NAMOWENO

Saturday, August 21, 2010

I Tweaked This Oatmeal Cookie!

I found this recipe (for the life of me I can't remember where I found it online!) and really liked it, but I HAD to make some changes. First it calls for 1 1/2 cups flour, but I substituted 1/2 cup unbleached flour with whole wheat flour (next time all go for more!). Then it called for 1 cup peanut butter, but I used equal parts peanut, almond, and NUTELLA! lol I can't enjoy anything unless there's chocolate involved! I also used old fashioned oats...I like them better. They came out so abso-freakin-lutely delicious! It's also my first time using a cookie recipe that calls for shorting. I think it gave the cookies a nice gooey texture, with a slight crisp on the outside...LOVE IT!

Here is the original recipe:

PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together shortening, margarine, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don't over-bake. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The Final Countdown...

My two little ones will join us in a little over a week! I seriously feel like my year long vacation is coming to an end and I'm NERVOUS! lol I want to enjoy these last few precious days of unadulterated free time!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Lots Goin On...

So much going on right now. The nursery is taking off, I've got two enrolled and I'm so excited; they're great kids! Brianlily will finally have playmates, I'll have an income, and best of all...I get to be home with my daughter. I'm trying to work school into the mix, I just don't know how. I need classes that are late evening and nothing is offered later than 5:30. Ugh!

Life is starting to feel like the motion of a train...starts off slow, then full steam ahead; hard, fast, loud, and seemingly out of control, but on the right track.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Google Analytics...

Damn I love my Analytics accounts!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Children's Place...

Am I the only mother that didn't know about "adjustable waistbands"?! I'm in love! It's genius! I've been buying clothes from Children's Place for Brianlily since she was born, but not until she's been a toddler have I noticed their adjustable waistband. It's incredible! It totally works! I always buy her clothes bigger so she has room to grow, but her pants fall. Now with these adjustable bands, I can cinch them in the beginning, then let them out as she fills the pant in! LOVES IT!! Just checked out BabyGap online and they offer the same feature! I'm sure everyone is on this band wagon!

Photo to come!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Continued...

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted! Sheesh! I've been hella busy with getting my daycare up and running, and preparing for my family's 2 week stay!

I've been getting lots of inquiries about my child care services, but all outside of the age range I was hoping for (16-24 months). I wanted to keep ages close to Brianlily's so that no one would be too far behind or ahead. I haven't had too much luck with my "restrictions" so I'm opening it up to children under 3. Frustrating. No one enrolled yet. Here is my website: Lily's Pad Day Nursery.

As for my family visiting...well...it was as well as expected. My grandfather stayed one week, and my mother, sister and nephew stayed the second week. I still can't get over the fact that my grandfather came all the way to Portland! I love that man! It was amazing having the kids together and having my mother and sister here. And we didn't have TOO much fighting between us. The trip did make things hardER on me and Brian. The whole "this is my house" thing made it hard for us to deal with having everyone over. I guess we moved from NYC for lots of reasons and having it all come back to us was tough to deal with. It was nice showing them my "West Coast" life, but I was definitely happy to have some quite when everyone was back home. We got to do and see a lot, which was super cool for me because I've been wanting to do this stuff since we moved to Portland. We showed them the Coast, or at least a little of it. We visited Multnomah Falls, Mount Saint Helens, and the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and Bruce Lee's grave (really for my grandfather...he's a HUGE fan) in Seattle. There was lots of driving, and with 7 people in tow this was not an easy task! In the end, we made lots of memories, and have loads of great photos of our trips.