Amazing Turtle Cookies For Some Amazing People

Do you ever think to yourself, "Wow, what amazing people I have in my life!"  If your answer is no than your first thing is to either think harder or make new friends!  I feel like everyday I am amazed at someone in my life and what they do each day or have going on in their life that they have accomplished.  I am very fortunate to have such great and inspiring family and friends in my life that surround me and inspire me to be better everyday.  I have "high school and college friends" that inspire me with how much a person can grow and do in such a short amount of time.  I  have "work friends"  that make me want to do more for my employer and make it a better place.  I have "mom friends"  that make me want to be more patient, understanding, make more out of life than just clean, and let me see the frustrating mom moments as just little bumps that will make great funny stories later on in life.   I have "single friends" that  make me want to embrace life more, take more risks, and travel more.  I have family that inspires me to become a better sister, mom, daughter, and aunt and to not  take anything for granted, and teach me that the best things in life aren't things.  I have my "older and wiser" family and friends that teach me and inspire me to live in the moment, work hard for what you want, and to never stop dreaming or chasing your dreams.  And then finally I have the "little people" in my life that inspire me to look at things differently then I ever have before,  laugh when chaos happens, and dance more often in public.  

For all of these people in my life I say thank you!  Thank you for teaching me new things, helping me to grow each day, and embracing my chaos.  You are all amazing! 

Now I know what your thinking what does this have to do with any kind of recipe and how are you possibly going to try to link all of this mushy stuff with a recipe?  Well lucky for you, this is the cookie recipe that  I most frequently bake for all my favorite and amazing people in my life.  I have many variations of this cookie but this is my favorite because of the pecans, chocolate and caramel.  So if I've ever made you cookies or if you've ever had cookies from my kitchen it is most likely this recipe.  It really is delicious and can't be beat.  Plus it goes well for any occasion or just to say "thank you" to some amazing people in your life.  

Enjoy the recipe friends! 

First we are going to preheat the oven to 375 degrees and then we start with the ingredients.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, add the butter and sugars together and mix on medium high until nice and creamy, about 4-7 minutes.   I love my stand mixer but a hand held mixer will work just fine.

Mixing, mixing, mixing,

Keep that mixer mixing! You want butter and sugars to be nice and married together in this little delicious cooking making life.

Then we add in the eggs and vanilla.  I start on low speed so I don't get egg splattered on me and then bump it up to a medium speed to make sure it's all incorporated.

Then I take my little food processor* and the oats and grind them up to make a nice little powder.

After the oats, I take my pecans and grind them up into little pieces.  Be careful not to grind them too much or you will make pecan butter!

*I only have a small food processor so I do the two ingredients separately but if you have a nice big food processor these two steps can be combined and you can grind the oats and pecans together.

After I grind up the oats and pecans I add them to a medium sized bowl, and add the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and stir it together so that you can't see all the individual components. 

See nice and stirred!

I then add the oat, pecan, flour mixture to the butter, sugar. egg mixture and start the mixer on low so that I don't get flour everywhere.  I then move the mixer up to a medium high mixture just until the flour mixture in incorporated.

I then add in the chocolate and caramel bits and fold them into the cookie dough batter. Mmmmmmm!

Now make golf ball sized cookies by rolling up the dough and dropping them on the greased pan or take a cookie scoop and drop them on the greased pan.  I do like to press my cookies down a little bit before baking since these cookies don't spread out a lot during baking.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes*

My little tip that I do is that I bake these cookies for 8 minutes and then I take them out and lightly press them with my metal spatula and then cook them for two minutes.

I do this because I have found that it makes the outside a little crunchier but then they are still nice and chewy in the inside.  It's like the best of both worlds!  You don't have to do this, but it you have ever had mine and your's just don't taste the same this might be why.

Also another tip is that I love these cookies so much but I also like when my pants button and zip.  I know, this problem is real for a lot of us!

For this reason I only bake off half the amount of cookies this recipe makes to eat.  I freeze the other half of the cookies to be made at another time.  I still ball up all the cookie dough but then I put them in a ziplock baggie and freeze the dough.

I would much rather have cookie dough ready to go, so all you have to do is take them out a couple hours in advance and thaw it out a little before dropping them on the greased pan and baking them off, giving you fresh hot cookies.

Yum, look at these cookies!  So good!  This is my plate, I think there might be a cookie left for my family to share.

Turtle Cookies

1 c. Butter, softened
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. oats
3/4 c. pecans
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips
3/4 c. caramel bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl or stand mixer, add the butter and sugars together and mix on medium high until nice and creamy, about 4-7 minutes.  Add eggs and vanilla and continue to mix on low until all incorporated.  In a small food processor, add the oats and pecans and grind up very finely.  In a medium bowl add the ground oats, pecans, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and stir until all incorporated.  Add the flour/ oat/ pecan mixture to the creamed butter mixture and mix well on low/ medium speed.  Fold in the chocolate chips and caramel bits to the cookie dough batter.  Make golf ball sized cookies by rolling up the dough and dropping them on the greased pan or take a cookie scoop and drop them on the greased pan.  Bake for 8-10 minutes*.

*Take them out when they still look a little underdone.  You don't want the bottoms to get dark brown that lead to hard and crunchy cookies.

The fourth trimester? Postpartum the raw and unfiltered version

Why is it that no one ever talks about the fourth trimester?  The postpartum era!  It's like every pregnancy book goes over the first, second and third trimester and what to expect when you are pregnant but I've never really read one that gave you a perspective on what happens after you give birth.  I mean who knew there was so much   excitement, changes and chaos that you have to look forward to after you give birth.  

Yeah it could be that every women and even every baby is different and so everyone's postpartum experience is different EVERY SINGLE TIME, but there are some similarities and norms to expect after giving birth.  I think that there should be a book that talks about what could happen.  Not necessarily to scare people but instead to inform others of what could happen, what some experiences have happened to others, and what you are going through at the time is totally and completely normal. 

I feel like women don't talk a lot about their experiences after the birth.  Yes, I know everyone that has ever been pregnant has heard at least 10 horrible birth stories, but who was ever told about the same person's recovery and postpartum era.  It's almost like a right of passage that women have to go through the whole pregnancy up into the birth of the baby until others share their hospital or postpartum stories.  I for one would like that to all change so that other women know that yes this could happen, no it might not, but I guess I would rather be informed and take my chances. 

This is a raw unfiltered picture of me 24 hours after this last pregnancy.  24 hours after c-section.  24 hours after giving birth to a wonderful and amazing little human!   This picture was taken right after I had taken my shower and I thought at the time I looked "pretty good."  Little did I know that my body was on a little high of being a "new mom" again for the fourth time.  Little did I know what even though I had been through postpartum care 2 other times, none of them would be the same.   

Now don't get me wrong my postpartum experience was nothing super crazy or some disastrous outcome but it was more of a wake up call to let me know that I'm not superwomen and sometimes you need to let go of control and embrace others wanting to help you out. 

With the twin boys I had a c-section that was strongly recommended from the perinatologist that was overlooking my whole pregnancy.  She said that because baby B, Paxton, had a marginal cord insertion with the umbilical cord and having such a difference in weight from baby A, Cyril, that having a c-section was the safest way to have the boys.  I learned early on in my first pregnancy to embrace what pregnancy threw at me and for that I feel blessed.  My water broke in the middle of the night at 36 1/2 weeks and the surgery/delivery went all very fast.  The only thing I felt during the whole time was a horrible pain in my right shoulder but as I was getting stitched back up Carl went over to take what pictures he could of the boys so that he could show me.  The huge team of doctors and nurses whisked the boys away to the NICU for tests while I shoed Carl to follow and relay what was all happening as I started the recovery process.  

My recovery started with about 2 hours of the shakes followed by huge void of delivering two boys and not being able to see them, hold them or even know what was happening.  Luckily the nurses were very kind and said that I just needed to stay in my bed for 7-8 hours to recover and then they would be able to take me up to the NICU by wheelchair to see the boys.  The nurses came in at 8:00am, took out my catheter, got me out of my bed very slowly and I was in the wheelchair to the NICU to see the twins in their room.  Being that it was my first pregnancy and being under 30 years old, I recovered pretty fast.   I think it also had to do with the fact that I was very motivated to get up and keep moving and walking just so that I could go over to the NICU and see my new little babies. 

With Piper it was a completely different story, the only similarity with this pregnancy was that my water broke in the middle of the night.  I had a VBAC with her and was in labor for 23 hours with over 3 hours of pushing.  I remember the doctor saying okay we only need one more push and she will be out so do you want me to put her on your chest or have dad take her.  Me being completely exhausted and throwing up while pushing told her to have Carl take her so that I could compose myself before handling a little human.  I felt completely weak and exhausted and so full of emotions and pain.  There was another lady who was in line and ready to give birth so the doctor got whisked away fast so that she could deliver another baby and the nurses took over caring for me.  It was 9:00pm at night and I was sore, tired, and famished. 

With my recent pregnancy, being that this was our 4th and final child, I went in for a scheduled c-section and tubal removal on March 1st.  In case anyone is wondering, a tubal removal is a fairly new procedure where they actually remove the tubes instead of a doing a tubal ligation.  Research has shown that ovarian cancers actually start in the tubes and so this is a way of prevention.  I went in early in the morning got situated in our room, started the whole process and it was very laid back.  I walked into the operating room with my IV bag, the anesthesiologist did his job and surgery started.  All went well and Finley was born healthy.  She let out 1 cry when she came out and then was very chill and relaxed the rest of the time.  Once again I felt horrible pain in my right shoulder that lasted longer since the surgery took a little longer preforming the tubal removal.  Once I was stitched back up, the shoulder pain was gone and I was taken back to my room, with Carl wheeling Finley, where I started recovery.  I was expecting to have the horrible shakes again and I did not have them at all this time.  Things were going a lot better and I felt great initially.  I got out of my bed the first time about 10 hours later and I had to learn how to sit up, stand, and walk again.  The next morning they removed my catheter and I was able to get up when I needed.  I took a shower, ordered a full breakfast, and spent time with my lovely and supportive husband and new little girl.  Starting about 36 hours postpartum I started to feel horrible, my shoulder pain came back in full force and was throbbing but this time it didn't go away.  This time the shoulder pain was accompanied by shortness of breathe.  This pain lead to hormonal tears that lead to uncontrollable crying, which lead to even worse shoulder pain and difficulty breathing.  Man I was a mess and little did I know that all this pain was caused by gas.  There was so much gas built up in my body that it was causing all this havoc.  I mean all I needed to do was fart!  Sounds pretty easy but it wasn't.  Because my body was older, it was my third pregnancy, and I had a tubal done, my body wasn't recovering as fast as I remember from my first pregnancy.  Once I finally opened up about how much pain I was in, my amazing nurses gave me some much needed farting pills and heating packs upon heating packs.  I was able to get up and move more which meant I was able to get things moving more.  Once I started farting everything seemed to get a little bit better.

This is what Finley thinks about not being able to fart!

For all the ladies that might be pregnant or planning to get pregnant in the future, I decided to jot down some helpful hints to help you through your recovery and your fourth trimester:

* Recovery time is different for everyone and every time.  It's harder to recover the older you are and it's also takes more time to recover after each additional child. 

*Embrace the giant underwear and pads, they will be your friend for awhile!

*24 - 48 hours after birth is way worse than right after.  Have guests come early and maybe limit visitors the second day for recovery (learning to breastfeed or bottle feed, taking care of you, learning to walk, going to the bathroom and eating is more work than you think).

*Walk and drink water as much as possible.

*Embrace the high fiber foods: peaches, pears, prune juice, oatmeal, popcorn, yogurt, and coffee.

*Embrace pain meds!  And then try to cut yourself back as needed.  Pain meds can slow the digestive tract.  There will be discomfort, but try to handle as much pain as possible once leaving hospital and at home, but don't be a hero.  You know your own pain tolerance.

*Don't be afraid to ask what you need.  No one knows what your thinking so learn to be direct!  

*Don't say sorry as much, I always did this and my husband finally said stop saying sorry I'm here for you.  I later realized and told him what I meant by sorry is "I love you and thank you" every time I said sorry.

*Tell the nurses everything, they can't help you if they don't know every symptom.

*It's amazing how a little hot pack and ice pack can help in your recovery.  Embrace them!

*Your mind is your worst enemy!  Your hormones will take over at some point and make you feel super down.  Find someone in your circle that is a great listener and just start talking.  You will feel so much better.

*Now is not the time to try to be super women.  Let your husband/significant other help take care of you and the baby.  You take care of yourself.  Remove pride of being strong.

And finally & very, very helpful!  Never underestimate the power of a good fart!  A body full of gas and hormones is a great recipe for disaster and pain.

And now because I really didn't write this to scare anyone, I will tell you that luckily the 4th trimester is short in the spectrum of life.  Yes, it seems long while you are in it but just know that it is all worth it in the end.  The pain will fade over time.  The hormones start to go back to normal and then you are left with what matters the most: Your new, wonderful, and adorable little human!

 

Asian Noodle Bowl

Being on maternity leave, I felt like it only makes sense to give you my go to recipe that I bring to my new mom friends or friends that have a sick family member.  This is also one of my families favorites if not their favorite home cooked meal that I make.  At our house we don't repeat recipes very often but this one is the exception.  This is one of my go to recipes when I want some comfort food yet still want to stock my families body full of veggies.  

I have been asked for this recipe so many times that I decided that I would finally write it down when I made it so that I can share it with you all!  I will say this recipe is very forgiving so if there is an ingredient that you don't like, just leave it out or just substitute for something you like.  I make this soup a little different each time depending on what ingredients I have in my home.  

This particular recipe is the one I usually make if I plan ahead before going grocery shopping so that I have all the ingredients.  When I don't plan I usually use whatever meat I have leftover in the fridge, or sometimes I omit the meat entirely and just have veggies.  With the meaty mushrooms and edamame in it, it is still delicious and very filling.  

WARNING: THIS RECIPE MAKES A LOT!  I use this recipe because we love it and especially love it leftover the next day!

Look at the final product, so colorful and so tasty!

Here's the ingredients I start with.  I know it looks like a lot but it's because there's four different parts to this dish and plus I love all types of veggies.  I am not usually a person that likes to try out new recipes that has a lot of ingredients, but don't be that person.  Not with this recipe anyway!  You will love this one and it might even turn out to be your go to recipe.

Because of the amount of ingredients and the fact that it has 4 different parts (meatballs, noodles, broth, and veggies) I am doing the recipe a little different so that no matter what your skill set in the kitchen is you can still do this at home.  I start each section with the recipe and then have step by step pictures to follow. 

Chicken Meatballs:

1 lb. Ground Chicken

1 tsp. Asian seasoning

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger

In a medium size bowl add in the ground chicken, McCormick Asian seasoning, minced garlic, and fresh minced ginger and mix until all incorporated.  Use a cookie scoop to make small little 1/2 oz. meatballs and cook in the oven a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 12-14 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatball reaches 165 degrees.

*Again this recipe is very forgiving so if you don't like chicken, use ground turkey or ground beef for the meatballs.  If you like big ole' meatballs, go ahead and make them bigger.  I just like to have small little meatballs for this particular dish. I have even used leftover beef roast or pulled pork and they taste delicious as well.

 

Noodles:

8 oz. Udon or Soba Noodles - cook 1 minute under recommended time

While the meatballs are cooking start cooking your noodles.   You can use soba, udon, or even wheat spaghetti noodles.  Follow instructions as stated on the package, but go ahead and cook them 1 minute less than stated on the package.  Drain and rinse in cold water.  Set aside.

Broth:

12 c. Beef broth

1/3 c. Soy sauce

1 tsp. Asian seasoning

4 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger

1 tsp. Sriracha

Now it's time time to grab a large stock pot and start the asian beef brothy goodness.  In the large stockpot add in the beef broth, soy sauce, McCormick Asian seasoning, minced garlic, fresh minced ginger, and Sriracha and bring to a boil.

*If you like hot stuff add more Sriracha.  My kids don't like spicy stuff so I make it pretty mild and then Carl and I add more Sriracha to each of our bowl.

Veggies:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 c. Julienned white onions

2 c. Julienned carrots

3 c. quartered Baby Bella mushrooms

8 oz. shelled edamame

1 (6 oz) package of fresh spinach- (optional)

The last part of this recipe is grab a super large saute pan and add in the olive oil, sesame oil, onions, carrots, and mushrooms.  Cook on medium high heat for 8-10 minutes, until onions are translucent.

**Note:  The carrots will still have a little crunch to them, but they are going to be added to the asian broth so they will keep cooking.  I like to have my vegetable al dente but if your family likes them more done, please cook them for another 3-5 minutes.

Alright now that we have the 4 main parts of the dish done, we just need to put everything together and assemble the bowls.

Take your cooked meatballs, the sautéed veggies, and the package of frozen edamame and add it to the asian broth goodness.

Look at this!  Now you know why I call it the brothy goodness.  We are then going to let the broth cook on medium high heat for about 5 minutes to just give everything time to let all the flavors come together and develop true happiness and for the edamame and carrots to cook a little longer.

While you are waiting for the broth to finalize, go ahead and start assembling your noodle bowls.  I first start by throwing the cold noodles, YES, I said COLD noodles, in the bottom of your deep soup bowl.  You want to keep them cold so they don't overcook.  Remember you are putting the super hot broth over it so don't worry, the noodles will be just perfect.

Next I add a handful of the raw spinach on top of the noodles.  I like to add the spinach for extra color and veggies.  I also like the crunch that it gives the dish since I add it raw.  Again the broth will be super hot so it will start cooking the spinach.

Now the last and final step is to add a couple ladles full of the asian veggie brothy goodness.  Top with Sriracha to your liking and devour!

Enjoy and I hope your family loves this dish as much as we do!

Asian Noodle Bowl shopping list

Chicken Meatballs:

1 lb. Ground Chicken

1 tsp. Asian seasoning

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger

Noodles:

8 oz. Udon Noodles or Soba Noodles - cook 1 minute under recommended time

Broth:

12c. Beef broth

1/3 c. Soy sauce

1 tsp. Asian seasoning

4 cloves minced garlic

1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger

1 tsp. Sriracha

Veggies:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

2 c. Julienned white onions

2 c. Julienned carrots

3 c. quartered Baby Bella mushrooms

8 oz. shelled edamame

1 (6 oz) package of fresh spinach (optional)

*step by step instructions up top with pictures to follow easier***

Enjoy!

Welcome to the World Finley!

This post is a very special post to let you know what I have been up to the past week.  I have been very busy bringing an amazing little human into the world.  Finley Ann graced us with her presence on Wednesday, March 1st at 11:03am weighing in at a healthy 8lb. 2oz.  In my husbands words this is our last piece of artwork, so you better enjoy it.

Finley is just so sweet and adorable so I have been a little busy holding, feeding, cuddling, and changing diapers.  

Here are some pictures from the past week to show you how much fun our family is having with our newest addition.

Just look at her in her little grape hat!  We got this hat from our perinatologist on our last visit that were made by volunteers to be aware of the "purple crying."  For anyone thats not aware, purple crying is a period of time in an infants life around 2 weeks to about 3 months that infants seem like they cannot be consoled and just cry.  Luckily for me we haven't had much problem with this with the other kiddos, but I just love this hat so much.

This picture was taken a couple days before Finley was born.  Piper said she wanted to look like mom  so she wore all black just like mom.

When Finley was born the kids were so excited.  I don't think Carl and I could of asked for more excited, kind, and caring brothers and sister.  Once Finley was born we notified their teachers with pictures and after school Cyril, Paxton, and Piper along with Grandma and Grandpa B came up to meet the newest Wertzberger.  Everyone was in love immediately.

Dad getting in some snuggle time.  What is it about babies that once you snuggle with them you instantly want to fall asleep?

Finley is all dressed up and ready to go home from the hospital.

This is what happens when it's baby #4, and you haven't put a diaper bag together yet.  You put all the "essentials" in your purse and go about your day.  Things sure have changed from us being 1st time parents to a now a mom of 4. 

Look how proud Piper, Paxton, and Cyril are in these pictures.  They are at the perfect age to appreciate and love their littlest sister.

This was just taken this morning, I just love these little Halo sleep sacks.  I just wish they made them for adults!

Hope you all enjoy the pictures!  I will get back to giving you recipes for you all to try again, but right now I haven't really been cooking a lot and instead we have been getting pampered by my mom and dad. 

Who's the Joneses and why is everyone trying to keep up with them?

Who's the Joneses and why is everyone trying to keep up with them?  I  know a lot of people complain about getting older, but I think the best part about getting older is learning to care less about others opinions of you and just live life for yourself.  Life is less about comparing yourself to what others are doing and what they have.  The older I get I don't feel the constant pressure to impress people with what I am doing at work, or what I wear, or what my house looks like if someone drops in.  It's crazy but once you stop worrying about what others think of you it frees up so much time to focus on the things that actually count like spending time with friends and family and living in the now.  Plus if you knew how little others were actually talking or judging you, you would be surprised.  Our minds are great tools but can make you crazy and make you overthink to much.

I always find myself happier when I let my housework go and stop worrying about how my kids and family's future is going to turn out and just live in the now.  For this little reason I have always been a believer in embracing the convenient items and foods that our society has to offer for us.

Did you know that even though I am a chef I don't cut every little fruit and vegetable or make every sauce for dinner at home 100% of the time?  I know maybe that's crazy for you to think but hey, I'm busy too and not everyday do I come home from work from cooking all day and want to make a gourmet meal from scratch for my family.  Yes I love my family and I do want them to eat the best but I have just learned to embrace convenience as well.  I will tell you that I do like to take extra time on cutting everything by hand, or making every marinade and sauce by hand or taking that extra 3 hours to braise the meat but let's face it, there's a time and place for everything.

With the unseasonably warm weather and more time being spent outside we embraced one of our favorite fast, convenient, fresh and fairly healthy dinners.  It was chicken stir fry with rice and cut up fruit.

Look how colorful and pretty it turned out!



I started out with a small box of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice* and cooked it according to the box.  I will say I have been cooking in professional kitchens for 15+ years and this is one of the best seasoned rice products around.  I have used this product in almost every kitchen I have ever been in and love the smell and taste of this product.  Plus the texture of the the wild rice makes it more complex than just old boring rice.



Next I thinly sliced up 1lb. of chicken and sautéed it up in a little olive oil and sesame oil with some McCormick's Perfect Pinch Asian Seasoning*.  I let that cook for about 6-7 minutes, depending on how thinly sliced the chicken is, then I added in yet another convenient and delicious product that you can find in the produce aisle, Taylor Farm's Stir Fry Kit Teriyaki*.  I love this product more than others because it not only has carrots, broccoli, and snap peas in it that my kids love but it also adds in some cabbage, shaved Brussels sprouts, and kale.  I then cooked the chicken and vegetable mixture for another 4-5 minutes, added the sauce packet in it, and served over the rice.

If you don't feel like you have enough seasoning add a little soy sauce and a little sriracha for some heat and you have a delicious little meal!

 

Pair it with some cut up fresh fruit and what a meal it was.  Easy, delicious and the whole family went back for seconds.  Only bad part was that there wasn't any leftovers for me for lunch!



*Just so you all know, I'm not getting paid for my opinions from any of the products I mentioned.  I am not very brand specific on a lot of items but when I find a great product that I love I like to give the exact brand to give them the credit they deserve.  Feel free to use what brands you like.