I'm not kidding. I believe my husband has a sixth sense when I start baking these cookies. All of a sudden, he shows up out of no where.
At our house we refer to these cookies as Lisa Cookies. Lisa was the gal that used to take care of Will and Alex while I was still working. She is an awesome cook. My hubby used to joke that if anything were to happen to her husband, he was next in line. She said that Andy (my hubby) would have to wait in line. There were others in line before him. Once in a while Lisa would send cookies home with us. I could have ate all of them on the way home, afterall, it was a 20 minute drive - I could polish off a few cookies in that amount of time if I really wanted to. But I was kind. I saved them.
The recipe. It makes a lot. I'm not kidding.
Lisa's Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 C. brown sugar (dark is best)
1 1/2 C. white sugar
1 lb. margarine (4 sticks - I actually use real butter)
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
6 C. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 pkg. mini chocolate chips.
Combine sugars with butter until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift together the flour, soda, salt, add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.
Now - a few hints....if you have a stand mixer, that would be best to mix these up with. I DON'T! I've never had a stand mixer. Would I like one? Well sure - but right now, it's just not in the budget, and not really a necessity. I get by with my trusty ol' Black and Decker hand mixer!
I typically don't use mini chocolate chips. I use regular sized ones. Why? Well - I use our store brand (Fastco) chocolate chips, and they don't make mini. When using regular chip - I typically use about a bag and a half. Two bags is just too much.
I mentioned that I use real butter. This is one thing I splurge on. Have you ever read the ingredient list on margarine. ICK! Read the ingredients in real butter. Cream, salt. That's it. Can't get more real than that people! And I just like the taste of real butter much better - especially on toast or grilled cheese!
Do not overbake these cookies. I usually underbake slightly. They are just starting to get a bit golden when I pull them. Let them cool on the sheet for a minute and then transfer to a cooling rack. They really are best to eat after they've cooled about 10 minutes, then I put all of them in the freezer. For some reason, if you leave them in a container at room temp, they just tend to lose their freshness. So I freeze immediately. They are great right out of the freezer. Take 2 out, let thaw for about 5 minutes....mmmmm. My ass also thanks me for this. If I had cookies setting on my counter....I'd be huge!
One last thing - Lisa always fed these to teething babies - frozen of course! I did the same with Aubrie. Works way better than any other teether. And, I'm not finicky about what I feed my children at what age. So when she was teething at 6 months, I gave her a cookie. I don't know that she really got much off of it, she just gummed that yummy frozen goodness and was in heaven. Happy kids make happy moms!!!
That's all for today folks!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Welcome!
Hey there! I'm starting a new blogging venture here. For those of you who aren't familiar with my current blog, Stamped Silly, it's basically my paper crafting blog, and generally Stampin' Up! products. This blog tho, will be more about my life on the farm in Iowa. I will focus more on raising kids on the farm, a lot more recipes, some gardening, and sometimes an occasional rant!
I live in West Central Iowa. I am married to a typically great guy - he can have his days. And I'm sure if you asked him, I've certainly got mine! We have three children - two boys ages 5 and 3, and a girl age 1. Life is interesting here in Iowa, regardless of public opinion. While some may think that we like to watch the corn grow (and there actually are days I bet you could actually see it grow), we do have much more of a life than that.
I grew up in Iowa - about an hour north of where we currently live. My husband grew up about 7 miles from our house. His dad was born in the house we live in, and they currently own our home. This house has been in the family for many years - probably about 75 years??? Not sure. We live off the beaten path, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We can run naked in the yard if we wanted to. And my kids, well, there are days that they do!
I left my job as an insurance agent a couple of years ago to stay home with our kids. Our very dependable, very loving day care provider moved to another town, and I tried really hard to find a new sitter. But in the long run, it was best to stay home. I was thrilled. I wanted to give my Stampin' Up! business a really good shot, and my boys were getting easier to manage. Two weeks after I left my job, I became pregnant. I had very mixed feelings about it. We'd had some issues before at staying pregnant. I had miscarried several times at about 7 weeks. When I was pregnant with Will (our oldest), my doctor put me on progesterone. It worked. I took progesterone with Alex too (our middle one). I decided NOT to take progesterone with the last pregnancy, leaving it in God's hands. That's how many mixed feelings I had. I was content with two children. A third might distupt my system! And it did. I was tired for 12 weeks. VERY tired. And then, at 13 weeks I had an ultrasound. It was all smooth sailing (for the most part) from there. When Aubrie came into our world, we knew she was definately God's will! She fit in so perfectly with the rest of us.
So, now, here I am. Living the life in Iowa. It's not always easy, it's not always fun. But I can guarantee you that I look back on each day with a smile.
With this blog, I want to share some of the stories with you about the life of This Iowa Farm Girl. Some of the recipes that I create. FYI - I do like to cook. However, with a very limited budget, and the simple fact that I'm here in Iowa, I don't cook with high end products. I don't cook with anything that you can't find at your local grocery store. (I typically shop at Fareway - and if you aren't in the midwest, you probably haven't ever heard of them, but it's a great store! We also have Hy-Vee, and a No-Frills - aka No-thrills!) I don't use bizarre items in my cooking. I do try and cook almost all our meals. I'm not a huge fan of pre-packaged or frozen meals. I don't want to be called a hypocrit, so will admit that we do have chicken nuggets, chicken patties and some Hot Pockets in our deep freeze!
Now, let me state this - I may not be here every day to blog. I would like to be. I'm hoping that this blog will at least help me get some of my stories written down. Hope you won't mind the occassional rant on my hubby, my kids, or any other family members. I do have an opinion about things. And I'm afraid, I will share. Part of the reason for the blog. Like it or not. Don't expect political correctness here either. I'm not. I consider that a freedom of speech.
So, for now, that's all I've got, a brief introduction, some ideas about what's to come. I've got work to do while the kids are napping. And cookies to bake. Which will be the first recipe I think I'll share with you.....
I live in West Central Iowa. I am married to a typically great guy - he can have his days. And I'm sure if you asked him, I've certainly got mine! We have three children - two boys ages 5 and 3, and a girl age 1. Life is interesting here in Iowa, regardless of public opinion. While some may think that we like to watch the corn grow (and there actually are days I bet you could actually see it grow), we do have much more of a life than that.
I grew up in Iowa - about an hour north of where we currently live. My husband grew up about 7 miles from our house. His dad was born in the house we live in, and they currently own our home. This house has been in the family for many years - probably about 75 years??? Not sure. We live off the beaten path, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We can run naked in the yard if we wanted to. And my kids, well, there are days that they do!
I left my job as an insurance agent a couple of years ago to stay home with our kids. Our very dependable, very loving day care provider moved to another town, and I tried really hard to find a new sitter. But in the long run, it was best to stay home. I was thrilled. I wanted to give my Stampin' Up! business a really good shot, and my boys were getting easier to manage. Two weeks after I left my job, I became pregnant. I had very mixed feelings about it. We'd had some issues before at staying pregnant. I had miscarried several times at about 7 weeks. When I was pregnant with Will (our oldest), my doctor put me on progesterone. It worked. I took progesterone with Alex too (our middle one). I decided NOT to take progesterone with the last pregnancy, leaving it in God's hands. That's how many mixed feelings I had. I was content with two children. A third might distupt my system! And it did. I was tired for 12 weeks. VERY tired. And then, at 13 weeks I had an ultrasound. It was all smooth sailing (for the most part) from there. When Aubrie came into our world, we knew she was definately God's will! She fit in so perfectly with the rest of us.
So, now, here I am. Living the life in Iowa. It's not always easy, it's not always fun. But I can guarantee you that I look back on each day with a smile.
With this blog, I want to share some of the stories with you about the life of This Iowa Farm Girl. Some of the recipes that I create. FYI - I do like to cook. However, with a very limited budget, and the simple fact that I'm here in Iowa, I don't cook with high end products. I don't cook with anything that you can't find at your local grocery store. (I typically shop at Fareway - and if you aren't in the midwest, you probably haven't ever heard of them, but it's a great store! We also have Hy-Vee, and a No-Frills - aka No-thrills!) I don't use bizarre items in my cooking. I do try and cook almost all our meals. I'm not a huge fan of pre-packaged or frozen meals. I don't want to be called a hypocrit, so will admit that we do have chicken nuggets, chicken patties and some Hot Pockets in our deep freeze!
Now, let me state this - I may not be here every day to blog. I would like to be. I'm hoping that this blog will at least help me get some of my stories written down. Hope you won't mind the occassional rant on my hubby, my kids, or any other family members. I do have an opinion about things. And I'm afraid, I will share. Part of the reason for the blog. Like it or not. Don't expect political correctness here either. I'm not. I consider that a freedom of speech.
So, for now, that's all I've got, a brief introduction, some ideas about what's to come. I've got work to do while the kids are napping. And cookies to bake. Which will be the first recipe I think I'll share with you.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)