Butter Ball Cookies

Baking is one of the things that I always try to do at Christmas.

I don't do much baking the rest of the year, but Christmas time it is a must.

Our family favorite that we have to make every year are Butter Ball Cookies.

They are soooo good and I can't help but taste the dough and lick my fingers throughout the baking process.

They can be a bit messy, I always plan on it getting like that so I don't get too stressed.

Butter Ball Cookies

{Preheat oven to 325 degrees}

1 cup butter {not margarine}, softened

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

a dash of salt {I never measure how much}

sifted powdered sugar

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and the 1/2 cup powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat or stir in the flour, walnuts, vanilla and salt. Mix thoroughly, using hands if necessary. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, place balls 1 1/2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake in a 325 degree oven for 14 - 16 minutes or until the cookies are very lightly browned. Wait 3 - 4 minutes and roll the cookies in powdered sugar. Cool cookies on wire racks then roll them in powdered sugar again. Makes about 48 cookies

This recipe came from K's mom and is one of my absolute favorites.

What is your favorite Christmas treat to make? 

One of my favorite things to eat

avocados!

I can't deny my love for this fruit.

Although, when I look at it I often time wonder who the first person was to crack one open and thought, hmmm, this could be really good to eat.

Ha ha!

It's kind of gnarly looking, don't you think?

However gnarly looking it is, I just can't help but eat them.

We buy them by the bag full from Sam's Club and I find myself checking almost every day to see if they are ripe yet.

Today was like hitting the jackpot, a couple are ready.

Since I can't eat a couple at a time I chose one to inhale.

I like to eat them many different ways, I even had some in an omelet this past weekend.

{believe it or not it was GOOD!}

But my favorite is to cut it open, scoop the green deliciousness into a bowl and smash it with a fork until it resembles this:

I know, it doesn't look appetizing.

But trust me.

Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste and inhale it with some tortilla chips.

My kids love it.

They are more than happy to have a dollop on their plate and eat it with a spoon.

Today though, I had some black beans in the fridge so I added those too.

It was soooo good!

Do you like avocados?

If so, what is your favorite way to eat them? 

The best dinner

Okay, so the picture is simply awful.

In my defense the food looked so good that I couldn't wait to eat it.

Then I reheated leftovers for lunch, which again, looked so good that I couldn't help but eat it.

Hence, this sad, awful picture.

K found a recipe online for cilantro lime rice {similar to Chipotle's}.

This isn't the exact recipe he looked at.

{Plus, it's K and he doesn't really use recipes...EVER.}

Okay, back to it.

K called last night saying that he was going to stop by the grocery store to pick up ingredients for the already mentioned rice.

My mind quickly sprung to: 

frozen corn

black beans

avocados

After bringing home the supplies, K got to working on the rice.

We had leftover rice from a previous dinner so he prepped the lime and cilantro.

Add then got to mixing it all up.

I worked on the other stuff.

{super easy}

Okay.

He bought the steam in the bag kind of corn so I cooked it according to the directions.

Next for the black beans all I did was drain and rinse them and tossed them in a glass bowl.

I then added the corn, mixed it and added some fresh cracked black pepper.

We also had some leftover grilled pork loin so K reheated it.

Next for the avocado.

I am a purest when it comes to avocados.

I love the way they taste and don't like to busy it up.

All I did was slice it, scope it, add salt and pepper {to taste} and mash it up with a fork.

So so so good.

We really like avocado so I used two.

We normally leave everything separate {you can kind of tell in the above picture} because the kids like putting food together.

*I* put the rice, corn/black bean combo and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese in a bowl, mixed it up and put a generous amount some of the mashed avocado on top.

Adison added taco sauce.

K added salsa and pork.

Lee ate everything separate.

Abby mashed all of hers together.

Basically we all made it to taste and inhaled.

Then I repeated it at lunch.

If I'm being honest I am even considering some for dinner too.

Yum!

We will definitely be making this again, I see it becoming a family favorite.