Homemade Granola Bars

I have an new obsession with these homemade granola bars. They are delicious and satisfy any sweet cravings I get. They are a healthier alternative. I have to limit myself on how many I can have.

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Adapted from: Lauren's Latest

Healthier and cheaper than the store bought kind!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
2 cup crispy rice cereal (whole wheat)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Flax seed, mini chocolate chips, any other toppings you like

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. (If you want to make them healthier, use whole wheat crispy rice cereal and throw in some flax seed. This will add some protein and fiber.) You can add nuts, coconut, or whatever other ingredients you want in your bars. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Line a 9x13 pan with wax paper and pour ingredients into the pan. Press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness.  (Press firmly - you want it to stick together!) Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool in the fridge until firm enough to cut. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Seriously, so delicious.

Contact

Email: lindsaykirksel (at) gmail (dot) com

2 years :D

February 2nd is a special day for Paul and I. Besides being Groundhog day, my half birthday, my Uncle Ben's birthday, and our 17 month wedding anniversary, it is also the 2 year anniversary of when Paul kissed me for the first time.

Below is an excerpt from a previous blog post about our first kiss! 

I am so happy that I get to kiss this man for the rest of forever! But I didn't always think that. Here's the story of our first kiss..

I had spent the day at school, work, and was at a Disney campus recruiting dinner when I got a call from Paul. The basketball game was on (BYU vs. Wyoming) and he wanted to know if I wanted to watch it with him. Of course! I left the dinner as soon as I could get away and changed into some sweats and headed over to apartment 206. After the game we watched "Angels and Demons." I hadn't seen it before and Paul suggested I see it. Pretty good movie. During the movie there was some casual cuddling going on, nothing too exciting. After that we just talked about ourselves and watched random YouTube videos. It was a wonderful, relaxing Wednesday night. It was getting pretty late and we decided it was probably time for bed, seeing as we both had school in the morning. So we walked towards the door and talked for another minute. I was leaning up against the wall when he started leaning in for a goodnight kiss. This totally caught me off guard. He wasn't necessarily shy but definitely not one that I would expect to go in for a kiss so soon in the game. Every first kiss before that I had known it was coming. I started to try to back up but the wall was kind of in the way. He could tell I wasn't responding in the way he would have liked, so he awkwardly laughed and started to back up. To this day, no one knows how it happened, but the next thing we knew I had pulled him in and there was the first kiss. What? Yeah, still don't know how it happened. He kissed me every day (including the next day outside of class!) from that day on until he left for Europe. And he's kissed me every day since. The End.

Cute pictures :)

Awww...so cute. 

And what a good kisser he is. I am such a lucky girl.
I love my Paul!

"I'm getting so good at chewing!"

Have you ever had oral surgery? It's not fun. Especially when it's a gum graft. On your front four teeth. Ouch!

Pre-surgery, as well as during and after, included lots of pill popping. 

In a 24 hour period I took 4 different prescriptions. Including 11 steroid pills. Sleeping became a challenge being on those suckers.

I was pretty nervous for the surgery, especially since I was going to be awake for it. There is just something about having someone right in your face that makes things slightly terrifying. Luckily I opted for a relaxation pill that helped. I was very aware of what they were doing, but it didn't freak me out until later when I thought about it. The Novocaine wore off at the very end so I could feel the end of the stitching which was very uncomfortable. The drive home was very painful, but thanks to a great surgeon and advanced procedure, I only took pain pills the first 24 hours. After that I was hardly in any pain!

Slightly swollen for a few days.

Gotta love eating all the sweet, cold, soft food that comes with oral procedures. I got so tired of these types of things. But I am grateful for my awesome mother in law and friends who helped me out, brought me goodies, and kept me company with calls and texts.

First chewable food post surgery? Hershey's Chocolate Cheese Cake from the Cheesecake Factory. It took a little while but I am finally eating normal! It took a lot of practice. I just can't bit off things like hamburgers and apples. Everything has to be cut up and placed in the back of my mouth. good thing most things work that way :)

Hopefully I don't go through this again!

Luv, Lindsay