Week #13 of Kendra's Cooking Challenge: S'mores Bars

Yes people, I know... I'm 3 weeks behind on my cooking challenge!  I could not be any more disappointed in myself.  It seems as if the month of June was a month of slacking off for me.  YIKES!  This post is my attempt to start up again with this challenge and get back on track for the month of July! I'm just gonna pick up were I left off... so here we go with Week #13! 

Week #13 - S'mores Bars (www.itsacraftylife.blogspot.com)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 4 cups mini marshmallows
  • 3/4 cups M&M's (I used a whole bag of these)
  • 1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray cooking spray in a 13x9 inch pan.

In a large bowl, beat graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, butter, flour, and baking soda until coarse crumbs form.  Press mixture in bottom of the pan.  Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown.


Remove the partially baked crust from oven.  Sprinkle marshmallows over the crust.  Bake 3 minutes longer until the marshmallows begin to puff.

 
Remove the pan from the oven.  Sprinkle the M&M’s evenly over the marshmallows.  Return to the oven for 1 – 2 minutes until the M&M’s just start to crack.  This will help them stick to the marshmallows.


Drizzle with hot fudge topping, let it cool for an hour, and then cut into bars.


This dessert is oh so good!  Dan rated it a 10!  I want to make it again once it is gone!  YUM!!

He has the life...

Sometimes I wish that I lived the life he does... not a care in the world, sleeps all day (and all night), and gets to do pretty much anything and everything he wants.  Yep... that's the life Remington leads.  I had to upload the pictures I've taken of him recently to show you just how rough his life is on a day to day basis...


This dog has us wrapped around his paw... and we LOVE it!

Happy 4th of July!

After vacations, even short ones... I have this overwhelming, wish upon a star, feeling that I just never want to go back to work. NEVER. EVER.  Do any of you out there ever feel that way?  Do any of you ever act on it?

Sadly, I can't and I know I have to return to my little office with the great view of the parking lot on Tuesday.  It breaks my heart and my extra hours of sleep I have been getting...

However, how lucky are we that we have our FREEDOM!  Thank you to the men and women who gave their lives so we could enjoy this wonderful privilege!  And thank you for the men and women who still fight for our freedom in today's world!  We are blessed to be Americans!

 
Hope you all had a wonderful fun filled day with loved ones, family and friends!  And feel free to take an extra vacation day tomorrow for me :)

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of June 27th - July 3rd... I know I know, I totally missed the last couple weeks of running.  I'm very disappointed in myself.  Luckily, I don't think it hurt me to much with my Mini Marathon Training.  After being in Arizona for 8 days, I have a new appreciation for Indiana weather.  It is nice to not have to get up at the crack of dawn to get my runs in.  I actually feel like I could run at 6:00 in the evening and be pretty comfortable... you can't do that in Arizona :)  I reached a huge milestone this week!  I FINALLY ran over 4 miles.  I was suppose to hit this milestone last week, but didn't because I slacked off during vacation.  However, no matter when I reached it I'm so proud of myself!

Monday, June 27th, 2011 - ran 2.28 miles

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 - ran 3.22 miles 

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 - stretch/strength train

Thursday, June 30th, 2011 - ran 2.65 miles

Friday, July 1st, 2011 - REST DAY

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011 - cross train/stretch

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011 - ran 4.64 miles

Total miles for this week : 12.79 miles

Ohio Visit : June 29th - July 1st

I'm starting to feel like all I do is take vacations to visit family!  Hey, that's what summers are for I suppose! Dan, Remington and I headed to Ohio to visit Dan's parents, brother, sister in-law, and our niece and nephew for a few days! We had a great time as always!

We tried to spend as much time with the kids as possible.  I could not believe how much both Elliott and Mallory have grown.  It makes me so proud of them both, but sad at the same time.  They are little adults now :)


Elliott and Mallory in their bounce house!


We also did some swimming while we were there.  Elliott and Mallory have both been taking swimming lessons so they of course had a lot of tricks to show us :)


Mallory and Elliott live on Buckeye Lake and they shoot off fireworks on the Friday before the 4th of July so we celebrated the 4th a little early.  Ali, Bryce, Elliott and Mallory planned a great party for all of us!


Right before we left we got some pictures of us with Remington.  We don't often have someone around to take pictures of the three of us together so we try to take advantage of the opportunity when we can.  This is always more difficult than you would think.

That has been our lives the past couple of days.  We are now back in good old Indiana.  I have several projects on my to do list during the next several days before I go back to work, but to tell you the truth I haven't done a darn thing since I got home... don't worry, tomorrow is a new day and I'll start then :)

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

IPhone, Glymse, and Shadow Paks

In the past few weeks I have discovered some new favorites of mine...

1.) I got an IPhone... I know, I feel guilty about it, but our contract was up with Sprint so it was time to switch back to Verizon because Dan's job gives him a pretty good percentage discount on their services and anything brought there.  Plus, we both sold our old phones on Craig's list which got us a whole IPhone for pretty much free.  The sad thing is that I was pretty obsessed with my Blackberry, but now I have a seriously unhealthy obsession with the IPhone... uhhhgggg!  I love it!


2) One of my blog readers told me about an app that might be helpful during my night time runs.  Remember I told you I worry about running at night and no one really knowing where I am... well this app solves all my problems!  It's called Glymse, and I love it.  I can now send Dan (or whoever) a Glymse text message or email and my phone will start tracking my location.  This way Dan can actually watch me during my entire run.  How freaking cool is that!  Even though I still get a little freaked during night time runs, this app has allowed me a little piece of mind... and Dan too :)


3) Oh yes... and I told you that I had been running with a fanny pack (uncool) well, I have been looking for something a little less noticeable, but still able to hold my important stuff.  I found the perfect solution!  A shadow pak!  It is teeny tiny, but just big enough to hold my essentials!  I ran with it on last night and I couldn't even tell it was there.  It's so small I can pull my shirt over it and you wouldn't even know I had it on!  HOLLA!

I got the purple of course!


And there you have it folks... a few of my new favorite things :)

The Lazy Factor!

I've been lazy these past few days.  I haven't done a darn thing.  This weekend I spent most of my time watching TV, reading a good book, or just plain sleeping.  What can I say, I needed a little R&R!  Even though my time spent doing nothing was much needed, I know I'm gonna kick myself this upcoming week.


O'well, it was fun while it lasted!
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