S'mores Bar Deliciousness

I love a good s'more. There's no other way to put it. It is a perfect summer treat, but sometimes it just isn't the best time to bust out the fire pit and make a s'more. Enter s'mores bars! These are are pretty much my 'go to' dessert when I am making something for a get together (or just because).

The other week I was getting ready for a get together with a fantastic group of ladies-my kickball team-and they requested s'mores bars be made and I was happy to comply with their requests. I seem to always have the ingredients in the pantry, ready to make these at any notice. I followed this recipe from Wit and Whistle and it works amazingly. The only thing I change is I add a little more marshmallow fluff, only because I am a marshmallow lover.  

You will need:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)* I use about 2 cups*

These are pretty simple to make-here's what you do: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. 

3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. 4. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

5. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. 

6. Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single.

7. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff. 

8. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (I found it to be easier if you  flatten the dough into small shingles and laying them together).

9. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

                                                 

I was making these a few hours before our get together and I also had a 'No-Nap-Ninja' on my hands...so a large iced coffee was much needed as well as a fluffer-nutter sandwich. Now please tell me you all have tried this wonderful creation? If not, it is simply peanut butter and marshmallow fluff! Now since you probably have peanut butter...and you obviously have marshmallow fluff...give it a whirl and you can thank me later. 

After these have cooled, carefully cut them as big (or as small) as you would like, grab a few napkins and enjoy! Let me know if you love these as much as we do-

xox

Walking Watkins

If you're friends with me on Facebook, or Instagram (@mrs_watkins723) you would have seen that our Kaden at 17 months old is now a walker! I'm going to be honest with you all, I was worried about him walking. I know, I know-every baby will do things on their own time-but when you see babies walking and they're around 12 months old or younger and your baby has yet to brave that task-you get worried-even though I knew he would be okay. Since Kaden was born 10 weeks early, we have to adjust his age down to basically track his development across the board. So even though he really is 17 months old, developmentally he is about 14.5 months old which also means he should be doing the things that other babies that age should be doing. He is slowly gaining more confidence on letting go of things (and me) and walking around the room, especially in places other than home! It seems like he has more of an adventure sense now that he can explore so much more at his new eye level.

We also have to be seen by a high risk development clinic with NICU doctors (as well as Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists) about every 6 months up until he is about 2 years old just to track him and make sure he is doing things 'according to plan'. Having a bunch of doctors evaluate your baby can be a lot to take in. Since we moved from California to Virginia, we were told that we now can possibly qualify for county services to help Kaden. When we were back in CA, I was one of the people that evaluated children and talked with parents to get services as well as provide services to these kids. So being on the flip side of things requires me to take a step back and be the client and not be the worker. Let me tell you, it is hard. Full disclosure here: I feel like when we have professionals coming in and testing him, I'm getting evaluated as well. Or at least my parenting skills are. I feel like being a parent is one of the hardest jobs around. I know I can do the best job that I can and I think that both John and I are doing a pretty darn good job with the cards that we have been dealt. Sometimes I feel like I can do more and maybe having these other services come our way can help with that, but I never know until I try them right?

PiYo- week 1

Hello everyone! I made it through the first week of PiYo with a lot of 'snap, crackle and pops' from my joints. I came across this program when a friend mentioned it on her Facebook page. (Side note: I have yet to meet her, we both are Military Spouses so by default we can share common interests and become friends at a rapid rate.) She is a Beachbody coach and also big into fitness, eating healthy and clean while taking all sorts of life obstacles into consideration during the process. Now I have quite a collection of workout dvd's as well as a mini gym in our basement so I really have ZERO excuse-except I haven't found a program that really sticks with me besides Pilates and recently yoga. The local yoga studio has both classes and I love it, but the schedule is hard to keep as well as a membership commitment due to our lifestyle (not to mention the price that comes with it). When Lauren told me about PiYo, which is a combination of both workouts, I was intrigued! After the first week I have come to the conclusion that I need to work on my flexibility. Luckily this program works on your flexibility along with strength training with your own body weight. We were instructed to take measurements along with weighing ourselves. I haven't seen any difference yet in my body, but I have noticed a difference in my muscles getting less tense. I know everything takes time and this challenge is 60 days.  Lauren has been running an accountability group following the schedule as well as the meal plan that is with the program. Sticking to the meal plan has been a little difficult since I have to take John and Kaden into consideration but I'm making it work and they get to eat healthy foods, so it seems to be a win-win for all of us! I finished my workout earlier during nap time and I'm expecting to feel some sore muscles tomorrow which is a great feeling to me. I'll keep you all updated as the workout schedule continues-

xox

Post Holiday

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday weekend! I know we did. We were lucky enough to have John home for an extra day and a half (wahoo!) so we had some amazing family time. We unfortunately were not able to see fireworks because Kaden is in bed by 7:30 at the latest and trying to keep him awake would have been the hot mess express coming through. We did enjoy the amazing weather and spent a lot of time outside. Otterpops and all. 

I was able to relax a bit on the deck and get some reading in. I actually may or may not have started and finished 2 books in one day...which is kind of crazy. I cough it up to a good napper and a good book! 

My wonderful husband got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday a year ago and I absolutely love it. I came across the website www.bookbub.com which is FREE to sign up for and you get daily emails on deals on different books. Some of the authors I know, most I don't but they have books you can download to your EReader for as low as 0.00. Thats right, free books friends. Others are discounted around .99 or 1.99. 

Kindle version

I got this book for free and thought it would be a good read based off of the reviews on Amazon. I thought for free, no problem. I quickly finished it and realized it was part of a series of 5 so naturally I had to get the others. Amazon has the first 3 books for .99. Thats right-less than a dollar. Started the second book and quickly finished that one too.                  

                                       

They're girly books, yes. But it is a nice thing to read every so often and have a good laugh. I'm working on the third book currently. Laundry took over my life this weekend (story of being a mom, right?) I recently discovered a new all natural dryer sheet solution and I'm really excited to give it a try and share with you! Here's a hint: 

And if you've liked the Facebook Page you may have seen that I've started a new workout challenge! It is a mix between Pilates and Yoga, called PiYo and I can't wait to share it with you guys! Stay tuned-

xox