Peanut Butter Caramel Shortbread Bars

I made some Peanut Butter Caramel Shortbread Bars to munch on when our friends from Colorado Springs visited us last weekend. They encompassed pretty much everything I love.

Recipe here.

Monster Cookies

I don't usually share recipes because I am so far from being a kitchen guru.

But I believe that all good things must be shared.

Monster cookies are my all time favorite cookies. They have pretty much every unhealthy ingredient in them, including lots and lots of peanut butter. That is why they are so addicting.  

I only make them about once a year because the recipe makes a ton. Like 10 dozen cookies. I have tried halving the recipe before, and they just don't turn out the same. Sometimes I freeze some of the dough so we don't have gazillions of cookies covering every kitchen surface.

Other times I just bake the entire batch and give them away. 

 

I received a text from my friend after Blake and I delivered them last night saying, "Holy best cookie I've ever tasted!"

Yes, they are that good.

I can't take credit for the recipe because my friends and I used to make monster cookies in college. As you scan over the ingredients, you'll clearly see why these cookies are an annual event. But they are so worth it.

As a side note, I used peanut butter m&ms instead of plain m&ms this time around. I searched five different stores for Halloween colored plain m&ms and they just did not exist this year.

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Playdough

When I woke up this morning to face a cold rainy Saturday with the little ones alone again, I knew I had to think of something creative to do or we would all go crazy. Yesterday was not the high point with either of the boys and having no husband around was starting to get old. With another daunting day ahead of me, I remembered this recipe for playdough that I used all the time for my class when I was student teaching. The magic ingredient is Kool-Aid; it gives the playdough color and makes it smell good. We made snowmen and pizza and snakes with the playdough. We even made baby snakes, to which Blake commented, "Mama, feed the baby snake," as he pointed to my chest. I guess he really grasps the concept of nursing. Needless to say, Blake enjoyed our activity. Now if I could only solve the nap boycotting problem that I have encountered with him the last couple of days.

Here is the easy recipe I used:

• 1 cup flour

• 1 cup water

• ½ cup salt

• 2 to 3 tsp cream of tartar

• 1 package Kool-Aid mix

• 1 Tbsp cooking oil

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium saucepan. Slowly add the water mixed with oil and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens to dough. Let cool a few minutes and then knead until smooth.