Blueberry breakfast cookie ♥

Hello Friends!

I hope this week is treating you well.  We are settling back into our normal routine after John being on school break last week.  It's been freezing cold here so we haven't been getting out much.  I am so looking forward to warmer weather! Not just yet though as more snow is predicted for tonight.  Thank goodness for good TV and Internet access : ) 

Today I wanted to share with you a quick little recipe. Our craziest time around here is definitely the mornings.  I'm always trying to find quick and easy breakfasts to give John so he doesn't go to school hungry.  Usually I make him a bagel, frozen waffle, or bowl of cereal.  He's been getting a little bored with these options so I thought I would try something different. 

Have you ever had a breakfast cookie?  I hadn't until I made them last week.  They are really good!  And it turns out that they are not only good for breakfast on the go, but also for an afternoon snack.  There is no sugar in the recipe.  They are naturally sweetened with banana, honey and applesauce.  John really loved them and once they were gone he asked me to make another batch.  This was highly unusual considering they don't contain any chocolate  : ) 

The recipe comes from the site No Diets Allowed that I found via Pinterest.

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium size bowl mash bananas.  Add applesauce, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.  Mix well.  Add oats and mix until well combined.  Fold in blueberries.  Allow mixture to sit for 5 - 10 minutes so the oats can soak up the excess liquid. 

On a parchment lined baking sheet  (or lightly sprayed with non-stick spray) drop Large spoonfuls of dough (I used 1/4 cup measuring cup) about an inch apart. 

Bake in preheated oven 18-20 minutes until slightly golden brown. 

The recipe makes about 10 large cookies and should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.  

Rob and I liked them as much as John.  They are nice treat to have with coffee.  I will definitely continue to make these in the future.  I saw some other variations on pinterest that I would like to try. Particularly one with cranberries that I can't stop thinking about.

If I add chocolate chips does that defeat the purpose? I'm thinking unfortunately yes....: (  OH well! 

Have a happy Wednesday everyone!  We are half way to Friday! 

xo 

Weekly wrap up ♥

 

Hello Friends! I hope you are having a nice weekend!

 

This past week was school vacation so I've been quiet here on the blog.  Rob took a few days off at the beginning of the week and I had a few days off at the end.  We've been loving being home, relaxing, eating big breakfasts, and watching movies. 

 

On Thursday John spent some time at his cousin's house so I ran out and did some errands. 

I treated myself to a chai latte.   It was delicious!

 

 

 

 

So was the croissant I got to go with it.

(could possibly be my most favorite food ever : )

 

 

 

 

I took a little time and did some browsing in stores. 

All the displays are SPRING!

 

 

 

 

Look at this place setting at Williams Sonoma!

I can't wait for Easter time!

 

In clothes stores I always end up in the "neutrals" corner : )

 

I can't leave the mall without stopping in a book store.  I love wandering in here....

 

 

We did a movie/pizza day with some friends too!

These boys are all getting so big.  They met in preschool and kindergarten : (

 

 

 

 

I started watching the John Adams miniseries.  It's so good!!

 

 

 

 We had a quick bought of sickness run through the house but luckily it didn't last too long.

 

 

 

 

Tea at bedtime is my favorite  ♥

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning I made a pumpkin coffee cake. 

 

 

YUM!

 

I had some Kohls Cash to use up so I treated myself to a new pair of Croft & Barrow pj's.

 

 

They are SO comfy! I love them!!! 

 

 

 

 

I'm excited the Oscars are on tonight, so I thought I would give you a little sneak peek of my red carpet outfit! : )

 

Have a great day, everyone! ♥

 

Weekly Wrap Up ♥

Good morning everyone and happy Saturday!

I haven't done one of these weekly wrap up posts in a while so I thought now would be a good time to bring it back.  I can't believe it's Saturday already.  This week has gone by so quickly! 

I just had a little breakfast of coffee and a bagel with a touch of raspberry jam which was delightful~

(*real life....sometimes I use a paper plate so I don't have to wash a dish : )

A week ago today we were on a weekend adventure to Pittsburgh. 

This boy loves to travel!

We had great experiences on both our flights.  Nice and smooth ♥  

We have arrived : )

The Pittsburgh airport was so much less crowed than Logan airport in Boston.  It was very refreshing! lol

The hotel we stayed at was called Shadyside Inn.  If you are ever in the Pittsburgh area I would highly recommend it.  It was clean, spacious, very affordable, and the people were lovely! 

Our suite had a living room, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small kitchen.

 It seemed a shame to only stay one night here. 

 We would have loved to stay longer.  It was so cozy!

The first thing we did after checking in was change our clothes and take a nap ♥

Then we ordered pizza! 

All ready and off we went to one of the most beautiful church's I've ever been to!

It was an amazing evening! 

♥♥♥

For more stunning photos of the wedding please visit Madison's (the bride) blog here... 

She was the most beautiful bride! 

Looking so handsome but refusing to tuck in his shirt. 

Heavy sigh from mom....

We arrived back home Sunday afternoon just in time for it to snow. 

It quickly turned to rain and most of it washed away but we a had a day or two of white which was nice to see.  It felt like the holidays ♥

On Thursday we celebrated Valentines day!

I made pork roast and sweet potatoes for dinner and we had chocolate mousse for dessert!

A few small gifts, handmade valentines, and of course....

...chocolate! 

What more could I ask for on Valentines Day!

I hope you all had a great week and are enjoying a relaxing weekend. I'm off  to the grocery store and then I promised to take John to the mall.  One more coffee and I'll be ready :) 

Bye!! ♥

Julia Child's Chocolate Mousse ♥

Hello Friends!  Happy Valentine's Day week! 

I have been in the best mood this week because we had the most amazing weekend and it's filled my heart so BIG that I don't want it to end.  We traveled to Pittsburgh, PA to attend a wedding which was the most beautiful day! I wish I could go back to Friday and do it all over again! ♥

I can't wait to share more about that later, but for today I thought because tomorrow is Valentine's Day I should treat you (and me!) to something special.  We had a snow day yesterday so it was the perfect time to put on some music and cook up something yummy!  

I decided a while back that I wanted to make chocolate mousse for Valentine's day.  I have never made it from scratch before and for my first time I wanted to be as authentic as possible and make Julia Child's recipe.  When I looked it up I was surprised to see she does not use heavy cream.  Julia's recipe uses egg yolks and sugar as a base instead of cream.  

It was a long process but definitely worth it in the end! I felt very French with my apron and my whisk....oooh la la!  ♥

This is a perfect dessert for Valentines Day! 

You start by melting chocolate, butter, and coffee over a double boiler. 

Remove that from heat and in another double boiler whisk egg yolks, sugar, water (and rum if you use it) until thick. 

Place in an ice bath and continue whisking.....

Fold in your chocolate mixture. 

In a separate bowl beat egg whites, salt, and vanilla.

Fold into the chocolate. 

We have mousse! ♥

Put in little serving dishes and refrigerate!  

Serve to your Valentine! 

Heavenly!  

Julia Child’s Chocolate Mousse - adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) 

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used semisweet chocolate chips)

6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (12 tbls)

1/4 cup dark-brewed coffee

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons dark rum 

1 tablespoon water 

Pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.

Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside 

(*tip – I didn't have a bowl large enough so I used a 9x13 glass baking dish and it worked perfectly*)

In a bowl or pot large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a hand-held electric mixer.)

Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then add the vanilla.

Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don’t overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.  I was able to make 6 "generous" individual serving cups : ) 

Top with whip cream and serve! Bon Appetit! 

Note: Several blogs I read suggested cutting the sugar measurement to 1/2 cup due to it being overly sweet.  The originally recipe calls for 2/3 cup but to be safe I used 1/2 cup and I felt that was just the right amount of sweetness!  

I also omitted the rum because I didn’t have any on hand. 

♥

I would definitely say my chocolate mousse was a success!

Julia would be proud! 

♥

Happy Valentine's Day my friends! Our Valentines are hung and we are ready to celebrate!

I hope you all have a day filled with love and joy! xo