Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bar

The other day I was shopping at Costco and picked up a box of these Quaker Soft Baked Bars for the kids (and me) to eat for breakfast.

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I am not going to lie, they aren't that bad, but they are soooooo sweet! Too much sweetness for me to eat in the morning!

  This morning I decided to try creating my own version of a breakfast bar, but not a too sweet breakfast bar. Since it is fall I decided to go with one of my all time favorite cooking ingredients --PUMPKIN! 

The best part of this breakfast bar recipe is that there is NO SUGAR in them! I guess that might be overstated a little. There may be no added sugar but they do have some sweet things in them to make them delicious, but not too sweet like the above packaged ones. The bars get their sweetness from pure maple syrup, dried cranberries, and 70% cocoa chocolate chips. 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bar

1 can (15 oz) of Pumpkin
1/3 cup Pure Maple Syrup
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
3 cups Old Fashioned Oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup Almonds, chopped
1/2 cup Died Cranberries
4 oz. of 70% Cocoa Chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 9"x13" inch pan with cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl combine pumpkin, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg until smooth.
4. Add oats, almonds, cranberries, and chocolate to the bowl. Stir well.
5. Press pumpkin oat mixture into the 9"x13" inch pan.
6. Bake for 35 minutes.
7. Allow the bars to cool before cutting into 2"x2" squares.
8. Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator.

The Skinny: Serves 20 @ 144 calories each!

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Pink & Green Princess First Birthday Party

It's official, my little baby girl Remy turned one!! I still can't believe how fast the time has gone! My little girl came in to this world weighing a petite 6 pounds 10 ounces and had the thickest head of hair!

*photo taken by Adara Photography

I decided to keep up with tradition and throw my daughter a 1st birthday party! (See my son's Halloween themed first birthday party here.)

I wanted a princess themed birthday party, but the more I looked into the decorations the more I thought it just looked too "store bought". I always like designing my own stuff, so I came up with some decorations and planned the party! Here are a few shots of the decorations:

This is her 1st Birthday Cake. I made it from one of those large cupcakes molds and decorated it with a hand painted candle (which I did with nail polish) and a crown from the store. 

The guests dined on homemade cupcakes decorated with pink and fudge frosting and sprinkled with crystallized sugar. 

The tops of each cupcakes were adorned with handmade (by me) white and dark chocolate molded crowns and home designed paper cupcake toppers. 

Here's my cute cupcake stand that housed all the cupcakes for the guests.

Here is my decorated buffet stand for all the presents.

And of course the Birthday Princess's Chair

And the party room all decorated.

Of course no party would be complete without pictures of the birthday girl! Here is her enjoying her cake!

It's hard to believe how fast she had grown.

*photo on left taken by Adara Photography

I love my little girl Remy and I am looking forward to how much she will change, grown, and learn in the years to come.

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