everyday food made simple

Have you ever set a list of goals of what you need to accomplish by a certain day, only to realize that you’ve gotten little to none of it done when the day comes?

Here’s the thing: When my quarter break started, I wrote down a list of things that I wanted to get done before the new quarter started. Well, my break has been over for almost a week, the new quarter has started already, and more than half of the things on my list still hasn’t been crossed off yet. The garage is still a mess, the vacuum and Keurig filters haven’t been cleaned, I have piles and piles of laundry that needs to be done, and I haven’t gotten a chance to spend quality time with my Kindle (i.e. read a book).

Where the heck did my time go? More importantly, what have I been doing with my time?! Well, I guess having a list of 3-4 recipes I wanted to make during break doesn’t really make matters better either.

Oh well. Baking comes first. Studying and laundry can come second (until I run out of socks).

Good thing these cookies are super easy to make! And what’s even better is that they taste great too!! Remember about a month ago I made these orange creamsicle puppy chow? Well, I turned them into a cookie, and they taste equally as good – or in Brian’s words, “the best cookie [I’ve] ever made”.

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These cookies are soft and chewy, bursting with bright citrus-y flavors, and white chocolate chips are guaranteed in every single bite. Seriously, when I was rolling these into little dough balls, there were times I thought I was rolling balls of white chocolate rather than balls of cookie dough… As with my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, I baked these for 8 minutes, slightly flattened them out with the back of a spoon, and baked them for another 1-2 minutes. Flattening the cookies out in between gives them the cracks and crinkles that I adore so much in cookies.

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soft and chewy orange creamsicle cookies
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Ingredients
  1. 2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
  4. 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  5. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  6. 1/2 light brown sugar
  7. 1 large egg, to room temperature
  8. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  9. 2 tablespoons orange zest
  10. 1 (12 oz) bag white chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, then gradually add in the dry ingredients. Mix under medium speed until combined. Stir in the orange zest and chocolate chips.
  4. Using a medium cookie scoop (I used one that holds about 1.5 tablespoons of dough), scoop dough out onto the prepared baking sheet. Roll into balls with your hands.
  5. Bake cookies for about 8 minutes, take them out of the oven, slightly flatten them with the back of a spoon, then bake for another 1-2 minutes or until they start to slightly brown around the edges. Let cool on baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wired cooling rack for them to completely cool.
  6. Store in airtight container for up to 7 days.
  7. Yields 30-32 cookies.
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
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So when you’re missing summer this fall/winter season, make these! Or you can make these too. Or you can make both, because you can never have too many cookies, right?

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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Warning: the following post contains A LOT of pictures.

So not only are my coworkers and Brian benefiting from my latest baking-with-pumpkin spree, even Bentley got lucky today and got some homemade pumpkin treats as well!

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Can’t forget my little guy, right?

I figured I should get all the baking I want to get done here the next few weeks, since once my internship goes into full swing, who knows when I’m going to be able to bake “just because”?

I have to say though, although I’m a little nervous and anxious about starting this internship, the anxiousness is also mixed with a little bit a lot of excitement. I’m excited to start utilizing all the skills I’ve learned in class into everyday practice and to see how much I’ve learned (and retained) within the past two years. And it also means I’m that much closer to graduating! Wish me luck – I hope I make everyone proud :)

These biscuits do not require any special ingredients (other than the pumpkin), and I bet you have most of them in your cupboards already! They was inspired by a very simple biscuit recipe I used to make for Bentley, but instead of adding bananas, I substituted them with pumpkin puree instead – you know, ever since Bentley discovered the yummy goodness of canned pumpkin a few weeks ago, he’s just as big of a fan of it as I am.

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pumpkin peanut butter dog biscuits
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups all-purpose flour (or you can use whole wheat flour)
  2. 1 large egg
  3. 1/8 cup all natural creamy peanut butter
  4. 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  5. A pinch of salt
  6. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
  2. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, whisk until thoroughly combined.
  3. Transfer dough onto a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll dough out until it's about 1/2" thick.
  4. Cut into desired shapes and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until biscuits are dry and hard. Transfer to wired cooling rack and let cool. Store in airtight container for 7 days.
Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/
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These are way healthier and cheaper than buying those store-bought doggie treats! No preservatives, no artificial flavors. They’re made with all natural ingredients that you can pronounce and you can feel good about giving them to your favorite pup.. or pups :)

Bentley had to check them out during my photoshoot session…

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“Ooops… BUSTED!”

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“I’m gonna try again….”

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“Almost there!”

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“YESSSS!! I got one!!”

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“Mwahahahahaha…. I’m sneaky. Mommy didn’t even notice.”

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© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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In case you’ve noticed, I didn’t write a “review” post last week. The past few weeks have been crazy. It was finals week, and it seemed like all our big projects were due all at the same time. I figured studying for finals and getting another quarter of straight A’s was a little bit more important and that you guys would understand :)

Now that I’m on quarter break, it’s weird to have all this time on my hands. I’m so used to being busy that I don’t quite know what to do with myself… I did plan out my break ahead of time and made a to-do list.

1. When I was little, I’ve always dreamt of having a fireplace. To me, a fireplace is one of the things that made a house an “traditional all-American house” (a white picket fence and a front porch with rocking chairs were the other must-haves). Growing up in apartments in Taiwan, I never got to experience what having a fireplace was like. A few weeks ago, my dream came true when we bought a new entertainment center complete with a gas fireplace.

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I’m totally in love with it. I even opened the windows to make it colder in the house, just so I can turn it on (what a nerd). I think there’s someone else in the house that’s just as big of a fan of it as I am….

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2. Also a few weeks ago, I received my first Nature Box.

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I’m already a fan – what’s even more awesome is that you can go online and choose what snacks you want in your next box. Even Brian liked most of the snacks I got this month!

3. My last quarter of vet tech school consists of doing a 12-week full-time internship. I was fortunate enough to be able to do mine at the Animal Emergency Clinic just a few miles down the road from our house. I’m excited, but a little nervous at the same time! It’ll be a lot of work but I know it’ll totally be worth it!

4. Because this internship is a full-time gig, I gave work my two-week notice two weeks ago and worked my last day two days ago. My weekend crew threw me a fabulous surprise party! Although I’m excited to start my new adventure, I’m a little sad that I have to leave those that I’ve gotten so close with over the past four years.. it’s a bittersweet feeling.

I had a total of 4 cakes all day! Is it obvious that my coworkers knew I love cake?!

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Erika even came up with the idea of making it into an “animal” theme in honor of my future career :) It was complete with Scooby bones, animal crackers, and drawings/colorings of animals from her girls. Even my card had animals on it lol. It was perfect.

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I’m going to miss seeing those faces I’m so used to seeing every other weekend.

5. Quarter break with no homework, no studying, and no work means more time for me to spend in the kitchen! I’ve got a few recipes planned out that I want to make by the end of the week already… I’m going to try my best to make myself spend a night (or two) sitting on the couch relaxing and doing absolutely nothing and be perfectly okay with it – we’ll see how long that’ll last before I get up to do something productive….

6. I saw these on the shelves of Target yesterday and I wasn’t thrilled about the packaging AT ALL.

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Someone tell me why there are snowflakes on cake mix boxes on October 1st?! Winter-related items (or packaging relating to winter) should not be allowed to be on the shelves at least until Halloween is over. It should be a universal rule – just sayin’.

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission.

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