Happy New Year!! Hope you enjoyed your celebration :) What have you been up to? I started my New Years off right with a walk outside with my Aunt in the beautiful (almost 70 degree) weather! I also did some baking, cleaning, football watching and Josh and I went to dinner with friends.
I make a batch of granola bars nearly every week. Josh loves them for breakfast and snacks. I usually follow this recipe, but decided to switch it up this week. I saw Allie’s Coconut Carob Pecan Oatmeal bars and knew they would be perfect. I made just a few adjustments:
- Honey instead of agave
- Canola oil instead of butter
- and sunflower seeds and sliced almonds instead of pecans
One cooks note: make sure you let the bars cool COMPLETELY before cutting :). The batter:
The finished product:
They are fantastic! Thanks Allie.
I got tagged by my favorite New Yorker, Julie, to complete the “Four Things” survey…so here goes:
Four TV shows I watch:
1. I (like Julie) am addicted to Bravo- Real Housewives, Bethenny Getting Married, Millionaire Matchmaker….I could go on and on.
2. Entourage
3. Dexter- I just started getting into this one. Josh loved it, so I started to watch it here and there….now I’m hooked
4. Any of the cooking shows on Food Network. Favorites? Giada at Home, Barefoot Contessa, Boy Meets Grill, 30 Minute Meals, Throw down
Four things I’m passionate about:
1. My Family & Friends: Couldn’t be without them! I don’t really make “resolutions”, but one of my overall goals in 2011 is to spend more time with my family and friends
2. Group Fitness and Health in General: I absolutely LOVE teaching. I also love to run & walk.
3. Cooking & Baking: Duh :). When we go on vacation, I actually really miss my time in the kitchen.
4. Animals: I’m a HUGE dog person and just love (almost) all animals to pieces.
Four phrases/ words I use a lot:
1. “Do you know what I mean?”: I think I say this 100 times a day
2. Muffin or Button: What I call Frank
3. “____ is my favorite”: I have a lot of love…
4. “Fabulous”
Four things I’ve learned in the past:
1. True friends always remain friends, no matter what distance is between them
2. Once a dog…always a dog….
3. No one is going to make major life decisions for you. So, if you’re unhappy, MAKE the change! Change jobs, MOVE, etc
4. Duct tape really is the answer to a lot of problems
Four places I’d like to go:
1. San Francisco – I used to live nearby, but haven’t been in ages (and Josh has never been)
2. Hawaii- I’ve been before, but really want to take Josh
3. Italy-Mostly to eat… ;)
4. Bora Bora-amazing…enough said!
Four things I did yesterday:
1. Went for a walk with my Aunt Lori
2. Gave Frank a bath
3. Watched Penn State in the Outback Bowl
4. Went out to dinner with friends
Four things I love about winter….I’ll be honest, I’m not a big winter fan…so I’m going to skip this :)
Here are my four tags:
1. Mandi
2. Ashley
3. Christina
4. Stephanie
27 comments:
Happy New Year Erica!! Best wishes for 2011 :-) Loved the "4 things" too..I say "do you know what I mean?" quite a bit too come to think of it haha!
Erica, I wish you the most incredible New Year! May 2011 be filled with unending love, happiness, and success for you!!!
Those bars sound great. Allie is definitely the queen of bars.
And I love your lists of 4 things. I am in love with Entourage and all of the Foodnetwork shows as well.
Enjoy your day hun!
Happy New Year girl! It looks like you are off to a good one.
I love your "4 things", I got to know more about you.
I'm also a Food Network lover. I used to watch it during lunch time at my work everyday.
Happy New Year!!!! Those bars look great!!
you forgot number 5: visit new yaaaaaawk!
hahaha i call my dog jayjay "muffins" and "cookie" all the time haha and i say it in like a creepy baby voice like "hey mufffiiiiiiiins" hahaha weird the way people tlak to their animals..you know what i mean? hahahaha
i went for a walk with deej yesterday too! it was GLORIOUS out and i was itching to get outside :) glad you had such a fabulous new years!
I honestly think if Bravo were my only channel, I would be okay with it. I can't wait until the new season of Bethenny comes back!!
I say "Fabulous" a lot, too....and "Do you know what I mean?". I seem to just repeat a lot of the same phrases over and over. ;-)
And I definitely want to go to Italy just for the food, too! Okay and maybe the hot Italian men.
Love your list - we have lots of the same favorites!! :)
Hope you have a fantastic 2011!!
Happy New Year Girly!!! That bar recipe looks out of this world. I am definitely putting the ingredients on my list! Thanks so much for sharing.
Seriously I could never grow old of seeing pictures of Frank! He's too cute!
xo
What a fun post and Frank is a real cutie! I'm wishing you a year full of health, wealth, and love! Happy New Year!!
happy new year! love this post!
and of course love the frankster.
You're such a *fabulous* person, Erica! I enjoyed reading your fours :)
The bars look great--I really like your switcheroos minus the pecan one :). It was so long ago but I do remember taste testing the bars while still hot! My tongue got burned but it was well worth it.
Love your list of 4's! How wonderful to make spending more time with family and friends your major goal for 2011 - nothing is more important. I also find Bravo incredibly addicting :)
Your bars look so tasty..I still need to try carob! Never bought it before.
Happy new year, Erica!!
Happy New Year! The oatmeal bars look really awesome. I think I'm going to have to try them, and I really like the subs you made to the recipe.
I'm a pretty new reader, but the "4 things" helped to fill me in! Looking forward to reading more.
~Lisa
Happy New Year!
We just got Netflix so I'm planning on starting to watch Dexter too!!
Yum on those bars! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
I love Dexter! I'm watching it on Netflix now. Along with Breaking Bad.
The hubs and I are planning a trip to San Francisco and Napa in April! I am so excited!! Neither of us has ever been.
One thing I have really been wanting to do is start making my own granola bars. This recipe looks awesome!
I am totally addicted to Bravo!!! I have been missing the Housewives episodes these past couple of weeks!
Happy New Year!!!
Liz
the bars look great! I make no bake ones that are kinda similar looking but omg those look so good! great work!
the 4 things...i posted mine last week and i am a bravo and e! addict! we could swap dvr's no doubt :)
oooh those look great!
isn't dexter the best! it's one of my alltime faves! i liked reading more about you, i adore san franciso, i've only ever been there on vacation, but i swear i crave that place.
the bars look so yummy!
Happy New Year!! Totally addicted to all those Bravo shows. My husband gives me crap about it, but I just cannot help but watch!
What a fun post! I'm addicted to Bravo too - haha :)
Once a true friend always a friend, I totally agree with this statment. I am a reality show addict, love Bethenney, real house wives etc. Are you watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills?
Happy New Year to you Erica!
YESSS so excited you tagged me. Happy New Year!!
I LAUGH that all the interesting things you shared and I think:
YES!!! Another Bravo addict who isnt ashamed :)
Those bars look so great! I like your substitutions as well. I'm a honey fan. Happy 2011!
This was so fun to read Erica. My adoration for you keeps rising!
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