OH! NUTS Review and Caramel Walnut Crumbly Bars Recipe

One of my favorite things to do during the month of December is my family’s traditional holiday baking.  We buy tons of supplies including many bags of chocolate chips, Flour, Sugar, and nuts. Good nuts can be hard to find. They are also really expensive to buy. I love all kinds of nuts. My two favorite are Pecans and Walnuts.  I had the opportunity to work with OH! NUTS. OH! NUTS sells all kinds of nuts from walnuts to pistachios, even Hazelnuts. They also sell chocolate and candy. They have great prices too.  Everything is so fresh, you don’t have to wonder how long it has been sitting on the shelf at the grocery store.  I was asked to share a recipe with you guys using an OH! NUTS product. Even though I received both Walnuts and Pecans, I decided to be different and not use Pecans.  I used things I had in my home and created a delicious masterpiece.  It was odd making a dish without buying any ingredients because usually there are some special items. I had chocolate chips and caramels in my cabinet. This is my recipe.

Caramel Walnut Crumbly Bars

14 ounces of Caramels unwrapped

2 cups of flour

1 and ½ cups of Brown Sugar

½ teaspoon of salt

1 cup of Butter (softened)

1 cup OH! NUTS Chopped Walnuts

1/3 cup milk

2 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

12 ounce bag of Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan. Heat caramels and milk in a 2 quart pan over low heat until smooth.  It does take a while for them to melt.

Mix the flour, brown sugar, oatmeal, baking soda, salt and egg in a large mixing bowl. Stir in butter with a fork or hands.  Press half of the mixture in the bottom of the pan. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle on chocolate chips and walnuts. Drizzle the caramel. I just used a big spoon.  Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top and bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

Cool completely and enjoy!

OH! NUTS provided me with nuts to help me create my recipe. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recipes Across America Review

As someone who loves to cook and bake, I love to read cookbooks and use them for meals.   My favorite type of cookbooks are the ones that have all sorts of items to make.  I had the opportunity to receive the Taste of Home, Recipes Across America Cookbook.  It is recipes submitted by readers all over the United States. I love this idea because I love learning about other areas and seeing what foods are popular there. There are so many great recipes. It also has tidbits about different areas, which is extremely interesting. My family’s favorite recipe so far is the Mississippi Mud Pie. We have made it twice in a two week time frame. I also had my mom look at it, because she loves to cook and bake almost as much as I do.  When we were making the Mississippi Mud Cake the first time, we were talking about Marshmallow crème.  When my mom was younger she liked eating peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwiches.  Since we had some, I thought it would be a good time for Noah to try it, since he loves peanut butter and marshmallows.  I mentioned how my best friend’s children like it. My mom said I read in the cookbook that is a common food for New England.  Noah didn’t like the sandwich as much as I thought he would.  The Mississippi Mud Pie was so easy. We were able to make it from ingredients that we had at home, besides marshmallow crème.   It never lasted long and even Noah liked it.  There are so many great recipes to try out. I am really excited to work my way through Recipes Across America.  It’s like taking a cross country road trip in your own kitchen. You know the most important thing about traveling is trying the local cuisine.

You can find Recipes Across America in a bookstore near you or on Amazon.

For more information please visit the Taste of Home website.

I received Recipes Across America to review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.  

TOOBS Review and Giveaway

When Noah was three, I started buying him Toobs. We call them Tube Toys. They come in all kinds of animals. They are really cool. He has quite a few of them.  I blogged about them in the past because I use them to decorate his birthday cakes because I am not a cake decorator in the slightest.  He also loves to play with them and collect them. He has taken them to the pool with them since most of the ones he has are sea life or fish. It is one of the things he cherishes.  In Kindergarten, he wanted to take them for show and tell, since they were educational.  So, I approved it through his teacher because they had issues with toys before. He brought them and another child stole them and passed them out to all the other kids. Noah was heartbroken. The only reason I knew about it was because the little boy he rode home with was arguing with Noah about a turtle.  We got it all straightened out and the teacher had to call every parent to get them back.  The other child lied about stealing them and said they were his.  I ended up buying him a couple new Toobs because we weren’t sure that we had them all. Some kids have special blankets or stuffed animals, Noah has his Toobs.  He looks forward to receiving them on Birthdays and even from Santa. 

I had the opportunity to world with Safari Ltd. They make Toobs and a bunch of other really cool toys. As I was browsing their catalog, I noticed he has some of their other toys too, like a realistic looking hermit crab. Santa got that at the Fort Desoto gift shop I believe.  I really like Safari Ltd because their toys look realistic.  Noah is really in to nonfiction and he knows that fish do not smile so if there is a smile on something he says something. He can really be silly. This time we received the Baby Sea Life Toobs and the Sharks Toobs. The Baby Sea Life are so cute. I am partial to little baby things.  Noah likes them too. He has matched them up with some of the grown up creatures he has.  My son can name all the different types of sharks too.  It’s really funny because he is constantly impressing adults with his knowledge of fish and sea life.  We went to a neighbor’ house to check out his new 100 gallon tank and Noah was talking fish and identifying all of them and taking about all the different types of coral. He wasn’t saying I like the pink coral, he would use the name of the type.  Toobs are a huge part of our lives. It is really cool to be able to share with Noah really cool toys that are also educational. 

Toobs are a great gift because kids love them. Boys and Girls alike.  They are great for a child who loves animals or sea life or pretty much anything. They have so many different types I am sure you could find something that interests the child in your life. They come in a tube so they could be a great stocking stuffer or wrap up a couple together and start collecting all the different Toobs. Be sure to check out Safari Ltd.’s other toys too.

For more information and to order please visit Safari Ltd.

I have a GIVEAWAY for you!

One winner is going to win:

One Sharks Toob

One Baby Sea Life Toob

Mandatory Entry: Go to the SafariLtd.Website and tell me something else you would like.

You must do the main entry for the bonus entries to count.

Bonus Entries: Each Bonus entry is worth two entries. Please leave separate entries.

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This giveaway is open to US Residents only

This giveaway will end on December 7, 2013 at 11:59 pm

Thank you to Safari Ltd. Ffor providing me with a couple sample Toobs for my review and providing the giveaway prizes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.