Chewy Granola Bars

Homemade, Chewy Granola Bars

 
Here is a recipe for the most popular granola bars in my house. It originally came from a dear friend of mine, but we've tweaked it to our tastes. It, hands down, beats anything you can get from a box...chocolate covered or not!

In a LARGE bowl, beat together:

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

½ cup butter (no substitutes)

Add:

½ t vanilla

1 egg

Blend in:

1 cup flour (I use whole wheat)

1 t cinnamon

½ t baking soda

¼ t salt

Mix in:

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts (Our favorite is pecans)

1 cup chocolate chips (House favorite is half milk chocolate and half white chocolate)

½ cup wheat germ

1 large handful of dried cranberries (dried cherries or dried blueberries taste great, too!)

I also added a sprinkle of wheat bran and ground flax seeds, but you could add ground chia seeds if you want

Feel free to mix up your add-ins- just keep your totals close to what the recipe calls for. If not, the bars get dry. You could add in golden raisins, dried apricots, apples, or peaches, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds…the possibilities are endless! As a family, we rarely ever finish a box of cereal before it starts to get stale. I keep it and add it into the mix. However much I add of cereal, I decrease the oats by that same amount.

Press into greased 9x13 pan. Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 deg until golden and set. They'll be chewy on the inside and set on the outside. 

Cool, then cut. Store 'em if they last longer than 2 hours. 

On a side note, last week I had announced via this post that I have started making and selling soap. Last night as I was making my daily batch so I can get a good inventory going, my 14 year old son came up to me and said, "Mom, can I make a batch of soap with you?" My heart melted a little bit and we spent the next hour making soap, talking about life lessons, and generally enjoying each others company. If I never, ever sell one bar of soap, I will still have that memory to tuck into the corner of my heart.  

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with this post,
but it's one of my favorite photos I've ever taken.

Live.Simple.

Rerunning an oldie but a goodie from earlier this year. But with Christmas season coming up, I thought it might be a good idea to refresh everyone's memories!

 Live.Simple.

My new motto. My new viewpoint. My new everything.

It's also the name of a new adventure I'm taking: homemade soap making. The idea behind it is quite, ahem, simple. Simple ingredients. Simple scents. Simple clean. Simple to use. Simple to love.

My friend, Char of LiveLifeLoveOils, and I went to The Prairie Peddler last year to walk around in the bright October sun and take in the sights, sounds, and smells of autumn. While there, we  discovered that we shared the same desire to learn to make soap. REAL soap. LYE soap. Saponified soap. SOAP soap. Your grandmother's soap. HER grandmother's soap. The soap of generations and generations before us. I think you get the idea. 

For those of you who have never been to The Prairie Peddler, it is a festival held in a grouping of permanent, rustic structures built into the woods of the area near Mohican State Park in Ohio. The atmosphere with the brilliance of autumn's color plus the smell of woodsmoke from the vendors cooking fruit cobblers in Dutch ovens over campfires plus the dirt paths and stick built wooden cabins is truly absorbing. It almost feels as though you are walking through an 1800's village. Almost.

Our interest was piqued at a particular cabin. In this cabin, we learned that the owner of the company offered soap making classes. So, we each took a flyer with us. The seed had been planted. The following Tuesday, I called and signed us up. 7 classes. One night a week. 40 miles one way. It.was.awesome.

By the time we finished with our classes, we were certified as Apprentice Soap Makers in the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild. We each only need a few more hours of training before we are certified as Master Soap Makers! <--that is so cool to me!

We not only learned how to make soap, but how to make soap. The chemistry behind it. The method to the madness shall we say. We were each instructed to create our own recipe. What did we want our soap to do? Oddly enough, it doesn't simply clean. I learned that true soap has characteristics: lather, scent, feel, bubbles, moisture on the skin. Beyond that, there is always the next level of clearing up skin issues such as psoriasis, eczema, acne. We're not at that level yet. But we'll get there.

Once you decide what you want your soap to do and how you want it to act, you create the recipe based on your knowledge of the ingredients. Let me tell you, there was tension that night at class: Would it work? Would it not work? Would we blow the place up? I'm kidding. Our teacher was confident it would work.

We learned that good quality ingredients produce good quality products. We learned that mistakes can be fun. We learned that we wanted to learn more. But what we really learned was that we loved doing it, our skin had never, ever felt better, and that we were extremely happy to share with our family and friends a non-toxic, natural, healthier way to clean the largest organ of your body. 

So, it is my pleasure, honor, and joy to introduce to you Live.Simple.

I've finally created an Etsy Shop from which I can sell it- take a look!

I hope you will learn to love Live.Simple. as much as I do.

Homemade Bread Crumbs

Re-purpose Idea! 

I try make bread every week.  However, it's been a few weeks since the last time I made it so I think my family is overdue for a little lovin'

The recipe I use makes enough for 4 loaf pans. Or 3 loaf pans and a pizza. Or 3 loaf pans and a pan of dinner rolls. Sometimes the last 3/4 of a loaf will get stale before it gets eaten.

 

So, instead of throwing it to the chickens, birds, or compost pile, I slice it up, dry it thoroughly, and give it a whir in my food processor to make homemade breadcrumbs.  

 Sliced bread drying on a rack

   Broken into pieces to fit into my food processor

After a few pulses and before I added the herbs

 If I feel like it, I'll add a couple of shakes of Italian Blend herbs. But most of the time, it's just plain breadcrumbs. They are more coarse like a Panko crumb than the finely processed ones in the store. But my family really likes them a little coarse. It makes a great crunch on anything and everything you chose to put it on!  I have one gallon glass jars with metal lids that I keep my dry foods in.

Gallon jar that I use for breadcrumbs.

Homemade breadcrumbs- Just another way to use what I've got on hand...what do you to to 'repurpose' what you have?

*I'm fairly certain that one can make breadcrumbs out of any stale bread. It doesn't have to be homemade bread... I'm just throwing that out there*

Spring is right around the corner

It's almost time!

 

Time for what, you ask? Time for planting. Time for growing. Time for getting my hands dirty in the good clean dirt of my garden. Time to listen to the laughter that comes from sunshine and warmer weather. Time to listen to the birds as they lift their voices in song to our God.

Last year, I was overwhelmed with life and our garden felt the neglect. Oh boy, did it ever. I actually felt the same neglect as our garden did: out of control, no tending, and barely surviving.


This year, I am taking the necessary steps to release myself from the time-sucking activities that drained me last year. I am determined to not fall into the same patterns again. It simply isn't healthy. For me, my family, or our lifestyle.

My family needs the food we grow and preserve. We rely on it. It's part of my job as a homemaker to provide it. I just ordered my seeds for the year: beets, carrots, beans, squash, rutabagas, cabbage, cucumbers.  I can't wait to get out in the sun and feel the warmth on my skin.

Gardening is like life: what you sow, you shall reap. If you allow weeds and crud to take over, the goodness and good things of your garden will be overwhelmed and lost to the shadows. Not this year. Not this time.

Image courtesy of amenic181 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Whoopie (pies)! Election Day!

This school year I've been teaching an American Government class at the co-op to which we belong. For the past 8 weeks, we've focused on, what else? The Presidential Election. I've taught on the history of the electoral process, the reasons behind it, and the inherent faults that it has. (I'm not a teacher by design, just by heart.) By the grace of God, I have had a number of parents come up to me and tell me how excited their child was to watch the debates, or how their child wanted to talk about politics at the kitchen table. I have been humbled and encouraged by the kids and their willingness to learn something that was previously dry and boring to me. 

Today-November 6, 2012- is the day we've been waiting and watching for. Election Day. The kids filled out Voter Registration forms. They have studied candidate mailings to look for the hidden and sometimes obscure messages. They have been receptive to the idea that a scare-tacit isn't usually a recipe for truth or honesty. The class culminates in a mock vote complete with polling stations, stickers for voting, proof of identification, and cookies. 

In honor of the day, I made Whoopie Pies. As in, "Whoopie! Voting Day is here!" Or "Whoopie!! Voting Day is almost over with!!" Take your pick.

 Making Whoopie Pies is a process- no doubt about it. But they are oh, so worth, that process... just look at those delightful little nuggets of brownie/chocolate cake/cookies that are filled with a light and airy vanilla/powdered sugar goodness!!! 

Whoooopppppieeeee!!!!

 

Chocolatey blobs!

 Cooked chocolatey blobs!

Ahhhh.....delicious (don't forget the big glass of milk!)

It's a Pinterest Life

Pinterest ideas. Again. Only this time, I followed through! 

Yay!!

The idea is a binder/folder that has ALL your personal papers in it: birth certificates, social security cards, titles to vehicles or house, bank account numbers, 401(k) info, medical records, vaccination records for kids and animals :) ,  insurance information...anything else you would NOT want to lose. In our case, I added my beloved's DD-214 (separation papers from the Air Force). 

All nice and neat in a binder that you can grab and go in case of emergency. Or school registration (but we homeschool, so that is just a suggestion).

So here's what I did:

3 ring binder- not pretty (doesn't have to be)

Sheet protectors:

Add the goodies:

Viola 

 

Took me all of about 15 minutes to put it together- once I FOUND all the paperwork. Hence the need to do this in the first place. But I digress.... I did discover that I am missing our son's birth certificate and my own. So I left the spots open to fill once I get them. Our son is hearing impaired so I put his ENT's and audiologist's records in there, too. Just in case.

 But how easy is this? Put a little bit of cash in the pocket of it and put it in a fire proof safe and when disaster strikes- it's a grab and go thing!

Now, no one likes to think of disasters striking, but let's face it: it could happen. Why is my family so special that we wouldn't be struck by calamity? It can happen to anyone. Best to be prepared. Doesn't mean I'm a pessimist- just means I'm ready. 

Pinterest to the rescue :)

Getting Started...Again.

We were called away on a sudden trip to Northern Maine two weeks ago. I know, I know: it's a rough life, but someone has to live it! We had been planning a trip to visit my husband's family this fall, but sometimes life, or in this case, death, can make us change plans very quickly. We were able to vacation our way home by way of the Maine Coast, which made it fun for the kids! We all were ready to come home after 12 days, but we could have stayed there forever! :)

 Mt Katahdin from Rt 11 outside of Patten, Maine

all the way to Bailey Island! 

Then it was time to head home to real life and responsibilities...boo hoo.

We had started our school year on Monday, August 6, just to get a jump on it. Then the call came. And two days after we started school, we had to leave. For two weeks. And now, it'll be the first day all over again. I had hoped to get some review work and some schedules set before our trip...but no.

We did make some serious changes to our routines this year. First of all, I split the kids up from one common table to two desks back to back. I'm hoping that our daughter will find that space to allow her to go forward on her own work, at her own pace, versus waiting for her brother. They aren't the same children. They aren't in the same grade. And they don't learn in the same ways. So...separate desks might encourage them. It will certainly help me. :)

Second, we actually wrote out the school schedule for each week. I am NOT a planner. I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants (or skirt) kind of mom. This will be the biggest challenge for me- sticking to it. But, our daughter wants her assignments written out so that she can check mark them off. Our son, on the other hand, could care less. He just goes with the flow. As long as the flow isn't too fast :)

Third, we have added some extra curricular activities that involve friends (Yay!!) into their learning this year. A fantastic Christian homeschool co-op where they can develop friendships and learn about American Government (taught my moi) and PE is on the schedule for Tuesdays. Teen Bible Study classes (with a lot of the same kids from the co-op) on Thursdays. And last, but not least, a group Spanish 'class' that will be held in a friend's home on Mondays.

I think this will be a good year!