Routine is Good

Happy Monday, dear readers.  It was back to the grind for me today.  Oh, I went to work last week, but only for a day and a half, so that doesn't really count.  It was hard to drag my butt out of bed so early this morning, but once I was up and showered, I was actually pretty happy to be getting back to the normal routine.

I've seen a lot of blogs asking about resolutions for the new year.  I don't usually make resolutions because I'm not very good at keeping them longer than a month and then I end up feeling guilty because I've "failed".  So, instead of specific resolutions, I'm making it a general goal to better myself: mind, body and spirit.  Today was pretty good - check back tomorrow to see if it's stuck with me.  LOL

Now, this recipe doesn't fit in with that goal, especially bettering my body.  I went on a baking binge before Christmas and luckily we gave most of the "proceeds" to family and coworkers.  I love macaroons but had always been afraid to make them because I didn't have a clue where to begin.  Enter Allrecipes.  What did we *ever* do before the interwebs?  These were super easy to make and I don't know what took me so long to try.

Coconut Macaroons
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
5 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1/4 tsp salt
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut and salt.  Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla using your hands until well blended.  Use an ice cream scoop to drop dough on to the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about golf ball size.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until coconut is toasted.

NOTES:  Yes, use your hands.  I tried using a wooden spoon but it was impossible to get the whole thing mixed thoroughly.  I used aluminum foil to line the baking sheet, but next time I'll probably use parchment paper because it was a little tricky getting the macaroons up from the foil.  My cook time was a little longer than 15 minutes because the coconut was not browned to my liking.

A large bag of coconut - it didn't look like 5 1/2 cups, but it was.  Ignore the peanuts in the back - counter space and time is precious.  Never enough of either.

Untanned and pasty looking, but I wanted to grab a ball and eat it anyway.  I didn't.  But I wanted to.

YUM!  We never had macaroons in the house growing up because my mom detests coconut.  I had no idea what I was missing.

This weekend we decided to bundle up the boys and take them to the park.  It's been crazy cold (for central NM) the last week or so, and we were getting a little stir crazy being stuck in the house every day.  It was sunny and there wasn't any wind.  Once we got out and started moving around, it wasn't so bad.  Here are my two favorite pictures from the day.

I caught this picture just. in. time.  I love it!  There was just enough snow left on the ground for Nate to stomp around in and not get too messy or cold.

Mason doesn't look very happy to be all bundled up, but he was super happy to be outside!  He goes up to his jacket that's hanging on the wall and tugs at it and gets very upset if we don't go outside NOW.  He looked so cute with his little pink cheeks and nose!

Oh!  And one more thing (promise...only one more).  Lu over at just Lu has come up with an awesome idea: Housewife MacGyver (minus the mullet, of course) and she asked if I'd be interested in participating.  Of course I want to play!!  Hop on over to her blog to check it out and drop her a line of you'd be interested in sharing a little bit of *your* expertise. Click on the little linky and it'll take you quick as a flash!

I think that's enough for tonight.  Dang it!  OK.  I lied.  But I think you'll like this.  I have ONE MORE thing to share.  Zoya, if you haven't heard, is offering 3 free bottles of polish to anybody who's interested.  Just use code FB2011 at checkout and you get your choice of 3 bottles of polish.  Really.  It's awesome!  The code is good through this week only, so hurry up and go pick your 3 favorite colors (it was hard to chose 3, but I did).

Coocoo for Coconuts

Happy Tuesday, dear, dear readers.  I hope the beginning of your week is going along smoothly.  I didn't go in to work yesterday, so it's basically my Monday, though it hasn't been as bad as the usual Monday.  *whew*  I'm also on the late shift at work so I don't have to be here at the crack of dawn...so...YEA!!

Anyway...Saturday was game night with the bestie and her hubs (which also happens to be bestie with my hubs).  I don't know what it was about Saturday, but I just wasn't feeling it.  It was probably because I was stressed after a little trauma involving my little boy (he's ok, but it stressed me out).  Either way, I didn't have as much fun as I usually do.  I'm getting sidetracked.  They came over for dinner and since we usually have them over to our place, we told them it was their turn to bring dinner.  They brought delicious potato soup (I'M STILL WAITING FOR MY RECIPE BEN!) and Italian bread.  We provided the salad, some protein (the hubs insisted that bacon in the soup was not enough protein) and dessert.  After dinner, and after the kids went to bed, we played my new Trivial Pursuit game: Bet You Know It.  We had a lot of fun with that - it's a *little* different than the typical TP games, but it was still full of great questions.  Once we'd had enough of that, we went on to Rock Band - good times were had by all - except for Ben.  He slept on the couch.  What an old man!!  They didn't end up leaving til about 2:30.  Let me say this: I am too old to stay up past 2 in the morning!!  Maybe without the kids, but with the 1- and 4-year-old waking up at 6:30, notsomuch.

I wanted something different for dessert so I went surfing my fave recipe site: Allrecipes.  After much searching and tossing a couple recipes to the side, I landed on Coconut Cream Pie.  My mom isn't a fan of coconut, so we didn't ever have this pie around the house.  My sister and I really like coconut, so I did this for her (even though she lives 800+ miles away). 
  
Coconut Cream Pie 

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (9-inch) pie shell, baked
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed 

In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cup of the coconut and the vanilla extract. Pour into pie shell and chill 2 to 4 hours, or until firm. 


Top with whipped topping, and with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut.

To toast coconut, spread it in an ungreased pan and bake in a 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. 


NOTES:  I took the suggestions from some of the reviews and instead of flour, I used cornstarch, a can of coconut milk and half-and-half to make up the 3 cups. 

By the time we got around to having pie, I didn't feel like toasting the coconut to put on top.  I don't think it made that big a difference - it just made the whole pie kinda boring to look at.

 

This was really good - especially for my first time making a cream pie.  I think next time I'll try banana cream pie. Mmmmm!! 

Speaking of my mom...she started her own blog yesterday.  It's called More Than Quilting and you should go over there and take a look!  What can I say?  I'm just a bad influence.

And while we're on the topic of pimpin' blogs, go check out one of my favorite cooking blogs: From the Kitchen of: Mrs Bettie Rocker.  She's hosting a giveaway of a $40 CSN Stores gift card.  This place has it all: furniture, cooking tools, clothes, fun stuff for the house.  So, stop on by her blog, follow her (if you want) and tell her I sent you.

Sorry for the blah pictures.  The pie was better tasting that the pictures suggest.  I'm off to get some work done.  Imagine that!  Have a terrific rest of your Tuesday.  See you tomorrow for Workout Wednesday!

I am *fighting* with Blogger today.  Is anybody else having issues???

Listening to: A Bad Dream by Keane
Mood: Monday?