Salted Caramel Brownie Cookies and Orange Food

The picture is missing a glass of milk, I am told. Recipe is below, after I show you how ORANGE my lunch was!

Along with my hubby’s famous mac n cheese (sorry, no pic), here are the sides I had with lunch. I couldn’t believe how orange everything was. Luckily it didn’t turn me off and I actually ate (almost) everything. Going for those healthy sides/snacks (I realized I was missing my cheddar and sour cream Ruffles with French Onion dip! Those are orange… right?).

Gotta share the recipe for these divine cookies! Thank you, Hungry Runner Girl, for the tip about the recipe! I made these babies for the Superbowl and received good reviews. The recipe is a keeper and I’ve already had a few requests for the recipe! I also made chocolate cupcakes and used the leftover salted caramel filling as a frosting. I must say that I prefer the cupcakes to the cookies, but only because they are a lighter version. The cookies are delicious, but SUPER rich and I could barely finish one of them.

Salted Caramel Brownie Cookies

Copied direcetly from Lucy Jane’s Best, plus my notes in pink

For the Cookie:

• 12 ounces dark chocolate, chopped <<<I used chocolate chips w/ 60% cacao
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼  cup flour, sifted
• ¼  teaspoon baking powder, sifted

For the salted caramel creme filling

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup caramel sauce (I used Nestle’s La Lechera-Dulce de Leche) <<<I used Trader Joe's Caramel with Fleur de Sel

½  teaspoon sea salt <<<Did not use since TJ caramel was already salted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place butter in a saucepan over low heat and gently stir until melted. Add 7 ounces of chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. In a stand up mixer, combine, eggs, sugar and vanilla and beat for 15 minutes or until pale and creamy. (The extreme beating gives this cookie its great texture! So set your timer!) Add in flour, baking powder, melted chocolate mixture, remaining 5 ounces of chocolate and mix just to combine. (Don’t over mix.)  Chill batter for 10 minutes. Dough should still be slightly gooey, but not watery.
4. Spoon 2 tablespoonful of the mixture, onto parchment lined jelly roll pan. Bake for 8–10 minutes or until puffed and cracked. Allow to cool completely on pans before transferring to a wire rack.
5. Caramel creme filling and assembly:
6. Place butter in a bowl and beat until fluffy., about 4 minutes. Mix in powdered sugar and salt, add in caramel and beat until smooth and creamy.
7. Spread or pipe the frosting in between two cookies. Sandwich them together.
8. Yields 12 large cookies

***My note to self: Next time, reduce the amount of dark chocolate (an additional 5 oz isn’t necessary to add to the batter) and make smaller cookies (yielding 24 instead of just 12). Also, consider making half of the creme filling as this recipe yielded plenty!

RESULTS: Elk Grove 2013 5K Fun Run Series #1

He did it! The hubby ran his first 5K! I am so proud of him for accomplishing something he probably never though he'd ever do. I was cheesing throughout the entire (almost) race knowing that I was running w/ my hubby. I was on the fence for the longest time, debating whether or not I wanted to run the race. Part of me wanted to just curl up in bed since it would be about 30 degrees (I'm a Cali girl) and it would be super early (I never run at 8 am!) and I could think of other things (sleep) that sounded more appealing. But I am ECSTATIC that we made it out there and now the hubs has his first 5K down.

Check out our times!

It was so cool running with my Garmin and new running kicks. The worse part about the run was the the hubs started to feel lightheaded during the last mile. But he was a champ and pushed through, even pushing us to pick it up once we saw the finish line. Something had gone wrong because he didn't feel well afterward and had a big headache that actually lasted until the next morning! We'll have to figure something out for next time.

Here's what I made when we got home. Chicken quesadillas! I know, I know. I'm super fancy. :)

It's National Peanut Butter Day!

According to STUFT Mama, it's National Peanut Butter Day. I must have subconsciously known this because I made myself a PBJ for lunch today!

I'm so excited to try my new Pro Compression sleeves. I just ordered them last night using an awesome 40% off + free shipping code that the awesome running bloggers shared with the rest of us commoners. I ordered these black sleeves. Can't wait to try them out and report back! (Wow, this post is just full of links!)

I'm on my third cup of tea today. Tummy is just not having it. Luckily these babies are caffeine free! :)

Yummy food and a walk

No wonder it's called The Habit. Once you start, the habit has begun! Yummy teriyaki burger (for me), double char burger (for the hubs), fries, and (not pictured) onion rings! And of course, with my favorite kind of ranch, the creamy, but not too thick and bottle-tasting, type. 

Sometime last week we went to Panera Bread. I think the hubs thinks I'm weird for always trying to take pictures of my food now. Chicken caesar salad, broccoli cheddar cheese soup, and a panini. YUM!

Today, we went for a walk! I am finally feeling a lot better and I wanted to just go for a walk around our neighborhood. We walked for 24 minutes and covered roughly 1.5 miles. It was pretty cold outside and we listened to the radio via the hubs' phone while we walked. :) 

Recovering from a cold

I was feeling under the weather so I stayed home from work on Friday. Tried sleeping, but after a while my head began to hurt from too much sleep. I turned on the TV and finished the movie Tangled. That movie is really cute and I got a little teary-eyed. Then I saw that You've Got Mail was on, so I had to watch that.

Then I called my sister and suggested she keep me company and we watched a few episodes of the greatest TV show on earth... Vampire Diaries!!!

The weekend has been difficult to get through, but somehow I reached the end. Had a great time at our good friends' Xmas party last night. Tons of food, a white elephant gift exchange, and the most funniest version of Guesstures ever! Great times, MJCC. Great times.

I have had trouble figuring out what I want to eat today. After we went to church today, I decided this is what I wanted:

Subway sandwich, plus two kettle corn cookies from Trader Joe's. At last my tummy is happy :) I'm so sad I haven't worked out in over a week. But kudos to the hubs for running two miles today. He is doing really well running more and getting more active in general. I will join him as soon as I am fully recovered. 

SF Giants Trophies and carne asada fries

Look who was excited to wait in line to see the SF Giants trophies... This little cutie patootie is C.A. She is way too adorable and smart for her age. She kept us entertained while we waited in line and she did very well being so patient.



The cutie and her mama even made it on our local paper's blog! Good stuff, ladies :)

Congrats to the SF Giants for winning two in three!!! It was so much fun watching the "G-MEN" win it again. I have to give credit to the hubs and my good friends for getting me into the game. We all went to a game this season and it was too much fun. Can't wait to go again.

After we took our pictures with the trophies (I'll have to post the pic later when they're available online), we went to our local spot, Rafa's, for some carne asada fries. YUM!

Hopefully you've had a chance to try this goodness. If not, hurry up and go now! And you have to order the horchata drink (milk with cinnamon and sugar). The combination is divine. As delicious as the fries were, I think they were a bit too salty/greasy for me. My tummy was not happy afterward, but luckily I felt better after a short nap and drinking plenty of water.

Christmas Recap 3... plus my Garmin & running shoes!

Missed Part 1 & Part 2? Check them out HERE and HERE! 

Both of our families went out to lunch for Pho at my favorite restaurant. 

Yum... This makes my tummy so happy!

Gotta get the fancy shmancy Thai iced tea... 

I forgot to share that I remade the hot cocoa cookies at some point during the holidays. They are so fun to look at.

New Year's Eve was very simple... Saw my mom and sister (dad was at work), visited our close friends, and then met the hubs' parents at home where we shared glasses of this yummy sparkling wine.

That night, the hubs' last night in town, we hosted a second get together at our house that night. I'm actually not sure which night this picture was from below, but I just wanted to share that I made kale chips for the first time! Yum!

This is our second bottle of wine. Aren't the wine glass markers the cutest/smartest?

Brought the hubs' parents to the airport the next morning... One final stop: In N Out!!!

Ok, now a look at the wonderful gifts the hubs got me for Xmas. Love my new necklace and it has very important meaning to me :)

I went for my first run! I enjoyed using my Garmin 10. Still gotta sync it up to my laptop (it doesn't work on Macs) and then I can start uploading my runs. 

Woo hoo! A new record already! ;)

Hubs and I also got fitted for running shoes for the first time! I got the Brooks Launch and he got the Nike Pegasus. We ran in them for the first time at the gym. We both feel they help as our feet didn't hurt as much as usual. Looking forward to more runs. 

Christmas Recap Part 2

More highlights! Click HERE for Part 1.

• Visited family on Xmas eve (E-thang saying over and over as he opened gifts, "NO WAY!")
• Spent Xmas day with more family
• After Xmas day shopping (Note to self: Go to Target when it opens because all the good stuff is taken by 5 pm)
• Annual high school reunion holiday dinner
• Plus a visit to the hubs' Uncle
• Zumba with MIL while FIL and hubs golf
• Visit with hubby's Lola and see more family
• Cooking with the MIL while FIL and hubs watch the big Redskins game

Hosting a family gathering at our crib:

This is just the dessert side...

At another family gathering: Monopoly gives me anxiety...

Here are the fun gifts I put together for my dad and FIL:

Here's my white elephant gift at my reunion dinner:

I call this albino sushi! (I don't like seaweed. Boooo, I know): 

"NO WAY!!!"

We miss you always:

Big Bang bobble heads!!! Me (Penny) and the hubs (Leonard)! Thanks, Howwwwuuuhhhd!!!

Our outaanak is so sweet getting us gifts:

Christmas Recap Part 1

FYI, I do not have a smartphone and therefore the rate at which pictures can be added to my blog is less than ideal. I would apologize and promise to get a smartphone soon, but that would be silly!

Here are a few highlights of the last few days.

• I got a Garmin for Christmas! (which deserves its own separate post)
• In-law's flew into town last week; we have been spending a lot of time with them
• Three separate shindigs with the same group of people (my family, my in-laws, and my MIL's sister's family)... I'm sure everyone is partied-out
• Tons of food (and leftovers), sweets, and fun
• Everyone is healthy, safe, and happy. Couldn't ask for more this Christmas!

Sipping my yummy caramel latte from Panera Bread as we wait at the airport:

Finally! We got to enjoy the balsamic vinegar we purchased back when we went wine tasting during the summer. DELISH and I'm bummed the bottle is almost out...

Shindig #1: Parents sitting around the dining table while the young ones played Mario Party. Major laughter and competition going on.

Sweet Tooth

TheHungryRunnerGirl is influencing me to eat sweets galore. Here are some delicious treats added to my life this past weekend.

#1: Hot chocolate cookies. HungryRunnerGirl told her readers we had to make them, so make them I did (you can find recipe on the link). YUM! Although they are super rich, so I can't have so many. The hubby on the other hand would have probably eaten them all if he didn't have to share with me and my sister.

#2: BJ's Red Velvet Pazookie. Picture says it all. I've had pazookies before, but thank you, G & M, for introducing me to this flavor!



#3: Cocoa Drizzled Kettle Corn. Bought this from Trader Joe's. Super addicting and tasting, although note to self: I can make this myself! My mom usually gets us kettle corn (tastes exactly the same) from the farmer's market and I can just drizzle melted chocolate myself. But thank you, TJ's, for the idea :)

12-12-12

Today is 12-12-12! The last day we will see repeating numbers in the date for a while. Pictures at 12:12 pm plus a reason to try new Trader Joe goodies...

 

Here I am at precisely 12:12 pm:

Mom took a pic, too!

And sister:

I am not always so professional looking... I had to give a presentation today at work! And what's a presentation without goodies? Amazing butter waffle cookies and salt water taffy from Trader Joe's. Love an excuse to try new things at my favorite store!

Yum!