Homemade Granola Bars

For snack time, invariably my kiddos will choose granola bars. They love the ones with mini chocolate chips in them and scarf them down like cookies. Between my own kids and the one I watch each afternoon, we can finish off a box of ten in two days. And at $2.50 a box, that gets to be quite a pricey snack!

So, I decided to attempt making my own granola bars. With our long road trip coming up soon, I figured it would be very beneficial to have lots and lots of granola bars on hand for the munchies. I found this easy and yummy recipe at Kitchen Stewardship, one of my favorite cooking blogs.

When the Beast learned I was making granola bars, he quickly volunteered to help. He especially enjoyed adding the honey and then mashing the whole mixture into the pan as firmly as his muscles would let him.

Of course, we decided on mini chocolate chips as our add-ins. The coconut and sunflower seeds sound delish, but unfortunately I would be the only one eating the bars if I used those ingredients. The Drama Queen also assisted in making a batch of bars.

By following the recipe and putting it into two 8x8 pans instead of the 13x9 pan, we were able to cut 24 bars. Then came the taste test. Amazing! Sweet, thick, and absolutely granola-y, everyone enjoyed our first attempt at making granola bars. I made them a week ago, and they are still as fresh as ever. The Nerd grabs one for breakfast on his way out the door, and the kids all clamor for them at snack time. In my opinion, these are a lot more filling and tasty than the store-bought kind. Best of all, I know exactly what ingredients are in each bar. And since it looks like there are not that many bars left, it looks like we will be making these again soon. ;)

Bathroom Reading - Volume Two

How about catching up on a week with the temporarily insane (that's me, the Nerd, and the kiddos) in a concise, easy-to-read list? Perfect for bathroom reading - that is, if you trust your electronic device near the many hazards of the bathroom. I personally consider my Iphone a necessary item to take when headed to the bathroom facilities. It's a convenient place to catch up on Facebook, read a few blog entries, answer an email, etc. Of course, I have to pretend that there aren't little fingers reaching under the bathroom door while loud childish voices clamor for my attention. "Watcha doin' in there, Momma?" "I need you now, Momma!" "Are you poopin' so you can get a lollipop?"

So...

1. The fourth (and hopefully final!) family member to get the stomach flu last week was the Drama Queen. Somehow all the germs have skipped me, and for that I am eternally grateful.

2. I apparently was in quite the baking mood last week. On Tuesday we had fresh bread (three loaves), and on Friday I made cake mix brownies and tried baking homemade granola bars for the first time.

3. Did you know that homemade bread makes the best French toast? It does - so so good!

4. A cherry Pepsi can committed suicide off the top of our fridge last week. It jumped right out of the carton, hit the floor with a crash, and began spraying soda everywhere. It didn't even leave a note.

5. The Nerd spent part of his weekend wiring up the old minivan for individual sets of headphones for the kids. This means that when they watch a movie on the DVD player or listen to their kid music, we don't have to! We can enjoy our own music! This will be especially beneficial for our long road trip coming up soon.

6. We thoroughly enjoyed a picnic/birthday party with friends yesterday in the (amazingly) nice weather. We welcomed summer with grilled hot dogs, salads, chips, and birthday cake of course; and the kids raced around getting as dirty as possible. We concluded our time with roasting marshmallows over the fire ( in which this Momma had a minor heart attack watching the littles get entirely too close to the fire!) Apparently we are raising a couple of pyros.

And that's it for this week! :) have a wonderful day and watch out for flying soda cans!

Going Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We are celebrating with shamrock pancakes and a little treasure from the end of the rainbow. (chocolate coins) :)

We have also discovered that the Spud has not a stitch of green in his wardrobe, but the Beast has saved the day by sharing one of his shirts. Unfortunately, the Spud drowns in the Beast's shirts.

I love any excuse to do something a little special for my kiddos!

Wordless Wednesday - Wedding Cake 2

my second wedding cake this summer. white velvet cake with banana cream filling and buttercream frosting decorated with silver-dusted blue fondant flowers.

please share your wordless post here - I'd love to check it out!

A Diagnosis and Chai Tea Cupcakes

So another intensely busy week has begun. I feel a little overwhelmed with all the appointments and meetings for Davey, and the etsy shop orders keep piling up. I've had so many custom orders with specific deadlines in the past couple of weeks that I've stayed up past midnight every night and risen at 6:00 am just trying to keep up.
As many of you have been probably been wondering, we did receive an "official" diagnosis for Davey last week. After his long morning appointment with a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, child psychiatrist, and pediatrician, Davey has been diagnosed with high-functioning autism. I have in hand an Autism Speaks 100 Day Kit that is helping us understand a little more of what the future is going to be like with this diagnosis. We still have a lot to learn, and tomorrow we will be discussing specific therapy options and preschool possibilities with the special education therapists. I am still processing the diagnosis - amazed that God found us worthy to undertake such a task and terrified of the responsibility and life changes.

I'll keep you all updated on our little man as we continue through this process. Davey did amazingly well throughout the long process and especially enjoyed the physical therapy room with its balance beams and bouncy balls. The therapist discovered that Davey has very little core strength, causing sitting up and climbing up into his car seat to be an exhausting task. This is why he has such poor balance and has difficulty doing simple tasks, like walking backwards or jumping off a step.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a recipe I discovered recently when I was getting ready for a premiere jewelry party. I made these chai tea latte cupcakes - divine! and so here is the recipe:
Vanilla Chai Tea Latte Cupcakes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 oz butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
dash of salt
1 or 2 chai tea bags
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place liners into cupcake pan.(recipe make about twelve)
Heat up milk on stove, remove from stove. Place tea bags into milk, cover and steep for 5-10 minutes.
Cream sugar and butter together. Mix in egg and vanilla. Mix in milk.
Sift flour, baking powder, spices and salt together. Mix dry and wet ingredients together.
Divide batter into cupcake liners. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool before frosting with your favorite buttercream frosting. Sprinkle with cinnamon. :)

Yummo! Happy Monday all!

Wordless Wednesday - Joyful Colors

my little girl turned 4 1/2 yesterday and we celebrated with tie-dye cupcakes with extra sprinkles! Happy Half-Birthday, Baby Girl!

more wordless fun at 5 Minutes for Mom...

Wanna link up here? I would love to see your picturesque posts!

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Together

my first attempt ever at a wedding cake. :)

more wordless fun at 5 Minutes for Mom...

Pink Frosting

Wordless Wednesday - my little cupcake

taste-testing the frosting -yep, it's good!

proudly displaying her handiwork while wearing her new birthday apron from Grammy and Pop...

Wordful Wednesday - Yule Yumminess

This yummy Yule Log has become a traditional treat for Christmas at our house. I promised I would share the recipe; and since the computer was misbehaving yesterday, I am getting it up today.

Ingredients:
4 eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 squares semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
some powdered sugar
1/2 batch of chocolate cream cheese frosting
1/2 batch of peppermint buttercream frosting

The Cake:
1. Let the eggs warm to room temperature before using (about thirty minutes). Grease a jelly roll pan and line it with waxed paper. Grease and flour the waxed paper, and set aside. (Unless you are fortunate enough to have a flexible jelly roll pan, such as the Flexi-Pat from DeMarle - no greasing or wax paper needed!)
2. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla on high for 5 minutes. Beat in the chocolate and water on low until blended. Add flour and baking soda and mix in. Using clean beaters and another clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold them into the chocolate mixture.
3. Spread the mixture evenly into your jelly roll pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, checking with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean. Keep cake in pan and put on a wire rack to cool for five minutes.

4. Prepare a kitchen towel by sprinkling it with powdered sugar. Carefully turn the cake out of the pan and onto the towel. Peel off the waxed paper.

5. Roll up the cake in the towel, starting on a short side. Lay it on a wire rack to cool COMPLETELY.

6. When cooled completely, unroll cake.

7. Spread your 1/2 batch of peppermint buttercream frosting (recipe below) on the cake, leaving an inch margin on all sides. (In past years, we have done coconut-pecan frosting, chocolate fudge frosting, and vanilla buttercream frosting. Choose your favorite flavors!)

8. Roll the cake back up.

9. Using a serrated knife, cut a one-inch piece from each end of the log.

10. Frost the entire cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting (recipe below). Add the two cake pieces you sliced off to the sides of the log.

11. Frost over the two pieces with chocolate cream cheese frosting. Use a fork's tines to make marks in the frosting to resemble tree bark. Add any other garnishes - I used peppermint marshmallow stars for mine. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Here's the frosting recipes. I make full batches of each and save the remaining frosting for decorating Christmas cookies.
**Peppermint Buttercream Frosting**

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
a box of confectioners' sugar (or four cups)
5 tablespoons or so of milk
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy canes
---Cream the butter and extract until light and fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar, a cup at a time, and mix in thoroughly. Add milk until you get the desired consistency. Stir in the crushed candy canes.

**Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting**

Ingredients:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
box of confectioners' sugar (four cups)
1/2 cup baking cocoa
milk (optional)
--Beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt together until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar a cup at a time and beat until smooth. Add a little milk if you desire a better spreading consistency.

Yum, all this talk about peppermint and chocolate is making me want a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha! I hope Santa leaves me some Starbucks cards in my stocking!

(more wordless or wordful fun at 5 Minutes for Mom...)

Christmas and Food

It can be a very good thing to have a computer nerd for a husband. I can call him in desperation during that day if I'm having a computer issue, and he, with the calm of a brain surgeon, can direct me through the steps to curing my issue.

However, that same computer nerd may also suddenly decide that he is going to "fix" a lot of "problems" (only detectable to himself of course) and spend a great portion of the evening doing so. Then I sit down early Tuesday morning to put together all the wonderful pictures of my Yule Log cake along with a tutorial on how to make your own, only to find that the pictures are not accessible due to hubby's "fixing" of the problems.

Sigh. So the Yule Log post will have to wait until later. Until then, I would love to share some yummy Christmasy links with you:

A very well-illustrated post on making tiny delectable gingerbread houses to perch on the side of your mug of hot cocoa.


Some easy and very yummy brown sugar shortbread cookies.


A recipe for Coffee Toffee that makes a great gift (if you don't eat it all first!)

And finally, if you are thinking, "Forget the homemade! I'm going out and getting food instead", here is a very helpful chart in determining where you should go.

And now I'm going to have another spoonful of the extra frosting that I made for my Yule Log cake...