The brown bag queen*, and some goto Chocolate Chip Blondies
So we are "packers" here in the house. When my daughter started school she quickly decided that she was NOT going to be buying the school lunches and I absolutely agreed. Did my barely-six-year-old need to eat a scoop of chili and a bag of Fritos for lunch? Not really. Needless to say, I was happy when she came out with her proclamation.
"We are packers. Packers. We pack our lunch in this house. We don't buy lunches. I don't want soggy lettuce and chili for lunch. We paaaaaaaaaack."
Therefore, when my son started school this year, I went from packing one to packing two lunches every morning.
It's a pain in the beezer, but I admit that someday I'm going to wake up when my kids are off at college and get teary eyed about waking up extra early to construct tiny sandwiches and cut up apples in lemon juice.*
This week's recipe is my absolute goto dessert. In the fast-paced world that I live in, making individual cookies seems to take an eternity. These bars follow my "keeper recipe" rules which are:
1. Ingredients easy to keep on hand
2. Can prep the stuff before the oven heats
3. PDY, which stands for "purty durn yummy"
They also are super awesome in a lunch box when you use mini cookie cutters to cut out cutsie little shapes...
Chocolate Chip Blondies
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350. Melt butter in a big bowl in the microwave. Once melted, add to the bowl the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and mix until blended. (I use a hand mixer for this quickie job.) Add baking powder and salt. Mix again. Add flour. Mix yet again. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.
*We don't use brown bags. In fact, I'm proud to say we are trash free packers. Recycling drink pouches and using fabric lunch baggies. Yay Earth!
**Here's a great tip for packing apples in school lunches! Slice and/or peel the apples and place into bag/container. Pour in a tsp or so of lemon juice and about 2 tsp of water. Seal and shake the liquid around, then dump it out. This works really well and doesn't leave that awful lemon taste on your fruit.
"We are packers. Packers. We pack our lunch in this house. We don't buy lunches. I don't want soggy lettuce and chili for lunch. We paaaaaaaaaack."
Therefore, when my son started school this year, I went from packing one to packing two lunches every morning.
It's a pain in the beezer, but I admit that someday I'm going to wake up when my kids are off at college and get teary eyed about waking up extra early to construct tiny sandwiches and cut up apples in lemon juice.*
This week's recipe is my absolute goto dessert. In the fast-paced world that I live in, making individual cookies seems to take an eternity. These bars follow my "keeper recipe" rules which are:
1. Ingredients easy to keep on hand
2. Can prep the stuff before the oven heats
3. PDY, which stands for "purty durn yummy"
They also are super awesome in a lunch box when you use mini cookie cutters to cut out cutsie little shapes...
Chocolate Chip Blondies
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350. Melt butter in a big bowl in the microwave. Once melted, add to the bowl the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla and mix until blended. (I use a hand mixer for this quickie job.) Add baking powder and salt. Mix again. Add flour. Mix yet again. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.
*We don't use brown bags. In fact, I'm proud to say we are trash free packers. Recycling drink pouches and using fabric lunch baggies. Yay Earth!
**Here's a great tip for packing apples in school lunches! Slice and/or peel the apples and place into bag/container. Pour in a tsp or so of lemon juice and about 2 tsp of water. Seal and shake the liquid around, then dump it out. This works really well and doesn't leave that awful lemon taste on your fruit.
Comments
how do you recycle drink pouches? do tell =)
ALSO: I had forgotten about your homemade lunch bags! Such a great idea! You should re-post your blog about making them, with the photos and all. I swear, you really could be making a fortune selling them!! Can I be your agent???
www.terracycle.org for recycling drink pouches, and if I had the time to sew lunch baggies, I would surely sell them. They really are great! If I ever find the time, Becky is my number one agent. :)