Yesterday I met my friend Amber for a coffee and girl talk at Corner Bakery. The meetup was wonderful, even though the photos aren’t.
No kids, no men, just us.
And Amber’s sprained ankle courtesy of a racquetball injury.
Poor thing that she has to wear flats which is very un-Amber like. She’s normally in heels. But she’s on the mend and will be breaking out her 4 inchers, soon.
We drank coffee, gabbed, laughed, and caught up on each other’s lives. It was just what the doctor ordered. I just posted a couple days ago about how important it is to have friends. And seeing Amber just reinforced that. Can’t wait til our next meetup!
Earlier in the day I ran errands, got a workout in, but since the weather turned cold, dreary, extremely windy, rainy, and dismal, the workout was a streamlined special. 20 minute outdoor run + 20 minute indoor yoga/pilates/core work/weightlifting moves. I think I run faster when it’s freezing outside. I pretty much run for dear life and get back in the house, asap.
I came inside and ate green food.
With Vegan Creamy Lemon & Herb Dressing
And because it was so cold out, and because I needed some planned leftovers to have on hand going into the week, I made a Cheezy Vegetable Bake
So easy. Throw in whatever you have on hand that you need to use up, and bake with cheeze or cheese, or both.
And voila, a complete meal. Add extra beans, tofu, or lentils if you want to bump up the protein.
And for dessert, I couldn’t resist a few No-Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
Thanks for the compliments on those and for letting me know if you’re a Heath Bar or toffee fan. And also for cluing me in on your favorite candy bars. Now I have some ideas for more recipes incorporating candy. Not a bad thing at all.
And if you’re more into a baked dessert, you could try baking some cookies rather than just eating dough.
Peanut Butter Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Peanut Flour, Vegan, GF)
Cookies or cookie dough, either way, I am happy.
Or bake some Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan, GF, dehydrate to keep raw or bake in oven)
Questions:
1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?
Some of my bests:
spending time with Skylar
a great 4 mile run on Saturday before Sunday’s nasty weather
No Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
meetup with Amber on Sunday
It was all great. Even though I did work all weekend, too. Ugh.
2. When was your last friend meetup? What did you do?
Sometimes it’s fun to take a walk or stroll around shops and walk and chat, but with Amber’s ankle, we weren’t going to do any walking or strolling. And honestly, it felt great to sit on my butt for an hour.
Not to mention, it was cold out and rainy and awful. Coffee inside on a rainy day was perfect.
3. Do you prefer Baked Cookies or just the Cookie Dough?
As a kid, I ate so much raw cookie dough, with raw eggs and flour. And I lived. Sometimes I would go a little too crazy though with the raw cookie dough and get a stomach ache but it was worth it. (I also used to drink Orange Julius with raw eggs, too. And they were great. And I lived.)
I still love raw cookie dough. Thus, all of my cookie dough bites and balls recipes.
However, if a cookie is baked to perfection, meaning barely crunchy on the outside yet perfectly tender, moist, warm, and gooey in the middle, that is a hard act to beat.
So I am torn. Depends on the cookie. And the chef’s skills.
Cookies or just Dough for you?
P.S. If you’re just catching up on posts since Friday, here are mine:
- No Bake Toffee & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites
- Sandwiches & ‘Shrooms
- It’s Good to Have Friends
- The Tall & Short Of It
- Free Grocery Money
- Stash & Store
Have a great Monday!
ive never had a meetup!! looks like fun!!! ill take the dough please!
Aw, you two look like you could be gorgeous sisters! Meeting up with friends is so lovely :)
Amber may have sprained her ankle but her shoes are SUPER cute! And I’m loving your serving dish with the polka dot ribbon. Not to mention the cookie balls on it;)
I’ll take cookie dough, then fresh baked and still gooey, then not warm but still fresh cookies. After a day I am less interested. I still eat them though. :)
The baked veggies look awesome.
I prefer hot, right out of the oven baked cookies. But I love cookie dough, too. Choosing between the two is like picking between chocolate and peanut butter–they’re both really, really good!
Yummo! Must go after those bites! That cheezy bake – your absolutely right – pour cheese over anything and I’ll eat it. And sauce usually too :)
Question for you. You usually have some wisdom and insights into these things…I know you’ve talked about your move before and how being in Phoenix and leaving left you in a lot of debt – but you don’t care (and got out of it already no less!) – and moved because you weren’t happy.
But you also talk about working hard and how important it is to pay off debt. And I know you work a lot and not always things you enjoy (I don’t think? You usually just say it’s work I think).
But what happens if you (meaning me ;) ) just really hate the job and any other jobs in my field. I feel like it’s just killing me – like I don’t know if I can handle it anymore. I just want my own schedule and to follow my own passions and not be stressed out. But is that just being a dreamer? And stupid? Everybody has to work after all….but it’s really just making me – not me….
But that’s not something I can pick up and leave (like a home). It’s a necessity. Y’know my debt situation. Not to mention rent, bills – that with student loan payments of almost $1500 – well, hah!
I’d love to hear your thoughts (or maybe address it in a future post) – it’s hard to get my head wrapped around. Thanks.
Jenn this is such a lot of questions within questions and really I can’t answer them FOR you. Only you in your heart of hearts can make the decisions with what will work best for you…given all the permutations and variables, needs/wishes/wants, etc….just know i wish the best FOR you!!! :)
Gosh, your absolutely right. I feel like a fool. I always do that – get ahead of myself and just overwhelmed I guess. I apologize. Thank you though. your right.
I like cookie dough, but i definitely think i like the real, baked cookie better!!
what a great meetup! coffee dates are such the perfect solution for rainy days :)
having friends is SO important! especially for girls! i mean we need someone to vent our problems to! friday night i had an awesome pedi date with deej and we didn’t even talk to whole time haha we just sat there and let other people paint our feet. it was superb ;)
Girly meet-ups are the best :-) Sometimes you just need a chance to gab for a few hours!
How cool of Amber to still be sporting cute shoes with her wrap. :P
ohh i love your friends tory burch shoes!!!! and cookie dough is amaaaazing. I used to eat too much of it growing up though and got tummy aches all of the time :)
Oh rainy days :) It makes me want to cuddle up and watch a movie, and snack all day lol. Those toffee balls looks so yummy! How about I make some of those, grab a blanket, and take the rest of the day off?! :)
yeah sure, b/c us moms just take the day off…yeah, sure :)
Sweet meetup, how fun! Sorry about your weather, sounds like ours this week! I keep reminding myself summer will be here in no time along with months of no rain!
1. Not too much, shopped and saw a movie.
2. Happy hour a couple of weeks ago at Cheesecake Factory, but it was loud and crowded.
3. Cookie dough or, even simpler, raw vegan cookie dough right out of the food processor. :-)
cookie DOUGH, preferably in ICE CREAM!
i’ve got a GREAT friend meet-up week this week: just got back from a quick visit with my BFF; tomorrow is an after-work get-to with my oldest friend (since we were two years old); later this week, a movie outing with a fairly new friend.
glad you and amber met up – sometimes it’s hard to schedule/make time for an outing, but aren’t the warm fuzzies just the best, when we can make it happen!
that weather is heading my way. Its so windy out I don’t even want to leave the house.