Lindsay Maree

a lifestyle blog on intentional living

How to Make Peanut Butter Oat Balls

I love anything that involves peanut butter. These peanut butter oat balls are no exception. With just five ingredients, they are the perfect on-the-go or pre-workout snack. It’s a added bonus that this recipe is super quick and simple. It doesn’t involve any baking and can be done in about 30 minutes.

Here is what you’ll need:

  • Peanut butter
  • Maple syrup
  • Oats
  • Ground flax seed
  • Dark chocolate chips

Here is how to make them:

  1. Start by heating 1/2 cup peanut butter with 1/2 cup maple syrup on the stove until melted. Stir as needed.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients (1 cup oats and 1/2 ground flax seed) in a medium bowl.
  3. Pour the peanut butter/maple syrup mixture into the bowl and stir.
  4. Add dark chocolate chips. I didn’t measure during this step. You can add as many or as little as you like.
  5. Put mixture in fridge for about 20 minutes.
  6. Remove mixture from fridge and form “balls”. I made about 18 balls with this recipe.
  7. Enjoy!

These turned out really well! They taste a bit like no-bake cookies but a little more granola-bar-ish and a little less dessert-ish. I definitely recommend giving this recipe a try! 🙂

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How to Care for your Clothing

Let’s throw it back to college when I used to throw everything, and I really do mean everything, in one load in the washer. My jeans, t-shirts, bathroom towels (!!!) and lacy undies all wrapped up together in one load. I know half of you are cringing right now, but your girl just didn’t care at the time.

Now, it’s a totally different story. I’d rather take really good care of the clothing I own and do my best to make an article last as long as it possibly can.

Here are the ways that I do that:

  • Separate items of different kinds- It’s simple but necessary. This step is more a message to my younger self than anything. Your towels don’t belong with your clothes. Your lacy undies definitely don’t belong with your jeans.
  • Read the label- Take a second to read the label on the item of clothing. Can it go in the dryer? Can it even go in the washer? Is it an item that must be hand washed? Maybe it’s even supposed to go to the dry cleaners? Treating the item the way it is meant to be treated will be the difference between worn and tattered clothing and items that last for years to come.
  • Hand wash delicate items- If your washing machine has a delicate cycle, take advantage of it. If not, putting in the extra effort to hand wash an item will be well worth it. These bags are great if you do need to put delicate items in the washer.
  • Use a drying rack- If you don’t already own one, do yourself a favor and buy one of these babies today. I got my plain white one at Target. It was such a game changer for me personally. I stopped drying my workout leggings and most of my underwear. Anything that could get damaged in the dryer now goes straight to the drying rack instead.
  • Use a steamer- I love my steamer. I have a Steamfast steamer similar to this one that I picked up at Walmart at 6am on the morning of my college graduation. My gown was extremely wrinkly and this guy saved the day! Since then, I’ve used it for bridesmaids dresses, work shirts, and anything else that needs a little freshening up and straightening out. If you don’t already have one, I would definitely recommend picking one up.
  • Use a “defuzzer”- While not necessary, it does help keep things nice. I have the Conair Fabric Defuzzer from Amazon. It is really simple to use. I have just begun including this step in my routine but I imagine that I will bring it out about once a month to keep things looking nice. So far I’ve just used it on my sweaters but I think I’ll tackle my leggings and socks next. 🙂
  • Buy what you love: This one isn’t about necessarily caring for the clothes you already own but a tip for when you’re buying new clothes. Again, this is another message to myself. Don’t buy crappy quality clothes that you barely like. Go for well-made quality clothing that was meant to last. Buy clothing that you want to take good care of, and following through will be much easier.

What are your tips when it comes to taking care of your clothing?

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Where to Stay in Scotland

I stayed in a total of four different places while visiting Glasgow and Edinburgh on my trip to Scotland in 2018 and truly enjoyed my stay at each one. Here are my recommendations:

The grounds at Mar Hall and the view of the River Clyde
  • Mar Hall in Glasgow- Mar Hall was the venue that my friend’s wedding reception was held. Her parents graciously rented out a lodge on the property and invited all the bridesmaids to stay with bride the night before the wedding. We had so much fun! I loved staying in such a nice place. It is about a 5 minute drive from the Glasgow airport and about a 10 minute drive into the city centre. I would definitely recommend staying at Mar Hall if you can swing it.
  • Angelo’s place Airbnb in Glasgow- This Airbnb was no Mar Hall but it was a great place to stay. It was highly rated and reviewed on Airbnb. We booked it for three nights. It had everything we needed and was just what we were looking for to spend a few nights in the city. The location was great, as it was only about a five minute taxi or bus ride into the city centre. The host was extremely helpful and even offered to give us recommendations regarding restaurants around Glasgow.
  • Northbridge Lofts in Edinburgh- This apartment was absolutely beautiful! It was more on the expensive side but again, gorgeous. After we arrived at the Edinburgh train station, we walked around for quite some time before finding it (though it’s only down the street from the station, we were trying to enter from the wrong side) but once we found it we never wanted to leave. The interior design is incredible. And the bathroom was amazing. The apartment is right in the heart of Edinburgh in the Old Town area. We found it to be within walking distance of everything we wanted to do. We didn’t have to use any kind of transportation for getting around Edinburgh, as this apartment was in such a great location.
  • Courtyard by Mariott in Glasgow- We stayed at this hotel on our last night because we had to be at the airport bright and early (read: dark and rainy) the next morning. It was a really nice hotel for a decent price. There is also a cool bar/restaurant downstairs!

I can’t wait to visit this beautiful country again and find new amazing places to stay.

If you’re looking for recommendations on where to eat or what to do in Scotland, I’ve got you covered! See my Where to Eat in Glasgow, Scotland post or Where to Eat in Edinburgh, Scotland post for restaurant recommendations. Or see my What to do in Glasgow, Scotland post and What to do in Edinburgh, Scotland post for ideas on how to spend your time. 🙂

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Brownie Cookie Recipe

I have been all about the baking lately. I made peanut butter cookies recently but was craving something with a little more chocolate. Enter: brownie cookies. These just might be the best thing I’ve ever baked (!!!). I started out wanting to make brownies, but didn’t have the best pan to bake them in. I decided to use the batter to make cookies instead, and man, they turned out to be good. If you are a fan of chocolate and peanut butter, I would definitely recommend trying this recipe out!

Here is what you’ll need:

  • Oat flour (I’m sure you could substitute any other flour if you don’t have oats on hand)
  • Cocoa powder
  • Baking powder
  • Brown sugar
  • Salt
  • Peanut butter
  • Coconut oil
  • Water

Here is how to make them:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a baking sheet (I just used an olive oil spray).
  2. In a bowl* combine the dry ingredients. Use 1 ½ cups of oat flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 cup brown sugar, and a little bit of salt (I didn’t measure out the salt instead just doing a couple shakes!).
  3. Next, combine the wet ingredients, Use 1 cup peanut butter, ¼ cup coconut oil, and ½ cup water.
  4. Drop dough into cookie-sized amounts on a sheet (I used a large spoon for this step). This recipe will make about 18 cookies (depending upon the size of your cookies).
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 15 minutes.
  6. Enjoy!

*I actually used a blender instead of a bowl to mix all of the ingredients throughout the duration of the recipe. I was thinking it would be easier since I needed to blend my oats for the oat flour first but after doing so I realized just mixing everything in a bowl would have been just fine! Either method will do, just trying to save y’all a step if you already have your flour ready! 🙂

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Amazon Tech Recommendations

I have found that Amazon tends to be the best place to find tech/electronic accessories. While there are many great options in stores, Amazon seems to offer cheaper (but still high quality!) products.

Here are my top picks when it comes to online tech accessory shopping on Amazon:

  • Laptop Case

I ordered this marble laptop case for my 13 inch Macbook Pro. I’m sure this would be available in a bigger size as well. I love white and gray marble, so when I came across this case I fell in love. The case is also available in a few other design options (pink, gold, and floral) if marble isn’t your thing. I ordered it in 2016 and it has held up fairly well.  The only evidence that it isn’t brand new is a small crack and some wear and tear on the bottom.

  • Keyboard Cover

I first ordered this clear laptop keyboard cover back in 2012. It was extremely affordable and lasted about 6 years before beginning to rip. I ordered this similar cover in 2018 as a replacement and it has lasted well so far. While I have a 13 inch Macbook Pro, the description says that this would work for 15 inch or 17 inch as well. I would highly recommend some kind of keyboard cover to protect your keyboard, especially for those of us who like to snack while on the computer. 🙂

  • Laptop Sleeve

Another top pick is this gray laptop sleeve that I ordered in a few years ago. It has held up well and has been my favorite laptop sleeve I’ve ever used. I have a 13 inch Macbook Pro (circa 2012), but the description says that it is also compatible with a 13 inch Macbook Air, as well as a few other laptops that are not Apple products. I liked this so much that I ended up buying this version of the sleeve for my boyfriend this past Christmas. He can fit his (much newer) 13 inch Macbook Pro and charger in the case with no problem.

These are not affiliate links (a girl can dream though, right?); I’m simply recommending my favorite tech items from Amazon. 🙂

What tech/electronic products from Amazon would you recommend?

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