Peanut Butter and Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

What a mouthful! And ohhhhh what a delicious mouthful! The chocolate and peanut butter blended together is so yummy! I was trying to find an oats and either chocolate or butterscotch chips recipe, and stumbled on this one on Pinterest: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Oatmeal Bars. These were quite easy to make and full of flavor.

1 cup butter/margarine

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 cups flour

2 cups oats

1 tsp baking soda

8 ozs semisweet or unsweetened choc. (squares or chips - I used 12 ozs of chips)

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

In large bowl, combine and mix flour, oats and baking soda. In another large bowl, cream softened butter and brown sugar. 

Add flour mixture and combine well.

Measure three cups of oat mixture and press into greased 13X9 pan.

Melt chocolate carefully in microwave. Heat for 30-40 seconds, stir, then heat in 10 second increments until smooth. Add peanut butter and stir until mixed. Layer chocolate onto pressed layer. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture over top. Here is where I diverged... I used chips rather than squares, and rather than waste 4 oz, I sprinkled the remaining chips on the top layer. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for 22-25 minutes.

Pizza

Edited June 1, 2015 - changed the ingredients up just a bit to make it more my own.

I. Love. Pizza. Friday night is usually our family pizza night - often Little Caesars, but sometimes Dominos or Papa Johns - but I decided to make pizza this Sunday night. And it was freakin' fantastic! We decided with the first bite that we were definitely going to do this again. The dough recipe is very easy, and within just a little over an hour we had a homemade pizza on our plates. I found this dough recipe through Pinterest, here is the original: Pizza Dough for Thin Crust Pizza.

2 1/4 tsp (or one 1/4 ounce package) active dry yeast
1/2-1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (may substitute whole wheat flour for 1/2 cup of the all-purpose)
1 cup bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
cornmeal, for sprinkling

In a large bowl, mix a little sugar into the warm water and sprinkle yeast on top. Allow to ferment for about 10 minutes or until it gets all foamy.

Add the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix well.

Knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (add a bit more flour if you need to). If using a stand mixer, let run for 5-6 minutes. Cover and let rise for 20-30 minutes. The longer you can let it rise, the better the pizza. I let mine rise for an hour or two when possible.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Sprinkle both pizza pans with a little bit of cornmeal or brush or spray with some sectors virgin olive oil. Divide dough in half. Place each half on a pizza pan, and pat it with your fingers until it stretches over the whole pan trying to make it thicker around the edge. 

Top as desired. We decided to use some of the fresh herbs from my herb garden, and it was amazing! We used rosemary and sweet basil, but used them sparingly and have decided to use more the next time we make pizza. Dried herbs also work well if you don't have fresh. What might you use? Before putting in the oven, use a basting brush to lightly coat the edge of the pizza crust with olive oil. If desired, sprinkle a bit of garlic salt on it.

Bake at 6-9 minutes or until bubbly and hot. 

Dough can be frozen - form into a ball, rub olive oil over it and place in a freezer bag. When ready to use, take dough out of freezer and allow to thaw before using.

Spinach Pie

This is an absolutely amazing recipe. I mean really, how can it ever be wrong to combine cheese and bacon and spinach? It's reasonable if you're watching your calories (so long as you don't eat half of it in one sitting), and it reheats well for lunch leftovers. I got this recipe from my mom. It's one she's been making for more than 20 years. She clipped it out of a newspaper or magazine, and what I have it a copy of that, so unfortunately, I can't provide proper credit. I think it's probably a Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe, but I'm not sure. I tweak mine just a little from the original, so I'll give you the straight recipe and then tell you what I did different.

1 9-inch pastry pie shell

1 pkg 8 oz cream cheese, cubed

1/2 cup milk (I use 2%)

1 pkg 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained

1 cup (4 oz) shredded natural Swiss cheese 

3 eggs, beaten

6 crisply cooked bacon slices, crumbled (I used 8-9 slices)

2 tsp chopped onions (I used about a 1/4-1/3 cup)

1/4 tsp salt

dash of pepper

Prick bottom and sides of pie crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Combine cream cheese and milk in saucepan, and stir over low heat until smooth.

In large bowl, beat eggs. Gradually add cream cheese mixture to eggs, and mix well until blended. 

Add remaining ingredients, and mix well. 

Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until set. If your pie crust edge gets too well done too quickly, a trick you can use is to wrap the edge of the pie with aluminum foil for about 3/4 of the cook time. I left mine on for about 25-30 minutes before I removed it.

Divide the pie and enjoy!!!

The recipe calls for 8 servings, but frankly, that's just enough to tease you. I entered the recipe for the below calorie count for 6 servings.