Limadoodles

Sounds like a dog breed doesn't it???

My lovely husband came up with the name to our cookie.  I didn't know what to call it & he help out in the thinking process.

My sister discovered this lovely bakery in downtown SLC.  They make delicious gourmet cookies.  The cookie for this month is called the Lucy; the minute the owner described the cookie on Facebook, I knew that I needed to try it.  My sista was kind enough to bring me home one & I savored it.  Ever since then, I've been wanting to try out my own version.

That cookie has come to fruition.

I wanted to make sure that my cookie dough tasted...I mean, tasted like limes.  I knew that I would need more than lime zest & lime juice to get me that flavor, and it was my husbands suggestion that I use a can of limeade (because of it's concentrated lime flavor).

With this cookie dough base, I decided to use my Mom's snickerdoodle recipe, hoping for a flavorful, light cookie.

My wish was answered.

Oh my....I could have eaten the whole pan.  My 15 month old daughter could have eaten the whole pan.  And to make it even better, I made up some lime curd & plopped it on top {it's really green because I thought it would go along with St. Patricks Day this week-it's just some extra food dye}.

It's tangy, it's sweet, it's delicious.

Would you like the recipe??

I made up a printable one that you can grab here.

Enjoy!

I'm linking up to these places this week:

Weekly Winners March 6-12

{All photos taken with my Canon Rebel XSi}

Yay!!!  Spring came to us this week in the top of Utah.  We made it up to the fifties & it was glorious.  I even pulled out the flip-flops.

We started out our week with a birthday {my lovely sister} & spent the week outside as much as we could. 

I didn't take alot of pictures, but I think I got some good ones ;)

-This picture ties as one of my favortite ones for the week-

-holy moly...you're how old????-

-this is my other favorite-

-I was a very kind sista & made my delectable Carrot Cake {fat-free too}

-if there's a camera....they will come :)

-My cutie-pa-tootie

-Trying out the Monkey bars at the playgroud-

-heading home-

Go check out everyone else's entries :)

Weekly Winners Feb 27th-March 5th

Oh Gosh...Chocolate!

 Sharing the Cookies

I *heart* Apples

Bringing the Noise

One tired boy

Changing my look

Being creative

Thanks for looking at my weekly winners.  Go check out everyone elses!

Orange Oatmeal Muffins

I think about everything that goes into my mouth.

"Oh, hi nice to see you".....gulp.

No seriously.  Since I had my baby 15 months ago, I've thought about every calorie that I consume.  I also think about how much fiber I consume.  Fiber & I have become good friends this last year.  I know it was the running, yoga & fiber that helped in me losing ALL my baby weight.  I've worked hard to get where I'm at, and I know that eating a more healthy diet has helped in it.

This morning I was in the baking mood, and wanted muffins.  I saw the oranges, and decided to make a "scratch" muffin...no recipe.

 I started by sifting together in a mixing bowl 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 Tbl Baking Powder, 1 Tbl Cornstarch {thinking that the cornstarch would "lighten" up the flour}& 1 Tsp of Salt.  I then added 1 cup of oats {trying to get the fiber content up}.

 I then made a well in the center & added: 1/2 cup of vanilla non-fat yogurt, 2 eggs, and the zest from 2 oranges.  I started the mixer, combining everything until it was this crumbly mixture.  As the mixture was going {on low} I added in 1 cup of skim milk, until it was incorporated.  I then spooned the batter into greased muffin tins & baked at 400 degrees for 14 minutes.

 While the muffins were cooking, I took the juice from the oranges & added a 1/2 cup of sugar & set it on the stove.  I brought it up to a boil, stirring to make sure the sugar had dissolved, and then turned off the heat.  Once the muffins had baked, and cooled {cooled enough so I could handle} I took each muffin and dipped them in the OJ syrup.  I opted for this instead of a powdered sugar glaze because I wasn't wanting the extra sugar.

 The good news....they were edible.  They weren't the sweetest muffin, but I knew that wasn't going to be the case since I was kinda going in the opposite direction.  I wish however that it had more orange flavoring to it; the zest didn't provide enough of it.  I'll probably have to go get some orange extract or orange emulsion & add it to the batter.  The OJ syrup added that little something-something.  I'm just happy that the muffins weren't gummy, because I know that can happen sometimes when oats get baked into bread batters.

I went online, & typed in the ingredients to see what kind of nutritional facts would pop up:

Not bad.  I had two for breakfast with a glass of OJ; my boys each had one with a bowl of yogurt; my daughter nit-picked through hers throughout the day-eating a little here & a little there {she hasn't grasped the whole muffin concept}.

I'm happy with the end product, and I'm glad that I've got snacks for a couple of days.  I'll definitely have to try this again.

Orange Chicken

I don't know about you, but sometimes you have a great idea, you go for it, and then it falls flat :(

This was my experience the other night.  I wanted to make Orange chicken, keeping everything very simple {thinking that is all I had to do}.

I diced up my chicken & threw it into a plastic bag with some cornstarch.  My thinking was, as the chicken cooked up, and rendered off the cornstarch, the cornstarch would thicken up the sauce.  After the chicken cooked, I spooned it out onto a plate, and into the dutch oven I poured in the orange I had squeezed {from 2 oranges}.  I scraped up any bits on the bottom and then poured in my second mixture: 1 cup of chicken broth with the zest from the 2 oranges; I wanted to make sure there was enough orange flavor.  I wasn't happy with how the sauce looked, it wasn't thick enough.  Therefore, I made up a little cornstarch slurry and added enough to make me happy.  I then let it cook, bringing it back up to a boil.  I then turned off the heat & threw back in the chicken & toss everything together.

 It doesn't look that bad, does it??  I mean you can tell that it's orange chicken :)  It just didn't have orange flavor for my taste.  I guess I'll have to look up a recipe for the stuff & try it again.

The best part of the meal was the following vegetable:

My kids {all three}, husband & I ate it up.  I'm thinking that this veggie might make the cut in our garden this year.  I mean, I caught my boy in the kitchen finishing off the last of the bag {I bought a bag that you steam in the microwave}.

French Toast Apple Pie Bake

When I made the Pioneer Woman's Flat Apple Pie back in January, I fell in love with cooked apples.  I've even started to crave the stuff.  Craving enough that it's what I want for my birthday dessert :)

So as I was searching through A Southern Fairytale's Recipe Archive and saw this, I knew that I had to try it.  I did mine a little bit different, but I think the end result is all the same :)

 I greased a large dish {I think I pulled the biggest one that I own}because when I watched Rachel's video, it looked like with the bread, you would need a large dish.  I then poured over 2 cans of apple-pie filling.....I wanted to eat the apples then; but I resisted.  I then sliced french bread {from the loaves that I got the day before} & arranged it in the pan {we like french bread french toast}.  I then beat ip 8 eggs with some cinnamon & half/half & poured it over the top of everything; I made sure to cover the tops of all the bread pieces.  I covered the pan with plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge.  A couple of hours later, I pulled it out and put it into a 375 degree oven and baked it for 30 minutes.

 It turned out DELICIOUS!  My favorite part, those apples:

 My husband thought that it needed some Cool-Whip......but he resisted.

What to try it out for yourself, go here:

Indulgent French Toast

Enjoy!

Southwestern Pot Roast

I made pot roast for the first time a couple of months ago & absolutely loved it.  I've been wanting to make it again, so when I saw a different version of it on A Southern Fairytale, I knew that I wanted to try it.

Oh my gosh....my house smelled so good.  Peppers, Onions, Garlic & Beefy goodness made my kitchen {therefore my whole house} smell delicious.  I think the one thing that I like about Pot Roast is the fact that I made everything up & let it cook on low for hours....fix-it & forget-it type meal.

I loved spooning over the sauce with all the different types of veggies.  See how I put chipotle in on the list....

 I put ONE in {the recipe called for 3 I think}and boy did it add a kick to everything; but not to bad this time {not like the chipotle rice I made last week}

The Roast came out fork tender.....I mean I could cut it with a fork {which I did}.

 I was going to pair it along side some rice, but decided to whip up some mashed potatoes instead.  I had gone to Sam's Club earlier in the day and pick up some yummy french bread.  Smart decision.  The bread soaked up all the yummy leftover sauce.

Loved this meal!

If you would like to try it, go here:

Southwestern Pot Roast

Enjoy!