Healthy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Can you tell I was sick for a week and out of the kitchen???  By Thursday of last week I was just dying to start making stuff again and was in the mood for some healthy cookies.  There are many days I feel guilty about giving L store bought snacks, as one of the perks of being a stay at home mom is being able to bake and cook and make healthier, delicious things (and...don't worry...I'm not turning into Kourtney and becoming a label junkie and only feeding my family organic, gluten free food!!)  I thought this recipe would be a good one to try.  The only thing I didn't have were the Coach's Oats.  I had steel cut oats on hand so I decided to use them.  I should have just ran out and gotten old fashioned oats because these cookies weren't soft and chewy like the recipe promised.  They were harder.  But L is still loving them up!

I gathered up my ingredients...

...and then beat the oil, brown sugar, and egg.

Then, I added the rest of the stuff and beat until it was mixed.  Doesn't get much easier than that!!

I took my cookie scoop and scooped the dough out onto baking sheets.  I didn't get close to 24 cookies...maybe I made them too big!

Baked for 10 minutes and there you have it....healthier chocolate chip oatmeal cookies!!

As they were cooling, I was dealing with this mess...

And L somehow stole 3 cookies off the cooling rack and devoured them!! Little stinker!

Homemade Fruit Snacks

These little goodies have been on my list of things that I've been dying to try to make for some time now.  Since L is obsessed with gummies, I figured they would be right up his alley and a healthier version than the store bought ones.  Unfortunately, they did not quite live up to my expectations, as I was hoping they would be a little more flavorful.  Maybe I just didn't use enough fruit.  Maybe blueberries were not the best choice.  Anyway....they were really easy to make and I'll probably try strawberry next time around.

I started off by putting my frozen blueberries in a small sauce pan with orange juice (alternatively, I could have used lemon juice).

They were heated up until the blueberries became soft.  Then I added the honey and stirred it up.

Next, I took my immersion blender and pureed the mixture until it was smooth.  If you don't have an immersion blender, you could use a regular blender, but be very careful as warm things have a tendency to splatter when mixed.

Let the mixture sit for about 10 minutes and then whisk in unflavored gelatin.  After I had it whisked pretty well, I put the mixture into my blender and pureed it to make sure there were no lumps.

Since I made a double batch, I poured the mixture into a 9x13 pan and then let it hang out in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Once they were set, I cut them up into small pieces and placed them in an air tight container.  You can keep them in the fridge or at room temperature.  I think they are a good snack.  L really isn't a fan and I'm chalking that up to the blandness of these. 

If you make them and they turn out great, let me know what fruit you used and if it was frozen or fresh.