Happy 2012!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Part of our celebration includes devouring these ice cream sandwiches above!!  yum yum yum.  (The recipe for these monster cookies is at the end of the post!)  As I am celebrating the New Year, I can still hardly believe that  2012 is here already but I am pretty excited.  2011 was super awesome and I know 2012 will be even better.  We had a pretty chill NYE - ate roasted sweet potatoes and a salad instead of the rack of lamb and vegetable curry we had gotten groceries for...all because we were too full from eating hot pot for lunch, HAHA!  We couldn't stay awake till count down time to the New Year and I woke up in the middle of the night super sore from yoga on Friday (pathetic)...BUT 2012 couldn't have started off better because I woke up to homemade waffles! Woot woot! Happy New Year to me! 

I know, I'm so lucky.  I don't take it for granted ;)

It was unusually warm in DC this morning and afternoon, almost 60s and beautifully sunny, so we hopped onto the metro and went to a nearby park with a lake.  I've really missed being outdoors and breathing fresh air ever since we came back from South Africa, so this was just what I wanted.  Vitamin D, wonderful.

Going to spend the rest of January 1 working on some SA photos, watching the House marathon on TV and cooking our lamb.  I hope you are having a good New Year's Day like I am.  Now..time for some resolutions.

My 2012 New Year's Resolution:
Last year I decided not to make any resolutions because I was tired of breaking them, however, with a break, my faith in myself has been restored and I think I will try again, though I will keep it short.

• Exercise more (specific goal - do yoga regularly and work out 3x/week at least)
• Bring my lunch more, thereby save money!
• Swear less.  I have a little post-it note on my desk and I am certain it is working already.
• Work harder to improve my photography and business!

Lastly, here's the recipe for those cookies!

Monster Cookies (Makes 3 dozen):
I've never had monster cookies until ICM told me that those were his favorites and his mom made them often when he was young.  I found some recipes online and made a batch but it wasn't until eating the version that his mom made that I really started loving them.  They are really good cookies - not too sweet, slightly chewy, and filling - really great for hiking - protein and everything.

This recipe is based on a few recipes that I found online, so I take no credit.  This recipe also has a little bit less sugar and less butter than the others, so for those who are sugar/butter-conscious, this should be pretty good.  I think we're going to try to figure out how to substitute more sugar out with agave nectar next time...will keep you posted on how that goes.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup packed brown or light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 12 oz peanut butter (I did 16 oz and it was good too)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup M&Ms
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
• 4 and 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

Directions

• Preheat 350 degrees F
• Mix eggs and sugars together.
• Mix in salt, vanilla extract, peanut butter, butter, and baking soda.
• Mix in the rest and stir it all together.
• Take a tablespoon of batter, roll it a little and place it on your cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
• Bake for ~10minutes and let cool!  I always eat one warm though...preferably with ice cream.  
• Note:  I don't usually make all 36 cookies because we can't eat them all.  I'll make 12 and split the left over batter into two portions and put them in the freezer.  Other recipes say to eat them within a month or two. I've had it in for 3 and the cookies tasted fine still. 
• Enjoy

Happy 2012.  I wish you all good health, lots of laughter, lots of good and healthy foods, and lots of adventures :)

South Africa photos later today!