Eat.

I AMMMMM backkkk!! I know I know. I have been totally MIA. Think this heat is getting to me. Hope everyone is having an amazing summer and beating this heat. I woke up this morning and while laying in bed drinking my coffee (love days off work!) trying to talk myself into getting up and going to the gym I got the urge to make homemade chocolate chip cookies. Soo here goes chocolate chip cookies with a little twist. Saw this recipe on pinterest and have just been waiting to make it. Here we gooooo! These are an absolute must to make. Fabulous!!

Pretzel Cookies with Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. of salt
• 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature (do not melt, just let sit out for 20 minutes or so and then mix)
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup broken up pretzel pieces
• Preztel Salt or Sea Salt (I didn't have either of these so I used Kosher salt) 
• Parchment paper

To Do: 


1. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten egg and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and preztels. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. (I only left mine in for about 6 and they were cooked) Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

Enjoy!!

Favorite quote right now:

"The most valuable places to be in the world are in someone's thoughts, in someone's prayers and in someone's heart."

Xo Xo Bon

Random.

Words of wisdom from my momma

Today at work I was taking care of my patients and had a minute to check my email. I saw I had an email from my mom that was captioned "Hope you take this to heart." I instantly knew it was another one of her life lesson emails she found! I absolutely loved it, shared it with everyone at work and wanted to share it with my readers. Thank you Dr. Slattery for your wonderful email and advice.

Q. I'm struggling with knowing if a guy is a "good guy" or not. My family says I'm too picky when it comes to dating. Can you tell me the qualities I should be looking for in a man?

Juli: There are two sides to this question. Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and you should consider very carefully the man you want to share your life with. On the other hand, many young men and women never commit to marriage because they are looking for the perfect "soul mate." If you believe you've found the perfect guy, look again, because he doesn't exist. The question you asked about what "qualities" to look for is right on. There are some qualities that are essential to building a strong marriage. Here's my list:

A teachable spirit:

You want to marry a man who is willing to grow.

A shared faith:

There are many things in marriage that can be solved by compromise. Faith is not one of them.

Integrity:

Marriage is built on trust.

Kindness:

Marriage is the most vulnerable relationship in the world. In the crucible of sharing life together you want a man who cares about protecting and guarding your feelings.

Think on that!!

XoXo Bon



Eat.

Baked Potato Salad

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pound baking potatoes (I used small red potatoes)

1/2 cup may (I used lite mayo)

1/2 cup sour cream (I used lite sour cream)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup chopped chives

1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled (I bought turkey bacon in the bag)

salt

pepper

olive oil

To Do:

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 425.

2. Wash potatoes, quarter, salt, pepper and pour olive oil over potatoes

3. Bake for 1 hour or until done

4. When cool enough to handle, chop potatoes into bite size chunks.

5. Place in refrigerator until chilled through

6. In a large bowl, mix the remaining ingredients (cheese, onions, sour cream, mayo, bacon)

7. Stir in the potatoes

Enjoy! This is soooo delicious!

XoXo Bon

Pray.

Lay your hands gently upon us.

The other day at work we were given the chance to get our hands blessed. This was such a neat thing to me. I felt so lucky to get the opportunity to have this done. It is so amazing to look around at all different kinds of people and see how God is using each of our hands for different purposes. It is so nice to be able to change peoples lives and make a difference by a gift that God has given me. No matter what your profession always know that you are making a difference. With this being said I wanted to share the blessing of the hands with each of you! Enjoy!

God, bless my hands. My hands are for holding the hands that need holding, for soothing the one who needs to be soothed. My hands can be tender; they can be strong. They can steady the weak; they can impart a sense of calmness and peace. My hands can reach out to the lonely so that they feel they have a friend. God, bless my hands. My open hands can share, can give, can bless. When my heart tells me there is a need, my hands can help my heart to fill that need. My hands can be supportive; my hands can give the steadiness that is needed. God, bless my hands. My hands are for doing whatever needs to be done by them. My hands can renew and restore that which needs renewal and restoration. God, bless my hands and use them as instruments of Your loving service.


Establish thou the work of our hands upon us.  

Psalms 90:17

XoXo Bon

Random.

I am not afraid to admit that I am a Product Junkie. It is probably one of my bigger weaknesses! I wanted to share with y'all some of my new favorites and all time favorites that never disappoint.

HAIRSPRAY

cheap: around $4.00 at any grocery store

Medium: around $15.00 at any grocery store

Expensive: around $40.00 a bottle

BAR SOAP



Zum soap: around $6.00 a bar. Almost all the scents are amazing and it doesn't dry out your skin. These are my three favorite!!

EYE CREAM

Aquaphor: My moms dermatologist told her this was the BEST thing to put under your eyes right before you go to bed. I put it all over. My cuticles, under my eyes, my heels, my lips. It rocks!

Another one of my favorite under eye creams

CUTICLE OIL

CND: this is the BEST cuticle oil, great for when you have shellac or no polish at all. Try to do it at least 2 times a day.



 

California Mango cuticle oil. Found this at Sally Beauty Supply. Might actually top the CND.

LIP BALM/CHAPSTICK

Pangea Organics: an entire skincare line that is all organic. I have used the face wash and lotion and they are great but this lip balm tips the charts. It is the bomb. Love the pyrenees lavender with cardamom scent!

EYE LASHES

Obagi: Elastilash is something I just started using to make my lashes grow. So far so good.

SELF TANNER

St Tropez (was actually in Instyle issue this month). This stuff is so great. It is brown so you can tell exactly where you are putting it. You need to make sure to buy the remover to get it all off your hands after each application.

Hope yall get to test some of these!!

Enjoy!

XoXo Bon



Random.

Wanted to share with y'all this awesome app I found for my Ipad. I am sure you can put it on your phone if you wanted to as well. I love making collages and always remember cutting pictures out of magazines when I was little. I save alot of my favorite pinterest pictures on my Ipad so once I got this app I have been able to make some pretty cool collages out of the pictures I have saved. Everyone go download Photo Collage Creator (its freeee!!!) and get to making some collages. Here are a few I have made so far!

XoXo Bon!!

Pray.

Billboard on our way home from Houston, Tx.

I have a few devotion books that I love so much and usually spin my pray post off of something I read in one of them. Today's entire reading in my Living Faith spoke fully to me. I  wanted to share the whole thing with y'all and leave you with something to think on and pray about.

 1 John 3:20

God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

"One thing we humans love to have is control. (Well atleast I do.) That's not a terrible thing in itself. We need a certain amount of security in order to bring our best to others. But when the going gets tough and the path to peace dissolves, control of our life usually gets wobbly. That's when it's time to remember this verse from John's letter.

When we are not sure about trusting what is going on in our thoughts and feelings, when we are hesitant to follow the truest link to our heart, it's time to turn to the One who is greater than our hearts. This Spirit who guides us to what is life-giving does know more than we do. We might not like to admit this when we are invaded by overwhelming distress and grasping onto the thinnest straw of calmness. But it's extremely comforting to know Someone will help us find the way to regain our inner peace. If we just let go."

Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M.

Today take a break, step back and thank god for giving us peace.  Remember it is not all about us or all about them; it is all about God.

XoXo Bon