Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yeah, it's kind of a long name for a cookie recipe, but I'm telling you these cookies are pretty darn good! Not only are these cookies healthier than most, they taste great too! The pictures don't do the cookies justice. Someday, maybe I will be able to afford a nice camera. For now though, the camera phone will have to suffice.

Waiting to go in the oven.

The final product. Mmmm...cookies...

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. coconut oil-solid form
1 c. coconut sugar
1/2 c. pumpkin puree (I use homemade pumpkin puree)
2 Tbsp. molasses
1  chia egg
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 bag of dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix dry ingredients (whole wheat flour, oats, baking soda, and salt) together and set aside.
3. In another bowl add coconut oil and sugar and beat for about a minute. Add in pumpkin puree, chia egg, vanilla, and molasses. Beat until combined.
4.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in dark chocolate chips.
5. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and using a small cookie scoop place balls of cookie dough on cookie sheet.
6. Bake cookies for 12 minutes.
7. Once the cookies are done, place them immediately on a cooking rack.
8. Eat to your hearts content! Enjoy!

* A chia egg is made by mixing 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of cold water. Then you want to let it sit in a cold place for about 5 minutes, it will turn to a gel like substance. I like to put my chia egg mixture in the freezer. If you don't like chia seeds, you can always use a real egg.

Makes: Approximately 30 cookies

Thursday Thought

In our stake, when a missionary comes home from their mission, they are asked to speak not only in their home ward, but other wards in the stake. Several weeks ago, a recently returned missionary came and spoke in our ward. I don't know this young man's name or where he served, but the words he shared are ingrained in my brain. The words he spoke were so powerful that I have shared them again and again with other people.

This young man shared something along these lines...

When he left on his mission, he made a goal to come home honorably without any regrets. Early, like within the first few weeks of his mission, he realized that he had mad mistakes. He forgot to make his bed one day. He was late to a meeting. He forgot to pray for someone. He didn't talk to every person he passed on the street. He quickly realized that his goal had gone out the window. He was in the first few weeks and he had made some mistakes. He became very discouraged. He messed up, what was the point in finishing his mission now?


One day his dad said the following to him, "A regret is only a regret, if you don't learn from your mistake."

In time he came to realize that we are all human and we all make mistakes. Nobody, I repeat nobody is or will ever be perfect in this life except for Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, we can repent and we can live a life free of regret.

If regrets haunt or weigh you down, pray to your Father in Heaven for help. Ask Him if is He loves you. Pray to see yourself though his eyes.

He is real. He is there. He hears your prayers. He knows what you are going through. He loves you more than you could possibly know. He will help you, if you ask.

Halloween Party

Every year our ward has a Halloween Party and every year Andy and I dress up. Dressing up just makes Halloween that much more fun! This year Andy and I decided to dress up as Paul Bunyan and Babe the Big Blue Ox. The idea for our costumes was inspired by the trip we took to the Redwoods earlier this year.

Who says a girl can't have a beard?

Andy & I.

Babe & Paul.

Call me weird if you want, but I don't like the phrase, "Hey babe." There is a story behind my dislike of this phrase, but I'm not going to share it right now. Since I dislike this phrase so much, Andy and I have never uttered these words to each other. But since he was dressed as Babe, I couldn't resist the urge to say, "Hey Babe." It felt so weird for those words to come out of my mouth, like really weird.

The real fun started when we got home...we made stupid dancing videos. Warning you may be slightly weirded out. Don't say I didn't warn you.

A Tall Onion

This story is too good not to share.

The other day my Dad called. He was driving in the truck and had me on the blue tooth. The conversation with my six year old brother who was in the truck went something like this...

Russell: Guess what I'm going to be for Halloween?
Me: A cow?
Russell: Nooo.
Me: A football player?
Russell: Noooo.
Me: Jacob?
Russell: Noooo.
Me: What are you going to be?
Russell: A vampire! (said with some sass)
Me: Cool! I'm going as Paul Bunyan.
Russell: A tall onion? (said with some confusion)
Me: No, I'm going as Paul Bunyan.
Russell: A tall onion? (said with even more confusion)
Dad: He said "A tall onion?" (you could hear my Dad smiling through the phone)

I then proceeded to tell Russell who Paul Bunyan was to which he replied, "You're going as the blue cow?" I couldn't help but laugh and laugh I did. I laughed for days about this one.

Weekend In Review

This weekend was way too short! We made a to-do list and knocked a lot of fun stuff off of our list and that was great, but we sort of lacked in the chores department. No cleaning on the weekend, makes for some less fun week nights. As I am writing, I am sitting in a small place between the mounds of clean clothes on the couch that need folded. Hmmm, maybe I should be folding clothes instead of blogging...decisions, decisions...

Friday

Friday night we went to the movies and saw the Scorch Trials (it is the second movie in the Maze Runner series). It has been awhile since we went to see a movie, it was nice to go out. The movie was very different from what I had pictured in my head while reading the books, the cranks were a little too creepy for my liking. Andy thought the movie was great! It reminded him of one of his favorite video games, Left For Dead.

Saturday

We woke up early Saturday morning and headed to my co-worker's house to pick grapes. He said they weren't going to be making grape juice this year and he didn't want them to go to waste. We can home with about 75 lbs of grapes that was maybe a 1/4 of the grapes that were there.

Grapes.

Next, we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to one of my favorite thrift stores to look for some stuff for our Halloween costumes. I totally scored on something non Halloween.

One of the first places I always peruse in the thrift store is the kitchen section. I always have my eye out for high end kitchen stuff and vintage dishes. As I was walking down one of the aisles, I looked up (it's always important to look up) and spied something I have been looking for for quite sometime, a pressure cooker. I see pressure cookers all the time when am thrift shopping but they are usually really old, worn out, and missing pieces. This pressure cooker was not like that at all, it was brand new.

My new toy.

I pulled the pressure cooker down and Andy goes, "You're getting it." I saw the price tag of $24.99 and frowned. I thought that was lot of money for a pressure cooker at a thrift store. I decided to call my sister and have her look the pressure cooker up and see how much it costs in stores. Drum roll... It retails for between $200 and $300 dollars. Needless to say, I came home with the pressure cooker. I think that was a stellar find. I'm so excited to use it!

Then we headed over to the day old bakery (aka bakery outlet). I found some awesome deals on Dave's Killer Bread and whole wheat pastry flour. I have wanted to try both of these items but couldn't justify spending full price on them.

We ended the day climbing Spencer Butte. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed our hike. Andy is definitely in better hiking shape than me right now.

Andy.

The sunshine was shining right in our eyes.

Me & Andy.

Sunday

We went to church and made grape juice. Juicing grapes is a lot more work than I thought it would be, but Andy and I make a great team so it didn't take too long for us to get through all 75 lbs. The juice tastes so good! The best part is is that there aren't any preservatives or added sugar. 

They look like blueberries.

De-stemming grapes.

The mess.

Andy pasteurizing the grape juice.

Getting ready to seal the jars.

The final product.

Thursday Thought

This past week I have thought a fair amount about a few different topics and I have had a hard time deciding which one I want to share. I guess it makes sense to share the thought that came to my mind first.

Background: Two Sundays ago as I was sitting in class with all of the Young Women, one of the teachers asked the girls which topics they would like to have addressed in their classes this month. I couldn't help but notice that almost all of my girls (ages 12 & 13) raised their hands for the topic of patience. Knowing that I was going to be teaching the 12 & 13 year olds the next week, I decided to start learning more about patience.

I have decided that patience is something nearly everyone struggles with. How many times have you found yourself lashing out at someone you love like a family member or friend? How do you respond when you are stuck in traffic? Do you struggle with road rage? What is your response when someone is late? Do you ever find yourself getting upset when something doesn't go your way? Do you get antsy when something doesn't happen right when you want it to? Society has taught us that we needed the latest and greatest new thing, yesterday. We have come to just expect things when we want them. Right now!

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I learned that life happens and to just go with the flow. Traffic jams occur everyday and road rage won't get you anywhere. Where I struggled though is with patience in waiting for things to happen, when they are supposed to happen- naturally.

I can recall being 11 years old and being so anxious to turn 12, I couldn't wait to be in Young Women's. When I was 13, I couldn't wait to turn 14 so I could go to the dances. When I was 15, I was boy crazy and I couldn't wait to be 16 so I could date. While in high school I couldn't wait to graduate and move onto college. While in college, I counted down the years, semesters, and classes until I would graduate and be "done" with school. I dated a fair amount and couldn't help but wonder when I would meet my future husband, I wanted to be married.

Looking back on all of those experiences, I have learned that it is important to enjoy where you are at in life currently. The future will come no matter what, it always does.

If you are prone to lashing out at loved ones, pray to see them the way God sees them. Look for ways to service them. And each day, write down one thing you are grateful for about that person. Feel the love!

If you struggle with road rage, take a deep breath, listen to some positive tunes, and just go with the flow. If someone cuts you off, restrain yourself from being reactive. I think restraining yourself from being reactive, can apply to almost all of the impatience situations I mentioned in the beginning of this post.

If you're like me and struggle wanting something right now, do what you can to make things happen and trust in the Lord's timing. He can see more than we can see, if you trust Him, things will happen the way they're supposed to; when they're supposed to.

Weekend In Review

I think the weekends have become one of my favorite parts of the week. Like most weekends, this weekend was GREAT!

Friday

I was craving a cheeseburger. Cheeseburgers are seriously one of my favorite foods. Why? I don't know, they just are. And in my opinion, not many places make a good burger.

At work that day my co-worker was talking about this burger joint she had gone to for lunch and she said it was really good. So the rest of the afternoon, I spent thinking about cheeseburgers and I just had to have one.

After work, Andy and I hopped in the car and headed over to Toxic Wings & Fries. My co-worker was right, their burgers were pretty good. Andy and I split a fry, burger, and wings. The best part of the meal was the burger. Their beef come from local grass fed cows, they smoke their patties, and make their own buns. It was pretty delish! My mouth is starting to salivate just thinking about that burger.

Saturday

Was a lot of fun! We ran a few errands, grabbed a bite to eat, hit up a thrift store, and headed to the pumpkin patch.

Eugene has some really awesome thrift store. I always seem to find the vintage dishes that my mom likes and some how they always find their way into my car, and then they make a trip to her kitchen in Washington.

Vintage Bowls.

On this trip I found these super cool green bowls with gold trim. Usually when I find these kind of dishes the gold has worn off or all they have are wine glasses (and we don't need any of those). I thought I scored with three bowls at $1.49 a piece. Mom had five already, so now she will have a set of eight.

Water Jug.

I also, found one of those large glass water jugs that people put out for parties and weddings. I have wanted one of these things for a looonnnggg time but couldn't bring myself to spend +$20.00 on one. Every time I went into Target and I would look at them and look at them, but I couldn't justify purchasing one.

My patience paid off. I picked this beauty up for $5.00. Not only is she super cute, she doesn't leak! I think I scored on this one.

After our thrift shopping adventure, we headed out to Detering Orchards to find ourselves some pumpkins and apples.

Andy found himself a pumpkin.

Me.

Andy with his pumpkin.

I found one.

Andy & I with our pumpkins.

We went on a hayride through the apple orchards and out to the pumpkin patch. We found ourselves some cute little guys to decorate our front porch. I think the was the first time either of us had been to the pumpkin patch, since we were little. We really enjoyed ourselves! We loved the cows, the apple pie and cider, the hum of the tractor and all of the fallness going on. 

Andy being a goof.

Me with a beautiful apple tree.

Earlier in the season, I made some really good dehydrated apples. Andy thought they were so good he ate them all in the course of a week. He has been asking for more apples ever since. We picked 60 pounds of apples in about 15 minutes, it was super fast and easy. We plan on dehydrating the later this week. Hopefully they last longer than a week.

Sunday

As usual, we went to church. Each year the young children put on a program during Sacrament Meeting and it is always super cute. You can't help but smile when the little kids speak in church. As we were listening to the children, a girl about 10 years old went up to the pulpit and she started talking about Jesus and the "ten leopards". Andy and I looked and each other, momentarily puzzled and then looked back up at the girl and she said it again "ten leopards." We knew she was talking about Christ and the ten lepers but she kept saying leopards. Andy and I again looked at each other and tried really hard not to laugh. She was just too cute! After the meeting, Andy looked at me and said, "I was imagining ten leopards sitting around Christ purring." I couldn't help but laugh at that. Needless to say, church was pretty awesome!

That evening we had some friends over for dinner. It was a pretty good time and we are glad they were able to join us.