Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Full disclosure: I'm no super-cook/baker lady. Also, I'm not even remotely trying to be healthy. 

    I wanted some chocolate chip cookies. I'm terrible at making cookies most of the time. No idea why. I can whip out brownies or a cake without any trouble but my cookies either burn or they are obnoxiously crunchy. I went on pinterest looking for a recipe to try out and found this from What a Girl Eats. The original recipe can be found by clicking that link. I doubled it and replaced some of the shortening with brown sugar. I also didn't add any walnuts since I just used up my last bag on brownies but next time hopefully I will.

These cookies are very good! I took heed of the note at the bottom of that blog and tweaked the recipe in hopes of getting the cookies to be just right (slightly crunchy and chewy but not too flat or crispy). They are messy to make but simple enough. Here's my version of the recipe (this is doubled so it makes A LOT):

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies:
3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs
2 cups brown sugar (unpacked)
1.5 cups white sugar
1.5 cups shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
1tsp hot water

~9oz of chocolate chips
4 cups of rolled or quick oats

     Directions: Add the flour, salt, and baking soda together in one bowl and whisk/fork/spin/stir/sift it together. Put the eggs, sugar, shortening, and vanilla in another bowl and whip it up but BE CAREFUL not to go to crazy or you'll break it down too much. Add the hot water to the liquidy bowl of stuff (no idea why but the original recipe called for it so I went ahead) then combine the two mixtures. I started out trying to whisk it all together. Don't ask me why I didn't get my electric mixer out. . . no idea. I digress. Just stick your hands in. It's very, very sticky at this stage but AVOID the urge to flour it up. Get it together pretty well, rinse your hands, and then toss in the oatmeal and chocolate chips. Stick your hands back in and get it all combined. The consistency should still be slightly sticky but easy to roll into balls (think play dough).

      Lay out parchment paper in whatever pan (I used a cake pan because I didn't feel like cleaning the other one, no big deal) and spread 1-1.5 inch balls so they don't seem to close or to far (I guess). I was able to fit 12 dough balls in a standard 9x13 cake pan. Sometimes they'd roll a bit and bake together but I didn't really care that much. Bake 10ish minutes around 350 in your oven. Our oven is a butthead so I tend to put it a little lower and cook things for shorter periods than most recipes call for. I also don't preheat it. The original recipe says 375 for 10-14 minutes. Use your own good judgement.

  Like I said before, this recipe is ALL READY doubled so it makes a LOT. I made 4 batches I think (so 48 cookies) and still have a bag full of dough balls in the freezer!

  If you like crunchy, slightly chewy, dripping with chocolate, perfect-for-milk-dunking, oatmeal-laden cookies then this should make you happy! I won't use butter for oatmeal cookies ever again that's for sure. Fill your favorite cup or mug with some milk and enjoy!

Edit:

      I had to come back and add this. After making a batch with the frozen dough balls I HAVE to recommend that if you can contain your cookie monster for just a night it is sooo worth it. They are even BETTER after sitting in the freezer for a while. They are slightly softer and chewier than when they are cooked fresh!! Don't thaw at all. Just pop them on the parchment paper or pan and cook them same (they may take a smidgen longer). So good!!!

Couponing

     Well, first off, I want to say I'm super thrilled with my grocery shopping trip(s) this past Wednesday (one week ago yesterday). It wasn't anything near what you see on those crazy reality TV episodes but I managed to stay under $250 for our two weeks of buying.

Caveats/
We obviously all ready had some ingredients for meals in the house.

We're also in the process of potty training BOTH kids now so we don't go through nearly as many disposables as we normally would. It's not very consistent day to day . . . I'll say that.

It took me three hours of the afternoon to find and clip coupons and create my list. So, honestly, the reduction in spending feels more like I'm spending time instead of spending the money, if that makes sense. Thankfully, my time was worth a decent "wage" this time. ;)

I always find out afterwards that I could've done better. This deal here. That coupon there. Oh well. Better luck next time.

And, of course, it's nearly inevitable that sometime in the next two weeks I'll be out buying more milk, bread, eggs, and/or some forgotten ingredient.
 /end caveats

 Like I said, the afternoon of my shopping trip I spent a good three hours googling for coupons, scouring the Krazy Coupon Lady website. I do NOT do the kind of couponing you hear about on these reality TV shows. I have no spare space for a super pantry and we don't even have a deep freezer (although I have my eye on a small one because I'd love to buy some meat on the cheap and pre-make some healthier "freezer meals"). I make my list of what we want or need FIRST then do all my searching and clipping based on that. I usually have to rack my brain and check the cabinets because occasionally I do "over buy" things like peanut butter, oatmeal, and pasta. You know, the sustenance staples that you really can't have too much of (unless your home is starting to look like the inside of a walmart, that's a bit much).

   I also try with all my might to avoid walmart. It's another post for another day but the low price place is not that great and I'd rather my $$$ make noise elsewhere in the economy if you get my drift. I don't have a lot of choices up here in walmartville. What I'd give for a good Publix, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Earth Fare or Whole Foods.

Oh well.

I try very hard to keep our household a healthy one. I buy a lot of frozen vegetables and avoid canne although I prefer fresh from the farmer's market. (One day I'll have my own garden, dang it!)

 Here are a few of the awesome couponing sites I've found:

coupons (but even better: join swagbucks and get the SAME coupons + swagbucks a few weeks after the coupons have been processed)

krazycouponlady (she even lays out the best deals for you on her site. hover over "find my store" and select the location of your choice for the latest.)

lozo (if you just like the occasional good clip you'll like this. it's customizable and coupons are emailed to you.)

smartsource (these are going to be similar to the coupons that are in many Sunday papers.)

You can also find some really good coupons on retail websites or facebook. Usually a good $1-2 coupon is as simple as liking a brand page. Most retailers have their own listing of coupons on their website. Some even have store coupon cards that you can download coupons onto and swipe at the store (making it ridiculously easy).

    We also have a Walgreens Balance Rewards card. We've only had it for a couple months. We use them for our prescriptions but they will also occasionally have some great deals on things we'd buy anyway (like diapers, sunscreen, medicine, or even food) so we'll make a trip there (and it's not out of our way at all). You get points for what you spend and for buying certain items. We're almost to 5000 points which translates to $5. (10,000 is $10, 18,000 is $20, and so on). I've seen a new program advertised where you can earn more points for running, doing weigh-ins, or participating in community projects.

In the end:

$37 at walgreens for 3 packages of pull ups and swim diapers.
   -3t/4t huggies pull ups (50 count)
   -size 4 huggies little movers slip-on diapers (23 count)
   - size medium huggies little swimmers (11 count)
I saved $7 with coupons and we earned 390 points as well.
Darn the 9% sales tax applying to diapers.

$44 at Aldi
 We filled our buggy. This included 2 bacon wrapped filet mignon, cow milk, kefir, eggs, cheese, plenty of fruit (nectarines, kiwi, bananas), a few veggies (bell pepper, carrots), cereal, two loaves of bread, cinnamon rolls (totally unnecessary!), nut butters, syrup, and snacks (graham crackers, peanut butter crackers, etc).

If we'd bought these things at walmart it would've been no less than $60. If I had the funds I'd go do a same day duplicate trip sometime to show the difference.

$120 at Target.
 This included a few more food items that I had specific coupons for that made it even CHEAPER than Aldi like yogurt, apple sauce pouches, frozen veggies, frozen pizza, and pudding. I got really good deals (I think) on almond milk, frozen chicken, and the glade plug-in refills. I even splurged on a few clothes for the kids (less than $2 a piece), got E a new toothbrush, and household misc (handsoap, paper towels, toilet paper, all-purpose cleaner).



I spent another $25 at Target two days ago to get some more bread, milk, cookies, and junk food for the girls and myself. They even had lalaloopsy coloring books in the $1 bin so I let the kiddos get those and pick a $0.99 pack of crayons.

37 + 44 + 120 + 25 = 226

We'll need (want?) more milk, cereal, and eggs for sure right before the second week is up but that shouldn't be a big deal.

Hopefully I can do even better for the next trip!