Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Normally I hate commentary on a recipe blog post. I don't care what's going on, I just want the recipe. But here I am, writing my first recipe post, and I'm going to tell you a little story. Sorry.

I have this problem where about once or twice per season, I wish it was a different season. And I don't just mean that in winter I wish it was summer. In fact, it's generally the opposite. And for some reason, for the last month or so, I have wanted it to be fall or winter SO BAD.  I've been dreaming of football season and boots and hot chocolate and rainy days. And Christmas. All I've wanted is for it to be Christmas. I love the Christmas spirit, and I think I want to feel it again already because I wasn't in the mood for it in December. Once it gets warm and stays warm, I'm sure I'll feel different, but all I know is that when it snowed last week, I felt no shame listening to Christmas music on the way to work.

We still had Hershey's Kisses from Valentine's Day, so I decided to make these peanut butter blossom cookies for Brandon to take to work. He called me that afternoon to say the cookies were going quickly, and he said that his manager told him something that made him understand why I made the cookies. He said "everyone is saying they make these at Christmas. Now I understand why you wanted to make them." That wasn't my original intent, but I guess my subconscious knows me better than I do!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. I'm pretty sure that somehow the ingredients combine to make some sort of addictive substance, so consider yourself warned. I'm not ashamed to admit that we each ate ten the day we made them. Happy baking!

INGREDIENTS

    1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened
    1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
    1/2 cup granulated sugar,  plus more for rolling
    1/2 cup light brown sugar
    1 large egg
    1 tablespoon milk
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    Parchment paper for cookie sheet
    5 dozen (one 11 ounce package) Hershey's Kisses, foil removed

PREPARATION

Step 1
Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, peanut butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and light brown sugar. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing thoroughly. 

Step 2
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with nonstick liner and set aside. Roll dough into 1-inch balls (or bigger, for less, but softer cookies).

Step 3
Roll cookies in sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. bake 6 to 8 minutes until very light brown and puffed. Remove sheet from oven and lightly press a candy kiss into the center of each cookie, allowing it to crack slightly. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

**For extra happiness, double the recipe. You'll thank me later. Recipe adapted from cooking.nytimes.com

Second lunch.

I think I've stated it before, but pregnancy is the weirdest thing. After we came out of the first trimester, I felt pretty good for a few weeks. To the point that sometimes I actually forgot I was pregnant, which makes me sound like a terrible pregnant lady, but it was actually kind of nice to not feel bloated or sick all the time. After I got back from Seattle, my little bump popped a bit. Apparently no one else can tell a difference (still), but I definitely can. I actually feel pregnant, which is just strange. I don't feel bloated or anything, but I can feel this new weight/pressure right around and below my belly button. It's super weird.

Something else that's new is the fact that I am hungry all the time. From weeks seven to twelve I ate a lot to keep myself from being sick, then I stopped being hungry for about five weeks, and now all of a sudden I am starving every single second of the day. Yesterday and today I had two lunches! They are small, but still! Two lunches seems like so much! But if it's what the baby wants, then the baby shall have it. We used to make smoothies every morning to take to work with us (see post here) but we had them every day for three weeks and I think they kind of got old. I guess I'll just have to figure out something else to keep me full!

This weekend we are headed to the happiest place on earth, and also the most magical place on earth (in my opinion)! We will spend tomorrow at Disneyland, and Sunday at Universal Studios seeing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, California style. We are super stoked, but not super stoked about the long drive! 

We'll be posting the gender reveal sometime tomorrow (because it's only appropriate that we do it Disney style), so get ready!!

You know you're from Idaho when...

Pregnancy is the most bizarre thing I will probably ever experience in my whole life. Now that we are out of the first trimester (15 weeks today!), I actually am feeling pretty normal. Sometimes I actually even forget that I'm pregnant! Then this little pooch that hangs over my pants reminds me, but anyway. The first trimester was weird because I just felt like the laziest person in all of America. I was too tired to do literally anything, so I just came to work, then went home and immediately changed into sweats, then spent the rest of the night watching tv until it was time for bed. Brandon did so much cleaning and cooking, and I felt so bad! Besides growing a tiny human inside of me (which is still weird to think about), I hardly did anything at all. SO glad the fatigue is gone!!

The actual weirdest thing to me though has been the food cravings. I didn't have cravings very often-that ice cream and pickle juice phase is still to come-but when I did have a craving it was all I could focus on. It was so frustrating, because I usually am very good about what I eat and having control of my appetite and all that, but with cravings, all self control was gone. I wanted something and I needed it right then. The worst one I remember was for Jamba Juice at eight thirty at night on a Sunday. Of course they close at eight on a Sunday, and of course I was already in bed, but still. I wanted a smoothie!!

Anyway, the prominent craving for about the past month or so has been tater tots or hashbrowns. It's all I want to eat. When we were at my parents' house a couple weeks ago, I had three hashbrown patties for lunch. That's it. This morning, someone set a tray of tots down on my desk and it took all I had not to steal one off their tray. It's bad. I know they say that lots of women crave fried food when they are pregnant, I feel a sort of pride with this one. Even though the baby is in Utah (with me, obviously), it knows its true Idaho roots. So you just keep craving those potatoes, baby. I will happily oblige. 

Smoothies.

Before we found out I was pregnant, I didn't pay much attention to what I ate. I didn't eat poorly, by any means, but I also didn't put that much thought into exactly how much of which nutrients I was putting into my body every day. Jump ahead to finding out I was pregnant, and I knew immediately that I needed to up my daily calorie intake, and make sure I was getting enough fruits and veggies to help baby grow. Because as much as I wish it was, pizza isn't quite the superfood that baby needs.

Lucky for me, I have been craving a ton of citrus throughout these first few months so smoothies seemed like the perfect way to work in some more fruits and veggies, and also a little protein! I haven't gone crazy with the greens yet, but below is the easy smoothie recipe I have been using for the past two weeks!

1 cup water
1 cup spinach
1 heaping spoonful of Greek yogurt
1-2 cups of frozen fruit
1 banana

If I had a bigger cup, I would double the recipe and bring it all for myself, but Brandon has been trying to eat better too, so we double it and then each take some to work with us. We bought a giant bag of frozen fruit from Walmart, and usually add a banana or kiwi, and if we're feeling really crazy, we substitute half of the water for a half cup of apple juice. We really know how to live life on the edge. 

What are your favorite green smoothie recipes? I'm dying to try something new!