Feed Me Friday - Breakfast Cookies

So....its Friday and like promised today we talk food, more specifically breakfast. My sweet husband has returned back to work this week, which means I now have to fend for myself for food as well as feed two kiddos.

I have quickly learned eating is going to be tough, let alone eating something I might consider healthy. So come nap time on Monday I decided to make up some breakfast cookies. Never heard of them? Let me explain to you what they are. Breakfast cookies are basically an over sized glorified oatmeal cookie, pretty simple I know. But they fill you up and hold you over till the next meal or at least they would if I wasn't a breastfeeding mama chasing a toddler ;) So for me they are a great satisfying snack that can hold me over for a couple hours until there is some peace where I can snack yet again.

In theory you want to make these as healthy as you can with dried fruits and natural sugars and such. BUT as I am a new mommy and some times I just want something sweet I went ahead and made them a little 'bad' but still with a few healthy twists to make me feel better about myself. With that I bring you my Almond Toffee Breakfast Cookies!!!

**Note a few ingredients are probably not hiding in your pantry but no fear I found all the 'weird' items at my local grocery store, if you can't find them at your local store I suggest trying a health food store like Whole Foods.

Almond Toffee Breakfast Cookies

the wet:
1/2 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup    packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp     baking soda
1/2 tsp  baking powder
1/2 tsp  salt
1/2 tsp  almond extract
2          eggs

the dry:
3 cups  quick cooking oats
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
2 tbsp   ground flax seed meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp     pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 tbsp   cocoa powder

the flavor:
1/2 cup toffee bits (if you can't find toffee bits finely chop up a few toffee candy bars)
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds
1 tbsp whole wheat flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Mix together all your dry ingredients and set aside. Now in a separate bowl cream together the bananas, butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Stir in baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. Mix in almond extract and eggs.
Slowly add in the dry ingredients, I tend to do this in 3 installments. Also you will want to switch from a mixer to a good old fashioned wooden spoon. I find wooden spoons do a much better job at combining the ingredients plus they remind me of making cookies with Grandma. Once all the dry ingredients have been thoroughly mixed in, set aside. Quickly toss the toffee bits and sliced almonds with the tablespoon of flour to make sure nothing settles to the bottom of the cookies. Dump into cookie batter and fold in.
Now the messy part. You will be using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to dollop out the cookie portions. I find using a cereal spoon helps keep things a little bit less messy. Scoop, form into a ball and plop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. You will want to gently smash the cookies down till they are about 1/4" thick. Note* the cookies will not spread nor rise up all that much but this thickness ensures they will be fully cooked when all is done. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the middles look set (really looking for lightly golden brown edges as well but as we added cocoa powder that is nearly impossible to see).
Cool and enjoy!

Or if you are like me and knowing they are not safe on the counter, freeze them until you are ready to eat. Pull one out and let it defrost at room temp for about 10 mins or pop into the microwave for a few seconds to thaw and gently warm.

Be sure to have a big ol' glass of milk with it, makes them healthier of course!

pssst. They also work as lactation cookies, not strong ones but enough to help you out trust me ;)

So now here is a little fun site I found, it calculates your nutritional facts in any recipe. Just add in all the ingredients that you baked with, add in the # of servings and BAM! instant food scariness. Now I do not recommend you do this with your favorite cheesecake recipe or even those twice baked potatoes. Lets stay ignorant, ignorance is bliss. But this was fun for me to see how bad of a morning breakfast I had made and you know what its not all that bad! Here is what I got:

Nutrition Facts
Calories                       241.5
Total Fat                       10.2 g
  Saturated Fat                 4.7 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat       1.3 g
  Monounsaturated Fat     3.4 g
Cholesterol                      33 mg
Sodium                       283.9 mg
Potassium                   183.3 mg
Total Carbohydrates         39 g
  Dietary Fiber                   5 g
  Sugars                       22.9 g
Protein                             5 g

Not too shabby, I am sure I could make healthier ones but for now I am happy with some almond toffee ones.

Thankful Thursday - Undercover Mama

Wooo its World Breastfeeding Week and it just so happened to time itself perfectly for my little thankful moment :)

With becoming a new mom again, knowing what I need this time has been easier. I have been able to streamline my daily activities with taking care of both boys and I can thank a few items for being a BIG help. But lets try and keep me focused on one item, this week's thankful Thursday moment goes to....

UNDERCOVER MAMA

I bought my first few Undercover Mama shirts back when my oldest was still nursing, but of course he weaned himself right before they arrived. Of course, gotta love Murphy's Law. So they all went into hiding until 3 weeks ago. My first time using them was in the hospital, they are perfect for you hospital stay - comfy, convenient, and pretty stylish in my opinion.

So check it out, you just slide them over your head like any other shirt then attach to any old nursing bra or regular bra. They have two attachment hooks depending on what your bra is capable of receiving. I tend to have to use the little elasticy circle part on mine. Now you can be completely covered, minus the breast that you are using to feed your little one with, in any shirt! Or if you are like me you lounge around the house in just this.

Here is why I think these are better than your average nursing tank.
1. No matter your bra size they fit just like a shirt, meaning as your chest changes sizes throughout the day or month it still fits!
2. They are more fitted. This is important if you are a mama like me with a bigger chest size and a still slightly womanly figure you want to attempt to show off. You know the few parts worthy of showing off still ;)
3. You can still wear this AFTER you are done nursing! Lets face it you won't want to be in a nursing tank after you are done nursing they are a bit bulkier than the average bra but an undershirt is an undershirt.
4. Did I mention they are a mommy owned compnay, that is right these wonderful shirts come from a WAHM company!!!!! Now there is something to get up and dance about.

Seriously one of the best little splurges I have made on me, be sure to go check them out. I'd hurry over too as they have this amazing blue limited edition color: blueberry, its simply superb! I got mine just last week and its adorable!

So you really want to see why I am making such a fuss? I'll show you, but be nice I may not be the most glamorous mommy out there ;)

    

I am in a white Undercover Mama and you can see just how well it keeps me covered as I go from feeding to burping and back to feeding!

Workin' for it Wednesday

So who is ready for some sneak peaks?! I thought you were, so here we go!

Okay forgive the odd photo, remember paranoid mama here, but look you get a little sneak peak of my baby boy!

I am excited to be adding these to the shop, they might not be available 100% of the time depending on how I am doing time wise but I will try my best to always have a few slots available. Really trying to craft only when both kids are sleeping or hanging with dad, turning over a new leaf to be a better mama.

And how cute are these hair clips?

  

I simply love making little girl accessories for some reason, hopefully one day I'll have a little girl until then I can help you spoil yours. Good things these clips are super cute and grown up enough that even Mommies can rock them! And, yes I rocked that cute little polka dot one while picking blueberries (AGAIN!) on Sunday.

There ya go, a few cute little sneak peaks to hold you over for a little bit, let me know if there is anything you would hope to see in the shop and I'll see what I can do!