Coni's Hearty Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies

How's that for a name....Well, I finally found a "healthier" version of the chocolate chip cookie. We altered it to the recipe below and they are FANTASTIC. One batch we even altered it further to include part honey instead of all the sugar, and even took out the egg yolk(and added another egg white.) They turned out great!  So they are pretty versatile.  The whole family loves these more than the regular chocolate chip I used to make so I've had to start doubling the batch because I've had a hard time having them last to the next day. Hope you guys like them as much as we do! 

CONI'S HEARTY CHUNKY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

(makes 2 dozen cookies)

3/4 c rolled oats, ground into flour

1 1/2 c whole-wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c butter, softened

1/4 c canola or olive oil

1/3 c granulated sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

1 large egg or 2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla 

1 c chocolate chips, 60% cocoa preferred

1/2 c whole rolled oats

1/2 c pecans, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. In medium bowl beat butter till fluffy with electric mixer. Add oil, sugars, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy.  Add dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, 1/2 c rolled oats and pecans.

3. Roll into 1 inch balls at least 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet. Bake cookies, until firm around edges and slightly browned, 8-15 minutes. Cool and enjoy!!

Food?

Tried my hand at felt food...got addicted.  It is seriously one of the funnest crafts I've ever done! The boys LOVED it, but unfortunately didn't get to keep it because we made it for a friends birthday present. So we will be making some more in the near future!

It's Christmas, Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

Previously at the Gleason home, a sneaky little elf was leaving surprises on our porch...on the night before Christmas they left a book titled "The miracle of the wooden shoes". What a fun way to start Christmas. It was so exciting to see what had been left by our mysterious gift giver every night...

We woke up to a white Christmas. It was very peaceful and all you could hear was the snow softly falling outside. And then we heard the soft pitter pattering of little feet enter our bedroom... "Is it time to go open presents yet?" Sky was anxiously waiting with eager eyes to pounce on the treasures that Santa had left... or had he? 7:30am and Christmas started.

We sprang from our beds and ran to the tree where the presents galore filled each of us with glee!



Sky and Laker loved each and every present - tearing them open frantically and giggling out loud to each surprise.

Laker immediately put the cuddly new doggie puppet up to his ear and snuggled away!

Sky slipped on his slippers and skidded around in their cozy warmth!

The potato heads were a hit! THANK YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA Gleason!!!



Wow, Mom should have gone to bed earlier...


Bubbles galore! Sky and Laker must have been good this last year, because they really cashed in. Santa must have unloaded 50lbs at our house. We had such a wonderful Christmas and have so much to be thankful for. The birth of our Savior tops the charts with our family following close behind. Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas so perfect.

Christmas Eve

Despite the bitter subarctic temperatures Jeff made a luge in the front yard! Even mom tried her bobsledding skills (not very successfully unfortunately). The boys did great with the best time of 3.2 seconds! After a night full of stories and goodies at Grandma & Grandpa Wilson's house Sky and Laker got to open a special present under the tree. Surprise! Camo jammies! Now the children were all snug and nestled in their beds while visions of sugar cookies and presents danced in their heads!

Christmas is almost here!

We braved the crazy frozen tundra outside and made our way to the deepest darkest part of Utah.. Orem - to see the big man himself. Sky and Laker both got to tell St. Nick what they wanted for Christmas...but I think they skipped the part about telling him how "good" they were this year.

They also got to express themselves by making and decorating the best gingerbread house in the valley. They won first prize in our very own contest!

Thanksgiving

Wow, okay I know that its January but we've been a little busy. So we went to Temple Texas for Thanksgiving this year, 2008, and had so much fun with the Heidenreichs! The boys loved the plane ride there!


We went to a childrens' museum and were amazed by the lifelike buffalo! We all had so much fun exploring that HUGE building!
There was a room full of cars that the kids could play in. There were even costumes they could wear! As you can see Fire Marshall Skyler was very serious on his way to the fire and firefighter Laker was just happy to be there!

Joe, Juston and Jeff all got into the spirit with a little friendly scooter car race. AND THE WINNER IS...

In another room they had bubble mania - we were very sad that the "standing in a bubble" gadget was out of order due to weather conditions :) But we all had a blast blowing huge bubbles!

We were all tuckered out by the end of the day...

Next came the parks...check out this cool skater we saw doing amazing tricks!


Grandpa gave Ellie and Sky the ride of their lives!


Laker held on for dear life riding down the scary tunnel slide with Dad!

What's a vacation without Chuck E. Cheese with cousins?
And...
Waffles shaped like Texas. What else can we say...Texas was awesome. Thanks for the memories!

Family Photos

We get family photos done every fall. We got to church and realized that we hadn't reset our clocks back an hour, so we hopped in the car, set the auto on our camera and FLASH! Whoop bang boom, our family photo. Professional every step of the way. Of course, Skyler is very tall for his age (but he is standing on a carton of coke cans for the aesthetics!)