Honestly, I am not a procrastinator.  At least not when it comes to school.  I've never waited until the last minute to study for a test or been up late to start a project the day before it's due.  But like I said, that's school.  As far as household chores go... well, let's just say I put them off for as long as I can.  I finally de-weeded my garden after the weeds had grown about four feet (not even joking), and cleaning my shower, well that's still a work in progress (actually, it's not even a work in progress - more like a work that needs to be in progress...).  Something else I procrastinate on?  Blogging.  Not so much writing posts, but more things like the seven or so other recaps I have.  Or recipes... stuffed spaghetti squash (still trying to find where I put that recipe...), peanut butter spelt bagels (I promise to post the recipe sometime, but I actually think I want to rework it a bit since they tasted a bit too "healthy"), baked pasta dish, and I even have a few quesadilla recipes that I want to post.  It's not that I don't want to do the recaps or I don't like the recipes (I love them or I wouldn't even think about posting them), but I think it's the thought that they're there to do that turns me away from them.  Sometimes, I just want to post about the present.  And sometimes, recipes are just so good that I simply can't put them off at all.  I mean, I know you at least got a little excited when you read the post title.  Right?  Chocolate, macadamia nuts, oats... some of your favorite foods, right?  If not, I completely wash my hands of you (just kidding... kinda ;).  So anyway, enough babbling, well maybe just a little more ;).  Where did this recipe come from?  Well, my mom and I were standing in line at the grocery store, and we saw this:

We began guessing what the enchiladas were stuffed with.  We had our guesses, but I just had to know for sure.  So I snatched up the magazine and peered inside.  Recipes like Pumpkin Pesto and Spinach and Olive Melts immediately drew my attention.  The magazine eventually made its way into the cart... I didn't even realize it was a diabetic magazine until we got into the car!  Then, that night I was looking through it, and I saw a recipe for Chocolate Orange Pistachio Bars.  I had no oranges and not a lot of pistachios, so I revised the recipe to make it suitable for what ingredients I did have and, in the process, made the bars gluten-free, low sugar, and vegan.  Please tell me you're excited by now. ;)


Chocolate-Macadamia Oat Bars
Adapted from Diabetic Living's Chocolate Orange Pistachio Bars

Ingredients:
1.5 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup macadamia nuts, finely chopped (measure first, then chop)
2.5 tablespoon brown rice flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons almond milk
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons agave nectar*
5 drops stevia*
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Heaping 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used 60%)
2-3 tablespoons (I filled a 1/3 cup measuring cup half full) macadamia nuts, finely chopped

*These bars aren't really sweet (which I personally like), but if you want a sweeter bar, you can add more agave, stevia, or probably even a dry sugar.  If you increase agave, you may need to decrease the almond milk, and if you add dry sugar, you may need to increase the almond milk.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 inch pan (I used coconut oil), and set aside.  
Combine the oats, 1/3 cup macadamia nuts, rice flour, and baking soda.  Then add the almond milk, coconut oil, agave, stevia, and vanilla extract and mix well.

One good thing after the next!  Wait, there's only one recipe there!!  Right, let me explain.  It's actually quite simple: Katie's Cookie Dough Dip!  Unfortunately, my camera was dead (had run out of battery), but there's always good ole' Photobooth to save the day!

Then, I got into the effects!  First, I tried to make the bowl bigger (bigger bowl = more cookie dough = very good thing).

Got into some swirl fun...

And finally, did something I really wish I could do.

Make TWO bowls of it!!  So I think you get it by now... it was soooo delicious!!  A winner without a doubt, and something I will definitely make again! :D  Great as a dip...

In a sandwich...

AND by the spoonful. ;)  It was also great on oatmeal.  A little to great for a picture, if you know what I mean. ;)  So if you haven't made Katie's cookie dough dip before, um make it!  I do have one complaint - it only made one bowl.  As seen above, I tried to fix that, but sometimes there's only so much I can do. ;)


Questions:
Are you a procrastinator?
Do you like macadamia nuts?

Have a great week everyone!

<3