Recipe: Choose Your Chip Cookies

Looking to switch up your classic chocolate chip cookie recipe this fall? I have just what you need.

Over the years, I have made hundreds  (maybe thousands) of batches of cookies, and I have substituted all sorts of different flavors of chips and extracts.

With the holidays approaching, there will be a lot of variety in baking chip flavors available at your local retailers. Some of my favorites include mlik chocolate, candy cane, pumpkin spice, butterscotch, and peanut butter. If you are an online shopper, The Bulk Priced Food Shop on Amazon has a lot of great baking chip flavors.

If you like a little more texture in your cookies, substitute one cup of the chips with dried diced fruit, or crushed freeze dried fruit, or diced candied fruit. Candied lemon peels are excellent in cookies with lemon extract, and white chocolate chips. Dried cherries go great with dark chocolate chips/chunks.

Change up the flavor with different extracts. I like cake batter, lemon, or almond in place of vanilla. Watkins is my favorite brand- they have a wide variety of flavor extracts. Rembmer Essential oils and baking extracts are NOT THE SAME THING.

If you are vegan or gluten-free, there will be substitutions at the end of this post just for you.

Choose Your Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup room-temperature butter (not melted, not hot)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/4 cups, all purpose, baking flour
  • 2 cups of chips, your choice

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until fluffy (about 1-2 minutes).
  3. Add sugars one at a time and mix until fluffy.
  4. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated fully.
  5. Mix in baking  soda, salt, and flour.
  6. Once all ingredients are blended into the dough, add chips.
  7. I like to refrigerate my dough for about 30 minutes, this gives the flour a chance to rehydrate, and for the flavors to meld before the cookies are baked. It really in my opinion it makes the cookie texture a little bit better.
  8. Drop tablespoon-sized dough balls on cookie sheets that have been greased or are lined with parchment paper. I prefer parchment paper.
  9. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes.  Let cookies rest 1-2 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack.

Variations: substitute half a cup of the room temperature butter for nut or seed butter of your choice. This will give your cookies a subtle nut flavor.

If you are vegan, substitute butter with your favorite plant-based butter, or hydrogenated shortening. Butter flavor shortening works best.

Additionally, you can substitute the two eggs for two flax eggs or egg replacer of your choice. It does affect the texture of the cookie, but if you are vegan or egg free, you’re probably used to the texture.

Q-Insights Shopping Online Study – Pays $150

QI-logoNOslogan.pngQ-insights is another company where I do research groups, focus groups, and online surveys to earn extra money.

They have a lot of stuff in South Orange County and less often in San Diego County. Currently, they are conducting an online study about Online Shopping.

They are currently recruiting people ages 18 to 65 for a study about online shopping.

This will be a 60-minute online webcam interview.

The interviews will take place October 28th through November 6th.

The incentive for the study is $150.

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the survey here. A recruiter will contact you if you pre-qualify and ask additional screening questions.

Advanced Opinions: Project Online on Health Conditions $75.00

Opinions is another Market Research company that emails me about studies and surveys. Right now, they are recruiting for a new study.

Open to ages 18+.

This is an online project for individuals who have been diagnosed with, or are actively involved in caring for someone diagnosed with, one or more of the following medical conditions.

Conditions
Narcolepsy Type 1 (with cataplexy)
Narcolepsy Type 2 (without cataplexy)
Narcolepsy (type unknown)
Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH)
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS)
Dravet syndrome
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) with seizures
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
Lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL)
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Small cell lung cancer (SCLC)
Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD) / sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS)
H3 K27M-mutant diffuse midline glioma
HER2-positive biliary tract cancer

Compensation, if selected and fully participate – $75.00

To be considered, complete the form here. 

10/18/2026 Weekly Meal Plan

The weather this week is going to be weird- Hot in the beginning of the week, and rainy and wet towards the middle and end. All I want is fall weather. I’m craving SOUP! I’ve got a few new recipes in the works- I’ll be sharing them once I make them.

I do my grocery shopping usually early on Saturday morning, after I inventory the fridge, freezer, and pantry (the forms I used are in this post- they are FREE). This week I didn’t buy a lot. We’ve got a lot of pantry staples, and I’m leaning into those, plus a lot of frozen veggies (from our last delivery of veggies for the local CSA. I cleaned, chopped, and bagged what we weren’t able to eat right away), and a big package of chicken breast.

Breakfast: The Big Kid has joined the Protein Coffee train with me. He has his with the equivalent of 2-3 shots of espresso in it, served hot. I take my Protein Coffee iced. 1 protein shake and 20 ounces of cold brew. The littler dude is on an Einstein Bros. Bagel kick. I buy them once every few weeks, pre-sliced, then I stash them in the freezer and pull them out and toast them as needed.

Lunch:  Monday through Friday, I pack my own and the kids’ lunches. I bring 5 lunches to work on Monday and stash them in the fridge. I pack the kids’ lunches each night before bed, except for the cold stuff and ice pack- those I put in when I get up in the morning. This week I have frozen entrees- there was a sale a few weeks ago, and I bought enough for the first 2 weeks of school. The big kid has basically the same lunch every day: Sandwich, drink, Quest Protein Chips, and a couple of cookies or whatever I made this week. The little dude has cheesy popcorn, mandarin oranges (2), a cheese stick, a yogurt drink, a cookie, and a fruit snack. Whatever keeps them fed!

Dinner: It’s a mixed bag of crockpot meals and quick-cook, easy dinners this week.

  • Monday: Italian Night
  • Tuesday: Crockpot meal-chicken chili
  • Wednesday: Smoothies and Charcuterie plates (this has become a Wednesday special)

  • Thursday: Quesadillas, beans and rice

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza
  • Sunday:  Crockpot meal- meatball beefy rice (recipe forthcoming), roasted green beans

10/18/2026 Weekend Freebies and Deals

I woke up this morning and thought it was Monday. It’s going to be a long day.

Here are some freebies and deals that are available year-round!

For free food resources, see my comprehensive list here.  It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are available outside my area.

Freebies:

FREE Fragrance Samples from Macy’s
FREE JDC Coffee Sample
FREE Kitchen Without Borders Cookbook
FREE 2027 Fellowship Calendar
FREE La Colombe Coffee Workshop Cold Brew Creations House Party Kit
FREE Amazon Holiday Kids Gift Book with Activities & Stickers
Free Hair Samples: Discover Your Next Favorite Product for Free
FREE Microadventure Mystery Box
Get Free Beauty Samples in the Mail From La Roche-Posay, Dove, Hermes, Giorgio Armani and Others
FREE Original Glazed or Classic Ring Donut at Krispy Kreme on Oct. 30 & 31
FREE Sample of Stetson Untamed Fragrance
FREE Firefighting Plane Kit Workshop Event at Lowe’s
FREE Gigglescape Flower Stickers at Target
FREE Digital Thermometer
FREE Sample Mail Call for October
FREE Trick-or-Treat Event at Petco
FREE Rubbermaid Brilliance Storage Container Set at Walmart

Deals:

CVS Photo Coupons & Promo Codes – BOGO FREE Gifts, 15¢ 4×6 Prints & More
Women’s Halloween Sweater ONLY $12.39 (Reg $25)
61-Piece Magnetic Nut Driver Set for Impact Drills ONLY $$19.65 (Reg $40)
Gourmia All-in-One 14-Quart Air Fryer ONLY $55 (Reg $99)
Disney Store: Up to 30% Off Costumes & Halloween Styles
Bedsure Soft Fleece Throw Bed Blanket ONLY $9.98 (Reg $18)
Prime Members Save 20¢ Per Gallon on Gas Each Friday
Elle Roamer Vegan Leather Weekender Tote Bag ONLY $49.99 (Reg $88)
Old Navy Long-Sleeve T-Shirts For the Family as low as $5
Get Free Manufacturer Coupons by Mail From Your Favorite Companies
Amazon Haul Flash Deals: $2 & Under
Academy Sports Coupons: New $15 Off $15 Order! Save on Nike, Adidas, Under Armour & More
BJ’s Wholesale Coupon Policy + Digital Coupons
Beautiful Rotating Belgian Waffle Maker ONLY $19.99 (Reg $35)
Eastsport Backpacks as low as $8.35 at Walmart (Reg $25)
Chelsea Loft Pinsonic Floral Embossed 2-Piece Quilt Set ONLY $19.43 (Reg $65)

Earn Money This Fall with Surveys!

It’s that time of year when we start thinking about end-of-year holidays, gift-giving, parties, and new clothes. All of those things cost money. I’m buckling down on my survey taking to earn a little extra money for end-of-year and holiday fun.  Here are some of my favorite survey companies:

Online Surveys with Mypoints– I consistently earn $5-$10/day in Amazon or Target Gift Cards doing MyPoints surveys. Here is a post about how I earned Amazon Gift Cards with MyPoints surveys.

PaidViewPoint– They only send you surveys that you qualify for, so there is no wasted time. Payout is only $10.00, so I make a payout about 1-2 times a month. It’s not tons of work, and every little bit helps!

Pinecone Research: My favorite survey company. Great payouts for each survey, and they only send you surveys that you are already pre-qualified for! And you get $5 when you sign up!

I’ve been a member of Swagbucks for years, and it’s an easy way to earn free gift cards and cash. Right now, when you sign up, you’ll score $10 FREE!

Members join for free and will have access to all of our earning verticals, including, but not limited to, watching videos, shopping for cash back, taking surveys, and redeeming special offers.

Swagbucks is the web’s leading rewards platform, dedicated to providing FREE gift cards to its 12+ million members.

Choose from top retailers like Amazon, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, PayPal, and tons more.

Join Inbox Dollars free and get paid to take surveys, shop online, try name-brand products, and play games online.

You do online activities: Take Surveys, Watch Videos, Shop, and More.

You earn real CASH!

 

Receive cash back from Kashkick when you read emails, complete surveys, take quizzes, refer your friend, and subscribe to special promotions.

Earnings are deposited into your Paypal account!

 

And I post market research and focus group invitations from PRC and AO Opinions at least once a week, so keep your eyes peeled for those opportunities as well. Don’t forget to check out my monthly “Side Quest” Posts for more ways I earn cash and gift cards each month!

2026 Halloween and Fall Fun Events in San Diego, CA

It’s that time of year: Spooky Season! I’ll be decorating the house this week, once the heat breaks, and we’ve already started on Halloween costumes!

My kids have always loved wearing their costumes as much as possible, so we’re always on the lookout for fun Halloween events.

Here are just a few events that are free and seasonal.

10/09/2026

10/17/2026

10/18/2026

10/23/2026:

10/24/2026:

10/25/2026

10/30/2026:

10/31/2026

SanDiego.org has a listing of events all over the county. Some may not be free.

Talk Back: If you know of any free Halloween or Fall events that are free and family-friendly, please leave a comment!

National Food Bank Week- Helping Others in your Community!

This week is National Food Bank Week. If you’ve got a spare $5.00 or so, you can help your neighbors in need by picking up some canned/shelf-stable food and donating it to your local food bank or local free little pantry. Find your local food bank here, and your free Little Pantry here.

For those in need in the San Diego County area, check out my list of local food resources here.

10/9/2026 Friday Freebies and Deals!

Woo Hoo! It’s Friday and I’m ready for a few days off work.

Here are some freebies and deals that are available year-round!

For free food resources, see my comprehensive list here.  It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are available outside my area.

Freebies:

2 FREE Movie Tickets to Trust Me, I’m a Doctor
FREE $40 Worth of Batteries from Staples
10 Ways to Save Big on Pet Food Delivery Services + Get Free Shipping
FREE Fanta Halloween at Love’s Travel Stops – Today Only
FREE Sample of AESTURA Atobarrier 365 Cream
FREE LEGO Giraffe Build Event at Toys R Us
Apply for a FREE Little Hut Library
FREE Giorgio Armani Si Passione Eclat Fragrance Sample
Prime Members Score GrubHub+ FREE ($120 Value a Year)
FREE AG1 by Athletic Greens Samples
FREE Slider at Dave’s Hot Chicken on October 13th
FREE Sample of Tru-Swipe
FREE Sample Mail Call for October
FREE Veg & Bloom Fertilizer Sample Pack
FREE Titleist Golf Balls
FREE Sherpa Zip Pouch at Target
FREE $40 Worth of Command Hooks, Hanging Strips & More from Staples
FREE 4-Pack of Photo Strips at Walgreens
Urban Air Free admission Ticket ($30 value)
FREE Sample of Pedigree Pouches Dog Food & Drizzlers Savory Sauce
How to Score Free P&G Samples Like a Pro
Free Baby Samples & Full Sized Products from Amazon
FREE Sample of Native State Foods Superfood Bites
FREE Sample of Welch’s Probiotic Yogofruits
FREE Sample of Wildflower Pets Soft Chews
FREE Desert Harvest Aloe Vera Capsules Sample Pack
FREE Bat Koozie at Dunkin’ on October 16th
Free Krispy Kreme Looney Tunes Donut Today
Big List of 110 Restaurants to Get Free Food
4 Months FREE Amazon Music Unlimited | Limited Time Only
FREE Box of Keebler Cookies at 12pm EST – Daily Through Oct. 31st
FREE Sample of L’Oreal Keratin Alpha Sleek Mask

Deals:

The Top 7 Best Places to Buy Discounted Gift Cards: Up to 30% OFF!
Teachers: Save 20% with the Under Armour Teacher Discount
Save Money with Valvoline Coupons: Up to $25 Off
Black+Decker PowerSeries Flex 3-in-1 Multi-Surface Vacuum ONLY $24.99 (Reg $60)
Amazon Fire TV Soundbar 2.0 Speaker ONLY $79.99 Shipped (Reg $120)
Indoor Halloween Decor From $1.97 at Walmart
Halloween Inflatables as low as $16.00 at Walmart
Get the Best Price Adjustments with Kohl’s Price Match Policy: FAQ
Lux Decor Collection King Bed Sheets ONLY $16.50 (Reg $48)
Character Sweatshirt & Pants Set ONLY $5.50 (Reg $13)
Walmart Deals & More Sale – Save Up to 75% Off!
The Walmart Bogg Bag Dupe You Gotta Check Out!
Amazon Toys Promo: Buy $40, Save $10 Instantly!
The Big One Bath Towel ONLY $2.61 at Kohl’s
2026 Advent Calendar for Kids ONLY $9.99 (Reg $20)
Our Favorite Places to Score Cheap Baby Clothes + Shop Great Deals Happening Now!
Ninja Professional Plus Blender ONLY $99.99 at Target (Reg $170)
Crock-Pot 7-qt. Countdown Cook & Carry Slow Cooker ONLY $33.74 at Kohl’s (Reg $110)
Kate Spade has their Reegan Small Shoulder Bag for ONLY $78.48 (Reg $378)
CHI Original Ceramic Flat Iron ONLY $39.81 (Reg $100)
Kohl’s Deal Days is Live: 25% Off Coupon, Kohl’s Cash & Free Shipping + Deals UNDER $5
Amazon Prime Deal: Spend $100 Get $30 in Credit on Baby Products
The 5 Best Hotel Rewards Programs That’ll Save You SO Much Money +Tips
10 Bogg Bag Dupes on Amazon That Are Just as Great as the Real Bogg Bag