Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today at work we had a bridal shower for Amanda and I got to try these yummy cookies Marlene made. I wasn't sure if they would taste very good with all that chocolate (remember I'm not a chocolate lover). I do however like chocolate chip cookies AND I like double stuffed Oreos. Surprisingly the different flavors went together really well. I liked them a lot! This is where she got the recipe Picky Palate

 Look how tasty that looks!!!

I'll post the recipe after this. I also tried Chicken Salad from Apple Spice Junction. We put it on croissants and it was so yummy! I still like Utah Valley Regional Medical Center's better but I know Amanda doesn't like all those onions.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from the fantabulous Jenny of Picky Palate

2 sticks (1 cup) softened butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreo cookies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars together with a mixer until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
NOTE: Some bakers have had some trouble with their dough spreading too much during baking. If that becomes a problem, throw the dough balls into the fridge for a quick chill before baking. That should solve the dilemma beautifully:-)
Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE cookies

Green Egg Ocean (St. Patrick's Day)

This morning we had green Egg Ocean (German Pancakes) for St. Patrick's Day. The kids thought it was pretty cool that they were green. Still just as yummy too! This is Kerby's Aunt's recipe and I love to make it, it's so easy and fun. Sometimes my kids make it, usually Levi. They love to see what waves they'll get. Most of these waves sunk in or collapsed before I got the picture.

 Nate and Angela's family were here so we made lots of it.

 I love it when it has a good wave.

Egg Ocean

by Carol Peterson

6 eggs

1 c. flour

1 c. milk

 1/4 tsp. salt

 1/8 tsp. pepper (opt.)

 6 Tbsp. margarine

Melt butter in 9"x13" pan in 400º oven. Mix eggs, flour, milk, salt and pepper on high speed. Pour into pan with melted butter. Bake 20 minutes. It puffs as it cooks. Serve warm with syrup.

Variations: Add chopped ham or bacon if desired.

 I also made green smoothies, they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but were still pretty good. The main thing I didn't like was the texture (maybe that's how it always is when you use kale). I probably should follow a recipe instead of make one up the first time I use kale in a smoothie.

Here's the smoothie recipe.

1 1/2 c. kale

1/2 c. frozen spinach

1 c. strawberries

2 c. pineapple

1 c. carrots

1 c. milk

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp chia seeds

Blend it all together. I think if you try this maybe you should try 1 c. kale and 1 c. frozen spinach and maybe 1/2 c. milk and 1/2 c. apple juice or any juice. Hmm maybe we'll have smoothies in the morning.

Sportsman's Expo

Well today we went with Kerby's family to the Sportsman's Expo in Sandy. We've been wanting to go for years but just never have. The kids had tons of fun and there were some really cool things there.

Skylar and Levi wearing their antlers.

 Watching the dog show where dogs jump in the water to see how far they jump.

 You'd think my kids never go fishing by how excited they were to fish in a tank! They only go once a week or more!!!  Here's Levi and Kadin.

Fisher and Levi

 Skylar

 Kadin, going for the biggest fish in the tank.

 Fisher, catching his first fish, he caught 2, and Levi.

 Good job Fisher.

 Kason and Fisher

 Levi, Fisher, Kason and Skylar

 Levi shooting a bb gun (even though we have one).

 Kadin

 Fisher

 Skylar at the bug exhibit. Where they explain why bugs are important in the water.

 Levi, checking out all the bugs.

 "Hunting" for bugs.

 Levi, Terrin and Fisher practicing their casting.

 A cool little owl.

 A beautiful  falcon, my kids wanted me to buy it!

 Sugar Gliders, Kadin REALLY wanted one!!

 Look, he got to hold it on his hand and it jumped off and glided to his owner.

 Here's a close up where I cropped it so you could see it gliding in the air better, look to the left.

 

 They had a booth where you could hold a bear and get a picture taken for $15. We didn't do it, we just went up and looked. If we did it we would have had to pay for 4 because the kids were arguing over who would hold the bear and they wouldn't let you pass it around, you had to pay again, and you only got to hold it for about 10 seconds. So, we didn't do it, although it would have been fun.

 So cute! I think they said they were 9 weeks old.

It was a long, fun day! The kids wanted to do everything that was there, mostly they wanted to keep doing the WII game where you shoot Utah Carp with arrows.

Crock Pot Bell Pepper Casserole

 Remember when I made the yummy Stuffed Bell Peppers? Well I had a bunch of little peppers so I decided to try the same recipe with them only in the crock pot and without stuffing them. So, I made the same recipe but cut up the peppers instead and once again it was delicious and so easy too!

 Remove tops, cut into pieces (no need to remove seeds)

Here is the recipe with the changes.

Crock Pot Bell Pepper Casserole

By Kristi Black

Stuffed Bell Peppers
by Kristi Black

10 mini bells peppers, tops removed, then cut into small pieces, you can leave the seeds in
1 lb. Ground beef
1 lb. Pork sausage
1 sm. Onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Oregano
3 c. Rice, cooked
2- 8 oz. cans Tomato sauce
1/4 c. Ketchup
Mozzarella cheese

Brown burger, add to crock pot along with all other ingredients except for rice and peppers. Cook on low heat 4-5 hours, add in the rice and peppers the last 45-60 min. of cooking. This way the peppers will have just the right amount of crisp.  Sprinkle cheese on while serving.

Is It Broken?

 Yep, it's Kadin again! Today I spent most of the day at the doctor and getting Kadin's wrist x-rayed. Last night he was riding his rip-stick downhill and crashed and fell off. When I got home from work he had a really big goose egg and was pretty scratched up. I guess the bump on his head was as big as a golf ball when it first happened. We had wondered if his wrist was broken and when he woke up crying several times in the night crying (even with pain killers) I decided we better take him in and see. It's not broken, unless the break or fracture is right on the growth plate which is very hard to see. While we were at the doctor's office he put a splint/temporary cast on. It get's kind of hard like a cast but can be removed for showering. He has to wear that for 3 weeks, after that if he's not actively using it by then we have to go back in. We really need to invest in helmets, shoulder pads, knee pads and wrist guards!!

His arm and elbow.

 Shoulder

 Knee

 Hip

 Back

 Head

Temporary cast

Chicken Tomato Bake

For dinner I made Chicken Tomato Bake, my sisters Carrie and Tina make it and I decided to try it after I had some at Tina's house one day. I had to make mine a little different because I didn't have exactly the same ingredients but I still really liked it and so did everyone else. Super easy recipe for when you don't have much time to spend preparing.

Recipe:

Chicken breasts or tenders

3 or 4 cans of Italian Style stewed tomatoes (I used Mexican style and it was good)

Parmesan or any other cheese (I used Fiesta Blend)

Rice or Pasta

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour 1 can of tomatoes into a baking dish. Place chicken on top. Pour the other cans of tomatoes on top of the chicken. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top for last 5 minutes or so of baking.  Serve over rice or pasta. Enjoy!

Chuck E Cheese

Today we celebrated Brooke's (Kylee and Matt's baby) first birthday together. Her birthday isn't till the 19th but since they are here visiting from North Carolina we celebrated it now. First of all it was so good to see them again, it seems like Brooke has grown so much and looks so different. She's such a cutie! I haven't been posting about cousins birthdays unless they are celebrated at the same time as one of my kids but this is Brooke's first and I needed a new thing for today. Hehe! It was also Carrie and Nik's birthday today too. Happy Birthday!!!

 Here's her pretty cake, Kylee didn't let her dive into since it's not her real birthday yet. That's ok, she'll have fun when she does get to.

 

 Brooke wondering why everyone is singing to her.

 Please just let me grab the pretty light. (That's what Kadin did on his first birthday, then he didn't want anything to do with the cake at all.)

 At least she got to stick her finger in it and eat some frosting.

 

 My kids with Chuck E Cheese. Kadin was just thrilled to be in it!!!

 Gage and Skylar taking a ride.

 Levi and Skylar on the dragon.

 Fisher punching out ducks.

 Fisher and Skylar on the dragon now.

Skylar and Fisher on the big truck.

 Haha! I LOVE Skylar's face in this one.

 I love both of their faces in this one. Jonah decided to hitch a ride.

 Skylar getting her picture taken next to Chuck.

Levi wanted in on the action.

 Matt, Kylee and Brooke getting a family sketch.

 Skylar riding up the clock.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

Can I touch his nose?

Fisher so excited he won that many tickets.

 Levi...not sure what this game was but the kids liked it.

Kadin shootin' some hoops.

 Score! That reminds me, I really should post all their basketball pics on here.

 Fisher and Kerby taking some shots.

Kadin and Somer shooting water into the target.

 The prize they won with all their tickets.

 These are all the sketches we got, I think I'm actually going to have them framed (without all the chuck e cheese sayings). Haha! I really like them.