Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips.

Sunday’s are my favorite day to bake and cook.    This particular day I based my baking decisions around the fact that I had a garage full of 3 men, 1 teenage boy and one 5 year old boy working on my husbands motorcycle.   I wanted a classic dessert and one that was easy to eat and simple to make.    With that in mind, I chose to make PB cookies.   How can you possibly go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate?.010RECIPEchewy PB Cookies with choco chips.The boys devoured a dozen in no time flat, so I think my decision was the right one.   They were warm, chewy and the perfect balance of peanut butter and chocolate.  These were a nice contrast to the normal crunchy peanut butter cookies that tend to be the norm.Enjoy!005.015

TurboKick Certification and St. Louis Adventures

It’s Throwback Thursday.

And I’m throwing it back to September 2013.

That counts, right?

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In front of the St. Louis Arch

 

Last Fall, Clint traveled with me to St. Louis, Missouri so I could attend a TurboKick certification class.    Turbo is one of my favorite classes to teach, aside from Insanity.

TurboKick is a mixture of kickboxing, shadow boxing,  sports drills, yoga, and simple dance moves that is highly choreographed.  Turbo makes you work your butt off while having a total blast.   Now – before you run away screaming because I said the word dance – just know it is nothing like Zumba or Jazzercise.   I am not much of a dancer…. or well… not much of a dancer in the shake your butt “look at me  – look at me” kind of way.  Yuck.  This is different.  It’s fun.  It’s work.  You’ll feel it.

 

My day started off at the JCC -St Louis which is a BEAUTIFUL facility.  Holy smokes!

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All participants signed in, met our instructor Sara, got a folder of information and then got to work!

 

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The outline for the day basically went as follows:

  • Check-in
  • Welcome
  • TurboKick Background Information/History
  • Warm-up
  • Form and Technique Practice
  • BREAK
  • Choreography and Physiology
  • Music, proper cueing, attire, creating a fun atmosphere
  • Full Workout – SO FUN!
  • LUNCH
  • Injury, Incident Reporting, Pregnancies, Age, Adaptations
  • Review technique
  • Small group technique and cueing
    • We were split into groups of 4-5 where we each were given a section to memorize and “teach” the rest of our group members
  • Full Class Demonstration with small group leaders
    • I was chosen from my small group to lead our large group – so fun!
  • Question/Answer Time
  • Practical Tests
    • We were lined up and demonstrated technique and form on cue
  • Written Test
    • Ungraded- completed in a group format.
  • GROUP PHOTO

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Sara – our Master Trainer – is in the yellow on the left.  She is SO GREAT!

I am basically dead center in the back row.  See me? 🙂

 

The Certification was scheduled to run from 8-5, however, we got out a little early since we were basically the best class Sara has ever had.   Clint came to pick me up and we headed back to the hotel so I could shower and then head out for a date night in downtown St. Louis!

 

First Up:  The Arch of course!

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I had visited the Arch YEARS ago with my family, however, it was so cool seeing it again and experiencing the sheer magnitude of this thing.   Sadly we missed the cut off for the rides to the top, but considering my finicky belly, it was probably ok.

After a quick walk around the Arch and tourist watching, we headed down to Laclede’s Landing for some beers and pizza.

 

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What a cool location!  If you visit St. Louis you MUST take a walk through Laclede’s.  Tons of bars, restaurants and even a wax museum!   I was starving by this point after basically exercising ALL day so we landed ourselves at the Morgan Street Brewery.

First up?  A flight of beers, of course!

 

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YUM!

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What a sexy son-of-a-gun that hubby of mine is. 😉

 

Clint kept talking about how we HAD to order pizza since St. Louis is apparantly known for the Provel cheese they use?  I knew nothing about it, but am always up for some pizza, so we ordered two.   Clint chose the Italian Sausage and Pepperoni and I ordered the Veggie & Portabella.

 

Oh.  My.  Gosh, you guys.  This pizza is SERIOUS.  

Heavy, rich, and so filling.  I barely could even get down ONE slice.   It was insane.

 

Sadly no photos, since we took this trip PRIOR to starting up the ol blog.  Who knew I’d want photos of my damn food?  ha

Just trust me.  If you go – order the pizza.  But just one.   And Clint and I both agree that the Veggie & Portabella is THEE way to go.

Following Laclede’s we went to this little corner bar off the beaten path and enjoyed a few beers while we watched and laughed at this large group of folks who had clearly been having a great evening of beer drinking themselves.

Our little trip to St. Louis was a quick one!  Far more time in the car than in the city, however, it was successful!   TurboKick certified and a night out in a new city with my main squeeze.  Can’t think of a better way to spend a random September weekend!

 

 

Cheers, my friends.

Ground Turkey and Pepper Saute

Looking for a simple, high protein, low carb dinner idea?

 

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Cut up peppers and onions ( I used two green, two red and one sweet yellow onion)

 

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Melt 1Tbsp Coconut Oil in Pan and saute veggies until desired tenderness.  Add ground turkey.

 

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Cook thoroughly.  Raw turkey is bad turkey. 😉   Season however you wish.  I used Worcestershire Sauce, Garlic, Sea Salt and Pepper.  I added a little cajun seasoning to my own bowl for a little kick.   Next time I think I will throw in some jalapenos!

 

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Enjoy!

 

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Oatmeal Toffee Bars w/ Roasted Marshmallow Topping

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

 

Brace yourselves.  These things are heavenly.

These are made up of an oatmeal cookie base, toffee bits, melted chocolate AND marshmallows.

Pretty much, awesome.

Step 1:  Mix together sugars, butter, shortening.  Mix well.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Step 2: Mix in eggs, molasses and vanilla.  Mix well.

Step 3:  Add dry ingredients except for Oatmeal. Once thoroughly mixed, fold in oatmeal and 1/2 bag of Heath bits.

Toffee Oatmeal Bars

Step 4: Spread mixture in greased 9×13 pan.   Place in oven for 20-25 minutes.  Be careful so as not to overcook.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Step 5: Remove from oven and spread remaining Toffee Bits, Chocolate Chips and Marshmallows on top.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Step 6: Place back in oven for 4 minutes.   During the last minute, set oven to Roast, open oven door and watch marshmallows turn golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Yum!

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Drooling yet?

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

The Recipe:

Oatmeal Toffee Recipe

Cheers!