Monday MATTERS + my family’s all-time favorite dessert recipe.

Happy Monday!  I hope your week is off to a great start! Just a few important matters to discuss this afternoon.  

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*I think Forever 21 made this shirt for me. More like blogging in the afternoon and then the middle of the night but pretty much the same thing.

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*These are a treasure to my family.  

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Date Bars.  These things are like gold to my family and my mom has been making them for decades now.  My dad is allergic to eggs—> he is limited with his dessert options and so my mom makes these for him every birthday!  They are super rich but crazy delicious.

Date Filling:

3 packages Dates (chopped)

1 cup water

1/4 cup granulated suagar

Cook dates in water and sugar until a paste texture forms.  More water usually needs to be added while cooking to obtain texture.

Top and bottom:

In a separate bowl:

3 cubes butter (1 1/2 cup cups)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

Cream butter and sugars together.

Then add:

2 1/4 cups flour

3 teaspooons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Blend these together.

Then add:

3 3/4 cups quick oats

Blend together but try not to crush the oats

Spread 1/2 of dry mix into 9”x 13” greased cake pan and pat down flat

Spread date mix over dry mix and smooth flat.

Top with remaining mix and lightly pat.

Bake in 350 degree oven until golden brown (approximately 30 minutes). 

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*Still hoping for a miracle with this whole rice trick thing but to be honest… it has been kind of nice living phoneless for a while.  I get a lot more done:)

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*Living phoneless has also forced me to take my nice camera (or iPad;) everywhere for pictures which is probably a good thing.

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*Things got really crazy at our hotel party… a bunch of Mormon girls and some diet coke. 

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*When your smile is so big it forces your eyes to shut every single time.  He has a big chunk of my heart.  

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*My friend took a picture of Brooke at church taking out each Frosted Mini Wheat, eating the frosting off and then putting it back in the bag.  Nice work Brooke.

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*I came across this old picture of me and Brooke and it made me crave a camping trip with her this summer.  

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*After my run this morning we went to the mall to split some pretzel bites.  I called it our new Presidents Day tradition. 

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*I woke up on my bday morning to this from Meg.  She thinks my love for Milky Ways and Almond Joys are bizarre but she encouraged it for my bday.  

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*If you want to read a little bit more about what happened with Shalane at the end of the trials marathon you can read about it HERE or HERE!

*How To Love The Treadmill and 8 Treadmill Workouts——>  a post I wrote for Women’s Running! Feel free to check it out!

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Are you allergic to anything?

Your thoughts on Milky Ways and Almond Joys?

Do you have a family dessert that everyone is obsessed over?  

Has the rice trick ever saved your phone after water damage?

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52 comments

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Deathly allergic to peanuts!!

Love milky ways, always have. Almond joys are good but mounds bars are better! Dark chocolate plus coconut= money.

Have a great night Janae!!!!!

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PEANUTS… OH Mallory, that must be super hard! I haven’t had mounds bars in forever.. thanks for the reminder, I will have to go get some!

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Any chance you have a good egg-free brownie recipe? My niece is allergic to eggs too and my SIL has done a great job with replicating nearly everything without eggs except for brownies. And we all know that brownies are the BEST!

I’m allergic to tree nuts. I can eat peanuts and almonds though. Thank goodness!

We put my husbands phone through the washing machine last week. Major fail (it was a week old). We tried putting it in rice for 24 hours but it didn’t work.

I don’t think I’ve ever had an Almond Joy, but I do love Milky Ways!

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Brownies are the best but we haven’t found a recipe for eggless ones yet that we love:( once we do, I will post it. Oh I am very happy you can eat peanuts and almonds…those are the best ones! OH NO… I did the washing machine thing too.

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Have you tried the brand Namaste? It’s in the gluten free section and they have a brownie mix that you can use. If you have an egg substitute that you usually use for baking us that instead. The brownies are crazy good, full of sugar because there isn’t anything in them, but super good!

http://www.namastefoods.com/products/cgi-bin/products.cgi?Function=show&Id=1

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Hello ladies. Have you tried looking up any paleo websites or clean eating websites for the brownies? I have come across a lot of recipes where flax eggs (I think that is what they are called) can be used in place of real eggs. And a lot of paleo bloggers get super creative with their dessert recipes. Easiest way to fin them is through Pinterest. Type in paleo desserts or even try paleo brownies and see what pops up. Good luck!

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Milky ways are my favorite!

I’m allergic to cats and horses. Food wise I’m slightly allergic to walnuts and watermelon. Not enough to do anything bad, just irritate my throat and ears.

My moms pies are kind of a huge deal. And her chocolate chip cookies.

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Watermelon… that would be rough for me! How about I send you some Milky Ways and you send me some of your mom’s pies and cookies;) Have a fabulous Monday night Jenny!

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My mom makes these cream puff desserts and my entire family loves them. I made them for my co workers once and they also loved them. So good!

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Milky Way before….

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Those sound heavenly Rebecca! I’ll send some Milky Ways on over to you:)

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I <3 Milky Ways, especially the dark chocolate, and Almond Joys!! We always make a jello poke cake for July 4th and I am already craving it!

The rice trick never worked on my phone, but I did lay my drowned phone on my heater at work all day and it totally worked!!

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Drum roll… I’m allergic to chocolate! Yeah, I know, every woman I tell looks at me with sad sad eyes haha But honestly, I was born with a salty tooth so it’s not too bad ;-) I’d take a plate of nachos with guacamole and salsa over cake or pie any day ;-) That being said, I do love froyo and ice cream but there is a lot of amazing flavours outside of the chocolate family ;-) I remember this picture of you and Brooke on a camping trip like it was yesterday! Time flies!!!

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NOOOOOOO CHOCOLATE?!?!? I’m glad you love your salty foods better though. I’ll make sure to post any amazing salty treats I come across for you:) Seriously… isn’t it crazy how fast she has grown up?

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Thanks! I’ve seen you snack on white cheddar and caramel popcorn in previous posts…that’s totally my kind of treat! It is amazing to see Brooke grow and become a little woman. My little guy was about that age when Brooke was born and now he’s in school and almost as tall as I am! Craziness!

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Ha, that shirt from Forever 21 is priceless. I am laughing so much!

I’m only allergic to a certain medicine which is nice. I feel bad for those who are allergic to nuts or shellfish.

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I am allergic to shellfish! Yeah I know, cheap date !! Don’t really care for candy but give me something salty and its on.
Rice trick didn’t work for me….but hey maybe you’ll be lucky!

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I’m not really allergic to anything but can’t have dairy, garlic, and pork products. It’s not a huge deal. If I could eat ice cream without things becoming unpleasant, I would probably weigh 300 lbs!

We have these scratch chocolate chip cake cookies. Everybody loves them but we can’t share the recipe as it is an old family secret. I’ve never seen anything else like them.

Love milky way, almond joy not so much!

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I’m not allergic to anything. My husband is allergic to bananas, uncooked avocado, and a bunch of other fruits. It’s not a serious allergy but they bother him. I’m really hoping our kids take after me.
Milky ways are okay but no way on the Almond Joys!

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Do people cook avocados?!

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Ha that does sound funny doesn’t it? I cook with guacamole sometimes like in Mexican casseroles and that doesn’t bother him.

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Yasss, for when you crave avocados but they aren’ t ripe yet!
Try an avocado egg (cut the avocado in half, remove some of thee the pulp and put an egg in it, then cook for about 15′)

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I’m kind of allergic to quinoa. It’s in the ragweed family and since I’m crazy allergic to ragweed, I wheeze after I eat quinoa. Not good. My 8-year old is allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, rye, sesame, bananas, cantaloupe, cherries, watermelon, peanuts, and all of the tree nuts. I totally get the egg-free dessert thing. The new face dessert for my hubs and I is Ina Garten’s Coeur de la Creme. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coeur-a-la-creme-with-raspberry-and-grand-marnier-sauce-recipe.html Crazy, crazy decadent.
A big NO on Milky Ways and Almond Joys.
The rice trick has absolutely saved my phone! 2x!

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These look SO good! Do you know how big your packages of dates are? My grocer only sells dates in big plastic tubs so I’m not sure how much to use!

I’m so lucky that I’m not allergic to anything!

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I washed and dried an iPod once. The backlight burned out, but it still works otherwise. I use it in my car now because I can control all the menus through the dashboard and I don’t need to be able to see the screen.

Miley Ways and Almond Joys are delicious. Anything with caramel or coconut is delicious.

I made eggnog cookies a couple years ago, my running friends still ask me about them! My family always had Peanut Buster Parfait when I was growing up: Oreos, vanilla ice cream, fudge sauce, peanuts and cool whip. The best. My grandma used to always have a pan of it in the freezer so you could have some whenever you wanted. :)

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Thankfully I’m not allergic to anything, but my sister is allergic to most citrus fruits. Strawberries, pineapple, lemon, orange, etc…She misses out on all of the good stuff!

My family has a few recipes everyone loves. Chocolate chip cookies that were on a chocolate chip bag in the 80s, huge, fluffy homemade pizza crust, and spiced molasses cookies.

Those date bars look so good, thanks for sharing the recipe!

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hmm date bars may be the closest thing I get to a date these days. LOL

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That is just the sweetest birthday surprise! I never would have thought of that!!!

Five days worth of rice actually saved my roommate’s old laptop in college after a mug of tea was spilled on it! So I have hope for you.

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I still get goosebumps every time I think about Shalane’s marathon finish. Just incredible.

The rice trick did not work for me. I was out on a run (I always take my phone) and it started raining. Like, downpour raining. My phone was wet for a good 90 minutes before it got buried in some rice. I waited a couple days but no luck. That was one expensive run!! :)

I am a Milky Way, 3Muskateers, Snickers kinda girl. No coconut or almonds for me!

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Aw I love the candy doormat decoration for your birthday!!

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Wow, Shalane loves her recovery pastries.

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yes go camping!!! Utah has the best camping in my opinion, you are so lucky to be so close! zion is my dream camping spot. i LOVE milky way and almond joy, although confession, i pop the almonds off of the almond joy…and dont even say mounds are the same thing because dark chocolate is not the same ;)

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I LOVE that Forever21 shirt!!!!!!

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I’m allergic to cold air and cold water which makes winter running a bit of a challenge. Thank goodness for antihistamines!
My husband’s pies are a pretty big hit in my family and his. Apple and pumpkin are his specialties.
No thanks to the almond joy, but I’ll eat a milky way if the chocolate craving is bad enough.
The rice trick has saved my phone after an unfortunate dunk in the ocean.

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Love milky ways, hate almond joys.

Rice worked for mynohone. I dropped completely into a sink of water. Left it in rice literally all day and 24 hrs later, it worked! Good as new!

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That blogging shirt! haha

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I’m not allergic to anything, but I really have to limit my dairy or I get very sick. I love Milky Ways, can’t get past the almonds in Almond Joys ha. Hmm, my family loves homemade oreo cookies! They are so good! The rice trick actually has saved my iPod but not my phone, but hey there’s still hope! ;)

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I just made A Bountiful Kitchen’s Swig cookies. They are egg free and super easy to make!

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I didn’t know they were egg free! I’m going to have to make those right away, thank you so much Alicia!

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Have you tried putting your phone on top of your fridge near the back? I was told the low heat will dry it out without damaging it while some magical electrical exchange brings it back to life lol. It worked for my iPod a few years ago!

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BRILLIANT… I will try it right now! Thank you Emily!

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No food allergies here! Only to bunnies :( I ‘d love to have a pet bunny but I can’t! It’s amazing, it looks like you had such a great time for your birthday!!! It’s the best when you live near your family and friends :)

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I have a minor soy intolerance and I tell people I”m allergic to mushrooms because I dislike them so much ;)

Love Almond Joys and I like Milky Way Midnights!

I make Oreo Balls and I’m obsessed with those? And my mom makes really really good brownies.

And YES the rice trick has worked for me! Keeping my fingers crossed it works for you too!

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Not allergic to anything, which can get me in trouble sometimes. I try everything and get hooked on new goodies too often!

Have you never hear of BROWNIES IN A MUG??? pinterest, girl! Egg is mostly used for structure, but the mug is what contains the shape so no need for egg! it’s one of the goodies I’ve gotten hooked on :)

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Milky Ways and Almond Joys are my favorite chocolate treats! I am not really a “chocolate” person, more of a chewy candy person, and they have just enough chocolate /other candy balance for me!

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Milky Ways are my FAVORITE candy bar.

Luckily, I am not allergic to anything. Which is great, because I love eating everything.

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I need that blogging shirt! I’m going to see if I can order it because it was made for me too.

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Love milky ways! Your nephew is the cutest. Brooke is a smart girl! The rice trick has worked for me before!

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Try putting the bowl of rice somewhere warm. It makes the rice suck up moisture. I put a bowl of rice and an ipod out on the deck last summer. But in the winter.. put in a sunny window? Close by a fireplace?

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1: That first pic of you and Brooke is gorgeous.
2: Keep the faith – I have had the rice trick work for a phone in the very long ago past. (I had a piece of rice stuck in it that rattled for the remainder of the time I had that phone, but totally worth it!)

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I’m not sure who your phone provider is, but for Verizon, they have a machine you can use to put your phone in to dry it out if it gets soaked in water (just bring it into the store). This happened to my mom and she put hers in rice and the guy working said rice doesn’t work with iPhone with how they are made or something. Such a bummer! I hope you get yours figured out :)

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Allergy: Only to sulfa medication— wide diffuse rash! eeek!

Oh, I so love dates!!! And that recipe looks absolutely delicious!!! Definitely on the try list…. maybe this weekend…. If I make it and it turns out, I may need to post on my blog with full credit to you and link to your blog (Which I LOVE!!!!) — You have inspired me and helped me in so many ways! My friend in Belgium, that’s right, a friend in Europe is who referred me to your blog!!!! I am training for my FIRST ever marathon which is the first weekend in March and I have begun to think what have I gotten myself into, but then I remember all your previous posts and I am encouraged!!! So thank you from a follower in South Georgia!!!! :D

I like Milky ways, but not my favorite. Almond joy, definitely not for me, just don’t have the liking for coconut. LOL

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I’m ALL about Milky Ways and Almond Joys! You can’t discriminate on chocolate candy :) Although Snickers win all the way just because they’re so nutty. I’m so grateful to not be allergic to any foods — that would be so sad because trying new food is such a fun part of life!

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