Deep Dish Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I gave this pin a try the other day -

 

 and made some deep dish oatmeal fudge bars that were great
when served warm, right out of the oven with ice cream. 

First, I mixed butter, eggs and brown sugar together -

 and added in some milk and vanilla.

 

 Then I dumped in all of the dry ingredients, mixed it up well

and set the dough aside.

Then I grabbed a sauce pan and threw in butter, 

sweet and condensed milk, chocolate chips and vanilla,

stirring until fully melted.

 

Then spread three quarters of the oatmeal dough 

into a 9 x 13 inch pan -

  

and spread the chocolate on top.

Finally, just drop the remaining dough by spoonfuls on top -

and spread out to cover as much as possible.

It won't cover the chocolate layer completely, but don't worry.

After baking for about 25 minutes it will come out looking like this!

Let the bars cool and set up a little before cutting,

but then grab yourself a piece 

and serve it up with vanilla ice cream.

It's like a gooey, warm oatmeal cookie filled with fudge.

You really can't go wrong.

Deep Dish Oatmeal Fudge Bars

1 c. butter

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. milk

3 c. old fashioned oats

Mix butter, eggs and brown sugar. Add vanilla and milk. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients.  Mix well.

In a saucepan over medium heat melt together:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Spread 3/4 of the oatmeal mixture on the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 inch pan, pour chocolate mixture on top and spread evenly. Add remaining cookie mixture on top in spoonfuls. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Watch while baking because the top may tend to get done before the rest of the bars are completely cooked. If needed, put aluminum foil around the edges or over the top for about the last ten minutes if things are browning too much. Let cool before cutting and serving.

Avocado Hummus

I bought all of the ingredients to make an avocado hummus,

but as you can see in this photo -

by the time I got around to making it,

my lime had gone bad.

But I was having people over and needed an appetizer,

so I just grabbed my lime juice from the fridge and improvised!

  

The hardest step in this quick little recipe

is cubing the avocado.

After that,

you just throw everything into your food processor and blend.

I served it up with some pretzel chips. 

I believe we ended up adding some more cayenne pepper,

but remember it's a hummus dip.

So it's not necessarily bursting with flavor

and if you don't like hummus already, 

you probably won't go for this one either.

I, however, am a fan of hummus

and enjoyed the addition of avocados. 

Avocado Hummus
2 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed

2 avocados, cubed

juice from 1 lime

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Hello 2014!

If you've been a reader for awhile,

you know that I love the fresh start of a new year!

Whether you call them resolutions or goals,

or something else entirely,

it's always fun to have something new to plan for and work on.

This year, I kept it simple with two health and fitness related goals.

I wanted them to be realistic and achievable.

All I have to do is eat at least one piece of fruit every day 

and be active for at least 30 minutes.

Neither are tough,

but if I don't concsiously plan for them,

 they don't happen.

Thus, the resolutions.

The fruit one may sound silly,

heck it's a no brainer all summer when there

is tons of delicious fresh fruit available,

but I struggle during the winter when I get burned out on 

apples and bananas, which are all that seem to be around.

I never struggle to eat vegetables,

so I thought I'd work harder on fruit.

And now that it's Cuties season again -

these little babies have been helping me reach my daily goal.
And my kids love them too!

As for the 30 active minutes daily,

it's also not likely to be a struggle in the summer,

but it can be hard during some of these long, cold winter days.

But I've got this fun little product helping me stay on track.

 

Adam gave me a Fitbit for Christmas 

and it's by far my favorite gift . . . maybe ever! 

I love it THAT much.

It tells me how many steps I take in a day,

it tracks calories burned and distance, 

it even tracks my sleep pattern,

telling me how long I slept, how many times I was restless, when I was awake and for how long. 

It's so cool.

It syncs to my phone and computer

 so I always know where I'm at.

But most importantly for my resolution,

it tracks active minutes.

Minutes where you're really working out.

It comes with preset goals like taking 10,000 steps a day, 

but I knew if it was late in the evening and I had

3,000 steps left to go, it was unrealistic to believe 

I'd stay up and walk around until I hit 10,000 steps.

So instead, I just have to hit the 30 active minutes goal every day.

It's much easier to achieve and I have no excuse for not hitting it.

I've already had to do some jumping jacks before bed

just to ensure I make my 30 :)

But it's day 2 and I've gotten 

both my active minutes and my fruit in,

so I'm doing something right!

Anyone else out there working on new year's resolutions?