Chew on your pencil!

When I saw this in a magazine I knew I had to try it our for my Back to School Dinner. Here's the link to how you make it.

(FYI- We are not bologna eaters in my house so I used a hotdog we had left over from the night before, I just cut off the skin so it was about the right size to fit on top of the cheese stick)

Baked Oatmeal and Fruit

(Sorry for the kind of un-appetizing picture, but I promise, it is really good.)

Whisk in a large bowl:
3/4 c. oil
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs

Add and stir well:
6 cups oatmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups milk

Stir in:
2 apples, peeled and chopped
1 cup craisins
1/2-1 cup pecans (optional--of course I left them out because my husband doesn't like them:) )

Pour into 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Serve with milk or cream.

You can see this is a pretty big recipe, but I think you could easily cut it in half. Also, you could replace the fruit with any kind of fruit you like. I think it would be really good with bluberries. Ryan and I ate it dry the night we baked it, but added milk the following days. We really liked it both ways!!

Homemade granola

I stepped outside of my box today and tried making my own granola and I am super impressed with it and wonder why it's taken me so long to do it! Oh well, it was worth the wait.

I found the recipe whilst blog stalking today, and I know there are slight differences to most, but this turned out to be pretty dang good.


7 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. powdered milk
1 T. cinnamon
1/2 c. oil (I used 1/4 c. canola and 1/4 c. olive)
1 c. honey
1 T. vanilla
Combine oats, powdered milk and cinnamon.
Add oil, honey and vanilla. Stir well.
Add any mix-ins and toss.
Bake on a jelly roll pan at 200 degrees for 2 hours (your home will smell delicious). No need to stir while baking- just stir after you take it out of the oven and let sit until it dries and hardens.
Mix-in ideas: slivered almonds, macadamias, pecans, dried cranberries, dried cherries, coconut, flaxseed, pepitas, or any other tasty morsel.

I added slivered almonds and coconut (I think I tricked my sister who doesn't like coconut, but she ate it and liked it- and doesn't know it's in there until now!) I think I may try to sneak in a few more grains next time.

Granola Bars

My son is allergic to peanuts and all granola bars say that they MAY contain peanuts. So I found this great recipe for homemade Granola Bars. This way I can add whatever extra ingredients that will suit my family. I made them the other day. They are yummy and SUPER easy.
Feel free to experiment with the ingredients. I left out the coconut, replaced the mini M&Ms with chocolate chips and they tasted just fine.

Chewy Granola Bars Recipe:
2 1/2 c. Oats - quick rolled oats
1/2 c. Rice Krispies
1/4 c. coconut
1/2 c. M&M minis
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Add all of the ingredients and mix together until combined. Press into a square 8×8 pan. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and score into bars. Let it set completely and then cut into bars. For thinner bars, press mix into a 9×13 pan. They seem to set a little better in the 9×13 pan.

Great Tip: Spray vegetable spray into the measuring cup before you add a sticky substance, like honey! It should slide right off.

***Original recipe can be found HERE. Below is a picture from that website. (much more colorful than mine)