Making Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

For those of you who may be newer readers, I wanted to explain my absence for the last few days. As many of you may know, my husband was laid off in March. Since then money in our savings has been dwindling and I had to start looking for a job. Luckily, I was able to get one, and it's even something I enjoy doing. I started on Monday, and it's really an awesome job and the people there are really awesome.

So, as I am transitioning from being a full-time stay-at-home mom with loads of time to do everything I want, to a full-time working mom, my blog may sometimes get overlooked. I have a new banner ready and will need to change the colors and background of my badge, so I need to set some time aside for that. I am hoping to get on a little better schedule this next week and maybe get some posts written for when I am really busy. I will be posting on the Tops deals, no matter what. I have to look through the ad each week anyway for my own shopping, so it really isn't too much more time-consuming to type the deals in a post. I also want to keep doing the meal plans on Mondays. Those are my priorities right now and if I find more time, I will work on Words of the Week Wednesday and Frugal Meal Friday. I also have a couple couponing posts I will start posting and I would like to write a few more to go with the series. So, bear with me through this transition and we will all be happier soon!!

Now, on to those wonderful oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I mentioned in the title. I am a baker! All week, I have wanted to bake something, but really have not had the energy nor really the time to bake after I got home from work. I found I really miss it. So, this morning I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. Some of it will be baked later tonight (when it cools down) and the rest will be put in the freezer. Here is the recipe if you are interested:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
4 sticks of butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups oatmeal
about 6 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 bag chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to about 350 degrees.
2. Soften 4 sticks of butter in microwave (use a low power) in a large bowl. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix well.
3. Add eggs and vanilla and mix again
4. Add oatmeal, 4 cups of flour, salt and baking soda. Swirl around with spoon to mix those 3 things. Then mix well. Add in about 1-2 cups more flour. This is an approximation. You may need to add a little more flour if you use larger eggs or like your dough pretty dry.
5. Add chocolate chips
6. Scoop dough onto cookie sheets, making sure there is enough room for them to expand. I usually try to put 9 or 12 on a sheet depending on the sheet's size.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until brown. Let cookies cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes and then, using a spatula, place them on a paper towel.

I hope you try the recipe and like it. My family does! I am off now to make up some zucchini bread. Then I have to make some dinner (I'm thinking homemade sloppy joes with frozen tatertots and a veggie) and then I will be making homemade bread for the week. I am also thinking about making some pasta salad for a cookout we are going to tomorrow. I already have most, if not all, of the ingredients and it sounds good. Have a wonderful weekend.

Stockpile and Strawberries

Stockpile Reorganization

Something must have been wrong with me today. LOL. I was in an organizing/cleaning frenzy. I organized my two cupboards where I keep some of my stockpile. Then I folded and put away a whole mess-load of clothes, washed a load of dishes (by hand - how I wish we had a dishwasher), washed another load of clothes and a load of towels. Since my stockpile cupboards look so good I thought I would share pictures of them with you.



In the first picture on the left hand side, is all our cereal, my 2-liters of Pepsi, syrup, oatmeal canisters and other larger foods that do not fit on my shelves. The middle picture is the left side of my closet. It has all kinds of HBA products: toothpaste and tooth brushes, shampoo, conditioner, mouth wash, body wash, deodorant, razors and more. The last picture, the one on the right, is the right side of the closet and containers all my cleaning supplies.

I have more stockpile than this of course. I have 2 shelves full of canned goods and bottles. I have a stockpile of paper towels (this is a necessity in my house because of the little ones) above my cabinet in the kitchen and I usually have at least one package in the basement. Most of my boxed goods are upstairs in a cabinet. I will be organizing all these again, and also organizing my linen closet this week. I will try to remember to take pictures of my stockpile when I am done so I can share them with you. I will also be cleaning out my freezer and upright freezer and trying to eat up the stuff that has been in there for a while.

Strawberries Galore

My husband's grandmother bought a huge bin full of local strawberries today and gave us a whole bunch of them. I just have to say that these were the juiciest and tastiest strawberries I have ever had. YUMMY!! She gave us at least 4 pounds, so I will be making strawberry shortcake either tonight or tomorrow. I usually just make a regular white or yellow cake, but I may try biscuits this time. I have Cool Whip in the freezer that I bought last month for $.50.

Hope you have a wonderful night and a great Friday. TGIF!!