“The year of the pandemic” has been a challenge in so many ways. Across the country, almost within a day, everything was shut down and we were required to stay in our homes to keep the virus at bay. Even still, hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, and countless others changed forever. When the first lockdown was announced, I remember being overwhelmed with the fact that not only had the United States shut down but almost every country in the world had done the same. No matter where you looked, everything had stopped.
As I spoke to my friends, I constantly told them that it wasn’t only us who had been stopped in our tracks, it was everyone everywhere. When we finally managed to venture out for supplies, we were met with lines that reached around the block, and stockouts in once-common items at the store. No one saw this coming (well, those who did see it didn’t do anything about it), and so many of us had a very difficult time with making adjustments to our well-worn routines. But we all complied, hoping we would change the direction of the virus and slow it down, eventually stopping it entirely.
Because of the inability to do our daily activities, life should have become simpler, but it got ever more complex. Many of us faced extreme anxiety due to the isolation and pressure to continue working. Moms and Dads with school aged children had to suddenly stop working and homeschool their kids– or worse, continue working and homeschool their kids. Let’s face it, teaching is the hardest job there is, and not all of us are good at it. Education has changed so much since we were in school. Math, english and history are now taught differently than we learned them. We first had to learn the new way ourselves in order to teach our kids in the way that they were expected to learn.
Some of you had the responsibility of work, teaching your kids, and entertaining them all at the same time. This is a near impossible task for those who haven’t had teaching experience. Many of us were also making three meals a day. We would make breakfast, clean up, then find it was time to make lunch and clean that up. Then came the challenge of making dinners, especially for the people who don’t enjoy or know how to make them– that’s not even taking into the account that some were cooking with very limited ingredients. Going out was always the easier option and that wasn’t even available to us anymore.
Finally, there was the terror of not knowing what would come next.
Are we going to get sick in the store? Do we have to wash our bag of chips? Should we not be ordering takeout so avoid food contamination? How are we going to go to see our doctors and our dentists? What happens if we, God forbid, end up needing to go to the hospital for some reason? How risky is it to give our elderly loved ones a hug? These are questions that we had to learn along the way, and keep up to date on the newest information out there.
But here we are, one year later. Some of us still have problems because our kids are still not in school full-time. Some of us did end up getting the virus and recovering. Others are still suffering after-effects. Now that the vaccine rollout has begun in earnest, I am hopeful that we are at the tail-end of this unprecedented time. We got through the darkest days and now there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Given all your other responsibilities, maybe you can find some time out of your busy day to make these wonderful bars. The oats give these bars a delicious texture, and the sweetened condensed milk ensures a smooth silky goodness. The chocolate chips and peanut butter combine to give this treat a delightful, familiar taste. The result is a sweet and satisfying tidbit that is perfect for breakfast, a snack on the go, or for a pick-me-up any time of the day.
This recipe is courtesy of Allrecipes, and will make 24 bars that will satisfy everybody’s sweet tooth.
Ingredients for Passion Bars:
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup butter, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda.
Cut in the butter to form a crumbly mixture.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumbs, and pat the rest evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter.
Spread evenly over the oatmeal layer.
Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the peanut butter layer.
Then place the reserved crust over the top.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.
Cool completely before cutting into bars.
It’s that simple!
