So it’s summer time, it’s hot and you want cookies. Me too.

But you don’t want to go to the store for a long list of ingredients or turn on the oven. Me neither.

Enter EZPZ chocolate oatsies.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp vanilla

Put the milk, cocoa, sugar and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Fun fact: metal bowls are not microwave safe. Give them a little stir and microwave for 3 minutes on the normal setting. Take the bowl of deliciousness out of the microwave and stir it a little. The butter won’t be completely melted yet, but that’s okay.

Really important side note: if you’re going to lick the spoon at this phase, blow on it first. Your burned tongue will thank you for it.

Put the bowl back in the microwave for 3 more minutes.

While the microwave is going, measure out your oats, peanut butter and vanilla and lay some wax paper (or foil) out on a counter top surface.

This time, when the microwave beeps you should have bubbly chocolate goodness.

While it still super hot (dude, do not lick the spoon at this stage) pour in the oats, peanut butter and vanilla and stir pretty quickly.

Once it’s all mixed, drop spoonfuls onto the waxed paper. Let them cool and firm up for about 10 minutes while you’re licking the bowl.

And then enjoy. Recipe makes 2-3 dozen of these chocolate peanut butter lovelies. You’ll wish there were more.

Microwave cookies.  You can’t get easier than that!  This EZPZ recipe comes to us courtesy of Katie, who we love and adore more than words.  Katie blogs at Overflowing Brain, and she is a hardcore baker.  Trust us, you’ll wanna munch on most anything she puts in front of you!

We were sitting in a restaurant in New York City, waiting for our heart shaped lobster ravioli from our waiter with a thick Italian accent, wondering why on earth he insisted on working with his shirt on.  We’ve been friends ever since.  We love you Daisy, thanks for posting this lazy risotto recipe today!

Risotto is one of my favorite things in the entire world, both to make and eat. Unfortunately for the at-home chef, risotto gets a bit of a bad reputation, as it is often billed as “labor intensive” or “messy.” Risotto, for those who don’t know, is loosely defined as “a deliciously creamy rice dish that will make you think you are eating a quart of cream and cheese but in reality you are not……” Risotto achieves its creamy texture and taste by cooking the rice slowly in small amounts of liquid allowing the stuff (technical term) inside the rice to slowly ooze out; typically this is/was achieved by stirring the entire time it cooks while carefully ladling (read: dripping) stock into your pan. I am entirely too lazy for that nonsense. Start to finish this recipe takes about 35 minutes, including chopping all of my veggies.

This is less a hard and fast recipe than some tips and tricks to implement in any risotto recipe you stumble across. Family favorites in my house include the Pioneer Woman’s Roasted Red Pepper Risotto and Cooking Light’s Lemon, Leek and Tarragon Risotto. My tips are demonstrated as I whip up an adapted recipe batch of the Pioneer Woman’s dish. (No turmeric, and an addition of shallots and asparagus.)

Risotto at home requires your ingredients, a tea kettle and a nice big dutch oven or sauce pan with a lid.

Start out by assembling your ingredients:

• 1 shallot & 1 small onion, diced
• 2 red peppers, diced
• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into thirds
• 1 quart of chicken stock (low sodium) + 1 can chicken stock (low
  sodium)
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 or 4 oz of goat cheese
• 1 3/4 cup of Arborio rice
• Red wine for deglazing the pan
• 1 tbs olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

First things first, I pour all of my chicken stock into my tea kettle and get it boiling. This is how you are going to transfer my hot stock into the dutch oven without making a huge mess. Add 1 tbs olive oil to your dutch oven and set it over medium heat. After you get those things going, dice your veggies, grate your cheese and measure your rice- then you can just add when ready, instead of trying to squeeze
things in as the dish cooks.

When your dutch oven is hot, add your peppers and onions and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the veggies begin to soften and brown. Stir occasionally & add salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper).

When your veggies are ready, dump all of the rice into the pan and let it cook for about a minute, stirring it a few times. This allows the rice to warm up and begin to toast which equals another delicious point at the end.

After you’ve let the rice cook for a minute or so, deglaze the pan with some wine. For people who like to measure, pour 1/4 cup of wine in, for those who don’t, just pour for a second or two and stir everything around. The wine will loosen all the yummy brown bits off the bottom of your pan and add flavor to the dish. Let it cook for a minute or two, stirring it once or twice. Once this is done you are ready for what was
traditionally the labor intensive step of adding stock every few minutes, stirring constantly in between each addition of stock.

Instead……

Stir the rice until it is nice and even in the bottom of the pan, and then pour in about 1/4 cup of the boiling stock from the tea kettle, or enough to almost cover the rice in liquid. Stir the stock/rice/veggie mixture, evening everything out and then…walk away. As long as your rice and liquid are in a nice even layer and your pan is on medium heat, it will bubble away on its own just fine. Return every 4 minutes or so to add another splash of stock and stir it so it is even, and then walk away again. Watch the latest episode of House Hunters, wrangle your kids, write your grocery list. Whatever you’d like to do. Just keep pop in to keep
adding stock every 3 to 4 minutes, give it a swirl and watch it transform from this:

To this:

See how the grains of rice have gotten fluffier and the consistency has gotten thicker and richer? No? Blame my photography skills, which are lacking.

Once a taste test reveals soft rice grains, typically about 25 minutes after you start adding stock and when you have just a little bit of stock left in your tea kettle, let the remaining liquid bubble off.

Add any remaining veggies (such as asparagus), stir, add your goat cheese, stir, and then add your Parmesan to the top. Stir once or twice and then turn the heat off, put the lid on, and back away for 5 minutes.

Something magical happens during that five minutes, and the cheese melts, the asparagus steams and the rice gives up its last remaining bits of stuff (again: technical term) and turns it into:

Serve on its own, with a big salad, or even topped with grilled shrimp or chicken. Enjoy!

(And don’t forget to wash out your tea kettle. Because, uh, chicken stock does not make delicious green tea. Not that something like that happened at my house once.)

TOMORROW!

is the day we celebrate one year under our belts, and reward you all with great memories and fun giveaways!

So, remember to check in early so you can enter, and see all the amazing prizes, not to mention, leave us some well wishes on twitter, hashtag #AimingLowBday, and your message will scroll live on our site for all the world to see!

It all starts tomorrow, bright and early, so find your coffee and your most comfortable pants, and we’ll see you all there!

BlogHer is three weeks away, and there is now, officially, one more amazing event to add to your schedule!

Aiming Low is once again partnering with the folks at HP to bring you one heck of an amazing party!  It’s time to join us in NYC and Get Your Geek on with all of your best friends!

So, Save the Date, Friday, August 6th, because we are going to have food, drinks, amazing giveaways, sneak peeks, wonderful friends, and everything you will need to bring out the geek inside of YOU….but in a totally cool way, of course!

Watch the EZPZ section this week for RSVP information, because while the event is open to everyone, space is limited!

801 of you entered.

Only seven can win.

DRUMROLL PLEASE….

And the winners of the Five (5) HP Photosmart Plus All-in-One Printer are:

1. meghann, who blogs at Midget Invasion

2. Dan, who blogs at The Art of Panic

3. samantha jo campen, who blogs at Back to Me

4. Claire, who blogs at Are Muffins Ugly Cupcakes

5. Laurie, who blogs at La Vie de Laurie

And the winner of the HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One is:

1. Manda, who blogs at Inside Dog

And, finally, the GRAND PRIZE winner of the HP Photosmart Premium Touchsmart Web AiO is:

1. MommaKiss, who blogs at Momma Kiss

Congratulations everyone! We will be emailing all winners today!

Many things in our lives are print-worthy, and it’s not just photos. We print the essays our children write, or projects we do for school, crafts we want to attempt with the little ones, or recipes when we are feeling ambitious in the kitchen, flyers, business proposals, and maps when we don’t know where we are going.  Even coloring pages so we can have just a few quiet minutes.  So, not only do we print the things we love to share, but printing can also make our lives easier.

And, if there’s one thing the Aiming Low girls know, it’s the importance of anything that makes our lives just a wee bit easier.

(Except for that pancake batter in a can stuff. You are just going to have to trust us on this one.)

So, in the interest of making lives easier…we’d like to make that happen for SEVEN lucky readers by giving away seven HP printers! Yes, you read that right. We are giving away SEVEN printers.

The Grand Prize: One (1) HP Photosmart Premium Touchsmart Web AiO (ARV $399.00)

2nd prize: One (1) HP Photosmart Premium All-in-One (ARV $199.99)

Honorable Mentions: Five (5) HP Photosmart Plus All-in-One Printer (ARV $149.99)

All we ask of you is to leave a comment below and tell us something that you love to print and share. That’s it. EASY PEASY. Or, EZPZ, if you will. Your comment below is your entry. Only one entry per person, please. BUT, if you’d like to have AN EXTRA ENTRY to win one of these 7 printers, you can also head on over to our brand spanking new EZPZ section and poke around a bit and then come back here and leave a second comment, telling us what kind of tips and how-tos you like to see us Aiming Low girls do next!  This contest, unfortunately, is only open to US residents. The contest is open until 10:00 PM EST on Thursday, June 24th. We will  pick winners using random.org and will announce them on Friday, June 25th.

Good luck!

Today, we celebrate the merger of taking the easy way out with having the easy way out at your finger tips.

At Aiming Low, we make a lot of jokes about walking the line of mediocrity, but, the truth is, we are actually all pretty good at stuff.  From cooking to photography to gardening, each of us has a hidden talent that we excel at.

But, just because we happen to be good at things like sewing or crafting or selling, doesn’t mean we don’t try take the easiest route to get to the final product.

Our friends at Hewlett Packard are all about making us look good and our lives easier, without sacrificing any of the quality.

It was a natural fit for HP to join forces with Aiming Low to bring you our brand new how-to section, EZPZ.  From creating birthday invitations to making some late night Sesame Noodles watching Glee, we have you covered.

Be sure to check back often, ’cause we’ll have amazing how-tos on photo albums, baking, makeup, hair, style…and that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg!

We have questions. Twitter has answers.

And, it’s there where we find…the skinny.

This week we turn to the beauty and the brains behind Aiming Low to share with you our all time favorite Etsy Finds.

Brittany: Well, first for the bebe, I love yummy baby hats from Citefuzz, Mad About Colour for colorful whimsical knit items, and Knotty Baby Wear for all our go-to baby leg warmers.  Sigh.  ADORBS.  And for meeeee, I loves me some neck pretties from Necklush.

Jen: Lucky Straps (I adore mine, Heather has one too).  The Homespun Raven (looks like she is on vacation right now but I have the “Build a Bridge and Get Over It” sign, LOVE).  Nini’s Handmade (adorable baby hats).

Heather: I am OBSESSED with bambina mia!!!

Janet: Mooibags cellphone cases (they call them cozies…which is dumb). I have one. It’s well made and big enough for an iPhone or iPod Touch. Oh, and Ruffle Bloomers—if my daughter was a toddler, she’d have like 10 of these!

Maria: Ooooooo! I love Calabasas Candy Co. for delicious candy, Beach Chicken for vintage book journals make great gifts, A Forest Frolic for cute and somehow NOT tacky crafts (“I love your face.” OMG.), and Mincing Mockingbird, I’ve purchased like 12 of those magnets!

Ali: I like these: Luxe Deluxe, Claudia Varosia, Lirola,  Maleah Matthews Photography,  ZozoBugBaby, and Sugar Chic Baby.

Meghan: Photo Atelier and Otis B. Jewelry.  Dammit, now I want to spend money.

Amy: Contrariwise Jewelry.  Oooh!  Also, THIS coloring wallet, got one for my niece for Christmas one year.  Can’t wait to get one for Nathan!

Laurin: I like Whimsy and Spice for food, and Owl and Bird mania, and Dig This Chick is just too cute!!!

Angie: I love Janine King Designs and Lady Bird Land! from Allison Strine Designs.

Katie: I don’t actually cruise Etsy but I did purchase this and love it. Pulp Fiction Jules – Apple Macbook Vinyl Decal – Laptop Sticker Art. Airport security loves it when you feature a gun on your laptop – take my word for it. Makes for interesting conversation while enduring secondary searches and repeated questionings.

Shauna: My three faves are Vulva Pendants from VulvaLoveLovely, birthing dolls from Mamamor, and hand painted wine glasses!

Want to participate in next week’s Skinny? Make sure you are following us on twitter!

We have questions.  Twitter has answers.

And, it’s there where we find…the skinny.

This week we offer up an interview of the male persuasion.  You can find Mike Spohr on twitter, taunting his Words With Friends nemeses, twitpic’ing pictures of his beautiful newborn daughter, and owning you in pop culture and music knowledge.  And, he WILL own you.  He always does.

1.  What is the best concert you have ever attended?

Paul McCartney at the Hollywood Bowl this week was up there, but three immediately come to mind 1. Beck/Bob Dylan at the El Rey (small venue) in 1998, 2. The Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1995 featuring The Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Bjork, Beck, The Fugees, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Biz Markie, (the list goes on!), and 3. The Bridge School Benefit in 2004 featuring Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Tony Bennet, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, and Tegan & Sarah.

2.  What words are hard for you to pronounce, and how do you pronounce them?

To my wife’s endless amusement I pronounce “thunder” as “funder.” I also say “Valentime’s Day” instead of “Valentine’s.” Whatever, I’m not ashamed.

3.  Why are you afraid of cotton?

The texture of cotton repulses me, but I would dive into a pool of cotton balls before I would watch someone rip apart a cotton ball. That makes my molars hurt. I am totally NEVER going to Alabama.

4.  Name a movie that you think everyone should see.

Annie Hall…1977′s Best Picture has been imitated so many times in so many different ways that you might as well see the original, don’t you think?

5.  What random disease are you most afraid to contract?

Scurvy…because if I’ve caught scurvy it means I’ve just spent WAY too much time with a bunch of pirates.

6.  What topic would you completely rock in Jeopardy?

Anything related to the Beatles. Even Yoko Ono trivia…did you know that she is studied  music at Sarah Lawrence and is a classically trained pianist? And that she blocked me on twitter?

7.  What tv show are you STILL pissed they canceled?

I’m still unhappy that they canceled A) both of the shows created by Judd Apatow (Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared), and B) both of the shows starring Andy Richter (Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Andy Barker, P.I.)

8.  Name your favorite food on a stick.

Mexican food on a stick. What’s that you say? Mexican food doesn’t come on a stick? Well, give me some Mexican food and a stick and I’ll make it work.

Want to participate in next week’s Skinny?  Make sure you are following us on twitter!

We have questions.  Twitter has answers.

And, it’s there where we find…the skinny.

This week we asked about the oddest pet you had growing up (bonus points for weird names) and boy did you have some answers for us.

@Sweet_Life: I had a 1-eyed asian miniature hamster, named Herman after Pee-Wee Herman. 1-eyed cuz my friend squeezed too hard and POP. Oops.

@Mahala: spunky the baby squirrel

@allisonzapata: two hamsters,Laverne & Shirley.Laverne ate some umbrella  & choked. Shirley went soon after. Things were never the same for her.

@msjen01: A Hermit Crab named “Dribble.”

@jodimichelle: Literally had a pet monkey. In Africa. and it gave me something (crunch up nose appropriately) I almost died.

@Ms_Stephiekins: A swan, yes a true to life swan. I hated it, scared the crap out of me! Too long ago to recall its name though…

@gingela5: A hedgehog named hedgy…I was really, REALLY creative as a child :)

@jaimejenn: Coyote… named Wile E… original. heh.

@Navigationdive: I had a female mallard duck named george. (No pond)

@jdiettrich: I had a turtle in college that belonged to the bf who went to prison. Named Toitle. I loved that thing.

@metalia: Pet cicada. I NAMED IT CLICKY.

Want to participate in next week’s Skinny?  Make sure you are following us on twitter!