Good morning! How’s your Thursday going so far? It’s dark, cloudy, and raining here in Springfield. Do I wish I could just stay in bed all day with Mac in our pajamas? Yep, basically. But life must go on despite the dreary weather. 🙂

Christmas Candles!

So you all probably think I’m crazy when I get excited over the smallest and silliest things. But when I got home from work yesterday and saw this pretty box on my doorstep, I was beyond excited!

I completely forgot that I had ordered some large candles from Bath & Body Works last week on sale.

I love how they pack them up.  I order these babies each year and keep a few for myself and then give some away as Christmas gifts.

Woohoo! My favorite of these four was the Cinnamon Caramel Swirl. It smells like the most heavenly bakery/coffee shop, and I will definitely be keeping this one for myself. My momma loves the Winter Candy Apple, so I’ll take that one to her this weekend as an early Christmas gift. Then I can use the other two as gifts as long as I can refrain from burning them in my own house before Christmas!

If you’re not signed up for the Bath & Body Works emails, you should sign up TODAY. Seriously. They send out the best coupons everyday, and I do tons of gift shopping on their site over the holidays. Plus they almost always offer free shipping deals, so it’ll save you a trip to the store!

Cranberry Cookies

And now onto the really fun stuff: cookies! I was crazy productive last night when I got home from work. I realized it was my last evening at home until Sunday night, so I got some things done! I did laundry, walked and bathed Mac, washed dishes, and then made some cookies with my fresh cranberries!

I loosely followed two different recipes from Pinterest, which kinda morphed into my own creation. But they turned out pretty well!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp All Spice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 stick butter/margarine (softened)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar or Splenda
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and begin by creaming together the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar or Splenda (I used Splenda). Add in the eggs, applesauce and vanilla, and mix well. Next, mix in your remaining dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and All Spice. Last, mix in your cranberries and chocolate chips.

Spoon the dough out onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes or until edges start to brown. These cookies don’t expand (or ‘grow’) too much while baking, so they may not be the prettiest, but they are pretty darn tasty! Plus, no oil (applesauce instead!) is always an added perk for those healthy eaters out there.

The red cranberries make these cookies really pretty – perfect for the holidays! Try ’em out this weekend, and let me know your thoughts. Adding nuts or extra chocolate might be fun to try next time! Craisins would also work with this recipe I’m sure if you don’t have the fresh cranberries on hand. They would probably add lots of yummy sweetness!

Hope your Thursday turns out to be a great one. Mine started with a run (I got rained on again!), and it will end with Jazzercise tonight. Seems like an okay day to me!