So Stinkin' Good

I have really been trying to stay healthy and fit this pregnancy. My main motivation is that I am going to be almost 30 weeks pregnant and a bridesmaid in my sister, Lindsey's wedding in a mere 29 days (get excited!). I even joined a gym at 4 months pregnant and have been working out pretty regularly. Despite my efforts, I am still gaining weight at the same rate I gained with Eli. Oh well....I blame my love of chocolate chip cookies. Especially when Daddy brings them home from Sharkey's, a local coffee shop downtown. They make the biggest, softest, yummiest chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted. Honestly!

Well, to cut down on costs...and my serving size, I thought these sounded like they might be right up my alley.

_Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

So stinkin' good and so stinkin' easy! Mmmmmmmm! I was right, they definitely satisfied my taste buds. I used the Pillsbury website for the recipe (omitting the coconut because I am not a fan.)

The kitchen has been busy this week as I also got around to finally making:

Homemade (*sugar-free*) Fruit Leather.

I was inspired by and had bookmarked this recipe on my friend, Darby's, blog last summer. Better late than never, right?

Eli has always been a fan of fruit leather and fruit roll-ups. When I buy them, I only buy the organic, low-sugar, or sugar free versions, but homemade sounded like a fun idea. We still have a lot of blueberries in our freezer and a yummy farmer's market for other fresh produce.

I made 2 batches: blueberry-peach and strawberry-peach.

Eli is a fan of both so far, gobbling them down without any word of complaint or any words at all. He's too busy chewing as fast as he can. His favorite way to eat them is to attempt to cram as much into his mouth as possible, chew the wad, swallow, and repeat.

Just a few notes from my experience(s) with the recipe

1. I didn't add any sugar, and Eli (nor I) seemed to mind at all. Maybe he's used to no sugar being added to his fruit treats. We even buy sugar-free apple sauce.
2. I have a gas oven, and both times it seemed to cook too long. The edges got crispy as opposed to the desired chewy. The first batch I did during the day and didn't really know when to take them out. The second, I did while we slept, and woke up early (after only 7 1/2 hours) and it was still too long. Keep an eye on it or take it out early if you have a gas oven. You don't want them to dry out as much as mine did.

Off to enjoy some of our treats and a quiet nap time....Must relish the final week of summer before I have to go back to school.

(And for those interested...I am teaching this fall. But only until Jellybean arrives. Then I plan to take the remainder of the school year off. I teach math to upper elementary classes in the mornings while Eli is in the preschool. We come to school together and leave together. Perfect! )