No Oatmeal For Me.... Granola Recipe

I do not like oatmeal. I wish I did because I know it is a pretty heathy and filling breakfast. I have tried over and over to eat it. My son eats it a couple of times a week. But still I can not seem to do it. It is the texture. It grosses me out. I have finally decided to embrace my oatmeal-hating self and move on. I have moved on to granola.

Granola gets a bad rap. I think mostly because it high in calories and is addictive, so you have to be careful about how much you eat. But granola is also full of good stuff that can keep you full. I have a half a cup of granola in milk and some fruit for breakfast and that usually tides me over till lunch, or pretty darn close. That is a big deal, because I am always hungry! Also, granola is so versatile. You can change it to what you like.

Basic Granola Recipe
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 dry fruit
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)1/3 cup honey
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Mix the oats, nuts, and coconut in a large bowl. In a small sauce pan mix together the brown sugar, oil, and honey. Heat until smooth. Pour over the oat mixture and stir until well blended. Pour mixture on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in dried fruit. Let cool. Store in air tight container.



See, easy peasey lemon squeezey. You can cook granola at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time, but I always seem to burn it. Also, when mixing the brown sugar, oil, and honey use the same measuring cup. I know usually you would use a wet measuring cup for oil and possibly honey, but in this case it doesn't matter and makes clean up easier. (I don't have a dishwasher so less dishes is a big plus!) Also, do it in that order. You measure the brown sugar while it is still dry, then the oil so it greases the measuring cup, and then the honey, which should slide right out of the greased cup. I know it is common sense, but it took me a while to think of it.

Now you can change this any way you want. You can omit the coconut, add more nuts, different kids of dried fruit, add some spices to the dry mix before adding the wet. I often add cinnamon. Also, you can only use 3 cups of oats if you want a more crunchy granola. Everything gets coated in the oil mixture little better that way, leading to more crunch. I use 4 cups so I get less fat from the oil and sugar per serving. Still is good.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter

Attempt At Sewing

A while a go I found a tutorial on greylustergirl.blogspot.com. It was about refashioning a men's polo into a cute woman shirt.

Source: greylustergirl.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Isn't it adorable???  She is amazing. I have wanted to try for a long time, but I have been nervous to start. Last week I was shopping at our local Salvation Army for all of D's summer clothes. (Best place ever to get kids clothes, but that's another post.) I decided to look for some dress pants for my hubby, and while looking I came across the polos. I bought one on a whim for $1. I got brave and gave it a try. After much trial and error and having to do thing a little different from her (mostly because I had to fix mistakes), I finished. 

So, it's not perfect, but I didn't think it was too bad for a first try. Yes, my photographer is 4, so please forgive the picture. Also, some of you might notice the short hair. I cut it today. I am not sure if I love it, but I guess at this point I will learn to like it. We will see.

I digress. What do you think? I have to say I am proud of myself for even trying. I think I will try to make another in the future. I think I need to start with a larger shirt to get a better length since I am tall. Also, I made this one a bit too tight. No need for everyone to see what pregnancy did to my body. :)

General Conference

This weekend is the LDS General Conference. I have been trying to think of ways to help D enjoy it, or at least be reverent during it. I have bought some candy for our "conference candy" idea. I've seen it a lot of places online this year. Each candy is assigned a word. Every time you hear that word, you get a piece of the candy from the appropriate jar. I haven't decided on the words quite yet, but I plan on using words like "Faith" or "Jesus Christ." The hubby suggested words like "The" and "And." This is why the mommies usually plan this stuff. :)

Also, we are making a conference poster. I am pulling out all the old Friend magazines, a poster board, scissors, and glue. We can find pictures that relate to what is being taught, cut them out, and glue them on. I think this will be something D loves. He loves art.

D is allowed to take a break from watching conference with Mommy and Dad as long as he is playing quietly in his room. All that conference can be tough for a 4 year old.

What ideas do you have to entertain little ones during conference? It is a hard task.

Something to Remember

“Listen earnestly to anything [your children] want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.” -Catherine M. Wallace

Difference of Opinion

For the last year we have been working on homeschooling with D. We aren't always consistent and often times it just involves him reading to me or playing a number game or something simple like that. Even though we haven't devoted a ton of our day to homeschooling, he is learning quite quickly. It makes me think I can really do this homeschooling thing. But then there is D's opinions.

We live in Michigan, and because of the late kindergarten cutoff date of Dec 1st D could start kindergarten this coming year at the age of 4. He won't be because we are moving, but all his friends are. All his friends are in preschool and love it and will soon start kindergarten. D has decided that he want to go to school for kindergarten. It makes me a bit unsure of my decisions.

I know this choice isn't for a 4 year old to make, but I know D's stubbornness (He's like his mom) and I don't want school time to become a fight everyday. Luckily I still have another year to decide.

A Worldwide Church

We are moving this summer. We are use to the big city and we are moving to a small town, population of about 6,000. I am excited but also nervous. Yesterday we decided to drive and visit where we would be moving to. It is about 5 hours from our current home. We got up early so we could get to our new church in time. For anyone who doesn't know, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as the Mormons. The new ward started at 10 am. It is a very small ward, only about 150 people. Our current ward is over 400. Even the building is small. It is located about 40 minutes from the town we are moving to, in a different state actually. Right now we are about 10-15 minutes from our church, depending on traffic. The whole ward felt different, except it was still a comfortable place to be. That is because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a worldwide church. The gospel is the same. The same principles are being taught from the same material. Even though I have never met anyone in the new ward before, I instantly felt comfortable. There is a fellowship that exists in all wards. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life, to have a living prophet to lead and guide us, and for inspired programs like Relief Society.