No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

I've been in the kitchen recently. I found this recipe for No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars a little while ago when Husband and i were on a diet. I wanted to cry when i saw it because i knew there was no loophole in our diet for me to be able to make this. Husband got upset at me for even looking at it let alone the fact that i showed it to him. But i'm in the process of trying to diagnose some health problems i have, doing blood work and doctor visits and all that not fun stuff, so we decided to have me on this specific diet right now with the medication involved wasn't the right choice. Since I wasn't going to be on the diet, Husband had no desire to diet either. We're still watching how we eat -- we're not eating out any more at all, and our weakness of ice cream is not allowed in the house. Earlier this year we cut out a lot of sugars and starches from our diets already (replacing starches like potatoes and pastas with vegetables), so we're sticking with that.....
Except for this splurge. I couldn't help it! I kept thinking about it and i just couldn't stop myself. I don't even remember the last time i was in the kitchen baking -- though there is no baking involved in this recipe. But we've been really good about everything, and i was about to die without chocolate -- a little TMI but it was my girl week so you may be able to understand -- so I made an exception. It was delicious. SO worth it. If you like chocolate and peanut butter and oatmeal, you'll love it too. I hope you will anyway.

Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, and oats. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Press half of mixture in to the bottom of a buttered 8 x 8 dish.

In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and blended.

Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the crust, reserving a couple of spoonfuls to drizzle over the top.

Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate and peanut butter, pressing gently to form a crust. Drizzle the remaining chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the bars.

Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting and serving.

It really was as good as it looks.

{click to print}
No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, and oats. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Press half of mixture in to the bottom of a buttered 8 x 8 dish.

2. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and blended. Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the crust, reserving a couple of spoonfuls to drizzle over the top.

3. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate and peanut butter, pressing gently to form a crust. Drizzle the remaining chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the bars.

4. Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting and serving.

And last off, i want to let you all know that i'm planning a move for our blog. I think. I feel like being a little more anonymous when it comes to things i'm making and sharing -- like this delicious post -- and i get enough traffic from my projects that i feel like making a move would be the best thing for us. I have no intention of being a professional blogger -- i'm not cool enough for that -- i just want to separate the friends and family stuff from the public stuff. I'll probably keep this one for the family and friends and go private but I haven't got the new one all set up and moved over yet, so i'll let you know when i'm all done.

It's a {Sock} made into a {Monkey}

I'll tell you right now, this isn't a tutorial, its just me bragging about something cute i made. Sorry if you're disappointed :)

So, I love sock monkeys. I think they're adorable. I never had one growing up, but i always wanted one. The other week *ahem*, ok it was a few months ago and i'm just now getting to posting about it...my friend Ashley had a beautiful baby girl in April. BEAUTIFUL. While she was pregnant, back in December or so while i was spending a lot of time making aprons for all my sisters-in-law and spending a lot of time looking at all the stuff i had in my craft room, i made the decision that i was going to make her, my friend Ashley, a sock monkey as a shower gift. And i'll tell you something, sock monkeys are one of those things i had been planning to make for a long time. I knew i was going to make one one day, and this was the time to do it. I got all the supplies for it a long time ago too, when i picked up this book.

I know there are tutorials all over the place on how to make these, but every now and then i like to pick up a fun craft book when it's inexpensive. I got this book Sock and Glove a while back and i was so excited that right away i went out searching for cute socks to start making some cute sock animals. And then i never did anything. Everything sat in a big bag in my craft room closet for over a year. I'm sure it had something to do with not having anyone to make one for, so there was no real motivation for me, but still. I should have made at least one since i was so excited about it in the first place.
And it was my loss too because this sock monkey was fun to make. I found some cute gray and pink socks at Target, turned a movie on, started cutting out all the parts, did the stuffing, and hand sewing, and that was it. I was done, just that fast. I forget which movie i picked for this particular evening of crafting, but i finished the monkey before it was over so it took less then 2 hours to make. And it turned out adorable!

He's pretty friendly

And there're are more then just monkey instructions in the book too. I found some zebra print socks and there are instructions on how to make a horse in the book. I'm looking forward to putting that one together next!