Thursday May 2 2013 (Kitchen sink cookies and lotion bars)

Cookies, Playdates and Lotion Bars

Cookies

So I had to whip up a batch of cookies today and decided to try altering my Kitchen Sink cookies a little bit. I got the original recipe from the Smells like Home blog.The cookies that she makes are good, but I like to make every recipe a little bit different. Today I opted for a true Kitchen Sink recipe and use up a lot of the half empty bags of cookie add ins that I had leftover from the other cookies I've made lately. Just a warning, but the recipe from Smells Like Home makes A LOT of cookies. I make my cookies big usually about 3.5-4.5inches across and I still got about 40 cookies out of it. I used the base recipe:

1 stick (8TBSP) Butter

1& 1/3 cups peanut butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1 & 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1cup toasted shredded sweetened coconut (I add about 1/4-1/2 cup extra toasted coconut)

3 eggs

1 TSP Vanilla

2TSP Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

4 & 1/2 cups Oats (I add about 1/4 cup extra oats)

Then I add whatever I feel like, they are kitchen sink cookies after all. Last time I did milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and white chocolate chips. This time around I decided to use up what I had open from other recipes. (This is a great recipe to clean out leftover candy with, if there is such a thing) I had a half bag of Craisins (Dried cranberries), a half a bag of white chocolate chips and a half a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips left over that I tossed in. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Kitchen Aid mixer that my wonderful husband got for me. It's definitely getting a workout with all the cookies I make.

Here's what the "dough" should look like. It's tempting to sit down and eat it raw, especially if you like peanut butter.

Here are the balls of dough, I use a medium Ice cream scooper to get about 6 cookies per baking sheet and I love using parchment paper because then I don't have to worry about the cookies sticking.

These are the cookies when they are done. They are about 3" across but they are also about 3/4" thick. These are softer cookies, but hold up well enough for travel and stacking.

Playdates

I'll admit it I'm a little bit of a wimp when it comes to germs. I don't let my kids anywhere near a McDonalds or Chick-fil-A play area and I practically bathe them in hand sanitizer when we take them to some place like Chuck-E-Cheese. So when the husband suggested a play date at a jumping place I was a little skeptical. But I figured worst case scenario I bathe the boys in sanitizer and wash their clothes twice. We met some friends at Big Time Trampoline Fun Center in Arvada. I was surprised at how clean the place seemed, I still slathered the boys in hand sanitizer and washed their clothes right away when we got home, but the boys had a blast and I'll admit it was a workout for the adults as well. Chasing kids across foam pits, rolling with them in the giant Zorb, and Bouncing on trampolines with them will definitely get your heart rate up! They also have an after school special certain days of the week from 3-6 which is nice for parents with multiple kiddos. Overall I wouldn't say no to taking the kids back especially in the winter when playing outside in Colorado is just not an option.

Lotion Bars

As soon as we got the boys home from the play date we put them straight into the bathtub. Which is what brings me to the subject of Lotion bars. The Rooster has always had Eczema and it gets REALLY aggravated when he sweats or gets really hot, it is also aggravated by excessive bath/shower time so we try to keep him dry and cool as much as possible. In the summer and during playtime however that is not always an option and he will get dry, red, itchy sore rashes all over, but especially in any body creases like his neck, elbows, backs of his knees etc. We tried ALL sorts of lotions, but the majority ended up with him screaming in pain because the lotion, even the gentlest kind for babies was "burning" him. I think it's because his skin was so raw that any chemicals on it was painful. So I looked at all natural lotions and found lotion bars. They were kind of pricey so I decided to make some myself. I figured worst case scenario the majority of the ingredients could be used for other purposes, best case scenario it healed his skin without hurting him any. So I came up with a "recipe" for the Rooster's lotion bars.

1/2oz beeswax 

(I get mine at the Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage for $1 an ounce)

1TBSP Coconut Oil

1/2TSP Shea Butter

1/4tsp Almond oil

1/4tsp Olive oil

1 Vitamin E tablet

Everything except for the olive oil and coconut oil I got at the Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage. The olive oil and coconut butter are from Costco, but I know that the Natural Grocers also sells them, just in smaller quantities.

The first thing I do is I chop the beeswax up using a heavy knife and cutting board. I put it in a makeshift double broiler (a pyrex inside a pot with boiling water) then stir it around until it's all melted. Once the beeswax is melted I add the Coconut and Shea butter since they are also solid at room temperature.

The Coconut oil is on the left and the Shea butter is on the right near the spoon. The yellow liquid is the melted beeswax.

Once the solids are melted I add all of the liquid oils in. I buy the liquid gel tablets of vitamin E and poke one with a pin and squeeze it in, I've found it's a lot cheaper than buying just the vitamin E liquid. Once the liquids are all added I stir until they are all mixed together.

The next thing that I do is pour the liquid into a mold, in this case I use a cheap muffin tin from the dollar store. I like the muffin tin because the lotion bar will easily fit in the palm of your hand and almost everyone has one around for making muffins. Since all of the ingredients, yes even the beeswax are edible I don't worry about it contaminating my muffin tray, I do still scrub the tray after I make the lotion bar though.

Once I have poured all of the bars I place it in the fridge to "chill" and solidify. I give it an hour or two just to make sure its completely solid. Then I pop it out of the tray and put it in a plastic baggy.

I store my lotion bars in the fridge, not because they have to be, they will stay solid at room temperature, but because if they are kept cool they will melt easier when you apply them to your skin. I lotion the Rooster right after he gets out of the shower/bath when his skin is still nice and warm and will easily absorb the oils. I swear by these lotion bars since they have improved his skin SO much. Before we started using them his skin was to the point it was cracking and bleeding and extremely painful, after a week the open sores had healed and the redness of the rash was gone. Once his skin was healed I also started to use a cream that was recommended to us by a friend who is also a pharmacist. It's called Calendula Cream and is made by California Baby (we got ours at Target) it helps dry skin significantly, but it was also pretty pricey $13 for 2oz of it. It doesn't take much and 2oz of it has lasted us 6months and we still have about an ounce left. When we've used them in combination his skin feels pretty normal, which for him is great! These lotion bars are also great for people without eczema, I like to use them during winter when my skin gets all dry and gross, or when I go swimming a lot since the chlorine dries out my skin. They would also be great for pregnant women since they contain great ingredients for preventing stretch marks and helping stop any itching caused by those that have already formed. The best things about them though are that 1 you don't have to worry about added chemicals and 2 they never explode/leak all over your purse/bag if you travel with them.