Home made Granola

My oldest Jordan is in love with Granola. She could eat bags and bags of granola. After paying $5.00-$7.00 for a pound of Granola at the store,I decided that there has to be a cheaper and better way to give her something that she loves to eat.

After searching the web for hours, I was able to find about 1000+ recipes for granola. Each one had some different element to it. They were all basic with a twist. I took something from the ones I loved and developed my own just for her.

My son's teacher also love granola so we shared a bag with her and she was hooked. This lead to the granola being share with other teachers and now I have a list of people wanting granola.

Funny how something so simple to make causes a such a huge stir.

Home made Granola

6 cups of oats
2 bags of shredded coconut
2 bags of unsalted sunflower seeds
2 large bags of slivered almonds
6 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoon pure maple syrup
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 cups mixed dried fruit (raisins,cranberries,blueberries) I uses raisins,cranberries.
2 large bags of chocolate chunks
2 large bags of chocolate chips(semi-sweet or dark)
2 large containers of banana chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix first 4 ingredients together in large bowl;set aside.
Mix next 7 ingredients together in another bowl. Mix well.
Pour wet mixture over the first 4 ingredients. Combine until every things is covered in wet mixture. May have to use your hands for this.
On large baking sheets that have been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon mixture on to cookies sheets until it is just covered. Bake in oven until Oats are lightly toasted. I always turn mine with spatula to make sure both sides are getting lightly brown. This process could take up to 10 different baking to light brown the whole batch of oat mixture.
Take the light browned oats out of oven and place on another cookie sheet to cool.
Once all the oats are cooled place in another large bowl and being adding your last 4 ingredients. MIX WELL!!
Store in air tight container for up to 4-6 weeks. (no worries it never last that long)
This makes 4 large Ice cream buckets full of Granola. You can reduce this recipe to your needs.

Jordan's 8th Grade Formal

Jordan is growing up so fast. She just had her final dance as a Junior High student. It was fun doing her hair and her make up and watching her eyes light up when she looked in the mirror. It was a wonderful mother daughter bonding time. We went to Ronnie Vanzant park and took pictures out at their pond. It's beautiful out there and plenty of places to take pictures. As we were taking the pictures my heart was breaking, she isn't that tiny baby we brought home from the hospital,she is a beautiful young lady now. She is getting ready to spread her wings soon and take everything we have taught her and fly on her own. We have but just 4 short years left of her being here every day. Jordan is heading to college and she has no desire to stay in state. It made it hard today watching her take another step towards spreading those wings.

Here she is before the dance

Happy 3rd Birthday Serenity

It's so hard to believe that she is just three years old with the year we have had. Seems has if a whole life time of stuff has happen to her in the three short years she has been with us.

We had real reason to celebrate this year and real reason to be grateful for all that has happen and all that we can slowly put behind us. Just two short days before her birthday we were told by her GI doctors that she looked great. That her labs had come back all in healthy range and that she was finally right at the correct weight for her age and height. She was no longer showing signs of flair ups and she seems for once to have her colitis and crohn's disease under control. That was like music to my ears, it had to be right up there with the day she was born and we heard her first cry.

I made a huge cake for a big BBQ and we had tons of family over for her big day. She loved every minute of the all the attention she got. She loves to be the center of the attention. She got tons of barbie's and dress up stuff, a tea party set and clothes. Everything a little girl could ever want.

The BOSTON CREAM PIE is Rob's Birthday cake. He turned 39 this past week as well.

Chocolate cake to die for

I am always looking for quick and simple recipes. Something my family can enjoy after dinner that doesn't take hours to make. While reading Melinda's Kitchen Diary I stumbled across another blog. Cookie baker lynn, the name alone was begging for me to read. I love making cookies and I was just hoping she had simple cookies to make that would work for what I had in my home already.

I never dreamed that I would find beautiful cakes and simple deserts on her site. The name of her blog it throws you off but, once you start reading and you see all the love that she puts into her deserts you can't help yourself but to try and find just one that you can make right then.

Crunch time, what one do I make first?
I decided that I would make start the with simplest desert she has on her blog.

Texas Fudge Cake
This cake was so super simple to make and the taste is to die for. It's moist and just the right amount of chocolate. There isn't to much frosting and it's not super sweet. I had intentions of posting a picture of this cake but for whatever reason my camera has decided it no longer wants to work. I am hoping that my husband can fix it so that you guys can see this cake.

Texas Fudge Cake

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
5 Tbsp cocoa
1 cup water
2 cups sifted flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Frosting (recipe below)

1- Preheat oven to 375 deg. F with rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 9 x 13 metal pan.

2- In a medium saucepan combine the butter, cocoa, and water. Bring to a boil.

3- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

4- Pour the hot ingredients in the the dry ingredients. Stir well with a wooden spoon.

5- Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Stir until the batter is smooth.

6- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place it in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (While the cake is baking, wash the saucepan and bowl. You'll use them for the frosting.)

7- Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Immediately make the frosting and pour the frosting over the warm cake. Spread the frosting evenly and let the cake cool as much as you can bear before cutting into squares and devouring.

Frosting

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp cocoa
dash salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

1- In medium saucepan combine the butter, milk, cocoa, salt, and vanilla. Bring to a boil.

2- Place the powdered sugar in a large bowl. Pour the hot ingredients over the powdered sugar and beat with a wooden spoon until the frosting is smooth.

Sweet potato pie, Oh MY!!

I am not much of a baker when it comes to making pies and breads. For some reason I just can not get the hang of it. Either I over mix things or I don't mix it enough. Something always goes wrong.

While I was in Logan's class working, his teacher was reading them a story on how to make a sweet potato pie. After she was done reading she asked Logan if his mom baked pies. Logan then told her to my surprise yes. Then in a joking way she asked him to get his mom to make her a sweet potato pie. I love doing things for the teachers. They work so hard for the kids and need that little extra special thing.

Now here comes the tricky part. I had never baked a pie from scratch. Sara Lee and I are great friends when it comes to pies. But at the time I couldn't just go out and buy a pie. So off to google ville.

After searching I end up find a great and simple pie crust



EASY PIE CRUST FROM PILLSBURY BAKE OFF
Printed from COOKS.COM

2 cups Pillsbury All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup shortening
5-6 tablespoons ice cold water

Whisk or sift together flour and salt until well mixed. Rub shortening into flour with fingertips or cut in using two knives or a pastry blender until mixture has lumps the size of small peas.

Fill a small glass with ice and water. Using a tablespoon measure, spoon out 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time, stirring quickly into the flour mixture, using only enough water (5 or 6 tablespoons) for the pastry to come together (mixture will be crumbly).

Divide into two portions, with the larger half being for the bottom of the pie crust. Shape each portion into a 1/2" thick disk shape. Smooth the edges. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest for 20 minutes.

Roll out on a lightly floured work surface to a size 1 1/2 inches larger than the pie pan. Fit into pan loosely.

Bake according to directions given in the pie recipe being used.

recipe and an a simple sweet potato filling recipe.
Sweet Potato Pie I


Ingredients

* 1 (1 pound) sweet potato
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup milk
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions
1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin.
2. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Pie will puff up like a souffle, and then will sink down as it cools.


The crust was light and flaky just like every yummy pie crust should be. I missed the nice butter taste but was happy that it was easy to make and baked up nicely.
The filling was so simple and easy that I can now spout off the recipe with out think twice about it.

I didn't give myself much time to get this pie done. I had 2.5 hours to get it all put together and cooked and in the car to take to the school. If you know anything about baking, it's not a good idea to rush things or to not leave yourself plenty of time. The potatoes alone took 40-50 minutes to boil and become soft. So that didn't leave much time at all for baking which took an 50-60 minutes.

The crust mixed right up and only need to rest for a few minutes before you could work with it. I decided to roll it out and put in the baking dish and go ahead and blind bake it for half the time it called for due the filling saying put in an unbaked pie crust. Worked out amazingly, not one brunt edge and the crust was not tough at all. I took it out to cool and it was time to finish up the filling.

The potatoes were easy to peel and for the most part mashed up nicely. I did have to use a strainer to strain any parts that we not smashed. I was surprised at how easy this all came together and how it made my whole house smell of all the wonderful holiday smells you get. The nice cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla smells filled my whole house and my car and the school hallway and Mrs Dean's classroom.

Down to the wire. It took all but 3 minutes of my time to get all of this done. I quickly took the pie from the oven found a nice towel and tray to put the pie plate on and ran out the door. The pie was still bubbling hot and smelled wonderful.

Arriving at the school and having a hot pie and a sleepy two year old was interesting to say the least. Serenity was slowly waking up from her nap and really wasn't into walking on her own. So I had to balance the pie in one hand and the sleepy Serenity in the other.

I walked into the classroom and Mrs Dean yells out "Oh no you didn't, You really didn't did you." And then as proud as she can's she turns to her wonderful class of Kindergarten's and says Mrs. Holloway made Me a sweet potato pie. They all get excited thinking they were going to get a bite or two. She let them down not so gently by saying "Oh no this is my pie, I'll bring you guys some in the morning."

New mission for the Room mom. Make some very sad children a sweet potato pie so that they could have some too.

LIGHT BULB MOMENT!!

What if the pie for the kids were mini's and they were bite size so that there wouldn't be a mess?

Off to figure out a way to do that.

MINI MUFFIN TINS.

So more pie crust making and enough pie filling to cover making the little mini's and for a pie for Thanksgiving.

The pie crust works beautifully in the muffin tins. Use a small juice cup to get the right size when cutting it out. And a tablespoon to fill each cup. I did blind bake them as well. This time I watched them closely and pulled them out after about 5 minutes. It took half the time to bake the mini pies and they were very tasty. Just the right amount of crust to filling. It was a perfect mix.

I took them into the kids on the next morning and they were so happy. I was given my container back empty.

I wish I would have taken pictures of this whole process. Being in a hurry cloudy my mind and made me forget my camera. It would have been wonderful to have pictures of it all.

To the average baker, don't be scared to bake things you never have before. Try baking things and if you fail no worries just try it again another day. I think now that I have done a pie and it has turned out wonderful I will be doing plenty more of them.

OFF TO BAKE SOMETHING NEW........

Cooked out..

I think I have reached a time where I am just all cooked out. I don't want to anymore at all. I hate the idea of making dinner every night and I hate even more trying to decided what to make.

Here it is Grocery shopping time again and I don't have a clue of what to buy or what we will eat for the month. I shop by the month to cut down on trips to the store. I normally would have my menu done and ready to post on the fridge but I just can't get in the mood to do it.

I feel like all we do is eat the same things over and over again. The many reason is because everyone here is so picky. Rob won't eat baked meat or boil meat. He hates the taste of it and would rather have it sauteed or pan seared or fried or cooked in olive oil. Jordan won't touch fruit and a few veggies. Logan hates tomatoes, so that rules out a lot of foods that are easy to make. Serenity she eats very little, she won't touch ground meat of any kind. I will eat just about anything, cooked any way. But then again I was brought up to eat what was in front of me or starve. So not how I brought my kids up. (Maybe I should have and I wouldn't be sick of cooking)

It's also hot here now and that makes the whole idea of standing in the kitchen for an hour cooking a meal that we may or may not eat not so appealing. My kids tend to eat a lot less during the summer and would much rather be allowed to snack all day long.

I am just so over it.. I need a chief for a month to come and make my family happy.

What's been going on..

Well the last past 2 months have been super busy for us. Everyone has had some kind of sickness and we have been running like crazy..

February was lots of fun. We moved after 8 years of being in the same place. We moved in the same town. The very first day of our move was crazy. Logan woke up and couldn't not bare any weight on his leg. He looked like a flamingo. So I thought maybe he had some kind of serve leg cramp that need a good day of rest and a good day of rubbing and he would be good as new. Well that night he was just in pain and crying. We were carrying him every where. So I decided the next day he was going to the children's hospital to find out what was going on. They put him through the mill that day and I was there for 10 hours to only be sent back home and told that I need to see an orthopedic specialist that they had found a pocket of fluid on his hip. Not a good feeling to leave the ER and not know what all that meant or what was going on. So we waited on the Doctor to set the appointment up for us. Well after waiting for a little over a week and carrying my son around. I called to find out what was going on. The Doctor still had no clue why we hadn't been contacted by the ortho's office and he said he would check into it. (you are the mercy of all these doctor's who claim to know what they are doing.) Well Rob had started to notice that Logan was trying to use his leg some and had him try to walk on it. He got up and walked with a limp for about 3 days and by the time we got the word to meet the Ortho doctor at the ER he could walk and run on his own. He was released from medical care and able to go back to school. And we were told it was viral and it attacked his joints and now he is better. The very next day after one whole day of school he broke out into a rash. Which turned out to be just the virus leaving his body completely.

Now on to Serenity.. (these two together are trouble I tell you!!) During the move we were eating when we could and eating fast food a lot. (something we don't do, I don't like it and I cook as much as I can so I know what's going into my kids) Day 2 of the move I ran to the store to get some milk for the kids so they could eat some cereal the next day for breakfast. While I was there my husband calls and says Serenity had a poopy diaper. Ok I know what you are thinking, what the heck change it and why do I need to know this. Well I thought the same thing and said the same things to him. He then tells me it had blood in it.. I was like get her cleaned up and ready to leave when I get there. Well in the time it took me to get from the store to my house (which is less then 1/2 a mile) she had two more bowel movements. All of them had blood in them. Off to the ER we went,got asked tons of questions and had to explain that she hadn't had good meals for the last 2 days and that we were moving. They checked her over and realized she was dehydrated. So they gave her fluids and sent us home. Told us that it may take a couple of days but she should be fine and to keep pouring fluid into her and if she got worse to take her to the ped's office. Well we all got the stomach bug shortly after that and things got better.

Fast forward to the last week in 2 weeks in March. Once again we changed her diaper and she had blood in it again. I was able to take the diaper and her to the ped's office and they did samples to test for any bacteria that they could think of. Those test came back a week later negative. Then they sent us to lab to get blood work and test for allergies and anything else they may have missed. Once again we waited and listen to our sweet baby complain of her belly hurting and not knowing what was going on. Well I go the results back yesterday afternoon and it turns out the little stinker is ALLERGIC to MILK.. So we changed her to Soy last night add some chocolate to it and she loves it and tells everyone that it's her special milk.

Jordan has had some exciting stuff as well but nothing like the other two.. She made Junior National Honor Society this year and we are so VERY PROUD of her.. She works her butt of at school and makes great grades with out much effort. She is in all honor classes this year and loves being involved in everything. She is doing volunteer work now and seems to enjoy that. She is getting ready to turn 13 and boy have we noticed that she is almost a teenager.. UGHH the attitude, but all in all she is just a good girl...

Rob and I celebrated our anniversary in March and we were both sick with the some kind of stomach bug. So we didn't do much other then watch TV and sleep. It was perfect.

Rob and Serenity are getting ready for their birthday's this month. He is on the 14th and he will be 38 and Serenity's is on the 17th and she will be 2. He wants a big bowl of banana pudding and Serenity wants either a princess cake or elmo. So we will see what I can pull out of my hat for that one. Maybe do princess crown with little elmo faces as the jewels. Who knows..

That is our update.. Sorry it's a book..

IEP and what's next

I woke up knowing on the 18th of March we had the IEP conference for Logan. I was excited because we would know what the OT found and if he qualified for in school OT or if we were going to have to find him one in town.

The meeting went well and like always for a paperless system there was a ton of things to sign and a ton of needless paper work to make the county happy. The informed me that Logan did qualify and that he would receive OT once a week and be tested at the end of the school year to see if he would needed for next year. The also let us know that they were in contact with the school he is zoned for and they do know all of his needs and where he is at in his education. We were also told they were doing testing for placement but they were waiting on us to sign off on it to start. Being the protective mother hen that I am, I got mad that they were wasting time by waiting.
So going into mom mode I had to explain to them if they would just send the papers home with Logan when they need to be signed they would have them back the very next day and they could go ahead and start the testing and then at the next IEP we could be ready to discuss all that needs to happen with him. Of course the school guidance counselor has to say well we have to do it by the book and by the way the county wants it. I let her know there are times where I can't just drop things and run to the school every time they need have a meeting for me to sign a paper. And what a even bigger waste of time for them to call all of these people away from their jobs to sit in here to watch me sign 3 pieces of paper when I can do it at home and return them just as quickly. They agreed with me finally so I am hoping that they won't waste time anymore. I was also informed by Logan's teacher that depending on the testing we will know where he will be placed. The goal for the year was to mainstream him next year. But seeing how he is having issues retaining information and not where they thought he would be he may be held back in Pre-K for another year.
Now that isn't an issue for me. But for whatever reason the school and the county is having issues with it. As of right now Logan is 2 heads taller then every kids in his class and is the oldest kid in the class.He turned 5 in February and the other kids are still only 4. If they hold him back he will be 5.5 turning 6 when school starts back and that will make him 2 yrs older then the kids and of course even bigger then he is now. Which has some parents worried.

Also they are worried now with a new studies that have come out that kids that are held back in early education have a higher drop out rate. And with having a learning disability the number is even higher. I had to tell his teacher that "look I don't hold anyone here at this school responsible for what decisions my son makes when he is 15-18yrs old. That it is my job as his mom to make sure that the school is acting in Logan's best interest and that if holding him back will help him in the long run then we are going to do just that. I am not going to let him fall through the cracks just because of some study that only applies to parents of kids who never were involved from day one." Some how they seem to forget when doing these studies that it's not the kids fault or the schools fault that the kid dropped out. It is the PARENTS FAULT!! As parents we took on the job of the kids, the kids need guidance and they need us to instruct them on what to do and when to do it. And if all just throw our hands up and not get involved when the kids are at school then no one is holding each other responsible for what is going on in the school system. As parents we are our kids first advocate, we are the only voice that will ever be heard by any other adult involved in their lives. Whether it be with a failing school system or a failing government system.
Now I am working on keeping Logan at his present school for the rest of elementary. I have been given the heads up by the county to go ahead and register him the first day of early registration for Kindergarten at the new school but to quickly go to the principal and ask for the special pupil form so that I can run it to the school he attends now. With that form I will have to talk with his principal and see if I can get her to sign off on him staying at his school. But I promise you if she doesn't sign off on it I will be going to her boss. As I informed his teacher everyone has a boss and I will be keeping Logan at Rideout. And she smiled and said she knew with out a doubt that I was the kind of mom that would always be involved from day one. I love his teachers and all the hard work they do from the kids.

Stay tuned as this keeps going....I am sure there will be many more post on this as I don't think it will be an easy task to keep him at Rideout with all the budget cuts.

My Anniversary Part 2

The menu has been picked and I know what we are having now..I am so super excited I can't wait until next Saturday.

Appetizer:Steamed shrimp
Dinner: Bacon wrapped filet mignon
Loaded Baked Potatoes
Salad
bread sticks

Desert: Cheesecake stuffed strawberries dipped in chocolate

I changed my desert plan from my first post. I decided this would be better for us. We are going to wait and eat until the kids are in bed. We are hoping since we can't go out this year that we can eat a nice dinner and watch a movie together.

I am ready to eat that dinner right now.. WAITING IS going to be hard..

WOW what is she thinking

I know every one wants to cry "battered women syndrome" But enough already. How much more of a beating do you need before you have had enough? How much more of a eye opener do you need before you realize he isn't sorry and he will do it again?

I am writing this tonight because I have just read the whole article on the R&B singer and her Rapper boyfriend who did her harm. They have released they police reports and it is truly amazing that she walked away from it alive. Here is the report .

I think he should be in Jail right now. If you or I was charged with 2 felonies they would lock us up. It's just mind boggling that her family isn't doing more to keep the two apart. They are so we weren't there, we don't know the whole story. Does the whole story really matter when it comes to your daughter almost dying due to some one not being able to handle themselves? His age has no barring on this in my mind at all. Although a lot of people are using his age as an excuse for his actions. Sorry I am not buying that one. He knows right from wrong no matter what. And he knows he should not have touched her no matter how mad he was.

UGHH I can not understand these type of people. If he beat your ass once he will do it again. ABUSE is a ABUSE no matter how many I'm sorry's he says and no matter How much you love them you can not CAN NOT make them change. She needs to get help for her self and understand that he will not change and she can't love him into change.

FRUSTRATION

My Anniversary is coming...

I want to make a special cake this year for our Anniversary. We have been married for 13 years and we really didn't do much on our 10 yr anniversary. So now I have to start thinking of something super special to do.
Rob and I both love strawberries, so I know they will end up being apart of the cake some how. I know I want at least one layer of chocolate cake (Hey I am a woman and chocolate is a much have.) and one layer will have to be vanilla or butter based cake.(he loves that) The top will have chocolate cover strawberries and plain strawberries. I think in between the layers will be a jam or maybe cream cheese(kind cheese cake like) filling with fresh strawberries sliced thinly..

Now all I have to do is fine the recipes gather the supplies and make this yummy sounding cake..

TODAY IS THE DAY

Today is the day we have been waiting on.
Today is the day we lay aside the old ways of government and embrace the new.
Today is the day that a nation of many spoke up for.
Today is the day that we accept the change that has been need for many years.
Today is the day that we embrace a new way of doing things.
Today is the day accept responsibility for our actions as a nation.
Today is the day that we embrace our new Vice President and his wonderful wife.
Today is the day that we help them help us.
Today is the day that we WELCOME with open arms our number 44th President of the United States of America.
TODAY IS THE DAY THAT BARRACK H. OBAMA BECAME THE 44th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!

What a huge moment for him and his beautiful family. And what an even greater moment for our nation.


CHANGE IS COMING!!! AND IT HAS ARRIVED!!!!

OMG COOKIES (almond Joy Cookies)

This Christmas I made cookies for everyone I know and made the kids cookies to take to school for their teachers.
For the last past 2 years I have made Almond Joy Cookies . I found the recipe on the web and my family fell in love with them. Everyone who eats them tells me how great they are and that they are better than sex and they should be called OMG cookies. After making about 400 of them this year I decided that I am going to change the recipe up some to add to the OMG experience next holiday season.

This recipe came form Rachelleb.com
Almond Joy Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups chopped almonds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips, coconut and almonds. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 48 cookies.

Now for the new version that I will be making along with the old one.

Hawaiian Delight cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups White chocolate chips
2 cups flaked coconut
2 cups chopped macadamia nuts toasted
1 cup of dried pineapple (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Finally, stir in the white chocolate chips, coconut and macadamia nuts and pineapple. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 48 cookies.