Oatmeal Cookie "Bars" and Another Award!

Today was kind of rough. I have a cold, with an enormously aching throat, a stuffy nose, a cough, and a migraine. Plus I spent a lot of time packing, and sorting through boxes that we hadn't even unpacked yet from when we moved to our current apartment. I've been trying to bear it all with a smile, and I am pleased with how much I got done today. But by this evening I was in need of some serious relief and comfort! So I did what any self-respecting person would do - I got high on cough drops and drunk off DayQuil (generic brand, of course), and baked up some intense cookie bars!

Well, cookie "bars" is a sort of loose term here. The pan size suggested in the recipe was, in my opinion, incorrect. The bars didn't really cook all the way through and sort of ended up being a big gooey cookie mess, as evidenced by the above picture. A delicious mess, and I keep eating it anyway. But I'll post the pan size that I think they should be cooked in, not the size that I used.

Oatmeal Cookie Bars
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups oats, regular or quick-cooking
1 cup flour
1/2 cup each butterscotch chips and chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients except oats, flour, and chips. Beat with mixer until smooth. Stir in oats, flour and chips. Spread dough into ungreased 9x13 baking pan (not 8x8 unless you actually want an uncooked gooey mess). Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until browned. Cool in pan on wire rack, and cut into bars.

See, the 8x8 was way too small. The bars are practically spilling out over the sides!

Despite being incompletely cooked, the cookie bars were definitely delicious. As a variation, you could make these into actual cookies - Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes. Remove from pan immediately to wire racks to cool.



********Update: After cooling overnight, the cookie bars have actually hardened into bars, instead of goo. I guess all that saturated fat in the butter and shortening had a chance to solidify or something. They hardened so much, actually, that I had to re-slice them. So if you're willing to wait for the bars to cool completely before cutting them, I guess that the 8x8 pan really is acceptable for this recipe. :-)






Shelby, aka HoneyB, aka Grumpy's Honeybunch, has given me an award! Hooray, two in a row! It's nice to know that people are reading and enjoying my cheapo, tightwad recipes. I sure enjoy having this blog, and I'm glad others are enjoying it as well.

As this is the Inspiration Award, I'm passing it on to blogs that inspire me. Not all will be cooking blogs, because I get inspired by lots more than just food. But food is big in my life too! :-)

Memories and Mayhem - My cousin Rachel has a cute family and always keeps a good attitude about life and the adventures it brings when there are three young children around. She helps me to remember to see the good and the humorous things in everyday life, whether it's pooping in the leaves or a child that wants to do chores!

The American Homemaker - I love seeing all the wonderful vintage delights that Angie posts about - her old memo book and address book, her pink chamber pot, and her delightful vintage cookbook, from which she made a delicious looking coffee cake. She helps me see old things in a new light.

A Year of CrockPotting - Stephanie made a New Year's resolution to use her crock pot every single day of 2008, and so far she has! She's on day 324 right now, with a delicious crock pot turkey. I have been using my crock pot more often thanks to Stephanie's inspiring blog. And check out her post on how using a crock pot can save you money.

Taco Soup, Tag, and Award

Three birds with one stone in this post. First up is the delicious soup I made tonight out of things that we usually don't have in our pantry and fridge. Tonight's dinner was all about making do with what we had on hand, and making dinner fast because it was too late and I was too tired and the kids were too impatient for me to do a big fancy meal.

We happened to have a variety of things in the fridge and pantry that just happened to go really well together. Jeff happened to boil up some chicken a couple nights ago, and we had the broth left from that (always save your chicken broth, you can use it in so many ways!). I happened to make some refried beans from bean flour the other night, and we had lots left from that. We made salsa a while back and there happened to be plenty of that in the fridge. I happened to have some TVP in the pantry (texturized vegetable protein, an inexpensive meat alternative) that I've been experimenting with in a variety of recipes.

I did some thinking and decided that taco soup would be a good way to use these miscellaneous food items. No real recipe here - my taco soup "recipe" is basically to throw together whatever foods we have that would make a good taco-like soup. Usually it includes taco meat and broth or bouillon. Tonight all I did was whisk together a couple cups of chicken broth, about 3/4 cup refried beans, 1/2 cup salsa, and a handful of TVP. I heated that over medium-high heat until it was hot and the TVP was reconstituted. Then I spooned it into bowls and topped it with shredded cheese. It was simple and quick, and surprisingly delicious! See, I told you that I might be utilizing some interesting ingredients while we're in the process of moving. :-)



Next up is a tag from Tina of The Adventures of a Working Mom and Hayley of Away With The Fairycakes. It's the Seven Random Things tag.

So here are The Rules:

• Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

• Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.

• Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.

• Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I have a sore throat right now that's really bugging me.

2. I absolutely love romantic chic flicks. But I don't like watching them with my husband. I always get the feeling that he's laughing at the characters and their problems, and at me for getting so caught up in the characters and their problems. So that's a treat I reserve for nights when the kids are in bed and Jeff is working late. And I like eating ice cream or other fattening desserts while I watch. :-)

3. Speaking of movies, we don't usually buy new movies. We wait for my younger sister to buy them, and then borrow them from her. Unfortunately, that won't work anymore after we move, because we won't live five minutes away from her anymore!

4. My 3-year-old daughter is going through a clothes-changing phase lately. She changes her clothes about six times a day, alternating between pants-and-shirt outfits and princess dresses. It's getting hard to clean up after her, so her room tends to be strewn with clothes most of the time.

5. I play the organ.

6. I wash my dishes in big red dishpans, because for the past several months our kitchen sinks do not drain, and management hasn't fixed them yet. They tried once, but it didn't work.

7. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, even more favorite than Christmas, because I'm totally addicted to all the delicious traditional Thanksgiving dishes. Especially my family's favorite Oven Smoked Turkey. That stuff is fantastic.

I'm tagging:
Megan's Munchies
Priscilla's Baking Adventures
Real Mom Kitchen
What's for Dinner
Tummy Yummies
Eat From Your Pantry
Life and Cooking With Littles Underfoot


And lastly, an award given to me by JadeMerie of Living Frugally. It's fun to receive awards, and it's fun to pass them on! :-)

Lucky everyone that I just tagged - I'm passing this award on to all of you! These are all blogs that I love to read, and I keep up with every post.

An Award to Pass On

Shelby, aka Honeybunch or HoneyB, has given me an award! I'm a little late posting this, as she gave me this way back last Tuesday, but better late than never. :-)

I love visiting Shelby's blog, The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch, for a couple reasons. First, because that's just such a fun title! And second, because of her delicious recipes and photos! Go check out her blog, she posts so many wonderful looking baked goods and other recipes. And I love the beautiful pie in her header!


I'm passing this award on to Nicole's Baking Bites. I could spend hours perusing her recipe archives (okay, so I've already done that a couple times) - everything looks so delicious! Here are some examples of her awesome recipes: Chocolate Pumpkin Pie, Peanut Butter Crumble Cake, Beef and Cheese Empanadas, and No-Bake Vanilla Cheesecake with Thin Mint Crust. She also has recipes for homemade girl scout cookies - how cool is that?

A Couple Awards

Actually, these awards were given to me a while ago, and I either didn't see them or put off putting them on here. But I'm finally going to put them up, and pass them on!

This award was given to me by Kate's Kitchen. I love this website. Not only are there lots of simple, delicious, budget-wise recipes, but so many of her posts focus on better parenting, homemaking, and living in general.


I am passing this award on to:

Rachel's Family Favorites - Rachel takes delicious pictures of her delicious foods, and her recipes are great! Plus she's my cousin... :-)

Anjanette's Eating From Your Pantry - She works at a housing ministry where they provide a food pantry for their residents. Her blog is to provide wholesome recipes that use pantry foods. Good recipes for a good cause - now that's "Brillante!"




This award comes from Christy's Southern Plate. I love her blog! Her recipes and stories really capture the charm and hospitality of the south, and I just feel happier reading her blog. Her recipes are definitely "yum yum."







I am passing this award on to:

Priscilla's A Peek In Priscilla's Kitchen - This blog is written by "a sixteen year old girl in her Mom's kitchen" and it is fantastic! When I was sixteen, sure I loved to bake, but Priscilla has made it into an art, and she is so talented!

Jenny's Picky Palate - For being a dental hygienist, Jenny sure does bake a lot of sweets! I love looking at her pictures and reading her recipes, because they just look so yummy!

Little Lemon Tassies and an Award

Our Relief Society is having a quilting bee this evening (I know - isn't that so quaint and cute?), and everyone was asked to bring little treats to snack on while we quilt. I had about half a can of sweetened condensed milk in the fridge left over from when I made Ranch Bean Soup. This milk was, of course, not left in the can, but stored properly in a plastic container. Foods go bad faster when you leave them in the can, and that leads to throwing away food, which isn't frugal at all!

But I digress. I tossed together a few ingredients and came up with these delicious little tarts. I've used this crust before, and am always pleased with the results. Usually we just fill the tarts with jam, but I wanted something a little more special (and something that used the sweetened condensed milk).

Little Lemon Tassies
Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg

Filling:
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour and sugar, cut in butter, and stir in egg until a dough forms. Press dough into bottom and up sides of miniature muffin tin (makes 24). Set aside.

For filling, mix sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice until well-combined. Spoon into little crusts, about 1-2 tsp. filling per crust.

Bake at 350 for ... um ... I don't really know how long I baked these. I just went until the crust and the filling were nicely browned. Just keep an eye on them, I guess.

These are delicious little treats. I won't admit to too much, but I will say that not all 24 of these little babies are going to make it to the quilting bee this evening. :-)



On to the award!

I want to thank Barbara from Barbara Bakes for giving me this Smile Award. I just recently found Barbara's blog, and was absolutely smitten with her Surprise Cookies - beautiful chocolate cookies topped with marshmallows and chocolate frosting. Now I like her blog even more!

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times--we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids

These are the rules:
1. The recipient must link back to the award's creator (http://www.thebabblingsofmere.blogspot.com/)
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

It's nice to know that my blog is being read and enjoyed, and that it makes someone smile. It sure makes me smile to create all the foods and posts that I do.

Here are my nominees for the Smile Award:

1. Stephanie of A Year of CrockPotting - This is the coolest blog ever! Stephanie made a New Year's Resolution to use her crock pot every day in 2008, and so far she's made it 204 days. She never fails to post her recipes and experiences with them, good or bad. And whether the dish turned out fantastic or terrible (most of them turn out great), her posts always make me smile!

2. Bakerella - Bakerella makes the cutest cupcake pops in the blogosphere! Not only does she make all sorts of cute cake ball treats, but so many other delicious baked delights. Every time she posts something new, there is definitely a smile on my face.

3. Michelle of Fabulous Food! - Michelle does something called Around the World - every week she features a menu of dishes from a different country. She has featured Austria, England, France, and Germany. I can't wait to see where she'll take us next!

4. Drew of How to Cook Like Your Grandmother - Drew uses real ingredients to make real foods. He also posts step-by-step instructions and frequent tutorial videos to make sure that anyone who reads his blog will be able to cook just like a Grandmother. He's got a fun sense of humor that permeates his posts and always makes me smile.

5. Jeanette of Jeanette's Kitchen - Jeanette is a woman after my own heart. Her recipes are simple and delicious, just the type of recipes I grew up with, and still enjoy today. She has two kids, the same ages as mine, so I know that her recipes are going to be little-kid-friendly. That makes me smile!

One more picture to smile about: