Well, my big sis in sunny CA has been handed lemons, a whole tree of them, both figuratively and literally, but for this post we will stick with the literal lemons. I raided her tree while I was visiting and have been creating lemon wonder at home in Jersey. It helps that her lemon tree is full of Meyer lemons, which are the sweet kind. So far the girls and I have made a batch of lemonade, a pan of "Lemonies" which are a lemon bar cookie, and I made gluten free Eblskivers filled with lemon curd. The other night we had chicken with a creamy lemon and artichoke sauce. I still have lemons. So today I made Lemon Buddies and lemon glazed short bread for Easter. I still have lemons. Just in case you have a sister with a lemon tree or a slight "eyes bigger than stomach" problem like I do, I figured I would share my Lemon Buddies recipie with you. They are so yummy, but have no redeeming health value. Lemon Buddies: ingredi...

I have a 'thing' for chocolate. And I have a 'thing' for baked goods. When the two meet, it can be a little crazy. Well, if you think "suburban mom with a sweet tooth and expanding waste line" is crazy. It is around here. I will consider the utter pathetic-ness of that statement at a later time. I had a gf brownie mix burning a whole in my pantry but didn't want to go the whole "make a pan of brownies" route, because you know me, I like to get a little wild. So I googled brownie mix recipe ideas, got some ideas and adapted as I saw fit. And, oh my goodness, I nailed it and because nothing is more irritating than having skinny friends, I am sharing the wealth with you! You will need: 1 brownie mix (mine was GF Betty Crocker, I assume any one that makes a 9 x 9 would work) 1 egg 1/2 cup of butter 1/4 cup cream cheese Mix all of the above together. Should make a soft cookie dough. 1 cup of peanut butter 3/4 cup of powdered sugar Make into a playdou...

Some people start to feel nervous when their gas tank gets below a quarter full. My idiot light is usually on for a good 10 miles before I fill up. Others get anxious when their bank account gets below a certain number. Ummm yeah, I am not sure we have ever had a time in our marriage where we had excess, I am ok with small numbers. I do have times when I start to feel a little uncertain, it directly correlates with the amount of baked goods in our home. I like to know when I need a treat to go with my afternoon tea I will have one readily available. My friend Becky likes good food, this is one of the many reasons I like her. She posted a recipe recently on her blog (see Blogroll at right for address) and I thought it seemed like something I must try. The problem is I am completely unable to follow instructions as written. Be this tied to my issues with authority (it isn't a issue, in my opinion, I just don't LIKE authority, but I digress) or my need to express my creative flair...

Some things just make my day. The children sleeping in and waking up happy, a clean house, empty laundry baskets...and food. I am a big fan of food. Some people are "eat to live" types, I am not one of them. Finding a great deal at the store also makes me happy. I choose to believe I am "thrifty" not "cheap". And kitchen gadgets. Ok, so that is a little random, but I really like kitchen things. Maybe it is my love of food. The other day was a GREAT day when I came across a cupcake maker on clearance at Target. My heart skipped a beat. My husband rolled his eyes but my girls were thrilled. Meet my new friend. Isn't she adorable?! And the best part is that she makes 6 cupcakes in 10 minutes! The girls and I put the little gadget to work right away with some chocolate chocolate chip cup cakes that I frosted with chocolate frosting I had in my fridge (what, you don't always have several types of frosting on hand?!) They were great, fast, easy and yumm...

I am not a food blogger, forgive the " meh " picture and understand the AWESOMENESS that is what I am going to share with you. I am not a flaky person, generally. I am a list maker to keep me from being a flake. Sometimes, while at the store, I have a moment when I questions my list, thinking I forgot something I am sure we needed. I toss the item in the cart only to find 3 more like it when I come home. Sigh. I should trust the list. This is what happened with cottage cheese. What does one do with 4 containers of cottage cheese, especially when one daughter is dairy free and one loudly announces that she no longer likes cottage cheese? Mac and cheese, baby. Home made mac and cheese doesn't make the list of "diet foods" or "healthy foods" but seems to be right at the top of the "comfort food" category . But it is generally a lot of work. If I can come up with a recipe that is healthy, low cost and yummy it is the dinner trifecta . MMMM...

My sister Steph was telling me about packing lunches for her kido's and we were discussing ideas. She was talking about her sandwich maker and I thought, "I gotta get me one of those!". After a $10 investment from Wal -Mart I am now wondering how I ever lived without this thing! It is really fast, super easy to clean and makes the perfect size items! Being GF , i have had to use something other than bread so I have used masa harina dough (1 part masa harina , one part water, roll flat and place in maker) and corn tortillas. Here are some ideas I can't wait to try: Pigs in a blanket - pancake batter and chopped up sausage in it (cooks in about 4-5 min) Omelets - 2 eggs, 1/2 c cheese and bacon (cook 3 min) Tuna cakes - 1 can tuna, 2 eggs, 1 c crushed cereal, 1/2 cup chopped onion, salt and pepper (cook 4-5 min) Hash browns - butter, hash browns or shredded potato, 1/2 c chopped onion salt and pepper (cook 3-4 min) Corn bread - corn bread mix (follow directions on b...