Women who've made a difference in my life: Grandma Hyatt

My Grandma Hyatt has been my best friend since I was born. She's AMAZING!! She raised 5 boys (one was Dad), and is a Marriage and Family counselor. She remembers each and every special event with a card. AND... she's an EXCELLENT baker! Her desserts are to DIE for! Pudding cake, cookies, cakes, and, her specialty...CHOCOLATE BARS!!!

I made these for a meeting at church. They were gone so fast, I couldn't get any pictures. But here's the recipe, and make sure you make these for a lot of people, because these WILL make you gain 10 pounds per pan.

Grandma Hyatt's Chocolate bars
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
3 cups oatmeal
Mix together and press more than half into 9X13 pan.

1 can Sweetened condensed milk
12-16 oz chocolate chips (2 1/2 cups)
2 tbsp margarine
Melt together and pour over first layer.
Put rest of batter in globs on top. Bake at 350 for 25 min.

Enjoy!!!

Women who've made a difference in my life: Aunt Sarah

When I was 12, my uncle Wade married a really cute lady: Aunt Sarah. She's closer to my age than she is to my parents and she lets them know it ALL THE TIME!!! All in good fun, of course. My junior year, their family moved in with us. All five of them!! It was awesome! For 6 months I had 2 little brothers and another little sister. I also got to know my awesome, petite, whirlwind of an aunt! Here's the family at our wedding last year:

If you can't tell, she's the blonde in the back. It's hard to know which ones are the kids!! (I can only say that because she's only a little shorter than I am).
Sarah influenced my life in helping me learn to be more girly. She taught me how to do nice eyeshadow, how to style my hair and how to be more happy. She did mine and my friends makeup for senior prom. And she's still like an older sister to me!
When they lived with us, our families would take turns with cooking dinner. We introduced Swedish Hotcakes to them and she made things like Chicken Chile Enchiladas and Manicotti. I still don't get how she doesn't think she can cook! I took her manicotti recipe about 2 weeks ago and spiced it up a little. Here's her recipe:

1 pkg manicotti noodles
1 lb ricotta cheese
1 lb mozzarella
3 tbs shredded parmesan cheese
2 tsp parsley flakes
1 egg
1 jar spaghetti sauce
salt and pepper

I changed it a bit to include more "veggies" and because I didn't have some of the ingredients.
1 pkg manicotti noodles
1/2 lb low-fat ricotta
1 lb mozzarella
1 egg
1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
garlic salt
Italian seasonings
3 cans tomato sauce

Prepare noodles as directed on package. Rinse in cold water and set aside. Mix together all cheeses and seasonings to taste. Add egg and mushrooms. Mix.
so it doesn't look THAT appetizing, but trust me, it's YUMMY! Next, stuff the noodles and place in a pan.

Cover with tomato sauce.

Top with Italian seasonings and mozzarella.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes and enjoy!
Thanks Sarah for being awesome!! Oh and for the awesome food!