Snickerdoodles

On March 6, 2014March 6, 2014 By JillIn Uncategorized3 Comments

Today we made Snickerdoodles.

Snicker ( no pun intended) and snort all you want about me…I’m baking again – don’t bash me folks- didn’t you read my previous post about Letting Go- No more no’s in my life! Nothing is off limits at this point, the sky is the limit, ready to try anything…

Ok you sickos, get your minds out of the pornos – I am not doing that or that – And to hubs, don’t get any crazy ideas.

I never made snickerdoodles before but Gia loves them so I figured I would try them. There was a time when I had never even heard of a snickerdoodle before- sounded like something with chocolate and nuts, until this annoying roommate I had years ago in Hoboken made them. Boy was she irritating- she would talk nonstop during funny sitcoms and eat her cereal really loud like crunching and munching and slurping away. It was enough to make you never want to pour a bowl of frosted flakes again- oh wait -did I say frosted flakes? I don’t know what made me say that- I spent my twenties choking down Fiber One and Kashi Good Friends in attempts to get things moving down below.

Did you ever see these cereal boxes for Good Friends, pretty hysterical with those smilng faces- Why is this cereal called Good Friends? Is it because you’re going to be a good friend once you get the poop out? Or perhaps the smelly presents you leave in the toilet are your good friends? A former male boss of mine who was also gay, once came back from a trip to the little boys room ( I hate that expression but if the shoe fits…) and said that he “took a shit and it felt great and that releasing your bowels felt just as good as an orgasm.” I think I must have turned as red as a tomato and was rendered speechless…

These days I don’t bother with the fiber- these kids have me running on fumes and I really don’t have time to visit the loo so that’s that.

Back to the snickerdoodles, yikes all that potty talk, and now back to scrumptious sweets baked with delicate hands. This seems like the perfect time to show you that my muffin did indeed wash her hands today…

wash — You can lick off these hands, they’re so clean!

When we were baking last week, Big D (remember him, my contractor) happened to sneak up on us while G was licking her fingers and going to town on the pink frosting we made…aww, snap – caught in the act!

Snickerdoodles are like the only thing that G wants in Target. Well, that and the Pizza Hut pizza they serve there- this is my mistake or wait- I think I’ll blame my Mom for this one- yup, grandma bought her this once in Target and you know what they say about addictions, it just takes one time. The thing is G doesn’t actually eat pizza, she takes all the cheese off and just eats the bread so the Pizza Hut personal pizza is a Godsend for little miss cheese-less. The small brown box contains a mushy, doughy, greasy, sink your teeth into some old school deliciousness and she’s in heaven.

Not going to be stealing the secrets of Pizza Hut and recreating pizza in my kitchen so I decided to make cookies. I always see foodie blogs where people show all the steps they took to make their delights so I figured I would be all professional and do the same.

Here’s the recipe I found on http://www.howsweeteats.com/

makes 16-20 cookies

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for dipping

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Add in milk. If dough is still crumbly, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

In a bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Remove dough from fridge and roll into big 1 1/2 inch balls. Dip in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on baking sheet. Lightly pressdown on dough to flatten it. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

dough dough — Delicious dough that almost didn’t make it.

The little one saw this, dragged her chair over, climbed up, and turned the bowl over so she could use as a drum- her music class is really inspiring her to make music in all the wrong places…

balls — Thank goodness she washed her hands!

cookie baked — The entire house smelled of sugar and cinnamon!

Poor Daddy never gets any treats by the time he comes home. We have either eaten them, given them away, or had children gobble them up during a playdate. We made a plate just for him.

Open the drapes and let the sunlight in ….on this blog

On March 5, 2014March 5, 2014 By JillIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

So I did it again, I said I was going to let go but I created more work for myself, more pressure on me to come up with a weekly posting on a Monday to improve self-esteem for girls… I woke up feeling weighted down once again… Because I created another job for myself when I already am doing one of the hardest jobs around… Being a parent and stay at home mom…

86 that idea people! I know it’s mainly my friends and family reading this blog so I’m sure you’ll understand! I don’t want any more homework. I went to high school, college, two graduate schools, and even taught school!

“No more teachers, no more books… Hey … Leave that Jill alone !”

Thank you Pink Floyd for writing a song about me …

But in all seriousness, I am doing a damn good job as their mom and I think they are already awesome (well on most days) and are going to be kick ass older girls and fabulous, strong women. Forget research and projects, I think if I am supportive, interested, encouraging, kind, and of utmost importance, a strong, secure role model (working on that!) they will be just fine and if not, we will figure it out.

Enough of the melodrama mama ! I am over myself. I was reading this article about Bethenny Frankel and what she had to say about her talk show being canceled… “I am relieved. What I really want right now is to be with my daughter, to do yoga, to focus on Skinnygirl and my writing, and to give myself a break. I have been striving and climbing and white-knuckling for so long that I need a rest from the grind. I’m a little over myself and wouldn’t blame anyone else for being over me as well.”

Well, I’m not exactly Bethenny but I kind of feel the same.

I need to keep this blog a little more fun… “And scene” …the clouds are lifting, the grey and gloomy sky is being torn apart by a brilliant sun and Jill is rising up from the ground, “I can see clearly now the rain is gone…”

First off I have a new description for my blog:

The delicious, the joy, the tears, the fun, the funny, the creative, and the mess that goes along with being a Mom.

Second of all, I need to keep the darkness out of this blog. This was supposed to be fun. I do struggle with food, body image issues, anxiety, and people pleasing (sounds like a typical woman these days, right? Except for those lucky few who don’t give a damn – you are truly blessed! And I am certainly 100 times better today than I was in my twenties but I don’t want to blog about these weigh me down issues anymore, and quite frankly, who the hell would want to read about jumpy Jill and her junk in the trunk getting bigger and bigger, cookie by cookie, snack by snack!

Well, maybe some people would but I can’t do that to myself anymore. That’s not to say I’m never going to share that I just ate three slices of pizza for lunch ( this really happened today—and they were super old and not even good- what a waste but it still didn’t stop me…)it was an in the house all day, freezing temps outside, kids fighting every ten minutes, Arianna drawing all over the wall, long kind of day. I kind of think today called for it?

As much as I want to stay free of ropes and chains, I do still have this desire to keep a few permanent posts sprinkled in between the daily grind so here’s what I came up with. Not to worry, they are fun and lightheartedand and I hope I can stick to it!

Make it from your house Mondays – Cheap, interesting, convenient, and creative – find things in your house to use to make something

Funny Fridays-something funny that my own kids or someone else’s kids said or did, or perhaps, I’ll just find something funny to share, or maybe share something I said or did which usually isn’t funny per se- just embarassing and perhaps a bit ditzy!

The rest of the posts will be the usual baking and hopefully, more creative cooking in the future as well as the thoughts I have and the stories to tell.

Making Strides Mondays

On March 4, 2014March 4, 2014 By JillIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I was pulling one of the new shirts off Gia’s hanger this morning and I noticed that the label inside said self esteem… hmm self esteem in a shirt, what a packaged deal, how convenient, I’ll just buy seven more of these shirts with this label in various colors – gosh, this parenting thing is going to be a piece of cake … “Can’t buy me looove, love, oh, money can’t buy me love…” but it will buy me self-esteem infused in a pastel pink baby doll frock…awesome- that certainly saves me a lifetime of girly issues… envisioning Gia slipping on this shirt and transforming herself into a petite powerhouse…

An image of Gia standing tall in her preschool class- “What, friend X, you don’t want to be my friend, well, that’s ok” …as she thinks to herself “Who cares, I am sweet and cute and you smell like smooshed cheerios and I know you’ll be my friend tomorrow!”

If only it was that easy, right? Unfortunately, high self esteem and great confidence cannot be bought but I do think that it is one of the most important things for a child to have so they can be happy, make wise choices, and be free of anxieties so they can study hard or pursue their dreams… I am certainly going to try my best to nurture a strong sense of self-esteem and confidence with my girls.

Today I am starting Making Strides Mondays…making strides towards raising confident girls- will post stories and thoughts geared towards feeling good and becoming strong. I’ll throw in some stuff for us mommas too, I know that I can use a little boost of inspiration.

It’s really hard for me to write about good things or even talk about the amazing. I seem to have the need to tell all the negative things I feel because somewhere deep inside, I have always felt that other people like me better when I am struggling – misery loves company right?- if you are pigging out, one often feels better doing it with a friend…I’ve certainly been there and I’m not saying this isn’t fun and sometimes needed – the vegging out and snacking with a good friend. We all need to let go from time to time…

My issue is the constant need to make someone feel better by joining in their misery or withholding my feelings. Part of the reason I do this is because I have watched women gossip and exhibit jealous like behaviors towards attractive, wealthy, lucky women…and I must admit, I am guilty of this too, I have beautiful people in my life who are strong and happy and seem to be able to exhibit much self-control in diet world, or have the perfectly pressed outfit complete with accessories, and sometimes, I would rather not be in their company…much easier to hang with piggy in my sweats and munch on some fries… ( this is about no one in particular my fabulous friends!- just an example).

So I digress but back to the holding back my happiness thing- It’s like I made it my life’s mission to never have someone be jealous of me or think that “I think who I am” kind of a thing (an impossible goal, I know, it’s not like I have any control of what people think or what they’re going to say but I certainly tried!) It’s like I have been a chameleon, changing my colors to make others feel comfortable or making sure no one knows the truth about me.

This has been a wordy, perhaps confusing post but the point is I usually talk or write about the bumps in life and don’t share the happy blips so here’s one for today.

Today I feel amazingly loved.

In the past two days since I posted a heartfelt post called Let it Go, https://thegirlyreports.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/let-it-go/

I have had such an outpouring of love and take my breath away words that I feel shocked and loved at the same time.

Gosh darn it, people love me. A little Stuart Smalley (SNL) anyone?