HAPPY Mood Cookies Made Me Feel Better After I Lost My Mom!

Why Yes, my lovelies, that IS The smell of Christmas in July wafting through my house! I call them my happy mood boosting cookies. Life has been so ‘stupid hard’ this year that I needed some ‘happy’ to balance things out… And what better way to bring the mood UP, than to smell Christmas in the house? Am I right?

By the way, Here is a video with 3 unusual happy mood boosting tips… It includes my favorite tip that has kept me glued together these last few months. 

My Favorite 3 Happy Mood Tips

    1. My number 1 tip is my happy mood gingerbread cookies…(see the story below)
    2. My next go-to tip is starting a gratitude journal… This alone has helped to keep my mood UP even when things are falling apart around me.
    3. And my absolute favorite tip is my happy mood supplement strips. When my mom died, I thought I would just melt away into nothingness. Seriously. But I started taking my happy mood strips again and they’ve kept me glued together these past few months. 

The Best Happy Mood Gingerbread Cookies

My beautiful Mother-in-law used to make these cookies every December. It just so happened to be the SAME recipe my grandma used to make when I was little. All the spices mixed together creates that amazing smell. Plus, it’s gluten-free too! (I modified the recipe) But, don’t tell anyone because nobody has been able to tell the difference, one way or the other. They’re that good! 

Anyhow, the recipe is kind of a beast to make because it calls for 7 cups of flour. Then, you gotta mix it all together without breaking your mixer. And the final step: you roll those little babies out and cut them with your cookie cutters. (I’m more of a keep-it-super-simple gal) However, I make an exception for this recipe since they’re so delicious. 🙂

 

Happy mood boosting Gingerbread cookies on plates

After they’re mixed and chilled a bit, we put the confectionary icing on them. Yep, ALL over those yummy cookies. I call these the BEST Christmas cookies because even people that don’t like gingerbread, say they’re super yummy! 🙂

Christmas in july gingerbread cookies with icing

Happy Mood Boosting Ideas To Ponder

The world has been really hard lately. Wouldn’t you agree? At least it has been in MY house. I lost my sweet mama to cancer recently and still have not recovered. So, I was sitting here thinking of things that would get me in a happy mood fast… And then it hit me!

I thought of stuff like:

    • Writing in my gratitude journal
    • Taking a walk in nature
    • Cuddling with my Sasha kitty
    • Baking happy mood Christmas cookies in the middle of the summer
    • Exercising (yep, that crossed my mind since I was pretty down in the dumps)
    • Taking a happy mood strip. (This is my secret weapon that keeps me glued together)

Genius Idea!

What a genius idea those happy mood cookies were! (I had never thought of this before!)

Just baking those cookies, smelling Christmas in the air…remembering GOOD memories…that’s all it took. And now that they’re done and in my kitchen…every time I get sad, I just go over to my container and have one. Almost immediately, I seem to feel better. It’s not a permanent fix, but hey…right now, I’ll take it. 

Christmas Has Always Been My Favorite Time Of Year

Ok, so I must confess, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I love everything about it…

  • the lights,
  • the songs,
  • People trying to be nice to each other,
  • (sometimes the snow),
  • and yes, the food!
  • Especially the cookies! 

And all year round when I was sad or having a hard time, my mom used to sing the Christmas song “Silver Bells” to me. I DO miss her so much, but I’m at a place right now where I’m TRYING to pull from good memories instead of concentrating on the loss or the sadness. Does that make sense? 

It doesn’t always work, but I feel better when I try. This is the last selfie my mom and I took together before she got sick.

My Mom And Me

mom and susieq

…The very last time I saw her before she went to the hospital. So, THIS selfie means a lot to me. She had driven to Florida for a different reason. Then, I drove to meet her at my cousins house. We got to spend a few hours together and those hours were precious to me. 

It’s interesting how we see life and those we love WHILE they’re here with us. But if we just take a different perspective, imagine life without them for a moment…Would we treat people differently? Better, perhaps? I would very much like to live in a world like that. Where people are good to each other, just because. My mom felt the same way. She had a kind heart.

Who Wants the Happy Mood Cookie Recipe?

Even though this recipe isn’t the easiest to make, I realize you might want to give it a whirl anyhow. So, for those of you who really want the recipe, I’ve included it here. 🙂

The Original Recipe Was Found

When I was little, my grandma used to make these cookies. Then when I was an adult, my Mother-In-Law made the same recipe! They didn’t even know each other then. But, I found the original recipe in an old cookbook that used to belong to my grandma.

 

It’s a Betty Crocker cookbook called “Cooky Book” and it was published in 1977. That publishing date was the 21st printing, so I can only imagine how old this recipe is. lol Here is a picture of the front of my very old cookbook… just for reference. 🙂

FYI: These cookies are not super healthy… However, they are more of a go-to when you’re super-sad or really stressed. And maybe you just need a happy mood boost. And as I’ve just recently discovered, you can bake these year round! 

Better Crockers Cooky Book

I Would Love Your Feedback

I would love to know if you tried the happy mood cookie recipe…

What did you think? OR does it look too difficult? 

Also, I’d love any feedback on gratitude… Do you use a gratitude journal now? When I started, I got a journal from Amazon for like $5 and just started writing each day. I wrote 3-5 things I was grateful for and sometimes, I added why I was grateful. This alone brought my mood UP after I lost a dear friend and was super depressed. It helped me see a different perspective. 

And if you decide to try the happy mood strips, I’d love to hear about your experience… 

Happy Mood Resources

  • Here is where to get the Happy Mood Booster I talked about earlier… They’re little strips that taste like a fruity roll-up. I think they work so well because they absorb better and work faster. 🙂 I’d love to know your experience if you try them out. 

You can get them here:

I hope you have a fantastic day. 🙂