Easy Granola Recipe

I used to buy organic granola by the deliciously expensive box weekly. Greek yogurt, berries, and granola are a breakfast staple in our home. Making our own granola is easy and very inexpensive. Of course I have to share my favorite recipe and I'm sure you have most of these items in your pantry. Warning: Your house will smell amazing while this bakes, prepare for drool! ;)

The Cast:

2 1/2 cups oats

2 Tbs brown sugar

2 Tbs pure maple syrup

1 Tbs honey

A pinch of salt

1/4 cup of melted butter

The Plot:

Preheat your oven to 325F.

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Bake on a parchment lined, rimmed baking sheet for 35-40 minutes or until golden but be careful not to burn. Stir the granola 1/2 way through baking.

Cool and store in an air tight container.

After it's cooled, feel free to mix in dried fruit, seeds, nuts, or whatever else you like. This is a great base recipe and you can always tweak it to fit your tastes.

Are you all as in love with granola as we are? 

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Reese's Peanut Butter Egg Recipe

Peanut butter, chocolate, heaven... I'm just glad you can't see me drooling right now. These things are like crack! Literally! I made these peanut butter eggs as a test run before Easter. They couldn't be any easier, really! So without much babble from me, here's the recipe:

1 cup natural peanut butter (or whatever you have)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 bag of dark chocolate melt wafers (find them in the cake decorating aisle) 

Cream everything but the chocolate together. Form into 12 flattened eggs and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Freezing them makes it easier to coat with chocoate. Follow the melting instructions on your chocolate melt wafers' bag and coat each egg. They should be set up within 10 minutes. Store at room temp for up to 2 weeks (not that they'll last that long!)

Yields 12 Large Eggs

I used natural peanut butter because (nerd alert) I make it myself and I enjoy a little bit of texture but creamy works just as well. Work quickly during the coating phase as the chocolate hardens in a hurry. I plan to give these little gems as gifts on Easter in 1/2 dozen egg cartons. This batch went into work with the hubby because I can't be trusted around chocolate.

For that reason (among others) we have a candy-free rule especially on holidays that revolve around sweets. Our Easter baskets (yes, I still get one even at my age) are filled with new pajamas, sundresses, games, toys, art supplies, and Easter prayer cards. What kind of non-food items fill your Easter basket?

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Toddler Gardening Apron

Sorry y'all, I have been seriously MIA lately. That's what happens when the hubby is gone for a while.

Yesterday's project was a gardening apron for my daughter. I didn't follow a pattern since I have a huge pattern-phobia. Those thin sheets of puzzle like patterns seriously make my heart race a little, go ahead and laugh but they freak me out. Usually when I sew clothing, I look at Pintrest and make a sketch of what the plan is. I bought 100% linen in brown. This apron only took a 1/4 of a yard. 

The end result reminds me of Little House on the Prairie. This spring my toddler will be helping feed the chickens and water the garden and this apron will be great for that. 

It looks much cuter on her than the floor. ;) Next up, my own garden apron in a tan shade of 100% linen. 

In chicken news, we started with 4 hens this past fall and despite have a bitter cold winter, they all survived. 

The weather here hovered between -20F and 10F for quite a while but between a sturdy coop and hot drinking water every couple of hours, they thrived. If anyone would have told me 5 years ago that I'd be a mother of 1 toddler, 2 dogs, and 4 hens today, I would have had them committed. Having a daughter really brought out my inner hippy/farmer/green self ;)

Has your inner hippy come out as well since having kids?

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Mini Turkey Meatloaf Recipe

Turkey is not just for Thanksgiving and sandwiches anymore in our home. In fact, as the price of beef continues to rise and turkey being a healthier option; we have made many of our staple meals using turkey. Here in NE Ohio beef is prices at $3.90 per pound while I found ground turkey for $1.67 per pound. So turkey is a great way to save money and be nicer to your body, does it get any better than that?! Today I made 12 mini turkey meatloaves in my muffin tin. We will each eat one for lunch and the rest will be frozen for future meals. Here's how I make them.

Ingredients: 

2 lbs lean ground turkey

2 eggs 

1/2 c milk

1/2 c bread crumbs

1/4 c Parmesan cheese 

1 tsp salt

2 tsp italian seasoning 

How To:

Preheat your oven to 350F.

Thoroughly combine all ingredients and evenly pack into a greased 12 count muffin tin. Bake for 28-34 minutes or until  they reach an internal temp of 180F.

Cool and enjoy!

It couldn't be any easier and these are always a huge hit at our house. No one could even tell that it was turkey rather than beef. Yum!

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Easy Toddler St. Patrick's Day Crafts

The shamrock window clings are up and now it's time to craft some more decorations. March is just around the corner and so is St. Patricks Day. We are not Irish but we are Catholic & it's still fun to decorate the house. St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity (Father, Son, & Holy Ghost) as he brought Christianity to Ireland. Taking time to talk about our faith & history is really important to our family. 

I am not the most artsy person but I get by ;). We made a shamrock craft as well as a rainbow/pot of gold craft. 

This was an easy craft and my 22 month old loved sticking the paper pieces down on the sticky glue. We just worked with one color at a time and now Elena officially knows the color purple! We try to make as many teaching moments as we can. 

For the shamrock you'll need:

A paper coffee filter 

Watercolor paint

Brush

Construction paper

Clear contact paper (optional)

First, flatten out a paper coffee filter. Then let your toddler go to town painting it. I limited her to green and yellow for this project. Next, cut out a shamrock shaped frame. Once dry, I attached the two using clear contact laminating paper. 

Both crafts took a total of 40 minutes to do with my crafty toddler and they really add to our decor! Elena's face when she saw her art on the wall was priceless!!!

What kind of crafts do you do in the spring?

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DIY Easy Minky Blanket Tutorial in Only 30 Minutes

It's a boy!

My (husband's) niece is having a boy in a week or so and while this isn't her only gift, it is my favorite one! I'm only 26 and certainly not old enough to be a great aunt (ugh!) but my husband's sisters are much older than. Besides, nothing makes me happier than new babies in the family!!! This is such a lovely blanket and the best part is that it comes together so quickly!

I made this one with the following items:

1 yard minky fabric

1 1/2 yards patterned fabric

Scissors

Pins

Sewing machine

Coordinating thread

Place both cuts of fabric back to back with the patterned fabric hanging over by 2-3 inches on each side. You can leave less for a thinner border. Whatever amount you leave will be double the thickness of what you will see. 

Fold the patterned fabric in evenly with the minky fabric. Then fold in again over the minky fabric and pin into place. This will create the framed blanket look. 

I fold the corners like this (above) so that they look neat and even. After pinning the entire perimeter, sew two seams for a finished look at the end.

 

It still needs to be washed and ironed before being wrapped but I think it came out pretty well. All in all it only took about 30 minutes of nap time. Plenty of time left to bake a loaf of bread and clean the pantry out ;)

What kind of homemade items do you give as gifts for babies?

Post Run or Workout Smoothie

I've mentioned in previous blog entries that I'm preparing for a 5k Color Run in May. Most days I'll eat cottage cheese or a piece of fruit after my jog but today I was feeling a smoothie. Mmm Greek yogurt-y goodness. (Yes it was that good!) so here's how I made it:

Blueberry Smoothie

1/2 c greek yogurt (plain)

1/2 c milk 

Blueberries

Pineapple 

Ground flax

Blend and Enjoy!

Pretty much I just eyeball it but I knew that I'd be sharing with my toddler and she went nuts over it!

What do you use as post workout fuel?