Food Friday - Full Bellies, Full Hearts

from Kris B.

It is Valentine's Day weekend; for many that means that love is in the air.  By the looks of the supermarkets, it appears that many will be receiving  the obligatory flowers and candy.  For others, however,  it is just another day of being hungry and feeling unloved.

Sometimes the “why” of a story is much more important than the “what.”  The “what” of my recipe this week is Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  These are undoubtedly one of my favorite cookies because they contain all of my favorite ingredients.  If I can’t decide what kind of cookies I am craving, I will make these because they cover all the bases.  You can’t go wrong with a cookie that has chocolate chips, oatmeal, AND peanut butter!  But, that is not the “why.”

I recently received a note from my youngest daughter that said, in part, “Thank you for showing me what parental love is all about.  Thank you for being willing to take on the hard questions.  Thank you for challenging me and helping me and inspiring me and encouraging me.  Thank you for helping me become me.”  The “me” that she has become is a caring and loving young lady who has made it her mission in life to do anything she can to make the world a better place for those around her.  In her daily life, she goes about this in many big and small ways; those of us that are on the receiving end of her kindness are blessed beyond measure.

This week she set her goals high, taking it upon herself to have a bake sale at work to raise money for the organization NO KID HUNGRY.  This was not your average bake sale with a few dozen slice and bake cookies and a pan of brownies.  Erin went all out, from taking pre-orders for loaves of homemade bread and chocolate dipped strawberries to baking all kinds of individual goodies to be sold today. 

 Last weekend she baked 20 loaves of bread to be delivered to friends and co-workers Monday morning as a kick-off for her fundraising week.  The rest of the baking was done yesterday for the actual bake sale today.  Her boyfriend posted the full tally of her baking efforts on Facebook:

My measly contribution to this massive effort was a few tubs of cookie dough that could be sold as take and bake.  Other than this, she did all of the work by herself with a lot moral support from her boyfriend and some from me.  Hopefully her co-workers will eat up today and she can send a nice check to NO KID HUNGRY.  

Creating a world where all people have full bellies and even fuller hearts is a grand but achievable goal if we all do what we can where we are.  All those small acts do add up to big results!

I am proud of the young lady that Erin is becoming and I am humbled to know that she credits me for even a part of that.  Hang in there all of you with little ones, those days will be over more quickly than you think.  And then comes the time when you look at your kids as they become adults and smile.  But perhaps more importantly, they will also look at you with appreciation and say, “Thank you!”

I am happy to report that Erin's goal for today's bake sale was $300.  She far surpassed this goal by raising  $1500 for No Kid Hungry!  Not only were her co-workers and friends supportive, her company volunteered to match her efforts at 100%!  If you would like to learn more about No Kid Hungry or contribute to this cause, click here.  I am thankful that there are so many people out there willing to help fill the bellies of hungry children.

Thank you, Jeff, for the photos!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter (at room temperature)

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 TBS vanilla extract

2 TBS milk

2 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips

Aside from the fact that these cookies taste awesome, I love this recipe because it doesn’t use every measuring cup that I own!  A cup measure and measuring spoons, that’s it!

In your mixer bowl, cream together the sugars, butter, peanut butter, vanilla, and milk.  Add the eggs and mix until thoroughly combined.  

In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, oats, baking soda, and chocolate chips.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well.

Chill the dough covered overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Form the dough into 1” balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 12 minutes on the center oven rack.


from Tracey G.

When Kris was telling me of her bake sale contributions, it got me thinking of bake sales past. Mostly from my grade school days, the bake sales, cake walks and craft shows that my mom always contributed something to. I especially loved the cake walks, yep, definitely a personal favorite! I could win a cake! Yay! Not that I ever ate them, as I didn't care much for cake back then, but I probably enjoyed the chance to win one more than anything! It just brings back a lot of fond memories from 3rd grade all the way through 8th. Good stuff!

All the bake sale memories got me thinking on what would work for a bake sale as far as an item to contribute that everyone in general enjoys. Lots of things came to mind, but the one that stuck out to me was the good old Peanut Butter Cookie. They're so easy to make and you can turn them out pretty fast, (plus it's usually stuff I always have on hand - so if I'm ever in that "mom I need cookies for tomorrow!" bind, these are a good go to recipe), and perfect bake sale criteria! Fast and easy and people like them! Through the years, I've found a few recipes (as usual!), and this one is kind of a combination of a few, that got me to a cookie I really liked.

The recipe is supposed to, in theory (from the combinations of recipes), make 3 dozen, but I got at least 5 dozen out of this batch I made. Go figure. And now my taste testers/cookie eaters are sick and not interested in any cookies. I think this batch will find itself in the freezer!!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Preheat oven to 375° F

Yield: 3 dozen

1/2 c butter (1 stick), softened (you could use all vegetable shortening if you like)

1/2 c vegetable shortening

1 1/2 c peanut butter

1 c granulated sugar

1 c brown sugar, packed

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3 c all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1) Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2) Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and place 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten with a fork. Bake 10-15 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.