a new take on no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies!

we all remember and love the infamous 'no bake' chocolate oatmeal cookies mom and so many other moms made 'back in the day'.  well, here's a new take on those.  NUTELLA and peanut butter or for us almond butter!
mmmmm

No-Bake Nutella Peanut Butter CookiesYields approximately 2 dozen cookies (recipe can be doubled for a crowd)

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup peanut or hazelnut butter
3/4 cup Nutella hazelnut spread (or 1 cup chocolate chips)
2 cups rolled oats

In a medium to large saucepan, melt the butter over medium to medium-low heat. Add the sugar, milk, and cocoa powder and mix until combined. Stir in the peanut butter, Nutella,  until melted, followed by the oats. Continue mixing until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Reduce heat to lowest setting.

Working quickly, use a spring-form ice cream scoop to shape balls of dough and place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Refrigerate for thirty minutes until firm. Store in an airtight container.

searching for shells

it was a rare treat that doug had a day off during the week-yay! so we decided to go to the other side of the island and look for shells.  we drove a little past napili and spent the afternoon at d.t. fleming beach.  devan LOVES the beach--the sand, the ocean, the coral...it was the perfect day and we scored some nice shells too  :-)

 doug looking for shells.  devan making a b-line for the ocean.

 watching the waves or contemplating another b-line for the ocean?

 apparently the texture of sand in the mouth and coral are good for teething  :)

happy guy

he's such a happy guy 99% of the time.   notice he has the same open mouthed 'smile' going on in every picture.  :-)
he's also been into biting lately.  he will come and bite me then shake his head 'no' then do it again.  sometimes he pump fakes and just puts his mouth on me like he's going to bite but doesn't and shakes his head 'no'.  it's pretty hilarious.  i've been trying not to say 'no' to him so instead i shake my head and say 'uh!' well, little bugga, guess what he does when he's doing something he knows he's not supposed to?   says 'uh' and shakes his head.  he's getting it.  sort of.

11 months!! huh??

i say this every month but seriously, how is he 11 months already??
he gets cuter and more fun every day.
love'n this little guy!

having fun

 devan LOVES balls--ever since we went to Idaho Falls and he watched John & Brian shoot baskets he is obsessed.  his 1st word after 'mama' was 'ba'

 He loves to read books

 goodnight moon being a favorite

 he loves playing with just about anything that's NOT a baby toy.  the oven drawer, the vacuum, 5 gallon water jug, closet doors-some of his current faves.

 at the beach last weekend.

 loves to be on dad's shoulders  :)

 we went to a friend's baby's 1st bday party on sunday and they had rented a bouncy castle/slide--BIG hit w/all the kids including devan

once we let him on it he didn't want to get off it.  he raged it!  had a blast!  he loves being around kids and watching them play.

devan's 1st halloween!

we didn't do much anything for Halloween this year.  Doug gets home from work most days at 6ish, and devan goes to bed most nights around 730-8ish.  we did go to Pa'ia to eat dinner and check out a few locals and tourists in their Halloween costumes.  Doug and devan dressed up in their costumes for about 10 minutes.  :)     Swamp Thing and Bear Cub   :)

happy fall ya'll

there are a few things i miss about 'mainland living'.  one of them being the changing of the seasons.  living in portland there are usually 2 or 3 seasons.  some years it's the 'rainy season' and 'the 2-3 months it doesn't rain season' with spring and fall mixed in.  and some years it would actually snow a 1/4 inch or so and be 'winter' for a few weeks--well, actually it does get pretty cold in portland sometimes--nothing like idaho falls though! so right now i'm missing the beauty of fall.  the colors, falling leaves, the fall smell in the air, the chill-dressing in cute sweaters, layers, wearing socks :) and making 'fall food' 

soups, pies, pumpkins, winter squash---a few of my fall favorites.

here's a few dishes i'll be attempting over the next few weeks--devan allowing  :)

http://eatnourishing.com/recipe/thai-red-curry-pumpkin-soup/

http://www.cookingwithmykid.com/recipes/baked-pumpkin-oatmeal/

http://glutenfreeeasily.com/crustless-gluten-free-pumpkin-pie/

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/indian_pudding/

http://growitcookitcanit.com/2011/10/31/marlborough-pie/