Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Confession: I have a weakness for cookies.

MMMMMMMM. These cookies are good. Addictingly good.

We are getting ready to go on vacation in a couple of days and I've been busy making lots of goodies for us to take! Here's a cookie recipe that's sure to make you happy:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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1 cup butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups uncooked regular oats

1 (11.5) package semisweet chocolate mega morsels, or chunks

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, stirring well. Add oats; stir well. Add to butter mixture; stir until well blended. Gently stir in morsels and pecans. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper*. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until brown around edges. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

 *I didn't have parchment paper and just sprayed Pam on cookie sheets and they were fine.

Oh yum!! Enjoy!!

Just Call Me Annie Oakley

I have an untapped talent, apparently.

We spent the weekend in North Little Rock with my parents, and enjoyed lots of quality time and good food at their house. On Saturday, we grilled out on their nice new deck (more on that later). While the steaks were cooking, Keith found my brother's old BB gun and started playing around with it. 

He set up a couple of targets for himself in the yard:

See the plastic jug on the left and the small item in the back? That's a leaf taped to a little post.

Well, I had never shot a BB gun before and it looked pretty easy to handle. My only prior experience shooting anything was with Keith's handgun when he taught me how to use it last Spring. 

Well, I quickly discovered that a BB gun is much more fun to shoot with. And I am DARN GOOD at it, too! I hit every target Keith set up, and on the first try, too!

Hole straight through the leaf! We were shooting 20 yards away, too :)

Keith wasn't too bad himself, but not near as skilled as me!! hehehe

The next, more difficult target, was a paper plate with a chick on it. We set this all the way up against the fence, and the ultimate goal was not just to hit the plate, but to hit the chick. I did it on the second try! Woooohoo!!

That takes mad skillz, yo.

The last, and most challenging, round was a moving target. A Coke can on a string served this purpose. Dad set it swinging and we took our shots!

After a couple of tries, Keith landed one right through the middle.

And on my turn, Dad started swinging it, and I got ready to fire. Keith said, "let it die down a little bit first." BOOOM! I ignored him, shot it right then and I hit the can! I did such a big victory dance!!

Right through the side of it. I was feeling pretty awesome!!

So, Keith is really proud of my new-found skill and is hoping I'm a good shot when it comes to hunting. We'll see about that!

Next step: getting me license to shoot :) Maybe that will be my anniversary present? Hah!

Roasted Corn, Chicken and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

Do you like quesadillas?

Mmm, we love 'em!

Last night I made these Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Quesadillas (source: Cooking Light). They were fantastic! I was honestly surprised; I was really wondering how these would turn out as I was making them.

They are ridiculously easy, so give 'em a try!

Here's how:

Roasted Corn, Chicken and Goat Cheese Quesadillas
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Ingredients:

1 cup fresh corn kernels

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2/3 cup (5 ounces) goat cheese, softened

10 tablespoons salsa verde (or salsa of your choice)

chopped, cooked chicken (this was our addition to the 'dillas)

soft tortillas of your choosing

The recipe called for 8 6-inch corn tortillas, which we did not have. We used 4 large regular flour tortillas and it was perfect for 2 people.

Cut the corn off the cob. I had thought I would need both ears to get a whole cup, but one did the trick.

Slice 1-2 green onions

Then chop them up

In a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, roast the corn for about 2 minutes or until they start to brown.

Add the corn to the goat cheese and mix thoroughly

Now, you're ready to assemble!

Spread the corn mixture over the tortilla. I used half of the mixture because we were only making 2 large quesadillas instead of 4 small.

Add a little bit of chicken (if you want it). In my opinion, it's not needed. Keith just prefers his meals to have some sort of 'meat'.

Add green onions and salsa, just as much as you would like.

Coat a skillet, with nonstick spray and add the quesadilla. Cook over medium heat and watch closely because these burn easily!

See what I mean? Flip it over and toast the other side.

Remove from pan and place on cutting board to slice. See, some of my little edges are burnt! Ooops.

Next time I won't mess with the skillet and I'll just use my Quesadilla Maker, and they will be much less likely to burn. I have one after all! Duh.

Slice into as many pieces as you would like.

Stack on a plate....

Serve alongside salsa and a little bit of sour cream (if you like). I don't think I'll do the sour cream on the side next time. It wasn't really necessary with the creaminess of the goat cheese already in the 'dillas.

These are amazing! I was so surprised when I took my first bite. Really impressive and really easy!

We will definitely make again! Yummmmmmm

Flower Beds in Progress

Bear with me, friends, as I share one of my "I'm such a grown up" joys. You know you've arrived to adulthood when the addition of plants and flowers to your yard makes you real excited!

So, let's talk about The Joneses' front yard:

Okay, okay, so I'm sure this post is quite boring for most of my readers (except for mom!), but this blog is partly for Keith and I to document our adventures as a couple. So, the occasionally blog post about our flower beds is necessary :)

(lookin' good, house!)

Let's start from the beginning. 

Well, it's not really the beginning. I could post photos of our front yard before grass, or before we had any plants in the flower beds way back when we moved in in August of 08. But, let's start from the state it was in after our builder had finished and the yard was basically left up to us to 'decorate.'

This is what we had:

Flower bed between porch and pathway with some basics shrubs and a crepe myrtle, and flower bed on right side under the window. Right side was totally empty.

So, about a month ago, we decided it was time to spruce up our little beds.

We bought 3 hydrangeas to go between the porch and the house, in a very shady spot that isn't really seen until you're on our front porch. We were hoping the hydrangeas would get big and beautiful back there!

We were excited.

Keith successfully planted the first two, but when it came time for number 3, he kept hitting debris with his shovel.

Ended up being almost a whole bag of roofing shingles.

Word to the wise, if you have a new house, dig deep in your flower beds. Construction sites are messy and things just get thrown around!! That plant would have never grown if Keith hadn't dug all that junk up. Hard work for one little plant!

We also planted other items that day:

4 hostas in the front

A new crepe myrtle for the right side, 3 azaleas, and some pretty little ground cover.

Our first day of work improved things, for sure. Our white azaleas bloomed recently and were really pretty! But, we wanted more color and some pretty flowers!

So, this weekend, I planted a bunch of colorful things:

Red Salvia and Impatients

Purple Salvia plants

Red is my favorite color.
Ever.

This little bit has given the flower beds a good boost.

And our hydrangeas are starting to get full and begin to bloom. Yippeeee!

And because I like to see results, here's a look at the the before, during and after:

Front Left

Front Right

Pretty good improvements, huh!? Now, as a last step, we gotta get some mulch in there! My only request is that we get the kind that does NOT smell like a horse's rear. Please, and thank you.