8.31 Friday Faves and Labor Day finds

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Hi friends! Happy long weekend to ya! I’m posting Friday Faves on a Saturday because it’s.been.a.week. (Actually a few weeks!) The Pilot finished up three weeks of night flying, so it’s been a lot of solo parenting around here since the girls started school. Earlier the week, I noticed that Maisey’s mouth looked weird. She was showing her “little teeth” which cracks us up, and I didn’t think too much of it. The next day, she was unable to close her mouth and was having difficulty eating and drinking.

We took her to vet urgent care, and her bloodwork and vitals were normal. They recommended scoping her nose and throat to see if there was an obstruction, so that’s what we did. They didn’t find anything, gave us an enormous bill, and sent us home with no answers.

It hadn’t improved the next day, so we found another vet who could see her. (We typically use a mobile vet service and they’re amazing for well checks, but it’s impossible to get in for emergency situations.) They were determined to find answers, and took her back so all of the vets in the practice could take a look and see what was going on.

She has trigeminal neuritis, also known as drop jaw, and it’s supposed to be temporary, with a full recovery expected in about two weeks. (Thank goodness.) They don’t know what might have caused it – it can be an autoimmune response or inflammation – and it tends to happen suddenly and then go away. I just keep praying that she makes a full recovery. In the meantime, I’ve been blending her dog food with organic beef broth, giving her coconut water to keep electrolytes up, and making sure she gets enough water.

I spent a few nights up worried sick about her, my car also broke (it was a quick fix, but a giant pain), and school and everything has just felt like chaos. I’ve been looking forward to the weekend and some friend time, sleeping in, and getting caught up on life.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead and I’d love to hear what you have going on!

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

8.31 Friday Faves

Fashion + beauty + random:

Got this facial massager during the Revolve sale and I looooove it. I’ll do a full review soon but it’s amazing that it naturally cools overnight. When I use it in the morning, it’s cold and refreshing!

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Dad’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Raisins

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Dad’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Raisins

a photo of a large oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie taken from close up overhead

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with raisins are made with oats, butter, brown sugar, and just the right touch of spices for soft, chewy, delicious, perfect oatmeal cookies. Heavenly!

My first memory of being in the kitchen cooking is actually with my dad, which is funny because he rarely did any cooking. He was so, so busy working, serving, and providing for our family, but I vividly remember sitting on the counter and him teaching me how to make these cookies. They were dad’s signature cookie, and man, we devoured them! They are thick and chewy and have the perfect oatmeal cookie texture!

The last time I was up in Idaho visiting my parents, I came home from running an errand and found my three kiddos surrounding my dad in the kitchen while they made oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies together. It stopped me dead in my tracks and feelings of love and home overwhelmed me.

I won’t stop saying it. Families are strengthened when they cook, bake, and eat together. Memories are made. Bonds are created. Love abounds…and bellies are happy!

Before we jump into this recipe, I know there are going to be some raisin haters out there. Just omit the raisins, haters. Double down on the chocolate and omit the dang raisins! But I love the raisins. That’s how dad made them, so that’s how I like them!

Now that I think about it, I bet there will be some chocolate haters out there too. Oatmeal raisin cookie purists aren’t going to like chocolate in their cookies. So omit the chocolate and double the raisins. Do what makes you happy I say! But I love the combo of both in this cookie.

Ingredients for Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you have raisins in the pantry, I’m going to guess you will have all the rest of these ingredients too. No surprises, no secrets, just straight up classic oatmeal cookie recipe ingredients.

  • Raisins
  • Baking Soda
  • Unsalted Butter
  • Dark Brown Sugar
  • Sugar
  • Egg
  • Vanilla Extract
  • All Purpose Flour
  • Cornstarch
  • Oat Flour (see section below)
  • Sea Salt
  • Cinnamon
  • Nutmeg
  • Cloves
  • Oats
  • Chocolate Chips or Chunks

Scroll down to the recipe card to see all the measurements.

How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We are going to start this recipe by plumping up the raisins, and then we will jump into the classic wet ingredients, dry ingredients, combine, eat a little cookie cough, bake, inhale…

  1. Plump: Put raisins in small saucepan with enough water to just cover them and simmer them over medium heat. Drain them and let them cool.
  2. Beat: Combine sugars and butter and beat them together until creamy in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
  3. Grind: Make oat flour (see section below) by grinding and pulsing them in a blender or food processor.
  4. Mix: Combine all the dry ingredients and spices in a mediu

The Little Things Newsletter #432 – Life, laughter, and lots of great food!

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Welcome to the weekend, my friends! Holy heatwave in Ohio. Yikes! The Midwest has been cooking all week and it sure hasn’t made me miss the Valley of the Sun. I’m super excited now for the cooler temps next week and the even better fall weather that is finally in the forecast!

This weekend I am up to my eyeballs in projects as we’re cleaning out the kitchen before our remodeling project begins on Monday. Wish us luck, as this is a first for us. Things sure won’t be boring at home for the next few months!

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Find out how easy it is to make delicious, crisp-skinned chicken in the oven with Italian Baked Chicken. This oven baked chicken with Italian seasoning has a crispy skin and juicy interior that makes it one of my all time favorite chicken recipes.

Thrown together on a whim one night many years ago while we were on the road, this Bacon Potato Salad rapidly became a family favorite. Filled with plenty of eggs, bites of bacon, and a bright dill pickle flavor, this salad has proven irresistible to everyone who tries it.

Tender, delicate angel hair pasta gets a carbonara-like glow up with a flavorful bacon and pea cream sauce in this delightful and simple dish. It’s a weeknight dish that’s easy enough for busy evenings but nice enough to serve company!

Oh, how I love these crunchy, tangy, quick green bean pickles! Luckily, they’re so easy to make, we can make them on repeat. These green beans are a fun new snack in our fridge and the kids have been devouring them about as quickly as I can make them.

Tender bites of chicken and shrimp are tossed with pasta and colorful bell peppers in a creamy, slightly spicy sauce to create this Cajun Chicken and Shrimp Pasta.

Blueberry Pie Bars are the perfect summery dessert for your next picnic or party.

Creamy, sweet, and just a bit tart, let’s give the summer a last hurrah of bright refreshing flavors with this Lime Ice Cream.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these freezable lunch boxes. All of my guys carry lunches each day, either to high school, the job site, or to the college campus. I found these PackIt boxes this summer and they work great. (I’ve had one of the sack-style PackIts for years now, so I knew it was a solid brand.) 

The lunch boxes aren’t huge, but they hold a good amount of food for the day. We

Lime Ice Cream

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Creamy, sweet, and just a bit tart, let’s give the summer a last hurrah of bright refreshing flavors with this Lime Ice Cream.

Horizontal close-up shot of fluffy off-white ice cream in a small white bowl

Citrus Ice Cream

I adore bright citrus flavors in desserts, especially in the summertime, and ice cream recipes are a fun way to play with those flavors. This lime ice cream is a fun new addition to our collection of ice creams.

This citrus ice cream with just a hint of banana is the ultimate creamy cold treat on a hot afternoon. This is the ice cream that I remember from summers spent at my grandparent’s house.

This is lemon ice cream like you’ve never tasted before! Sweet cream and tart lemon juice come together in this easy homemade ice cream recipe.

Rich, dark, ultra-smooth, and creamy chocolate meets a hint of orange in sweet ice cream like no other you’ve ever tasted. If you’re skeptical of the chocolate and citrus combination, one taste will be all it takes to convince you.

Vertical close-up shot of fluffy off-white ice cream in a small white bowl; in the background, halved limes rest on a light green towel

Lime Ice Cream

You’ll need the following ingredients to make this ice cream:

  • sweetened conde

171: The power of adaptogens with Brian Murphy

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Hi friends! I’m so excited to welcome Brian Murphy to the podcast today! I tracked him down at the Biohacking Conference because I loved his company, their mission, and his overall energy and vibe. I could tell he was just a genuine, cool, positive person, and I knew he’d be an amazing fit for the show.

Here’s what we talk about today:

– What are adaptogens and how do they work?

– Our broken food system and the purpose behind Living Prana

– Cultivating a positive mindset and creating motivation, even when you don’t feel like it

– His tips for being Healthy In Real Life

– and so.much.more.

 

 

171: The power of adaptogens with Brian Murphy

Here’s more about Brian and his background:

Brian is the CEO and co-founder of LIVING PRANA, a functional food company transforming unhealthy packaged foods with nutrient-dense superfoods. He is a champion for reform of a U.S. food system to provide food that creates health, raising the bar on transparency, integrity and sustainability for the businesses feeding America.

A former investment banker and strategic growth leader, he has invested in, advised, and built businesses for the past 15 years, working shoulder-to-shoulder with many entrepreneurs and leading growth for private equity-backed and public companies. Brian is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Combining this business experience with mindfulness practices, Brian is leading an evolution into a new conscious business paradigm that is accountable to its community, stakeholders and to the planet.

In 2016, Brian hit a radical turning point as significant stressors drove his physical and mental health into a crisis – he called off a wedding, lost 65 pounds and sold his first business. This unlocked his passion to inspire others to prioritize their well-being using food as medicine after saving his own physical and mental health with functional foods. As Brian furthered his spiritual discovery, the path illuminated for him to create businesses that fulfill a greater purpose aligned with his transformation while healing people and the planet.

In 2020, after the beginning of his spiritual journey, Brian flipped the keys on a longstanding successful corporate career to bet on himself as an impact creator and align his personal values with his entrepreneurial efforts. After his lifelong physical health struggles, his involvement in the business side of surgery and watching health decay of his loved friends and family, Brian dedicated his impact to build businesses that help optimize physical and mental wel

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