Easy No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Action Packed Weekend!
By Ali

Hi everyone! I have been totally MIA! But for good reason, I have had an action packed weekend already and it is only Sunday morning!!!! Let’s back up to friday though, shall we? Before leaving work I enjoyed a decaf hazelnut coffee with half and half and cinnamon.

and the mini Lemon Zest Luna Bar I got at Healthworks for free.

This is what it looked like:

It was pretty good, I liked it a lot. I usually go for the chocolate flavored bars ;) so this was a nice change. This bar was to serve as a pre-run snack for a run that did not end up taking place, for two reasons:

1. I had a hard time making it up the hill to my apt. when I got off the bus after work, due to soreness from the INTENSE AMOUNT OF LUNGES I did at Body Pump the day before.
2. I was feeling a little sick.

My body was telling me not to run, and I listened. It was thankful…and snacky. While relaxing with Oscar I snacked on a 1/2 a serving of soy crisps.

and 1/2 a serving of dark chocolate crisps.

I guess I was really into crisps, huh?! Dinner was quick and easy, because as I laid in bed, I started feeling worse. I even thought I had a fever and took my temp, but I didn’t. I think that my flu shot got to me a little. Oh well! I wanted something warm so I made this TJ’s Low Sodium Minestrone Soup. I love the low sodium options, salty soup tastes yucky to me.

This soup was really good! I liked it a lot. Minestrone is my favorite soup actually, so It is hard for me not to like it!

It was also the perfect serving size! Sometimes cans that have 2 cups of soup can be overwhelming to me. I had the soup with a oatmeal and flax tortilla with turkey, yellow mustard and cheddar cheese pressed on the George Formal grill.

Dinner:

After Dinner, my friend Jill decided to come over to watch the new Rachael Zoe and Law and Order SVU episodes. I decided we needed a sweet treat. Enter no-bake chocolate peanut butter oatmeal cookies! It was an experiment that turned out great!

STEP 1: put 2 cups of white sugar, 1 stick of butter (YES REAL BUTTER..gasp!), 1/2 a cup of natural peanut butter, 1/4 of a cup of cocoa, and 1/2 a cup of milk in a medium sauce pan.

Bring it to a boil:

Step 2: Add 3 cups of oats.

Step 3: Spoon teaspoon sized chucks out onto wax paper and let cool.

Step 4: ENJOY!

I actually only had one, with a cup of chamomile tea. These were super easy to make and really good. Adam said they reminded him of granola bites. If you like oatmeal, chocolate and peanut butter, like I do, you will love these. I shared some with Jill and my friend Belle, we actually only have a few left here. These are going like hot cakes!

While Jill and I were watching TV, Adam came home from his golf tournament (that his team won…YAY!). I told him about how out coffee maker turned itself on by itself and he threw it out right away. He is so superstitious, he said, “I saw a movie like that once!” HA! Bye bye crazy coffee maker. I feel like I have had a coffee maker story every other post! I bet you guys are gonna miss those!

Yesterday morning I woke up and made a whole wheat bagel with honey almond butter and 1/2 of a banana.

and a medium medium roast coffee with vanilla syrup from Zumes that my friend Jill dropped off on her way home from work. Yet, she left my house at 10:15pm, went to work, then brought us coffee at 7:15am. Thanks, Jill!

While enjoying breakfast, I wrapped my friend Belle’s b-day gift. I got her a few organizing things and a SIGG. One organizer had post-its in it, so you know I wrote her a Operation Beautiful note:

Both statements are VERY true! Today is actually Belle’s B-day…Happy Birthday, Belle!!!!!!!

Before leaving for Body Pump (yup, I took Belle to Body Pump as part of her B-day gift!) and talking endlessly about my love for Amazing Meal, Belle and I tried the berry flavored bar! I like this one a lot!!!! I just had a little piece, brekkie was filling!

Body Pump was booty-kicking! I had to actually mentally leave my body and go to my “happy place” during the lunges! My legs were still hurting from Thursday’s Body Pump class! The routine was different than that last two body pump routines I did, so it kept my body guessing, while I loved. I am sore as heck today, this class is no joke, and a blasty!

We showered quickly at the gym and got ready for some shopping and lunch. Operation Beautiful note #2 of the day in the gym locker room.

Here is the outfit for the day:

All from the Gap. I heart these conductor jeans!

After BP we went to Target to pick up some stuff we needed. There was a Starbucks, so I got a tall Non-fat PSL.

While shopping at Target, I found the new Issue of Shape with Tina’s article in it! YAY Tina! What an inspiring story!

After Target (where I purchased a non-possessed new coffee maker and a halloween costume for Oscar), we went to Panera for lunch. I got 1/2 a greek salad and a cup of black bean soup.

Close ups!

soup…

I had it with a sparkling water.

I ate about half of each. Perfect and we got to eat outside! We won’t be able to that much longer in New England!

After lunch, we headed home and changed to go to free yoga!!!!!!!!! The yoga studio I go to, Charlestown Yoga, is offering free yoga for three Saturdays in a row!!!!! Yesterday was the first!

I had two lovely yoga dates too!!!!

Belle, Jill and I!

This class was seriously good! I loved it!!!! It was the best yoga class I have ever taken. I got into a shoulder stand with my knees on my forehead for the first time! Isn’t that exciting???? Here is a group picture!

So fun! I can’t go next week, but I will be there for sure the following one. If you live close to Charlestown, I would totally recommend it. Come one people. FREE YOGA!

After yoga, I went to TJ MAXX with Jill and got a new running coat and this:

I have been wanting this cook book for a long time, I found it for 6.99 so I got it! YAY!!!

Dinner with my handsome fiance was make your own pizza:

My side had black olives, tomatoes, green, yellow and orange peppers.

I had two pieces from my side. Look what else Adam and I made :)

Halloween cupcakes!!!! YUM. I had two last night! My favorite is white cake with chocolate frosting!

Breakfast this morning was whole wheat and fresh blueberry pancakes!

Yum!!!!

I also had a taste for a fried egg. I can’t even remember the last time I had one. We had one egg in the fridge that needed to be used, so I went ahead and fried it!

The pancakes were topped with a little natural syrup and some walnuts. Perfect!

and some coffee (from our new maker) with half and half and agave nectar.

I had a run planned today, but the rain and this chest cold I have developed are working against me. I may hit up the elliptical at the gym later today since it is easier on my lungs. Plans today include, working at my part-time job, grocery shopping with my bestie May and maybe a trip the the gym (I am feeling a little under the weather, so we will see how I feel). Have a great Sunday!