Therapeutic

My Tuesday started with a massive headache.

This comes as no surprise. It was Tuesday, after all.

And Tuesdays are just, like, sooooo stuuuupid.

Instead of raging my way through the work day, I really tried to keep it all in check. And channeled the energy elsewhere.

Running with these ladies, to be exact.

Kim and her friend Carrie! Due to my weirdly rotating work schedule, this only happens every other week or so, but it’s always a fun conversation and distraction from my regular workout routine.

We all ran and took our turns venting for 6 miles. It was therapeutic. And I felt fabulous afterwords.

Until throwing myself directly into Bulls and Cubs traffic afterwards. This left me slightly wound up again.

Luckily, there are ways to de-stress at home, too.

Comfort food helps.Or something that, in my frugality, sort of resembles it. A cheap and healthified Mexican dinner for this chick would be a quesadilla stuffed with the refried beans my roommate bought and now refuses to eat (it’s a texture thing), skimping on cheese and overloading on hot sauce. And a side of brussels sprouts to make my mother proud.

It is almost Mother’s Day, afterall.

As a side note, can we talk about how the quesadilla maker could be the greatest invention of all time?

There’s also the option to give your mind an escape.This puzzle is really coming along, kids. The roommate and I have grand plans to spend one night in this weekend in hopes of putting the finishing touches on this baby.

We’re wild.

But I’d like to have it done sooner than later. No joke, I had a dream about it last night. My roommate had deconstructed it. At this point, that may even be considered a nightmare. 2000 pieces is no joke, kids.

Because the day was a doozy, I even went the baking route.Other than obvious reasons of loving cookie dough and the cookies themselves, I really do enjoy the process of baking. Not quite sure the logic behind this, but it makes me feel all happy inside.

Or maybe that’s just the sugar high talking?

Because there’s a friend with a baby coming soon, I thought I’d send some love her way in the form of the Cookie Butter Stuffed Cookies debuted a few weeks ago. Recipes aren’t repeated in this kitchen often, but when everyone raved about them, how could I not?

I made a smaller recipe this time around. But thankfully, there’s still one this morning that was purposely left out of the care package. And it has my name on it. Expect me to have a sugar crash at my desk around 3pm.

After all that, my annoyance from the day finally subsided. Right before it was time for bed.

Funny how that works.

Oh Tuesday. You won again!

Snackage

“What is it?”
“Stick your finger in it.”
“What?”
“Just try it. You’ll thank me later.”

Cookie butter, guys. Talking about cookie butter…

The roomie had no idea what it was. I was happy to introduce her. Pretty sure she’s now mad about it. And upset I used almost all of it in cookies that are no longer around.

So. Like I said- cookie butter.

This is only the second occasion I’ve bought this stuff. First time was around the time when my friend Laura came to visit over New Years. As quickly as the two of us went through it, I thought it’d be safer to only have around the house every once in a while.

That seems to be my policy when it comes to a lot of things.

Sunflower seed butter. Guacamole. BBQ chips. Twizzlers. Cookies.

I like to eat.

But when visitors come through, it only makes sense to have stuff around the house for them to snack on.

The base of any good cookie- butter and sugar. Can I hear an Amen?

Turns out even then you should probably be overly prepared. Cookies… frozen pizza… deli… chips… it was all fair game after we got back from being out and about on Saturday night.

So along with a trip to Target to stock up on man food essentials, I busted out the big guns. Or the big mixing spoon. Whichever works better in your situation.

My one issue with this recipe- there was too much flour for my taste. And my mixing abilities. So either be prepared to scale back on the flour or mix up more butter/sugar/egg mixture to compensate. It was a time killer.

Once again, I looked to Picky Palate for inspiration. And once again, I wasn’t let down and went for a lil’ adaption on her Biscoff Stuffed White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The only difference (other than eliminating some of the four cups of flour she suggests)? I’ve enjoyed the sweet and salty combo as of late, and since cookie butter is quite sweet in comparison to regular peanut butter, I threw in some crushed pretzels for good measure.

The pretzels were seriously the best idea ever. Throw in at least a cup of pretzels. Maybe a little more if you like the extra crunch, too...

Because if there is one snack that is available 100% of the time, it’s a massive jar of pretzels.

Cereal and pretzels. It makes the world go 'round. This is also the pantry where we keep all the wine. Yes. It is the pantry of no return.

Target knows where it’s at. Bulk food meant for the family. But bought for one.

Anyway, other than the pretzels, I followed the recipe exactly.

A dollop of cookie butter in each little "divet" you press into the bottom half. If the cookie butter leaks out of the side, you're doing something right.

And made sure not to overcook the cookies. Soft and chewy is more my preference.

These made my entire house smell like sugar. Glorious. But bad for sleeping.

Definitely do not skimp on the cookie butter. It won’t be overwhelming- promise. Instead, it adds just a soft layer in the middle that will keep people guessing as to what it is.

They say you can’t re-invent the wheel.

Just so you know, these also travel extremely well. I sent some to my lovely friend Mary for her birthday. Just make sure you have them in a sealed container of some sort and maybe even a piece of bread to keep them soft.

They’re right. You can’t. But you can have a lot of fun making it bigger and better. Just ask the dude who made those spinning hubcap thingies (the proper term, obviously).

These cookies are no different. As the recipe originally goes, they’re super sweet and delicious. But the pretzels? They’re the spinning hub cap thingie. Not necessary but obnoxiously awesome.

*Oh and because you guys asked, that burger from yesterday’s post? I got a little over half way through it at the restaurant. Finished the rest 4 hours later before we went out for drinks. BAM.