Cappuccino Chip Cookies!

This is another one of those altered, basics that I like to make. It starts with your favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe - I like the old reliable Nestle Tollhouse recipe - then we add a few things. The first secret to awesome chocolate chip cookies in my book is always this: Good Vanilla Extract and lots of it. Don't use imitation, trust me it's worth the price to get the good stuff.

Here's what you need (in addition to the basic cookie dough recipe)

1 1/2 cups Crushed or Chopped Almonds

1 1/2 cups White Chips

2-3 Tbsp instant coffee (your favorite)

1-2 Tbsp Saigon Cinnamon (again, good cinnamon is totally worth the money!)

More Vanilla Extract

Prepare the basic dough according to your recipe, up to the part where you would normally add the chocolate (and nuts). Add the coffee, cinnamon and extra vanilla. I like a good strong coffee flavor for this and I love cinnamon and vanilla, so I use lots! Mix well.

Add the Almonds and White Chips and mix thoroughly. Bake according to your recipe instructions!

Enjoy!

Check-In. Last Day Before Vacation.

Cereal for breakfast.

Almonds for midmorning snack.

Salad with almonds and green bean chips again for lunch. Digging the Daiya cheese now that I'm getting used to it.

Jayone rice bar for after work snack.

Amy's Soy Cheese pizza with Gimme Lean sausage for dinner.

Whole Fruit bar for a snack.

Did about a half hour of yoga tonight.

Dying for something crispy, thinking I'm going to have some pretzels.

Also, I had like about 5 Russian Tea Cookies today at work. But I'm going to say that's Viv's fault because she makes amazing cookies.

Check-In. That was a really bad idea, apparently.

Breakfast was the Florentine Omelet from Nick's Diner. Loads of spinach and tomato, with a little feta cheese.

Mid-morning snack was more almonds, like always.

For a treat after my civil service exam, I got a Chai Latte with Soy milk from Starbucks! Yay for me.

Late lunch was the Biancaneve Pizza at Paese Mio, plus spinach. It's a white pie with tomato, garlic and olive oil. However, apparently I can't handle the mozzarella cheese anymore! I've been sick all night. :-(

I finally felt up to having dinner and I had Chocolate Cheerios with plain Almond milk. Yay!

I also made tons of trial mix tonight for snacks over the course of the week.

The Check-In that Almost Wasn't

Sausage Biscuit for breakfast.

Almonds for my mid-morning snack.

Tofu and almonds (separate) for lunch.

Almonds in the afternoon. (Are you seeing the theme here?)

Pepper Crusted Beef and Roasted Potatoes for dinner.

No Yoga, but with the walk to work this morning, I managed to log 18,796 steps on my pedometer!

Go me!

Gonna have some peanut butter bread for snack.

Tomorrow may be a total wash as far as healthy eating goes, but I'm going to try to not get carried away. I'm driving to Harrisburg tomorrow to take my Clerk 1, 2 exam.

Check-In, Sunday.

Sausage biscuit for breakfast.

Trail Mix for my midmorning snack.

Almonds when it got way to late for me to not eat, but I couldn't take my lunch yet. Busy day at work with a huge sale and almost no overlap in my department. Went in at 7, got lunch at 1:10.

Salad with homemade corn salsa for lunch. Almond milk when I got home.

Dinner remains a mystery at this point because we're heading up to my dad's.

However, I did bring trail mix with so I didn't end of snacking on something I shouldn't have.

***Dinner at Dad's was pork barbeque, Dutchy-style (no sauce) with pickled cabbage. I had a glass of water and managed to completely avoid the potato chips that Gramma put out. I did however cave and had a cupcake.

***Tofu for an evening snack. However, at this point, I've apparently been up enough hours that my body thinks it needs another snack. I'm having a sausage biscuit.

I did the 15 minute Breath and Body Segment on my Yoga DVD tonight. Would have loved to to more, but my knee was finished before I was.

***10:20, still frickin' hungry. One slice of peanut butter bread.

Saturday Check-In

Sausage biscuit for breakfast. Again, almond milk, but I did actually bother with a glass today.

No mid-morning snack, that's gonna be hit or miss on Saturdays that I work.

Lunch was more of the Fajita Topped Salad from last night, and some almonds. I was also a little extra hungry because I missed my snack, so I also had about 1/2 a portion of my homemade trail mix.

Finished the partial bag of trail mix on the way home from work. Decided to join my mom for a walk, so I had a second bag of trail mix because dinner was going to be late compared to lunch.

Mom's making dinner now, steak and salad with strawberries!


I WALKED 2.5 MILES TODAY!!!

***Lucky me, dinner also included Fresh Pineapple!! For snack I had the last two of the goodies from my mother-in-law. (I did mention they're bite-sized, right?)

Food Check-In

Breakfast, a sausage sandwich one the way out the door and a couple swallows of Vanilla flavored Almond Milk. Right the carton. Yeah, I'm like that.

Mid morning Snack, more almonds.

Lunch, leftover Asian salad from last night, and because I got my lunch pretty late, I ate the trail mix I intended for my afternoon snack because I was still hungry.

No afternoon snack, because I ate it early.

Dinner/Supper/the meal I'm trying not to drop on the laptop, spicy, Fajita-style grilled chicken and bell peppers over spring mix with chopped tomatoes, tortilla chips and a small sprinkle of shredded cheese. For dressing, I used the Spicy Chipotle Vinagrette we made last night. Hubby had seconds, I am going to have a glass of Almond Milk instead.

So far, I feel like I'm doing pretty good.

***Evening snack time. Will raid the baked goods from Mom-in-law again. Only having two cookie/bear claw thingies.***

Cherry Almond Trail Mix

Whipped this up tonight to encourage the hubby to snack a little better.

Mix (roughly) visually equal parts:

Dried Sweet Cherries (not sweetened cherries)

Whole Almonds (raw, toasted, whatever)

Nestle White Chips

Stir together. Enjoy.

I portioned ours into snack baggies in 1/3 cup servings.