February is National Heart Month. The first Friday in February is "Go Red for Women" to call attention to the fact that heart disease is the #1 killer of women as well as men. Everyone is encouraged to wear red on the first Friday in February---but if that isn't a good day for you, any day in February may be celebrated as "Go Red for Women Day."
Eating a balanced diet is just one way to help protect your heart. Oatmeal is a great way to include whole grains in a heart-healthy diet. It is delicious served as a warm cereal as part of nutritious breakfast. To include oatmeal in the diet at other times of the day---whether meal or snack time--increases the likelihood that we will get the required number of whole grain servings in our daily diet. Here is a recipe that includes oats, and it may become a family favorite!!
Peanut Butter
Fingers
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup rolled oats
Combine all ingredients. Spread as thinly as possible in greased pan with raised sides (at least 9" x 13"). Bake at 350 degrees for 22-28 minutes. Cut into fingers--long thin bars-- as soon as possible. Frost when cool.
Frosting:
3 T butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
Heat the above together until it boils. Beat in desired amount of powdered sugar. Remove 1 tablespoon, place in small bowl and set aside. To the remainder of the icing add cocoa to taste. Frost the "fingers." Add 1 teaspoon peanut butter to the frosting in the small bowl. Blend well. Add a few drops of milk to get it thin enough to drizzle over the chocolate frosting.
Becky Baumgardner
Co-chair of Clark County Farm Bureau Women's Committee
Gurdon, Ark. —
