Major Milk Makin' Cookies

I was telling you the other day that I was having issues with milk production and trying everything possible to increase it. I am happy to report that I got over 4 oz (total) when I pumped last tonight! I can't say what worked exactly, but it can't hurt to try it all. I pump after he breastfeeds during all the day time feedings, I am trying to drink more water, trying to eat more (to get enough calories), and have oatmeal cookies. I have heard about milk makers cookies, but at $50 per month that is way out of my price range. I sought out to find a recipe that had similar ingredients. I found this info. and cookies from the Peaceful Parenting Blog. Now these cookies aren't just plain oatmeal cookies they have some key ingredients.

Oats (or oatmeal) are key in boosting milk supply because of the iron they contain that nursing moms are frequently in need of. Oats are also filling, dense with healthy calories - and nursing moms need calories! Make sure it's not instant oats.

These are the ones I got from vitamin world. Make sure the flax is milled.

Brewer's yeast is an ingredient that has also long been touted to increase milk supply (although contested by some). Brewer's yeast is one of the best natural sources of B vitamins, which are essential to overall health of a nursing mom (and any woman). Even if milk supply were not impacted by brewer's yeast, the boost of energy (and increased sugar metabolism) that comes from brewer's yeast consumption is worth including it in lactation cookies (or other things you bake).

Flax Seed

The oil from flax seed is considered by many to be a galactagogue (substance that improves lactation). It is also a great form of fiber. And, while it is again debated among those who believe in flax's galactagogue properties or not, one thing is certain: flax is power packed with omega-3 (essential fatty acids) that are absolutely crucial to a nursing mom's diet (as well as baby's diet, and all human health in general).

Major Milk Makin' CookiesRecipe by Kathleen MajorDetailed recipe with photos found here

1 1/2 c. flour (they suggest whole wheat flour, but I didn't have any)
1 3/4 c. oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 c. almond butter or peanut butter (I used peanut butter)
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. flax
3 T brewer's yeast
1/3 c. water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 c. (12oz) chocolate chips
1 c. chopped nuts of your choice (I left the nuts out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

In a large bowl, beat almond butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, brewer's yeast, flax and water until creamy.
Mix in eggs.
Gradually beat in flour mixture.
Mix in nuts and chocolate chips.
Add oats slowly, mixing along the way.

Place balls of dough onto greased baking sheets or baking stones.

Press down each ball lightly with a fork.
Bake 12 minutes. I had more dough left than what I made above so it makes prob. close to 3 dozen. I have been keeping them in the freezer and just microwaving them when I want them. 

Wish I had a better final picture, I got hungry.

You can't taste the flax or brewers yeast, it tastes like an oatmeal rasin choc. chip cookie that is very filling. I eat approx.3-4 per day, for the baby of course :) Oh, and you won't produce milk if you aren't breastfeeding. I might have told David that he would so he didn't eat my cookies though, shh.

How to Make Button Sugar Cookies

I got the idea for button cookies from here. You start out with the basic sugar cookie recipe and add colored food coloring. We have never made sugar cookies before and had fun playing with the dough consistency.

Ingredients

    * 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus a little more for work surface

    * 1/4 teaspoon salt 

    * 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

    * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 

    * 1 cup granulated sugar 

    * 1 large egg

    * 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    * food coloring

    * Sanding sugar for sprinkling 

Directions-

• Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and then set it aside.
• Mix the butter and granulated sugar into a seperate bowl and mix that (on medium if you have an electric mixer) until the it’s pale and fluffy.
• Add an egg and vanilla. By this time I’m sure you’re arm’s getting tired, but if you have an electric mixer, reduce the speed to low.
• Now add your original flour mixture; and mix them together until no visible difference remains.

 Divide the dough into thirds, and knead one color of food coloring into the first piece and then your second food coloring into another. We just used 1 color, but still divided it to make it easier to work with. This could take several minutes to get the color consistency you want. We used 3 drops of red food coloring.

 Look how cute and pink the dough looks! Shape all three pieces into disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

Preheat your oven to 325. Remove one disk from refrigerator and let it stand at room temperature until slightly soft, which takes about 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out dough on a piece of lightly floured parchment to a 1/8-inch thickness, dusting with flour as needed. Cut out circles with a 1 3/4 inch round cutter, then lightly press with a 1 1/2 inch round cutter. Make your button holes with a skewer. We apparently don't have any cookie cutters so with the help of David we improvised! We used a wine glass to cut the circles and a sake glass to do the smaller inner imprint. He then rigged me up a press with 4 skewers to make the button holes (how clever).

Reroll scraps, and cut. (If dough becomes too soft because you keep messing up, refrigerate it for 10 minutes and problem solved.) Repeat with remaining dough. Space 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and sprinkle them with the sanding sugar (I couldn't find sanding sugar anywhere so I just left it off). The websites instructions say to cook for 16-18 mins and please don't listen to that unless you want flat discs for throwing. We tried the cookies a week before the shower to test and by the next morning they were as hard as a rock. So, this time around we cooked for 10-11 mins and they were perfect!

 This basic sugar cookie recipe would be great for heart cookies for valentines day coming up or anything else you wanted to make!

Yummy Celebration!

What is that you say?

Why, its the gateway arch in St. Louis, Missouri!

Why am I sharing tourist sites from St. Louis? Well, Davids spent the last 3 weeks working out in the St. Louis area. He comes home today and I have missed him! I have made him a special treat to come home to!

These are Lacey's Smore Cookies. I guess this won't be a surprise anymore if he reads the blog, but they are too good not to post.

You can make your own cookie dough or just buy a pack from the store. You slice the cookie dough and put it in the bottom of a muffin pan. Then you just put smore toppings on (mini marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers). Bake them at 350 for 11-13 mins.

Here is what they look like when they come out of the oven. They start to melt a little, but not as much as I thought they would.

After they cool, they do sink down in the middle a little. They are so yummy and easy to make.

Need Cookies!!

My husband, David is a real life cookie monster. We once played a newly wed game that asked what movie/tv character your husband would be. The other couple said something heroic like Superman and I'm thinking to myself, well I can't embarrass him that much so I shouted out batman or something, but Cookie Monster was my real answer. At night around 3am David wakes up in a food coma and heads down stairs. He rummages through our pantry for something chocolatey. This doesn't happen every night, but most nights. It runs in this family. His brother does Chocolate Milk. Well a few days ago, we were out of everything cookie, chocolate, or dessert related. I went downstairs in the morning and found a chocolate powdery substance all over the sink and counter. I asked David what he had for a snack and he just started to say, "there was nothing else!" Well, it was HOT COCOA POWDER from a hot chocolate packet!! He put it in his mouth, added milk and swooshed around! I knew it was time to get some cookies.

I found this recipe on Our Best Bites and we made it the next night. It's a basic cookie recipe and you just bake individual small bowls in the oven and top with ice cream and hot fudge.

It was so yummy!!

Chicken Pasta Primavera & Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This past week we had David's parents over for dinner. Lately they have been my guinea pigs, but everything has been great so far so I don't think they mind. This recipe comes from 5dollardinners.com. It made a ton!
Ingredients:

1 box farfalle pasta 

2-3 chicken breasts, diced 

1 tsp olive oil 

Salt and pepper

3 medium zucchini squash, cut into circles (You don't have to use this much, I had bought a lot)

2 medium yellow squash, cut into circles 

1/4 small yellow onion, chopped

1 head broccoli, cut into florets 

2 carrot sticks, peeled and chopped (I left these out)

5 small tomatoes, (I used 1 big one)

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

For White Sauce:

3 Tbsp butter or margarine 

3 Tbsp flour 

2 cups milk 

3-4 Tbsp parmesan cheese 

Salt and pepper

Directions-

1. In medium saucepan, cook pasta according to package instructions.  Drain and add to large serving bowl.

2. In large skillet, sauté diced chicken in olive oil and salt and pepper for 6-8 minutes, stirring often. Once chicken has cooked through, transfer to plate.

3. Chop all veggies. Add chopped veggies to same skillet that cooked the chicken in.

4. Add all the veggies (except the tomatoes) to the same skillet that you sautéed the chicken and steam/sauté for 3-4 minutes with 1/4 cup of water(I had to do mine for longer because I had so many).  Add the tomatoes during the last minute.  Transfer to plate.

5. Make your sauce: Melt your butter, Add flour and whisk together, Add milk and whisk to get all clumps out, Add parmesan and stir. Let it start to boil and reduce to a simmer for a few minutes.

6. In large serving bowl, toss pasta, cooked chicken, sautéed veggies with parmesan sauce.  Season with salt and pepper to taste…and extra parmesan cheese if you like.

David also has made us Dessert. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. They just had a hint of peanut butter so I'd consider it more chocolate chip, but so gooood. Here is the recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients:
1 cup Butter Or Margarine (2 Sticks), Softened
1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1 cup White Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2-½ cups Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
1 package Chocolate Chips (12 Oz)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Combine butter/margarine, peanut butter, sugars and eggs until well blended.
3. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add this mixture to the butter mixture until well blended. Add the chocolate chips.
4. Roll dough into tablespoon size balls, place on cookie sheet and slightly flatten with three fingers. Bake for 8-10 minutes until cracked and slightly golden. Watch to make sure they don't burn.

It made so many we were able to freeze some dough and give some away! Mmmm!

Valentine's Day Fortune Cookies

I decided to make David fortune cookies for Valentine's Day. I kind of had a feeling this was going to be a challenge, but wanted to try anyway. The recipe comes from Our Best Bites blog and if you don't have patience then you should not attempt these. There are too many steps for me to try to explain so head on over to their blog to get the recipe. This one below is the first one that actually came out looking like a fortune cookie.

There are some good... and some bad! These ones I think I over cooked and they don't really resemble a fortune cookie, but they did taste good so I left these in the batch.

My Final Product! I covered some in chocolate and put red sprinkles on it for extra credit :) Sorry for the distracting plate.

I put them in this cute XOXO bag from Kroger.

These are my pretty roses from David. I love roses and all the layers that makes up each rose (I know I'm lame)

Hope you all had a great Valentine's day with people you cared about, let me know if you try these and how yours turned out. I'm curious to see if it was as challenging for other people. By the way, I ended up using just the baking sheet with PAM and no parchment paper. My dough stuck to the paper even though I put PAM on it.