Sugar Low and (Not) To-Dos

I intended this post to cover one of my favorite cookie recipes, but after downing a shameful amount of dough and a couple baked cookies (what can I say, I like it raw) my focus began to shift. All I could think about was how crappy I felt. Just an hour prior, I was literally frolicking around the house and jumping around like a crazy person.

Note: This is not me. Obviously.

After stuffing my face with refined sugars, fat, and salt, I started feeling sluggish, irritable, and just plain icky.

This is why I'm a dog person.

This got me thinking about how much our moods and emotions are linked to food. Usually any crap-like feelings I have after a pseudo-binge are feelings of guilt and disgust with myself. This time, however, I was only focused on how my body felt instead of beating myself up over something stupid like cookie dough.

The dough is not your foe.

For me - a girl that spent a majority of her adult life obsessing over her body - this represents a huge accomplishment. I have had lots of ups and downs trying to eat like a "normal person," i.e. no diets (never ever ever) and no forbidden foods. The fact that I focused on food as a total body/mind fuel, rather than something that is out to destroy me, symbolizes a huge step in the right direction.

And now that I'm done tooting my own horn, I'll take this opportunity to toot the horn of 3 amazing bloggers that I just found:

1) Chocolate-Covered Katie: I'm excited to try her amazingly decadent indulgences that are good for your body and won't leave you with that don't-f**k-with-me attitude.

2) Chef Katelyn: I have linked directly to one of the best blog posts I've ever seen: a How-To on showing the world how amazing you are. This is a huge step in overcoming any food demons that you may have and is really just so much more fun than hating yourself. Shake it if yo' got it gurl!

3) The Tie Dye Files: I just discovered this baby and I am loving it so far. She had an AWESOME giveaway yesterday, so I'm sure more amazing things are sure to come.

Beating Insomni-ahhh

Lately I've had so much trouble falling asleep because my mind has been occupied with all of the things I have to accomplish in the next 2 months, including my physical therapy applications and prepping for my trip to Peru .

Finally, I said eff you to insomnia and started to make a huge To-Do list, complete with little stars next to the most important things. (Don't make fun of my 4th grade tip, this is a huge step in my disorganized life).

The most important part, however, is my tiny NOT To-Do list scribbled at the bottom of the page.

Things not to do: watch mindless (HG)TV, eat my feelings, stress or lose sleep, procrastinate.

Whadya think?

Questions:

What would be on your Not-To-Do list? Do you have any guilty pleasures that are taking up a little too much of your time?

I have been watching house hunting shows on HGTV non-stop and I actually got a headache from one yesterday. Could have been the wine (see below) or the cookies (see above), but I couldn't hear one more person talk about granite counter tops.

What foods make you feel your best? What foods make you feel like sh*t?

Random Fact #18: I love wine but I am wayyy too cheap to buy the good stuff. I've been in a loving, long term relationship with Charles Shaw ever since I turned 21 (and maybe a little before). You may know him by his nickname, "Two-Buck Chuck."

Only the classiest of ladies drink their wine on the rocks.

Me 'n my baby having a cozy night in.

P.S. I will be posting the cookie recipe, I just don't want those delicious babies to be associated with anything negative :-)

Rockin' Recipes: Daniel's CQ Cookies

Tonight Daniel has 16 hour duty so I decided to score extra girlfriend points by being Susie Homemaker for a day. I slyly asked him his favorite type of cookie so I could maximize said girlfriend points, and ended up making "Peanut Butter Chocolate Chippers," now known as Daniel's CQ Cookies. (Don't ask me what CQ actually stands for, all it means to me is a lonely Friday night eating cookie dough by the spoonful and curling up with my dog and my blog.)

I got the recipe out of the cookbook "Eat, Drink, and Be Chinaberry," which serves as a regular source of cookie recipes in our household.

Born in 1996 and still kickin'! (The cook book, not the peanut butter.)

The Ingredients:

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar (I accidentally used the light kind instead of the dark - don't do that.)

1/2 c. butter or margarine (be sure to soften it beforehand)

1/2 c. chunky peanut butter

2 eggs

1 T water

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. chocolate chips (yeahhhh no...throw 'em in by the handful)

The KitchenAid/Cadillac of all mixers. Ignore the fingerprints - apparently I can't keep my grubby little paws off of anything in dough form.

My trusty Sous-chef never left my side. I like to think that she wanted to be there for emotional support, but I think she was hoping for some PB fallout.

Directions:

"Beat sugars, butter, and peanut butter." Beat? I'm thinking this cookbook may be a little too violent for me.

"Add eggs, water, and vanilla, mixing well." FYI - This is not an example of mixing well.

"Add dry ingredients." Alllll 2 of 'em.

And now, without further adieu, the best part of the whole process:

Chocolate effing chips! You can't tell, but I am cradling these as I would a newborn child. Except with more care and tenderness.

"Stir in chocolate chips." Don't worry, I added at least 3 more Julia-man-handfuls.

"Drop onto baking sheets"...after eating half the dough.

"Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes." In my oven, 12 minutes was the optimum time for maximum gooey deliciousness.

And ta-da! 3 dozen delicious cookies. The recipe says it's supposed to make 6 dozen but it didn't account for my man-sized cookies nor my manlier-sized appetite.

Don't touch, fatties! Unless you're the person that made the cookies, then you can touch all you want and not be considered a fatty. (My cookies, my rules.)

I also wrote a touching little note on the bottom of the plate making fun of Daniel for eating all of the cookies in a record amount of time. Sometimes I surprise myself with how sweet and caring I can be. Girlfriend of the Year Award? I think I'm a shoe-in.

Questions:

What's your favorite cookie recipe? Do you have a favorite baking cookbook?

Are you a normal person that actually bakes their cookie dough before they eat it?

If you are, I'm not sure we can be friends unless you can accept the fact that the yield will always be half than listed in the recipe.

Random Fact #11: I can make an incredible imitation of a pigeon call. Fortunately, no male pigeons have tried to mate with my hair. Yet.