Ten Years Later

A few weeks ago I promised my mom that I would drive home to help her clean, organize, and rearrange the storage room in the basement. This room holds everything from Christmas decorations to extra microwaves (thank you college dorm life). There are boxes of toys and stuffed animals, boxes full of birthday cards, trinkets, old clothes that should never see the light of day again, and so many photos.

Instead of just throwing the box of photos to the side and continuing on with the cleaning "fun" I decided to take a break and go through all of the photos. It's so strange to me to actually hold pictures in my hands as the new norm is to have them all on your phone or computer. This also makes me want to print every single picture that I have and put them in a big, old fashioned photo book just incase my computer were to randomly die and I lose every single one. (Are these considered old fashioned now?) 

Out of all of the photos, this one really stuck out to me.

This photo is from the summer of 2005, almost 10 years ago! I'm pretty sure it was taken on my 13th birthday. Ethel, my black lab was about 3 years old at the time and the only white speck on her is that tiny little spot you can see on her neck.

When I was 12 I volunteered at a local animal shelter and was told that I wasn't allowed to bring any animals home. Well when I was working there I wanted to save every single animal I saw but this sweet pup stood out to me. Every time I took her out to play she was so sweet and loving. She had a sister, Lucy, that had already been adopted so she was left on her own. I begged and begged my parents to let me bring her home. When I say begged, I literally had to ask about 100 times and tell them that I would scoop poop every week, take her to the vet, and buy her dog food. They finally gave in! So we all loaded up in the van, I gathered together every penny I owned ($50) and we headed to the animal shelter to bring Ethel home! The first night all of us kids slept in the living room with her on the floor in our sleeping bags and we've been in love with her ever since.

Fast forward 10 years and look at us now.

Still best friends! Just a little bit grayer - her, not me... yet ;)

It's crazy how fast these years have flown by and the changes in her! Looking at these two pictures side by side, I can hardly believe that it's the same dog!

Boy, oh boy do I love this girl! 

MealEnders Giveaway Winner & Discount Code

I just wanted to stop in on this late Friday night to say thank you to everyone who entered the MealEnders giveaway that I hosted on the blog this week!

The winner is.... Sandy K! You have been contacted via e-mail so please be sure to keep an eye out.

For all of you who entered but didn't win, don't worry - you are all runners up and get to enjoy 30% off your MealEnders order! Just enter the code "WINNER-TOO" at checkout to receive your discount. Visit www.mealenders.com to order a pack or two for yourself.

Have a great weekend!

Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Paleo)

I have a delicious recipe to share with you all but first a story about the "heart attack" I had today.

This morning on my way to work I was in a bit of a hurry. I really like hitting the snooze button (like a lot) which doesn't leave me with a lot of extra time to make breakfast. Today was one of those days. Heck, almost everyday is one of those days. So I threw a banana, some almond milk, almond butter, chia seeds, protein powder, and spinach into a blender and ran out the door.

When I got home and went into the kitchen I had a mini heart attack because I thought that tiny little bugs took over my kitchen counter! I was so grossed out. Then I took a closer look only to realize I spilled some chia seeds on the counter during my morning rush! What a relief! I honestly don't know what I would have done had there been a million little bugs all over my counter. 

So after I cleaned up that mess, I made these.

I experimented with a flourless cookie recipe I already had and swapped the peanut butter for almond butter, added a few chocolate chips, and used maple syrup instead of honey. I also topped them with a pinch of sea salt for the most delicious sweet and salty taste. These cookies were super soft and chewy too! 

I enjoyed my cookie with a big, cold glass of almond milk. The perfect afternoon snack!

I'm thinking that these would be an amazing breakfast cookie. Especially since I suck at waking up on time. Maybe I'll experiment by throwing some protein powder into the mix next time. 

Recipe

1 c. almond butter, refrigerated* 

1/3 c. pure maple syrup

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 c. Enjoy Life chocolate chips

* I keep my nut butters in the fridge so this could make a difference if yours is room temp

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all of the ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl until creamy.

3. Mix in the chocolate chips

4. Place by the spoonful on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Sprinkle each cookie with a few extra chocolate chips and a pinch of sea salt.

5. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Yields: 1 dozen cookies

Enjoy!