Stop for a minute and think, if you could have a magical power what would it be? I think I would want to be able to fly. I have always loved birds and how the raptors can soar on thermals for hours at a time. I don’t care to be trapped inside an airplane so I think the freedom of flying would be super cool. Momma Said, “Be careful what you wish for, it just may come true.”
I think even without super powers, a jet pack would be cool too. It would give you the freedom of flying without the claustrophobic feeling of the airplane. I would try one if I had the chance. Things have come a long way since the Wright brothers took that first short trip over the dunes.
So many rungs in the ladder of technology have seen us climb higher into the sky, into space and now we are trying to go beyond what we know of space. What, if anything, is out there is anyone’s guess. We may need to find an alternative habitat if we keep torturing the earth as we have been doing. I will never see it, but maybe those in the future will find a viable planet and can save mankind from itself.
The Jetson’s cartoon, Flash Gordon, Star Trek came from someone’s imagination. Now we have space travel, video phones, and people actually living in space for extended periods of time. It is not impossible to envision a planet out there that will sustain life. Maybe not as we know it now, but maybe a planet is out there that can be colonized to continue mankind. Momma Said, “And then again, maybe we are supposed to destroy ourselves through greed and hate.” P.S. I think we are doing a great job at that.
NO FLOUR MONSTER COOKIE BARS
Ingredients
o 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
o 1 cup packed brown sugar
o 1 cup granulated sugar
o 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
o 3 large eggs
o 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
o 1 1/2 cups quick oats
o 3 cups old-fashioned oats
o 1 teaspoon baking soda
o 1-2 cups mini m&m’s
o 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper or spraying with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, or bowl of stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and peanut butter. Mix until fluffy and pale in color. About 1-2 minutes.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Mix together.
- Add in the oats and baking soda. Mix until combined.
- Add in the m&m’s and chocolate chips (reserve some for top of bars if wanted). Stir together with a wooden spoon or spatula until combined.
- Dump dough onto the cookie sheet and spread out. This will take several minutes, but it can be done. Sprinkle the reserved m&m’s and chocolate chips on top (if wanted). Press down slightly into dough.
- Bake for 17-20 minutes. The edges will be lightly browned and the middle will still look pale and underdone, but it will finish baking as it cools. Let cool for at least an hour so the bars can firm up and come together. You do not want to over-bake these!
Notes
Use a pizza cutter to cut these, makes it so easy.
To make spreading the dough in the cookie sheet easier; spray hands with cooking spray and press out, use a spatula to spread, or use the butter wrapper to spread it out in the cookie sheet.
The bag (about 10 oz) of mini m&m’s comes with about 1 1/2 cups of m&m’s inside of it. I just use the whole bag. It’s less than the 2 cups called for. So, use 1-2 cups of the m&m’s, whatever you prefer.
These need to cool for an hour so they can set and come together. You can eat them warm and gooey, but to make cutting easy and so they’ll hold up, let them cool completely. When they come out of the oven they will look gooey but I promise they will come together as they cool.
