Oatmeal Chia Bites

I love when recipes are shared with me (so send me your fav’s!).  About a week ago I was chatting with a research vendor about a project I am thinking about working with them on and she passed along a fun recipe that includes Quaker Oats!  Now, this definitely isn’t low in sugar, but it does have pretty natural and basic ingredients…you can even rationalize popping one since it has flax and chia seeds (I promise you, you can’t taste them).   These are super quick!  I forgot to pick up vanilla at the grocery store, so mine was missing that, but it still tasted great!   

Chocolate Dipped Madeleine's

YOLO!! The Year Of Lindsay Ohyeah, is off to a great start!  Now, I know claiming an entire year for myself probably sounds a little (okay maybe a lot) narcissistic, but I swear it’s not all about me and everyone can share in the fun.  Going into 2014, I knew this was going to be the last 6 months of my 20’s and the first 6 months of my 30’s and I wanted shake things up and give myself an excuse of live life to the fullest and celebrate where I have been, what I have learned and the exciting surprises yet to come – something everyone should allow themselves to do.  As most of my close friends know, I tend to throw a lot of myself into work, and this is a great way to give myself a break and ensure I find that work/life balance. 

Grandma Cole's Fudge Nut Bars

Christmas is in the air and there is no better place than Chicago during the holidays!  The lights are hung around town, there is a smell of Christmas trees when I walk down the street, and of course, fun holiday parties make it a magical time of year.  It also brings on some reflection of the year that has passed.  With this I would like to say THANK YOU to all of you who read my blog.  In just a little over a year, there have been ~4,700 pageviews!!  Not too shabby for a hobby of mine. 

Buckeye Balls

Oh man, it has been a few weeks since posting.  Time can fly sometimes.  Over the past month there have been some fun events happening…the search and purchase of the bridesmaid dresses and my mom’s retirement from teaching (go mom!). 

Searching for a bridesmaid dress is an interesting and overwhelming experience…so many colors, styles, and fabrics to choose from.  Ann, being the great sister she is, pretty much gave me full reign to pick whatever I wanted. 

Oreo Truffles

Two weekends ago I was combing through my favorite food magazines and websites trying to find something I could enter into the Quaker Holiday Bite-Sized Bake-Off and was coming up empty.  You have to strike a fine balance between something mainstream that everyone will like, but not too mainstream that it’s just blends in with the other entries.  I had a few options but not one that I thought could have a real chance at winning, when out of the blue my inbox pinged.  My best friend Tamara tried a fun treat a co-worker brought into work and thought it would be a great one to add to the blog.  Little did she know I was looking for a bite-sized holiday treat for the contest.  I saw it as a sign!!  I am proud to say that I won Best Overall in the contest…THANKS Tam…and thought I would share this awesome and easy recipe.  There is no baking involved, so if you are not a cook, this recipe is for you (fast direction: smash, mix, ball, freeze, dip, freeze).

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mousse Pie

Tis the season of holiday gatherings filled with reminiscing of the past year, well wishing for the year to come, good food, and of course a little drinking.  Last night the city of Chicago was buzzing with holiday cheer which made navigating out of the city a little challenging as we made our way to Naperville to our previous fearless leader’s house for our holiday party “Quaker Shopper Team Style.”  We all brought some appetizers and desserts to share which turned into a little bit of a contest – each person slyly pushing there dish (my favorite one, outside of my own, were Mary’s pumpkin and cream cheese frosting whoopie pies).  I joined in the fun and decided to make this peanut butter & chocolate mousse pie.  It is a recipe I stumbled across a few years back when I lived in Cincinnati.  Nielsen was having a pie contest, so I searched through pie recipes looking for something that plays to the taste buds of the masses…who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate together?!?!  I ended up winning the Nielsen pie contest and have been making this recipe ever since.  I thought it would be a great recipe to share as it is a great option to make for a holiday party.