Thursday, August 11, 2016

Dave's Birthday and a Recipe

Dave turned 33 on Monday and we were all home to celebrate!  So fun!

We started the day off with birthday hugs and presents.


I took Mason with me on Sunday to pick up a few last minute things for Dave and when we were walking through the men's department he saw the lime green nike shirt and excitedly insisted that we get it (and the matching shorts) for Dave so that they could match.  

"Daddy LOVES my green shirt and shorts and he needs some to match me!"


Let's go ahead and pass the "Dad of the Year Award" on to Dave :)



After a lazy morning we headed to the library to pick up a "few" books and movies :)



Shameless selfies with my girl :) 




After the library we headed to Dave's lunch of choice - Baker's Drive-In!  An "original McKinney" staple :) 

Side story about Baker's - The day I got my driver's license I drove to Baker's to pick up dinner for Dave and I and I was going to bring it to him at the tanning salon he worked at (seriously... his aunt and uncle owned a tanning salon).  I pulled my mom's acura into the spot where the Lexus SUV is in the picture below, ordered our food and when I got back in my car I realized I was going to have to BACK OUT onto the highway!!!  The speed limit along HWY 5 was 55 mpg at the time and there were always tons of trucks.   I sat there for what seemed like HOURS waiting for the perfect opportunity to pull out and panic started to set in.  FINALLY a super kind soul saw the panic in my eyes, stopped his 18-wheeler and let me back out.  God bless that truck driver!!!





Griffin got chicken tenders which comes with THE BEST Texas toast and gravy and then Dave and the boys and I had cheeseburgers and onion rings.  There may have been a foot long corny dog in the mix as well.  Because #birthdaylunch 


If you're ever in McKinney do yourself a favor and stop at Baker's and get the onion rings.  It seems sketchy... but I promise it's worth it.  PROMISE!!!


Dave is a HUGE coconut fan, so later that afternoon I whipped up a CRAZY easy birthday treat for him.  I wanted to make cookies for him since Mason, Griffin and I aren't crazy about coconut and I knew that Dave and Luke wouldn't be able to finish an entire cake themselves and this way I could freeze a bunch and he could grab them as often as he wants. 

I googled "Almond Joy Cookies" and decided to try this one from Mom On Timeout because it looked super easy.  I'd never tried a cookie like this before and, according to Dave, the recipe is a total winner.

Here's all you'll need....

- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (14 oz) bag sweetened coconut
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- Chopped almonds


Since I refused to pay a CRAZY amount for a bag of chopped almonds I grabbed a can and chopped them myself.  I needed 2/3 of a cup, so I had some left for snacking this week during in-service.




In a bowl, combine the chopped almonds, chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and coconut. 



Mix until it's all combined and coated.


This is where the process got tricky for me - simply because I haven't made cookies like this before.  I used a tablespoon and scooped out the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  They were a sticky, messy, mess.  After I had scooped them I dipped my fingers in a bowl of cold water and then shaped them into circles and patted them flat.


I thought for sure I was doing it wrong, but they turned out great!


I baked mine for 13 minutes at 325 degrees and they were perfectly gooey and golden brown.  





When it was time for birthday cake and singing I stacked a few up, stuck a candle in them and called it a day :)



Dave has already asked me to add these to the top of the "make again" pile and I've caught him pulling them out of the freezer on multiple occasions.  Luke has asked for one as a treat in his lunch and while I can't attest to the taste (again, not a coconut fan) I can couch for how great they smelled :)

We sang a pretty epic rendition of the Happy Birthday song complete with lots of "cha cha chas" and topped off with a super loud "EAT MORE CHICKEN" and then each kid took a turn blowing out the birthday candle.  ;)




It was so nice that Dave's birthday fell on a day this year where we could spend all day celebrating him together.  The perfect, low key, family day we love.

32 comments :

  1. What a perfect way to celebrate the day! Happy Happy Birthday to Dave! Looks like he had a great one!

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  2. Love that Mason wanted Dave to match him--the pictures at the beginning are so, so cute! So glad y'all got to celebrate together! Such a sweet day filled with lots of memories!
    Sarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts

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    1. Wasn't that so funny??? He now wants to get a matching set for my dad :)

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  3. Okay, yes, Dave does deserve a "great dad" award! I second that! And I feel like we should have paused on Griffin on her hands and knees with the stuffed animal in her mouth next to Dave and Mason. I laughed out loud!

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  4. Looks like Dave had a great birthday!! Love that Mason wanted his daddy to match him!! :)
    I'm with Shay... Griffin in that picture cracked me up!!

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  5. Oh my goodness!! Total matching cuteness!! Haha! What a good sport! Looks like he had a great birthday!! :) Xo

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    1. When they wear them to church be sure to tell Dave that :) hahaha

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  6. Those cookies look amazing! I'm the only coconut fan in my house.

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    1. You should make them for yourself ;) Dave loves them!!!

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  7. I have been so excited for this recipe after seeing the preview on snap chat! Thanks for sharing! :-)

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    1. YAY! Let me know how it goes if you try it :)

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    2. So yummy. My hubby is a coconut freak. I went out yesterday and bought all the goodies and made them. I also had on of my moms stop by from my Girl Scout troop. She was in heaven! Thanks for posting it.

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  8. That man of yours...I don't even know him but I can tell he is such a sweet man. Just in pictures alone, you can see what a great dad and husband he is. You picked good Andrea.

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  9. How sweet. I just know that you all both deserve "parents of the year" awards.

    Ok. That little tasty freeze. I NEED IT! Those are my favorite type of places, and we don't have any around here anymore. My grandparents would take my sister and I every single Friday night for cheeseburgers and curly fries. Memories.

    Ok. Tell me about this cha cha cha and EAT MORE CHICKEN addition to Happy Birthday. I don't get it.

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    1. I don't know about Eat more chicken, but I know at a lot of Mexican restaurants they sing "happy birthday to you cha cha cha...happy birthday to you cha cha cha" etc. :)

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    2. "Happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha)
      Happy Birthday to you (cha cha cha)
      Happy Birthday dear daddy (cha cha cha)
      Happy Birthday to you (EAT MORE CHICKEN!!!)
      It's pure elementary school greatness :)

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  10. When I have to work with that type of dough, I spray my hands with PAM. Really helps!

    What a great Dad, that lime green outfit is awesome! ; )

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  11. I love your blog. Brings back so many memories of when my children where little. I have the same age spread as y'all. Thank you for sharing. Bless!

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    1. Awww! I'm so glad! They're definitely at fun ages :) Thanks so much for reading!

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  12. So sweet!! I love the lime green matchiness!! Gotta try that recipe!! Also, your bangs look great! I notice bangs everywhere now that I'm thinking of chopping lol.

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    1. They did look pretty cute in their matching green :) And THANK YOU for the bangs compliment! SO SWEET!

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  13. Happy Birthday, Dave! I need to make those cookies. They remind me of the toppings on a seven layer bar. Yum!!

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    1. YES!!! Have you had magic cookie bars? It kind of reminded me of those.

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  14. Love these sweet pictures of Dave and the kids at the end! Little dives like that always have the best onion rings. Have a great weekend Andrea!

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  15. I made these cookies this weekend for my son's 21st birthday. Everyone LOVED them!! I didn't use the parchment paper...and that would have helped!

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  16. Making these right now but I can't stop eating the dough!! My favorite candy bar is a mounds. Can't wait for these to come out of the oven.

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