The mystery of the pancake cookies

Apparently I'm not the only one who's had problems with the basic cookie recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag--I really should have done my research before I started last night, but I wanted something soft and chewy that would work well with nuts, and I thought that it couldn't get any simpler. Well, I was wrong... I ended up with 32 thin and lumpy chocolate-chip pancakes that refused to come off of the pans (and yes, the recipe does say to use an ungreased baking sheet!) While this could have been averted by not following the recipe (using shortening instead of butter) or simply chilling the dough first, I seem to have come up with a rather unorthodox solution.

You see, I have this pan.

It's a dark pan, so I never ever use it for baking. It has raised edges, making it absolutely wonderful for when I want to bake potato wedges, heat up breakfast sausages and toast, make chicken nuggets, bake ribs, etc. I love this pan.

So last night when I had used the last of my nice light-colored insulated cookie sheets I sighed, got out my favorite pan for the last dozen cookies, and hoped they wouldn't come out too burnt.

They were perfect.

Love conquers all? ;)

"Fast" Food

I decided to go for a different sort of theme with Jon's lunch today...it didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped (we didn't have any ketchup packets, and I think Jon might have been disappointed at the lack of a cool toy) but for the most part I'm pretty happy with it:



Chicken patty on a bun with lettuce and mayo, another hippo cookie, potato wedges, blood orange slices, green grapes, and cherry tomatoes.

I still feel like I'm over-using the cherry tomatoes, but they're just so handy...and I already had a cup of grapes, it would have looked weird to use those instead. One potato's worth of fries wasn't quite enough to fill to the top of the box, I should have baked another half potato or so, and the blood orange slices ended up not looking too exciting. I still have a couple left, so for next time I will look for ideas to make it really stand out--maybe peeling and segmenting the fruit instead of slicing it?

I'm not sure yet what Jon's lunch is going to look like tomorrow, but I did practice a fun kiwi cut on my lunch today, so that may play a role...maybe some banana, too. Maybe I'll make a big pot of rice tonight to last us the rest of the week in lunches, that keeps things fairly simple!

Bento + Bonus Baby Belly

I don't always do fancy, pretty lunches for Jon...those are just the ones I like to show off. Here's his lunch for today--much simpler than the other ones I've posted! (It's a little sad that my fridge has better lighting than my kitchen, don't you think?)



Baby carrots, sliced pickle, peach with yogurt and brown sugar, cold cheese sandwich, and a chocolate hippo cookie--simple and super fast, I was done in under 10 minutes. (And yes, that's homemade bread--I love my bread machine!)

Anyway, I have been scolded for not putting up pictures to show just how large I'm getting, so here I am, posing for the camera:



All right, so I'm not really a whale, but I'm certainly starting to feel like one! Even most of my maternity clothes are too small...and the ones that still fit are a little tight. Thank goodness Jon has plenty of comfy shorts and t-shirts for me to borrow!

Here's a real picture of me--my dad sent the awesome shirt, I love it. :D It's only been a week and I already think my belly's gotten bigger...



And here's a bird's-eye view, proving conclusively that I no longer have feet:



I want it to be April already! =p