Yummy Granola Bars Recipe

Remember those yummy granola bars I mentioned in THIS post a few days ago?  Well, here is the recipe I promised!  They are SO good!

Recipe: Granola Bars  

Ingredients:

  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups oats
  • 4 cups crisp rice cereal
  • 2 cups chopped nuts or sunflower seeds (I don’t like the taste of these in there, so I left them out)
  • 2 cups mini chocolate chips

Assembly Directions:

In a large mixer bowl, combine oil, brown sugar, honey or corn syrup, vanilla and egg.  Add flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.  Mix well.  With a large spoon, stir in oats, cereal, and nuts, fruits, or baking chips.  Spray one 9×13 pan (I used two pans for this recipe).  Press the mixture evenly into bottom of pan.  For chewy bars, bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.  For crunchy bars, bake at 300 degrees until the surface is golden brown all over, about 40-50 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into 16 bars by slicing through the middle lengthwise, then crosswise 7 times.

Makes 32 bars.

Enjoy!

The Candy Man

I got a visit from the “candy man” the other day…  ;)

I was sitting down at my computer, when all of a sudden I was approached by this adorable, sweet little man with some odd looking, tube-like thing in hand…

He introduced himself saying, “hello, I am the candy man,” and then proceeded to ask me if I would like to try a piece of his wonderful candy.  Sure (???).

 ”See, I just… dump it… like… this…”, he says. ”And voila!  You get candy!”

Ohhh, my.  It’s a candy dispencer… made out of…. toilet paper rolls. 

He’s so creative. :)   This is a norm for him.  He is always coming up with something neat and creative.  Remember this post?

A Day in My Life: Up at Five!

My morning started a little early today… 5 AM.  My mom and Kelly actually had to be somewhere very early, which meant I needed to be up to keep an eye on Ryan and Kristina.   Normally I would try to sleep in as much as I could (8 at least), but I did though, in fact decide to wake even earlier so I could start out my day in the Word.  Thus 5 AM.  I don’t know what it is exactly, but something about starting off my day while it’s still dark is kind of fun. 

After I got ready, I headed up stairs and made myself some tea.  Okay, for one thing, I know I’ve always been saying here that I am not a tea drinker – seriously I am not – but when I am in the mood for it… I guess you can say I can surprise myself at times. :)   So, with my cup of Chai in hand, I sat down at the kitchen table and read a little out of Deuteronomy.  I also did a little reading of my favorite blogs on my laptop. 

I didn’t have as much time to myself as I thought I would though, due to the little ones coming downstairs surprisingly at 5:50 AM (???) for some weird reason…  But, they got themselves occupied while I continued on with my reading.  Later when mom and Kel left, I went ahead and did some cleaning.  I’m the type of person who prefers cleaning by myself, (which is usually when my dad is at work, my mom is at the rink with Kel, and Ryan and Kristina are occupied in their rooms) so while it was relatively quiet, I started with that.  Got the floors swept and washed, dishwasher unloaded and loaded, chairs, refrigerator and garbage sanitized and even did some dusting.  Ahh, it’s such a wonderful feeling to get things done!  It’s just another small way of blessing my family.

Of course then, I needed to grab something to eat, which happened to be one of my yummy granola bars I made yesterday (recipe coming soon).  

And in addition to that great snack (or breakfast in my case, hehe) I went ahead and made some of our family favorite Peanut Butter Balls (recipe coming soon).

Now for the best part… I did everything before 9 am!  Wonderful!  Then, it was on to school for the day… I’m really enjoying school this year, though I wouldn’t say I’m thrilled with my Latin and Algebra 2… but the Starting Points Biblical Worldview Curriculum I am going through I am loving and is very thought provoking.  One of the books that I really enjoy with this curriculum is Know What You Believe by Paul Little. 

My school break consisted of folding clothes, and believe me, I wanted to fold those clothes.  I’m making it my goal to really stay on top of things, so it was on with the folding for me!   I also thought I would check out the Food Network channel or HGTV hoping to get some ideas.  That’s what I love most, is when I can multi-task.  I’m even known for multi-tasking by propping up my laptop on our treadmill while I do a fast pace walk.  That way I can feel better about the time I spend on my computer, and what-a-ya-know, I am burning calories while doing it!  ha!  Genius…I know. ;)  

So, now here I am… on my computer typing up my day to you all.  (And no… I am not on my treadmill this time.  I obviously cannot type while walking and jogging!)   Speaking of walking… I guess I could add in another part of my day.  This evening, my mom, Kel and I are going to head out for our 30 minute, fast-pace walk that we’ve been doing these last few days.   I really enjoy it.  It’s our girl time together to chat.

So, there you have it.  A little peek into my day.  And no, I don’t always clean this much everyday. :)

Kitchen Inventory

Woooohoooo! Just the other day, my mom and I decided to take inventory of our pantry, fridge and freezers, and then compile a list of all our food.  And… because I am such an organizing freak, I was pretty excited.  Believe me, I wish we had done this a LONG time ago!

I put together our list using a free printable I found at www.donnayoung.org, which was actually meant to be a grocery shopping list (but, hey, it works well for our “food tracker” too), and with a little bit of editing (subtracting and adding some foods), we now have our ”master food list” proudly pinned up on our fridge.  We will simply keep track by penciling in the quantity of each food item on the line beside each, and erasing and rewriting according to what we use up.

I am just so happy about it.  It’s now  a whole lot easier for us when it comes to putting together meals, and we won’t have to worry about any food going old due to it not being seen or most likely forgotten (which has been happening).  :P  

Next my mom and I are going to be putting together a monthly meal plan using a meal planner printable from www.thehomeschoolmom.com.  Can’t wait to get started on that!

The Old School House FREE Digital Supplement

Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up fast!  Are you ready to celebrate?  Check out this FREE holiday idea book from The Old School House HERE for some great tips and ideas!  I’ve already browsed through it myself -  each page filled with helpful, how-to topics such as…

 

  • Family traditions
  • Handcrafted gifts
  • Delightful desserts
  • Frugal trinkets of love
  • Thankful hospitality
  • Festive home décor
  • Personalized, homemade cards
  • Fun, kid-friendly activities
  • What’s even neater about this 175-page magazine, is that you can actually “turn” the pages as you read just as if you have it in your own hands!

    Head on over now and get your free copy!

    Fall Family Pictures

    It was a beautiful day out yesterday to head outside and take some pictures at the park! 

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