oatmeal berry bars (vegan; can be gluten-free).

Looking for the perfect breakfast item or healthy summer dessert? These berry oatmeal bars can serve as both. There is zero fat (no oil, butter, or eggs), but enough ingredients to keep these bars extremely moist and also satisfyingly delicious.

rhubarb bars (with cardamom + pistachio).

Have you ever not eaten enough during the day and gotten massive stomach cramps?

This happened to me recently and I swear, I would not wish this pain on my worst enemy. A long day at work meant 7 hours of not eating, followed by the really bad stomach pain. By the time I was able to scarf down an apple on my drive home, it was just too late.

healthy fig bars.

At this point, I've tried almost every single flavor of Nature's Bakery fig bars. They're like a fancier fig newton. Although I dislike how the nutrition facts are for one bar vs. one package (contains 2 bars, which I find incredibly easy to devour), I just can't get enough of these bars.

In recent efforts to cut down on the amount of refined products I consume, I have been looking for snack options I can make myself. So the next time I was at the store, instead of buying a few more packs of these fig bars, I bought a pack of dried figs. After getting home I Googled around, and these are what I came up with.

coconut cream pie bars.

Whenever I watch tennis, soccer, or any really athletic sport (sorry golf), I at some point appreciate how fit those people are. The thought sometimes continues, in-between admiring Rafa's outbursts of greatness and Djokovic's insane flexibility (can you tell I've been watching the French Open?). Commercial breaks come, and I start to plot out a regime of health foods & exercise to get my heart pumping on the level of the players I was just watching. The game comes back, and an exciting rally reinforces my vow to reform my life.

Eventually, the game ends. And instead of immediately going for a hike or run, I stay on my bed, stalk foodgawker, and decide to make coconut cream pie bars. Well ... everyone has their own thing to love, right?

pina colada bars (using cake mix).

I posted a recipe for snickerdoodle cheesecake bars some time ago, also using cake mix. Although homemade baked goods are favorable most 100% of the time, cake mix does have its role in baking. Oftentimes for bake sales, you don't want to spend a lot of money. Or there's just not enough time to make from-scratch dessert.

For these instances, cake mixes work wonderfully. One of the reasons they work so well is not just because they're pre-packaged, but because they're versatile! I Googled extensively on how to manipulate cake mixes into interesting creations. I didn't find as much as I expected. 

In order to increase the doctoring-cake-mix database the Interweb, I thought I'd start adding some of my recipes. I made these pina colada bars for a friend's bake sale, and apparently they sold out first, if that says anything. 

snickerdoodle cheesecake bars.

Big things are coming! In life, that is. Graduation in a few months is not even in my mind - there are other important things to do first.

Have (survive) a successful Dance Marathon.
Finish my thesis. (LOL. SOS.)
Run the half marathon 8K I signed up for.

And THEN, a mere few days after the end of finals period, I can don my cap and gown, stumble down the aisle to pose for a quick candid shot for my parents, and head back. A 2-minute walk and 2-hour ceremony to mark the end of my four years of higher level education.

orange clove bars.

I feel like it's the little things that make the biggest differences in life. A little argument could blow up into the biggest deal, or reveal deeper issues. Or in a more positive light, getting lunch during Restaurant Week at Buddakan in Philly with someone I haven't talked to in forever, but was easily able to hold a conversation with, could turn out to be a very relaxing day trip.

pumpkin pie bars.

Let me tell you about a fantastic baked good I recently had. I would say it is the best pumpkin item I've ever had.

Okay. Imagine a homemade yeasted bread. Sort of like really fresh bakery bread. It's not too sweet, which works in this case. Now imagine a ton of crumb pieces the size of ping pong balls (maybe a little smaller, but not by much) embedded on top of the bread. The crumbs are brown sugary, cinnamony, and buttery. What with the crumbs and dusting of powdered sugar, you don't notice the inside until you cut into the loaf. What do you find?

Swirls. Thick, massive indulgent swirls of straight up pumpkin pie, in the bread. Sometimes you get a slice that is more pumpkin pie than bread. You find that good things finally happen to good people.

lamington bars.

As of late, I've been having difficulty keeping up with blogposts. Everyone is aware of the usual reasons - it's time-consuming, there are many other things going on, school will get busy soon, etc. So instead of proffering a ton of excuses & still continuing to blog extremely minimally, I have decided to find a working medium.

Instead of my usual rambling posts, I'm going to post mainly pictures & recipes. This will keep the the posts shorter, but still allow me to get everything to you.

Speaking of, let's get to these bars.

millionaire's shortbread.

Doesn't the name of these bars sound fancy? You don't need to own a yacht (or yachtmaster!) and wear  limited edition $50 Gucci t-shirts to make / eat these.

They have a shortbread crust, similar to that of my recent eggnog cheesecake. Its high fat to flour ratio makes for a crumbly, absolutely delicious base to the bars.

Sweetened condensed milk is reduced until thick and slightly golden in color, before being poured atop the buttery crust. The milk turns into a light, milky caramel that is sweetly fragrant, and firms as it sets.

Finishing off the entire bar is a layer of chocolate, melted down with just a touch of ghee (butter is traditionally used). That last little addition prevents the chocolate from hardening to a stiff, un-cut-able shell, and lends a silkier mouthfeel to the chocolate.

apple pie bars.

"In one moment, I lived centuries." It's my favorite line from one of my favorite songs. Well, that's what the lyrics translate to, anyhow.

Although not quite as melodramatic, I feel the same way about these past two weeks. It's been a whirlwind of meeting new people, doing new things, and getting new perspectives.

It's been exciting! Interspersed among there I've had random food quests and cravings. These apple pie bars - the perfect homey autumn dessert - were obviously included.

chocolate pumpkin pie bars.

So I had the weirdest dream ever. If you could care less about my random mental thoughts when I sleep, go down to just before the recipe for a review. If you do care (AW THANKS), keep reading.

Quick preface: I have had lucid dreams before. I dream quite a bit. My dreams are usually vivid. But this one was particularly unusual.

I was home for the weekend and taking a nap. I quickly entered dream-mode. I was at my university, in the library. The usual dream sequence passed, but then something weird happened.

toasted marshmallow squares.

Hey guys ... I'm forcing myself to break away from buffers, muscle contraction, and fluids momentarily to bring you these delicious squares I recently made.

I needed to bake. You know that point when food becomes an emergency more than a want? Yeah. I needed to bake today, or else I don't even know. 

I'm planning on doing crazy, outrageous things after my MCAT .. like shopping. Responding to my friend's texts. Talking to my parents. Baking something interesting. And maybe, just maybe, getting my nails done. 

dulce de leche brownies.

Summer has officially started! It seems to also be the season of new houses. So many visits to friends' new homes, particularly when you find yourself with extra time, after your MCAT class got cancelled because the teacher went to the wrong city, 40 mins away.

These brownies are easy enough to make before you have to leave for any housewarming parties, though. Remember I mentioned that the dulce de leche would come up again?

Yeahhhh man .. right here. Right now. Kitchen. Go. 

pineapple cream cheese blondies.

I realized why I have so much more to blog about when I come home. Because when I'm at college & have something (anything) to say, someone is usually around to hear it.

I guess that someone is you, now! I think my parents have become proficient in tuning out the random stuff I think about.

I hope you're excited. You can hear about how I recently found out that one ostrich egg is the equivalent of about 22 chicken eggs. And how Rutgers is working extra hard to recruit more students directly from China. This greatly baffles me. Also, how the Affordable Care Act is going to affect our lives. I was not aware that it extended coverage for young adults! I can stay underneath my parents' plan till 26 now! WOOP WOOP.

Oh, and I guess you can hear about these blondies. I mean, if you really want to.

apple butter bars.

When did there start being not enough hours in a day?

Sleep. Classes. Schoolwork. Meetings. Lab. Club. Eating. Seeing civilization.

The last two get kind of neglected nowadays .. one day, by 3pm, I had eaten Greek yogurt & one of these bars from Dudley's that have 0.8 grams of plant sterols. They're actually super healthy and taste really good. But I learned in my foods class that sterols are cholesterols that are only derived from animal sources, and the way that vegetarians get it is from milk. So how can "plant" sterols exist?

No clue, but I want to ask my cute little Indian professor, I am sure she would know. Speaking of that class, the exam is in two days ... I have yet to buy the textbook. Yeeeeeeeey let's see how bad this week can end up being.

On the bright side, this weekend was awesome!

toasted coconut butterscotch bars.

Watch out for these. They are dangerously addictive, with the contrast of the crisp edges and top crust with the soft, chewy interior. If you haven't gotten by now, I love when there's a crisp/chewy contrast. The coconut is chewy, but also slightly crunchy and nutty from being toasted. The butterscotch chips are very sweet, and mesh well with the brown sugar dough.

I made them for my brothers, but after tasting them, I am tempted to make another batch to bring back to school with me. If I have time. I need to collect my things & wash my hair & do my nails first. 

I'm excited to work out at Sonny Werbs once I get back, so I can eat more of these .. I want to see you work out for me, work out for me. I don't know if I like the words/idea behind that song, but I definitely like the beat of it.

tell me about: Moose Munch Chocolate Bar - s'mores!

I got this bar when I went to Jersey Gardens and stopped inside a Harry & David store for the first time. I wanted to get everything, including the Cherry Butter (like pumpkin butter, except cherries!) and Wasabi Peas I saw. Very dangerous place for me.

rice krispies.

I just ate a Chewy Bar. And let me tell if you, if I had access to the fresh, not even day old rice krispies sitting in my kitchen right now, I would not have had to eat a Chewy bar.

What's my problem with them, you ask? Well for one, they don't hold together. I mean, this is supposed to be a convenient, on-the-go sort of food, and how can that be possible if all the mini chocolate chips keep falling off? Also, they taste so packaged and fake. I would rather eat my homemade clif bars than this gooey bar thing.

homemade clif bars.

Yesterday I ran for 50 minutes straight. Well, jogged.

I haven't continued that long without stopping for ... a very, very long time. The whole route was about 4.2 miles, according to my Google Maps calculations. So that's not fast or anything, but considering there were slopes, the scent of roasted garlic wafting out of nearby Italian restaurants, and my overall terribly out-of-shapeness, not too bad, I guess.

The run also reminded me of the 5K I promised to do with two of my suitemates this upcoming September. And how I will probably not be able to do it because I am so slow.

LOOK AT ALL THAT HEARTY GOODNESS. 

But that got me thinking of pre and post - workout fuel. That raised my spirits! I immediately thought of energy bars. And that reminded me of the energy bars I saw for sale at the gym where I recently got a membership. And how the bars cost $1.50 - $3. Um ew.