 Why is it that as soon as I decide that I need to start limiting my sugar intake, I start to crave chocolate chip cookies?  I mean a really great, warm out of the oven, melt in your mouth with the worlds best chocolate - kind of chocolate chip cookie. 
I did however, trick myself (which is surprisingly easy to do) into eating a healthy version of a chocolate chip cookie while still satisfying my craving.  These whole wheat dark chocolate oat bars are super easy to make and they are health-IER than the traditional chocolate chip cookie.  They are delicious too - mostly because I loaded mine up with LOTS of really great dark chocolate that I had gotten from Sprouts.  Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Bars 2 1/2 cup old fashioned oats 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour 1 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup coconut (or canola) oil, melted 2 eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped into chunks (about 1 1/2 cups) In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, add the oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, melted coconut oil, eggs and vanilla and beat until combined and the dough holds together (the dough will seem oily, this is good).
Enjoy. (Take some pictures first - just because they're pretty.)
Ciao!
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 I am growing watermelon in my garden again this year. I can hardly wait to pick my first, ripe, juicy melon from the vine. If everything continues to progress on schedule, we should be enjoying our first home grown watermelon of the season in about another month. Until then, we can enjoy watermelon rice crispy treats. This recipe came from glorioustreats.com. It's a keeper.  Watermelon Crispy Treats For the green (rind) outer ring- 4 cups Rice Krispies cereal 4 cups mini marshmallows 3 Tablespoons butter green food coloring For the red (watermelon) center- 5 cups Rice Krispies cereal 5 cups mini marshmallows 3 Tablespoons butter red food coloring mini chocolate chips
Melt 4 cups marshmallows and 3 tablespoons butter in a large bowl in the microwave about 2 minutes, or until very puffy.
Add "seeds"  Slice into wedges.  Serve on a stick ... or wrap wedges in cellophane bags.
This might just be the sweetest slice of watermelon that I have ever had.
Ciao!
Ingredients like chocolate chips, marshmallows, caramel, pecans, rice crispy cereal and butter combined in any sort of way - cannot be bad. I am thoroughly convinced that if you start with these tantalizing flavors, no matter how you put them together, they are going to be delicious. Short of just throwing them all into a big bowl and stirring them together, I did the easiest thing that I could think of with these delicious ingredients - I made turtle rice crispy treats.  I pictured these turning out differently when I envisioned this recipe in my mind. I imagined the caramel sitting on top of the rice crispy treat and the chocolate and nuts nestled into the thick caramel layer. What I realized (purely by mistake) was that the caramel actually soaks through the rice crispy treat and coats the entire dessert with sweet gooeyness. A delicious discovery if I do say so myself.  Turtle Cereal Treats 4 tbsp salted butter 6 cups mini marshmallows 1 tsp vanilla 5 cups rice crispy cereal caramel sauce 1 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Stir in rice crispy cereal.
Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
Sprinkle nuts over top.
Allow to cool before slicing into squares.  You really cant go wrong with chocolate, caramel and butter, marshmallows and pecans. I'm sure that you will agree.
Ciao!  Need a great lunch box treat? My kids really like these Special K bars in their lunch and they're a nice change from Rice Crispy Treats.  Special K Bars 6 cups Special K cereal 1 cup chocolate chips 1 ½ cup peanut butter 1 cup butterscotch chips 1 cup corn syrup 1/2 cup sugar
Spread into a greased 9x13 pan.
Slice into squares. 
 It should come as no surprise to anyone that I've developed quite an arsenal of recipes over the past couple of years of food blogging. Some of the recipes I make right away and others, I save until I have a really good reason to make them. One recipe, in particular, that I've had tucked away for a "rainy day" was a recipe for Homemade Snickers Bars. Well the perfect opportunity finally presented itself - a swim party for fifteen year old girl soccer players. What teenage girl doesn't like Snicker's bars? There could not have been a more perfect opportunity to make this recipe.  Homemade Snickers Bars Bottom Layer 1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips 1/4 cup peanut butter Thoroughly grease 9x13" baking pan. Melt ingredients together in microwave.
Middle Layer 1/4 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup evaporated milk 1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff 1/4 cup peanut butter 1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, chopped 1 teaspoon vanilla
Caramel Layer 14 ounce bag caramels 1/4 cup whipping cream
Melt ingredients together in saucepan. Pour over caramel and spread until even.
Let cool. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Cut as desired.
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