And so it begins…

I have been contemplating starting a blog for way too long now. I could never figure out just what I wanted it to be about, and always second guessed myself if this was something that I could pull off. Who would want to read about my crazy life anyway?

But after getting some confidence boosters from some friends, and my husband, I thought “why not?”, I might as well just give it a try. This could just be another page a year from now that I barely touch. But you never know if you’re going to succeed at something if you don’t take the effort to even try to start.

So here I am. And here we are at the start of the 2014 football season. We’ve been married for two months and are finally starting to adjust to schedules, and within the next week everything is about to change again. With training camp starting next Tuesday, I will see very little of J, leaving me with a lot of time to try and be productive. Hopefully I use that time wisely!

I got my first full experience of the football season last year. But J and I were only dating then, so it meant a lot of late nights hanging out, and advanced planning as to when that would be. I somehow got guilted into making treats for his players (by the players) every Tuesday….but let’s be honest, I was excited to be able to have someone to bake for. This was a great creative outlet for me, and the guys looked forward to it every week. Pans always came back empty!

I ended up sharing a lot of the recipes I used with friends via email, so you can expect to see new ones show up here during the season. In fact, as I was setting up the blog account, J had a craving for chocolate chip cookies (he really just wanted the dough). We were out of chocolate chips, so we decided to take a walk to the grocery store to get some. 2 miles round trip. Perfect. I deserve a cookie.

Frozen dough ready to be eaten!

I hope to use this blog to share with you all this crazy new adventure I’m ‘tackling’: being a football coach’s wife. I will definitely be learning a lot this year. In the kitchen, in my marriage, and in life in general.

Who know’s what God has in store for me this year!

Ready to go into the oven…

The best part about the recipe, is you can make the dough, and eat a fresh out of the oven cookie, or two (or 5) when you want!

Panera Chocolate Chip Copycat Recipe

Source: The Pinning Mama

Ingredients

• 1 c butter, softened
• 1/2 c shortening
• 1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
2. Add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
3. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and mix together.
4. Mix dry ingredients slowly into wet ingredients and blend well.
5. If the dough is crumbly, stir in water 1 teaspoon at a time until it just holds together. The dough should not be sticky.
6. Add in chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.
7. Using ¼ cup measure, scoop out dough and form into a ball. Continue until all dough is balled. Approx 24 cookies.
8. Place dough in the freezer for 2 hours or up to 3 months.
9. Place frozen cookie onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 min.
10. Let cool 2 minutes.

Enjoy with a glass of vanilla almond milk!