The Best (Healthy) Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!. Ever.

This is a cookie you can feel good about making for your family. Or yourself. Not that I would ever make cookies for me. I do it for the kids. And the mister. But never for me. ;)

My family has a serious sweet tooth and this cookie fits the bill, but is way better for you than the typical chocolate chip cookie. Just don't tell your family they're healthy and I promise they won't know the difference!! So, if you're trying to eat healthier but still need a little something sweet, try this cookie. You won't regret it!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup oats ( I use the quick-cooking kind, but you could also use old-fashioned)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter, softened (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Grind oats in a food processor.(If you don't have a food processor, just leave them whole...no biggie). Whisk together oats, flour, salt and soda in a medium bowl. Beat butter until creamy. Then, to the butter, beat in remaining ingredients until combined. Stir in flour mixture with butter mixture. DO NOT OVERMIX!!! Stir in chocolate chips. I use a small cookie scoop which works so beautifully for making all your cookies a uniform size, but you can just eyeball it, too! Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes, or until cookies are set. You don't want to cook them too long or they'll get too hard. Never understood people who like crispy chocolate chip cookies. Just plain weird. Anyway, ENJOY! And remember these are a treat! Don't eat them all at once or make them everyday. moderation, people.

Ch-Ch-Changes

This was our home.

We loved this yellow house. We felt happy and safe here. Emma and Jonah had friends all around them! When Walter changed jobs and we knew he would be in Ruston most of the time, we still knew we would never leave. After all, my dad lived in the apartment upstairs and his mom just down the street. Most people probably thought we were crazy, but we loved living so close to them! They were a huge support system for us.
Anyway, long story short: God told us to move. I don't blame you if you gave me the eye roll here. I would have also! But the truth is, I can give you many reasons. We love our church in Ruston, but always felt only half-way committed because we weren't part of the community. We found ourselves doing things in Ruston all the time and driving back and forth was just too much. Walter was meeting so many people and loving his job and I felt a little left out because I wasn't there for any of it. These are all valid reasons, but none of them compare to that feeling deep inside when you just "know" He's telling you it's time for a change.
I think the most difficult part was telling our parents. Even though it was a big change for them, they only wanted for us to do what God was calling us to do. It hasn't been easy or perfect, but after a long and trying process of selling our little yellow house, we are now in Ruston!! We're still trying to adjust. The kids miss their friends and Emma says "it feels like we broke into somebody's home"!! On the other hand, we LOVE being so close to everything!
This is our new home! It needs a lot of love. Just about EVERYTHING needs to be painted or replaced. I'm not kidding. And yes, it is salmon pink on the outside and all the bushes are overgrown and there's no concrete driveway. But everytime I look at this house I see not what it is, but what it will be. Our home.

(Stay tuned for many projects to come!!!)