I blame my lack of grocery shopping and cooking lately for my lack of ingredients on-hand. Our fridge is not very stocked, things are left to go bad and week after week I tell myself: “This is the week I am going to cook!” Then that week passes by. I’m 33 weeks pregnant and just plain not in the mood to cook or prep… or really try. This summer I will turn things around once my energy is up!

But, I’m totally okay with not being “on” all of the time and I am definitely not going to pretend to all of you that I am. Do you ever look at Instagram and get discouraged? I sure do. The glamorous vacations, pinterest-worthy kitchens, and the homemade healthy toddler meals that put my mac-and-cheese-again-tonight to shame. I brush it off and try not to let myself start comparing because we don’t know the details behind each of our lives. We don’t know the true story behind that photo. Life is so much more than a picture may depict.  When I stress about my own life not looking good enough to share, I realize how stupid that is. I mean, who the heck cares? I’m embracing the not-so-picture-perfect life we are in right now. Because it’s pretty amazing when I sit and think about it.

Lots of changes are happening around here and it’s making life a bit of a crazy, crazy mess. In a good way, I think! We are finally going to be moving out of our apartment in the central west end and moving to a house… with a yard! Holy cow. If all goes well we are moving in a few short weeks. And I’m almost a month out from having our second child and dare I say we have not bought one single item. Yikes. (Banking hard on just reusing everything we had with my first). I’m excited to share our journey this summer juggling these changes with you all.

So for now, I don’t have much in my fridge. And I am baking with what I have on hand. In this case, I didn’t have butter or eggs, so I created a vegan cookie recipe. And I’m into it!!! My daughter is too. 

Egg-Free Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

• 1/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 3/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup chocolate chunks or chips (I prefer dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate. Use vegan chocolate if want these cookies to be vegan)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, mix the sugars with the coconut oil. Add in the milk and vanilla.

3. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt and mix to combined.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips and let chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

5. Bake for about 9-10 minutes or until golden brown edges and the middles are starting to cook through. Let set on sheet and cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack.