Missing Breakfast and Homemade Snickers

I made a plan last night for this morning so that I could get everything I needed done before my early dentist appointment. Get up early, run for an hour, take a quick shower, reheat some of the big batch of oatmeal I made yesterday for breakfast, and then hop on my laptop to finish something for work. Except when I woke up, it was pouring. Normally, I run in anything but I just wasn't feeling a run in the freezing rain (it was also only 33 degrees). I cut my thumb pretty badly yesterday, so I have it all wrapped up. It is still pretty sore, and I figured getting soaked and freezing wouldn't help it any. So, I headed off to the gym instead. After a great workout (my favorite gym boredom buster- 20 minutes each on elliptical, treadmill, stair master, and bike), I realized that while I had remembered to bring clean clothes, I forgot to bring anything for breakfast!

So with a growling stomach, I headed to the dentist and then out on errands. But the time I got home at noon, I was starving. I reheated some macaroni and cheese made with a base of pureed cauliflower I'd made earlier this week, and a made a salad with tomatoes and roasted broccoli. I wolfed it down and am still starving. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Back when I first starting trying to loose weight I used to skip breakfast all the time, thinking it was just extra calories. But I eventually realized that lead to over eating later in the day.

Today is case in point. After my lunch I set to work making a special Birthday treat for my Mom. Homemade Snickers! Yet another delicious, an totally unhealthy, find on Pinterest. And since I was still hungry after lunch, I did a ton of sampling as I went along!

Homemade Snickers Bars
[original recipe from Nikki, who lightly adapted it from and old Taste of Home recipe]
makes one 9×13 pan

nougat layer
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Let cool completely.

 (I didn't have a 9 x 13 pan, so I made 2 smaller pans)

caramel layer
1 14-ounce bag of caramels
1/4 cup whipping cream
Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth – this took about 10 minutes for me. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely.

Top chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving, then cut as desired.