Carrot Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here is the Carrot Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe I mentioned a few posts back, for Snickollet or whoever else is interested. It's originally from Taste of Home, with a few minor changes of my own. Plus, I've halved the recipe here so it doesn't make ridiculously huge quantities. If you have to feed a roving band of teenagers or something, feel free to double it back up.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrots
2 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat the eggs and vanilla. Add the carrots; mix well.

Combine the oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Random unrelated thought: N-man had a huge tantrum today. It lasted for about 10 minutes while we were trying to get out the door, then for quite some time in the car as well. Suddenly, he stopped screaming, and one second later, said, "I'm happy now." Wow, talk about emotions changing with one second notice. Or perhaps I'm finally developing that tantrum-stopping superpower.

My Alumni Update

My husband and I recently got our college alumni newsletter in the mail. Whenever we get them, I'm always tempted to send in an update and see if they publish it. I crack up at all the "so-and-so has just been promoted to the 2nd assistant to the assistant of the head assistant". Is it just me, or does it always seem like they are trying to play up how super great their lives are? Or, maybe their lives are super great and they just need the official recognition of it. Whichever, I've never understood the draw. Perhaps it's because I'm still in contact with all my friends from college, for the most part. Anyone I want to update on my life, I just send them an email and say "here's my update".

However, the temptation is there. I'd love to send in an update about how unsuccessful I am and see if it got published. I'd especially like to send it to the newsletter for the University Honors program I was in, since those newsletters are all about how phenomenally successful their graduates are. Hee, hee, I ruin their image with my lack of success!

It makes me laugh, and makes me a little sad, how much emphasis is placed on traditional success. I did well in school. I got my degree. Three of them, in fact. I had a well-paying job with a nice job title. Did that make me successful? Am I less successful in life now that I'm a stay at home mom?

Maybe it's because I took an odd path to stay-at-home-ness. I hadn't planned to stay home. In fact, I had planned a career change and schooling around being able to work after my child was born. Then we found out we were having twins. Then we looked at daycare costs, and compared it to what I'd make as a first year elementary school teacher. That was a funny day! The day I realized...oh my gosh, I'd make about $1 a day if I went back to work. Forget that, let me give this staying home with the kids thing a try.

I've been lucky that I had that choice. So many people don't. It's been odd and fun and tiring and difficult. And I've been lucky not to have second guessed my decision too much. Yes, I walked away from a career, but I'll have time for that later. Yes, I've probably assured that I will never be labeled as traditionally "successful". Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

I've been thinking of this more, since my boys will be starting preschool in the fall. I have to say it, I'm excited and a little apprehensive at the thought of reentering the working world. I have no idea what I'm going to do. Teaching is out as I'll only have 3 mornings a week. Maybe I'll return to accounting, or maybe I'll think of something entirely different. Or maybe I'll get off my butt and finish that novel. Who knows! But what's the rush, I still have a few months to work it all out.

Well, back to my original point. Here it is, my alumni update:

Ms. Whatacard has recently been promoted to the eliminations expert position at Card, Inc. She has changed a grand total of over 5,500 diapers and is now embarking on potty training adventures with her two and a half year old twins. She also holds advanced degrees in avoiding thrown food and wiping up spilled milk. She has memorized her 150th children's song and can sing all of them off-key. Ms. Whatacard's future goals include going to the bathroom without an audience and developing a superpower to stop tantrums mid-scream.

Random unrelated thought: How big is the Island of Sodor and why do they need such an elaborate rail system?

Oh dear, that wasn't pretty

I went this morning at 6am to workout after the previous fiasco at the gym daycare. In theory, it's going to work very well I think. I'm a morning person, so this shouldn't be too bad. However, there were a few problems.

First, I got the best elliptical this morning...the one right in front of the window so I can look out onto the world. I don't have headphones, so I can't listen to music or TV. If I don't get the elliptical looking out the window, I have to spend my time staring at a blank wall. Which is fine, but the window is better. So, I was pretty excited this morning. For about 10 seconds. Until I realized that since it was pitch black outside, the window was effectively a mirror. Staring at myself working out is far, far worse than staring at a blank wall.

Now I know.

And to make matters worse, I'm slow. So I look like death 5 minutes into the workout, and I'm not even going fast. It took me a little over ten minutes to go half a mile. How can that be? I used to run track in high school, and the half-mile was one of my main races. I was pretty much always under 3 minutes for a half mile. Yes, I've had knee injuries since then. Yes, I'm 15 years older. Yes, I wasn't sprinting. Yes, I'm out of shape. But still, that seems awfully slow.

Then, I went to do the weight circuit. I was right behind aging super-guy. I mean, this guy had to be over 50 years old, and he looked slight. But he was lifting at least quadruple what I was at each circuit. Okay, fine, I'm not trying to bulk up, just tone, so I lift lighter weights. But still...it made me feel like a big wimp.

All in all, it wasn't my best self-esteem morning. I came home and put on a big sweater. Because it's cold out. Sure, that's my story.

On the plus side, I do feel pretty good.

Random unrelated thought: The boys and I made some carrot oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. It took nearly two hours to make the dough since I had two little helpers. I can't believe they stayed interested for so long. B-man was especially into it, while N-man was kind of popping in and out as time went on. The cookies turned out delicious, but I have to learn to check recipe quantities before I start cooking. This recipe makes 6 dozen cookies. What are we going to do with 6 dozen cookies? I have to look up to see if I can freeze some of the dough since it's just sitting in the fridge at the moment. Oh well, they are yummy! I think I'll be sending some in to work with TK...

X-Bourne-Man

I swear, in the fourth Bourne movie, it better be revealed that the evil government agency grafted adamantium onto Jason Bourne's skeleton. Because that guy can survive anything. Oops, did I give something away? I hope I didn't spoil it for anyone that in The Bourne Ultimatum, he takes a beating with no apparent damage.

Really, if it doesn't turn out that he has some kind of superpower that lets him walk away from car crashes completely unscathed, I'm going to be sorely disappointed. Because the movies are otherwise so believable.

But I'll be honest, I really enjoy the Bourne movies. Of course, that has little to do with the plot...

Random unrelated thought: We tried out another very good winter-local recipe. Winter Vegetable Soup. It is a combination of butternut squash, parsnips, potatoes, and rutabaga. Besides the rutabaga, which came from Canada, I was able to find all the rest locally. Very yummy, and had the great addition of balsamic vinegar drizzled on top of the soup. I never would have thought of that, and it was so awesome. I'll have to try that on butternut squash soup, too, as the taste is similar.

Hypocrite? Does that have something to do with a hippo's blood?

Am I a hypocrite? I think so. I recently made a comment about people who spend a ridiculous amount on a preschool, that they should send their kids to a reasonably priced preschool and sponsor two or three other kids to go to preschool with the money they've saved. I feel the same way about many things, like people who spend $500 on a pair of shoes, or $1,000 on a purse. If I had that kind of money, I hope I wouldn't spend it on status symbol products, but would instead continue buying more reasonably priced things and then use the extra money to donate to charity.

However, I wonder where the line is drawn. I don't buy the cheapest products available. I just bought a pair of $60 sneakers. I could have gotten a $30 pair, but I didn't because I didn't like them as much. But should I have? By my reasoning, I should have bought the pair that was half as expensive and sent the extra $30 to the March of Dimes or something.

Maybe sneakers aren't the best example, since there is a health risk...bad sneakers could lead to hurt knees or sore calves or just uncomfortable feet. But what about other things? I buy my kids a lot of new clothes rather than used. I don't buy haute couture for me, but I also don't buy the least expensive things I can find. I live in a comfortable house in a very expensive area. We could certainly cut back on our spending. What is the level of comfort that is okay, and where does it cross the line into over-consumption?

And, here's where I really get hypocritical: if we do have some money leftover at the end of the month, we rarely give any more than normal to charity. It's earmarked for the boys' college fund. So I should probably get off my high horse and stop judging that guy who drives around in the ridiculously expensive car or the woman who buys face cream that cost $1,000 an ounce.

But it is kind of fun, isn't it? Is there anything more rewarding than laughing at the people who think you're going to be impressed by how expensive their stuff is?

Random unrelated thought: Here it is, the complete list of good things about having hands that are always freezing cold:

1. Chocolate chips don't melt in your hands.
2.

Phonics Er-ant

My boys have a Leap Frog Fridge Phonics set. I'm not big into the "learning" toys, but this has been awesome. They love it, and have known all their letters and letter sounds since before they were two.

So, why am I about to embark on a rant? I just can't help myself! See, I don't expect perfection in a children's phonics toy. I mean, phonics are confusing, and it would hardly be fair for them to have to cover every single sound "y" makes in their "Y says..." song. (For the record, /y/ quite commonly says a long E sound although their song only tells you that y says yuh and y says I).

But, there's one hugely glaring error. R. According to their song, /r/ says -er. Um, no. It doesn't. Do you pick an er-ed er-ose? No. The -er sound is only if there is an r-controlled vowel, like in butter or mother. And here in Boston, even that's debatable. Hee, hee, I just teased about the Boston accent! But back to my point, /r/ never says -er on its own...there always has to be a vowel with it for it to say -er. On its own, r more commonly says something closer to ruh, especially at the start of words. So that's my rant. Or er-ant, as Leap Frog would have you believe.

Does this really matter? No, it just grates on me. I've gone so far as to hide the R from their phonics set, but then I feel all guilty, like N-man and B-man are going to have to recite their ABCs to graduate from preschool or something and they'll be all "A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q ummmmm, uhhh, what comes next?" So then I give the R back. And it ends up being their favorite and they play it again and again and again. And I slowly lose my mind until I'm forced to purge my insanity via this blog.

Errrr.

Random Unrelated Thought: We finalized our preschool plans, and are pretty happy with our decision to go with our second choice preschool. At least this way we know the boys have a slot for the fall, and I don't have to spend all summer wondering and hoping, and we don't risk them not getting into preschool at all. However, I did get a call from crazy preschool with the ridiculous "lottery" that is so biased against everyone who doesn't live in their pricey neighborhood. They wanted to know why we hadn't turned in an application. Um, if I could afford to put down a deposit for two kids at one preschool while sitting around with my fingers crossed waiting to get into your preschool, I'd just move to your overpriced town and then wouldn't be stuck at the very bottom of the lottery. Well, that and the fact that I'm a total control freak and can't stand the uncertainty of a wait list. So in exciting news, our boys are officially preschool bound come September!

The Great Polenta Quest

Do you ever get something in your head that you just HAVE to eat? Well, for me, I'm in a polenta kind of mood. One recipe, specifically, where you roast all different veggies with balsamic vinegar and then place it over broiled slices of polenta and add some goat cheese on top. It's so good!

I made this once before with homemade polenta, and made a mess of trying to broil the polenta. My homemade version comes out good, but too sticky. The recipe was still delicious, but I wanted to try it again using premade polenta. You know, the kind you buy in a tube.

Well, apparently, premade polenta is no longer available. At least not where I'm looking. Four different supermarkets and one large farm stand before I finally locate some premade polenta. I found it at Roche Bros supermarket, where my boys proceeded to have a huge meltdown for some unknown reason. Oh, and compounding my problems, I had decided when we got to the store that since my boys didn't want to ride in a cart, they'd be fine walking along with me.

So, I've got a basket in one hand, a huge yearning for polenta, and two boys having tantrums. I get them reasonably comforted, and a very friendly employee finds the polenta for me. I throw it in my basket, pay, and head home. Later that night, I cook dinner: the polenta tube is ripped open and the polenta is hardened and discolored in places. It's obviously been open for quite some time...longer than just a few hours. So, I toss it and we eat plain ol' roasted veggies for dinner.

I still want my polenta. I guess I'll have to go on another grand polenta quest soon.

Random somewhat unrelated topic: Still trying to eat local on a small scale. Figured I'd give a brief review of a local product: gouda from Smith's Country Cheese. I found it at Roche Bros (just before the above mentioned double tantrum that occurred between the cheese section and the polenta aisle). I tried a regular gouda, which I found to have a creamy, mild taste with a faint bitter aftertaste. It was good...better on crackers than by itself. Even more delicious was a Herb flavored gouda spread, that tastes phenomenal. Yum! Roche Bros. didn't have any local cheddar, which is my true cheese love. I'll keep looking...