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Writing about things I like

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New Years Resolutions

2023 New Years Resolutions ft. Sugar Free January (and Beyond?)

For as long as I can remember, I’ve set New Year’s resolutions. Over the years, the number of resolutions I’ve set has varied greatly but they nearly always fit into a few set categories: money, skills and health. 

For the most part, these resolutions have been more like guidelines (similar to the Pirates Code, for those of you POTC fans out there) but this year, I’m honing in on a few SMART goals. I used to set very open ended goals ie: “lose weight”, “learn french”, “play more guitar” but would always forget about them a few months into the year or feel I accomplished them well enough because there was never truly and end goal. 

Captain Barbosa with his monkey, Jack

Well, not this year!

I’ve got some pretty definitive resolutions for the New Year:

  • Complete the Drumeo “Beginners Start Here” Course
  • Complete a Guitareo Course (tbd after finishing goal #1)
  • Sober January (aka Dry January)
  • Sugar Free January (and Beyond?)

I’m feeling pretty good about these goals, I really am. But one, #4, is the most intimidating

Starting Sugar Free January

I LOVE sugar. Particularly in the form of cake, candy, cookies, cake… anything baked. For motivation and support, I’ve started reading A Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub. It’s motivating to read the memoir of someone who has done something intimidating that you plan to do. 

The book cover of "A Year of No Sugar"

The Rules of My Sugar Free January.

My rules are pretty straight forward and actually have less exceptions than A Year of No Sugar. 

  1. No foods with added sugar. Since most packaged products currently use a food label with added sugar called out, it’s pretty easy to see if sugar has been added to the product. Otherwise, I’ll read the ingredients to make sure sugar hasn’t been secretly added. 
  2. All foods with natural sugar are okay. ie: Fruit and vegetables. Honey is a no-go since its essentially pure sugar. 

New Years Resolutions Start Tomorrow!

I’ll admit, before writing this I finished off a piece of delicious Apple Spice cake to savor my final sugar moments before the next month. And you better believe I’ll be having a drink tonight to celebrate the new year to come. But starting tomorrow morning, its sugar free and sober January for me!

Happy New Year!

fireworks in the sky

Read the Full 2023 New Years Resolution Series

Categories
Recipes

Healthy Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

A pan of healthy raspberry oatmeal bars.
The healthy raspberry oatmeal bars are unbelievably delicious and simple to make.

These healthy raspberry oatmeal bars are a family and friend favorite. A perfect accompaniment to a summer BBQ or a spontaneous get-together.

I’ve been making these raspberry oatmeal bars for a few years now and they’ve quickly become my brother’s favorite. The unsweetened raspberry offers a tart bite surrounded by sweet oats. You’ll also get a tiny fiber boost from the whole wheat. These raspberry oatmeal bars will remind you of a portable fruit crumble! They’re also super customizable!

Raspberry Oatmeal Bar Ingredients:

Oatmeal layer and top crumbles

  • 1 ½ cups rolled oats
  • ¾ cup white flour
  • ¾ cup wheat flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbs cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 (4 Tbs) stick butter, softened

Delicious delicious raspberry filling 

  • 1 (12oz) bag frozen fruit. I like raspberries the best!
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 Tbs lime juice

Lets Get Cooking:

  1. Pre-heat an oven to 375ºF
  2. Mix frozen raspberries & other filling ingredients in a bowl. Set aside to let the mixutre defrost.
  3. Combine all oatmeal layer ingredients into a bowl and mix well. The mixture should form somewhat of a crumbly dough.
  4. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of a greased pan. I prefer a 8×8 pan but you can use something a little bigger if you want to base to be thin.
  5. Cook base for 15 minutes.
  6. After the base has cooked pour the raspberry mixture on top of the base and sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture on top.
  7. Cook for another 30 minutes 375ºF.
  8. Eat these deliciously healthy raspberry oatmeal bars warm (with ice cream!) or let them cool and serve them like bars!

Raspberry Oatmeal Bar Nutriton:

Calories: 203 | Carbohydrates: 31.g | Protein: 2.2g | Total Fat: 8.4g | Sugar: 19.6g

  • Dietary Fiber: 3.3g
  • Sodium: 162.4mg
  • Cholesterol: 20.3mg