So yesterday was my “due date”, and here I am today, still pregnant.

This comes as no surprise really as I have never had a baby arrive before 40 weeks. This babe appears to be reading the notes the other two left behind, which must instruct all fetuses to stay put until I start making threats to name them Newton or Elphaba.

While we wait, I’m doing all sorts of important stuff around here. You know, like cleaning, doing laundry, playing Spider Solitaire, cleaning again, and most importantly, making cookies.

I like to call these Lactation Cookies because they contain rolled oats. Oatmeal is supposed to be one of those foods that helps boost your milk supply, but if you’re not lactating or don’t plan be to any time soon, you can just call them oatmeal cookies. Whether that oatmeal bit is really true or not, it’s a great excuse to make oatmeal cookies if I’ve ever heard one.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c butter, softened
1 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
2 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c chocolate chips (or raisins)
3/4 c walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in vanilla. Beat in one egg at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Slowly add dry mix to butter/sugar mix. Stir in oats and chocolate chips, 1 cup at a time. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, allow to cool on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before moving to cooling racks.

The next thing to do with these cookies is to bag them up and stick them in the freezer, so that you have a stash of oatmeal cookies on hand when you really need them.

This freezer step is extremely important though! It helps them disappear slower, but it also forces you eat slower. That means it’s not as easy to shovel in half a dozen cookies before your game of Spider Solitare is over.

Eat slower, feel satisfied sooner, fewer cookies are consumed and now there are more for me.

Most importantly? Frozen cookies are freaking awesome.

This is where my best girlfriend who already made a batch of oatmeal cookies for my freezer is saying “ummm, Alison, what happened to the ones I made you?”

Uh, yeah. We ate those. I had to make more.

My apologies for being MIA in recent weeks. Truth be told I’ve simply been the most boring foodie this side of the Mississippi. I’ve eaten more watermelon than any one person should be allowed to eat and I’ve spent the third trimester forcing greens and vegetables down with a stick. I’m hoping that once baby is finally here, he or she will bring back my appetite for more varied and interesting meals along with them.

This is why a cookie recipe is all I’ve got for you for now. The hand that makes the oatmeal cookies rules the world!

That’s how that saying goes, right?