3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

This 3 ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie recipe just might be the easiest cookie you'll ever bake! Packed with protein, flourless and gluten-free you'll have no guilt and no regrets after baking this little treat! Grab your Peanut Butter, Brown Sugar and Egg and you'll have delicious peanut-buttery cookies in minutes! 

What you'll need:

• 1 cup peanut butter 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium sized bowl mix peanut butter, brown sugar and egg. Mix well. 
3. Roll dough into 1-1/2" balls and place 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet. 
4. With a fork, gently press down on cookie criss-cross to form easy, yet attractive cookie design. 
5. Bake cookies for 8 minutes and let cool on baking sheet 5-7 minutes before transferring to racks. 

Also try: Dip cookies into melted chocolate and set to harden for an extra peanut-buttery chocolate treat!

 Enjoy!

Starbucks Discoveries Caramel Macchiato Review

The quest to find the perfect cup of coffee never ceases, especially a delicious and affordable one I can drink at home. Getting coffee out is one of the biggest treats of my day, but the coffee shop can put quite a dent in the Piggy over time. I do love visiting Starbucks on occasion, my Starbucks regular changes from a Caramel Frappuccino to a Carmel Macchiato depending on my calories for the day. ;) 

Last night while shopping at Target I was surprised to see that Starbucks has a ready to drink Iced Coffee called Starbucks Discoveries in Carmel Macchiato!

I know that Seattle's Best and Silk makes an iced Coffee drink but I had yet to see a ready to drink Starbucks in this size. Best of all they had my beloved Carmel Macciato and the ingredients were whole and simple, so I just had to try!

Starbucks Discoveries Carmel Macchiato Ingredients:

Unlike the other brands of ready to serve iced coffee, Starbucks has simple and easy to understand ingredients. No artificial colors or sweeteners  I am slightly concerned about what the 'Natural flavors' might contain as recently a law passed that allowed artificial sweeteners to be labeled under Natural Flavors. However most artificial sweeteners have a distinct taste and I didn't notice one and 17 grams of sugar per serving is quite high so I think we're safe there :) 

Taste: 

This Carmel Macciato is ready to serve, plain or over ice. The Starbucks Carmel Macciato has a thin consistency but packs good flavor. A mild espresso base with a rich and warm buttery carmel flavor. It is slightly creamy. It seems to water down quickly over ice and tastes better served alone. It's not quite as sweet as an Iced Carmel Macciato from Starbucks but definitely does the job and satisfies the craving for tasty iced coffee! A Tall, 8 ounce iced Carmel Macciato from Starbucks has 170 calories per serving while each serving of Starbucks Discoveries Carmel Macciato has only 120! a diet friendly treat :) 

Price: 

Target Price: $3.99, 

1.5 qt sized carton that holds six, 8oz servings bringing the total cost per 8 ounces to $.67 each! A tall sized (small, 8 ounce) Iced Carmel Macciato from Starbucks costs $2.80. A Carmel Macciato from Starbucks comes with real carmel drizzle but for $2.13 cents cheaper I will choose my ready to serve Iced Carmel Macciato and no carmel drizzle, anyday ;)

Overall: 

Starbucks Discoveries Iced Cafe Carmel Macciato is definitely tasty, readily available both in fridge and at the grocery store. It's far cheaper than an iced coffee of it's kind at Starbucks and lower in calories as well! A definite WIN and a 4 out of 5 star beverage! I will repurchase this again and look forward to trying the other flavors as well! :)

Thanks for reading! 

Organic Patio Garden in Bloom! : The Daily Scoop

Happy November friends! 

It's prime gardening season here in Arizona and we're delighted to share a few photos from our blooming winter patio garden! 

Because of Arizona's unique temperature & environment, a successful harvest planting starts late summer and successes through our mild chilly winter season into late spring. 

This year, we didn't start early enough to catch the Watermelon and Pumpkin growing season but we're looking forward to starting again in the Spring!

Our patio garden and raised beds consist of numerous potted herbs and vegetables and in a few recycled pallets lying flat. We really love to use the recycled wood pallets as raised garden beds, the slats are perfect for vegetable rows!

Our blooming garden so far:

Clockwise from Left: Sugar Snap Pea, French Lavender, Green Bean, Cherry Tomato, Our Garden Guest the Caterpillar (who's been munching all of our leaves!) and Parsley. 

We've also sowed cucumbers, radishes, and a variety of cooking herbs.

 While growing this small organic garden we've already had our share of leaf munching critters. Yesterday we found two very large Rustic Shpinx caterpillars inching their way from our vegetable pallet to the tomato pot. We know the caterpillars appreciate a good organic veggie too! :)

Above: Cilantro (Corriander) Seed Sprouts

As Mexican food lovers we love to keep a few pots of fresh Cilantro growing at all times to add to fresh salsa, soup, salads, tacos, burritos and our favorite, homemade guacamole!

It doesn't matter if you have a tiny balcony or even a small kitchen window, the greatness of growing in pots is that you can grow nearly anywhere and there are many varieties of  fruits and vegetables that can grow in unique environments!

The beauty of eating something you've grown yourself is an amazing feeling! 

We will keep you posted as the garden continues to grow. :)

To bountiful harvests, happy gardening!