Beautiful Scenery

Beautiful. Florida is just beautiful.

I was on a roll today with exploring new Tampa trails with new friends. This morning I went for a run on Suncoast Trail with Laura and this afternoon I walked Lettuce Lake Park with Kelly.

Lettuce Lake Park is located right next door to USF and is absolutely beautiful. There are trees swamps, and a mile paved loop that circles the park and branches out into the water for some gorgeous, peaceful views.

Can you spot the gator?

We walked a couple loops of the park and just enjoyed the fresh air. It was a lovely way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Before I left i snacked on a Lemon Chobani with granola.

On the way home I called Derek to see what the plan was for dinner. We had originally purchased cabbage and potatoes for last night’s meal, but were invited to his brother’s house to enjoy the exact same dish there instead. After a 5 minute discussion of weighing our other options, we both decided having the same meal two nights in a row was a-ok in our books.

Our version was a little different. We boiled the cabbage with red potatoes and ham instead of corn beef. It was quick, easy, and tasty. The key is using lots of pepper – boiled cabbage needs pepper.

On the side I had my last hunk of Irish Soda Bread.

Until we meet again my sweet bread friend!

I was in the mood to bake tonight. Peanut butter cookies were definitely on my mind and after realizing I had no butter in the fridge, I took to twitter for advice.

I was getting responses, but nothing stood out.

On to #2 – I decided to give Google a go at it. (notice how twitter comes before Google)

Did you know, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, Google now has this nifty feature where you can see who is talking in ‘your inner circle’ (aka people who are in your address book or you follow on twitter) about what you’re searching for.

BAM!

It was while I was flipping through those results that I found this.

A Double Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie recipe that doesn’t require butter? Sign me up!

I already had everything for the recipe on hand and – luckily – it didn’t require the one thing I was lacking (butter). Success. Bonus points that the dough and cookies were equally delicious. I found myself licking up every last crumb in the dough bowl.

I had two cookies HOT out of the oven (plus another cookie worth of dough )

I suggest you make this recipe. Now. The cookies were thick and chewy and I personally enjoyed the crunch of the peanuts. It was rich, but not overly rich – the just right rich.

I have a happy belly and a happy mind. Derek is already snoring on our one chair (7 days until the couches are here!), so I think I’ll take to the bed for some light reading.

Good Night!!