Heart Healthy Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies!

Note: when I use my girls (chickens) eggs, I will use the whole egg because I know they have less cholesterol than store bought eggs...  I have one who lays me double yolk eggs.  Wouldn't want to waste that!  My girls are pets that give back!  If you want to omit the wheat germ to keep it gluten free you don't need to sub, just leave it out!


Preheat oven to 375*

1/4  teaspoon salt

1 large egg white

1cup crunchy peanut butter

1/3cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses 

 2 tablespoons ground flax

 2 tablespoons wheat germ

1/4 cup quick oats

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Whisk the egg white with the salt till frothy.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well with a spoon.  Use a teaspoon to scoop heaping spoonfuls about 2 inches apart on baking sheet.  Use a fork to gently push down then bake ten minutes.  Watch the bottoms don't over brown!

Serve with a cold glass of Almond milk!

How we got our pop up shop!

Before it was ours, when I saw our vintage Apache Ramada camper In very sad shape in the neighbors yard I started to get an idea...an idea that, even though my husband has been hearing my crazy ideas for over 25 years now,  made his jaw drop.   I can still picture him stamping his foot as he said he would have no part in this one, and I almost gave up right there.

 Now I had already been longingly gazing at vintage trailers and girlie campers, but knew they were out of reach, those cute Air streams and Shastas cost a good amount of hard earned money, but what about an abandon pop up camper that needed a ridiculous amount of work, Could it be cute?  Could it be a way for our creative bunch to share our vision and art with others! I thought it just might work.  So, I made a very special dinner and when my husband was sitting back full and content I made my move.  I usually just blurt things out but I waited for a good moment this time, (I had seen this camper) Now I wasn't expecting his reaction at all.  I thought he would catch the same fever I had already caught right away. He had not seen the Pinterest boards and the magazine articles,  but...he had already seen the camper, He already knew that what I call sad shape was really much worse.  I am not sure why he
changed his mind but I can tell you that after a few months of working all day Saturday, I had lost some of the dream and was kicking myself big time for letting my impulsiveness drive me.   This is something I have learned about myself and my husband.  I am great at getting an idea and jumping in, then I second guess myself, doubt and fret a bit when it takes longer than I thought.  Now my husband is cautious  at the beginning because he likes to have all the facts before starting and his impatient wife wants to just start, But then he gets going on the idea and stays steady working it unto fruition and inspires me with his love, loyalty and kindness.  The more we see how our differences compliment each other then we are free to appreciate those differences.  I know I need to research and have some answers for him upfront and he is getting better at learning as we go and letting mistakes be part of the learning process.  We can laugh and relax about how different our approach is because we know our destination is the exact same place!  Now that the project is done and we can look back to see what we learned, I will have to say he became a serious woodworking machine, we found out that pallets are an incredible free building material and that spurned on what I will tell you about some other time....a studio makeover with pallets!

Working on the inside with one of my girls!

All Done!

Thanks so much Scott!

Gifts of grace

Come visit us and we will show you what we have been up too!  Caroline has some cute new animal paintings, Christine has some new jewelry remade from all kinds of finds, Ethan has some great copper jewelry. What's is Awesome is that his copper comes from the side of the road!  he strips it out of discarded televisions, computers, electrical supplies, etc....

Meyer lemon Sea Salt

When we moved to Florida the first plant I bought was a Meyer Lemon tree.  Then I waited and watched it for about 8 years. Now it gave me a few lemons each year but I only needed one hand to count them....but then year 8 I finally got about 30 lemons.  I am sure I counted them cause I do that kinda thing but I have forgotten, but this year I counted over 80 lemons.  enough to share, to try in recipes, to garnish with....lemon happiness, but the best thing I did with them was making this finishing salt.

Sea Salt and Meyer Lemon Zest before baking

For each jar I used 1/2 cup sea salt and the zest of two Meyer lemons. Chop the zest into small strips and mix it into the salt with your fingers.  Now the kitchen smells incredible, don't drool in the salt,spread the mixture out on parchment lined baking sheets and bake at 170F for about 10 minutes.  It should feel dry and the lemon should look dehydrated.  That's it.  Find some cute jars and make a label.  I printed mine out on paper and tied a piece of twine around.  This is a great hostess gift, and friends who like to cook can put it to good use.  It is so good sprinkled on fish, chicken, roasted vegetables, I even add it to muffins.  My daughter can discern it each time I use it, "hey, you used the lemon salt!" She smiles and says.

Gift jars ready!