Chewy Breakfast (or anytime) Bars

Can I tell you how much my kids and husband LOVE these? The whole pan will be gobbled down in a single day. Of course, they may last longer for you if you don't have 5 growing kids and a growing husband to feed. I love that these are easy. I love that they are filling. I love that you can make it up as you go and add in whatever you want. I love that I know exactly what is in them unlike most of those boxed ones you buy at the store. Like most of the things I make, I kind of read a bunch of recipes and then make up my own! Here is what you will need:

*Pre heat your oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan
*In a large bowl, combine 2c oats, 1c flour, 1/2c wheat germ, 3/4c brown sugar, and 3 tsp cinnamon
*Now is where you get to decide what you want in your bars! This time I put in some coconut, slivered almonds, and mini chocolate chips. Next time I want to try some craisins or other fruit.

*Next, make a well in the center. This is where we will add the wet ingredients which include: 1 egg slightly beaten, 1/2c honey, 1/2 oil, and 2 tsp vanilla

*Mix until well combined. Honestly, using your hands works best!

*Press mixture into the 9x13 pan

*Bake for about 15 minutes, but keep a close eye on them. You want them to just be turning golden around the edges. If you overcook them, they will not keep their chewy consistency after they cool. I have a super, duper awesome oven from the 60s that cooks things super hot and super fast, so it takes just under 15 minutes.
*Let them cool completely and then turn them out and cut them into bars.

*Store in an airtight container. I wish I could tell you how long these last, but like I said, mine never last longer than a day! Enjoy!

New Year, New Inspiration

I love how New Year's is like one big reset button. Although it is really just in your mind. January 1st is a day like any other day of the year, and there is nothing saying you can't reevaluate and reflect on your life on any day of the year, but it just feels special. I think it is very important to reflect on the past year and set goals for the new one.

2011 was an eventful year for my family. I graduated from nursing school, passed boards, and found a part time nursing job. We moved into our new home, which I continue to love more and more everyday. Lastly, we found out that we were going to be welcoming a 6th child into our family! The first time we have truly been surprised by a pregnancy, but we could not be more excited!

Now, my goals for 2012. Simple really: walk more, read more, sew more. 2 of those pertain to this blog so I will focus on those for now.

Read More: Nursing school kind of put a damper on that whole "reading for fun" thing. Studying for multiple tests a day didn't leave much time for that.  Since then though, I have read some amazing books that helped fire my love of reading back up. I am reading a wonderful book right now that I can't wait to write about on here. I also have several other books lined up on my Kindle for the coming months.

Sew More: I finally did it. I made Christmas jammies for all 5 of the kids. It is something I have wanted to do since my youngest was a baby, but had always found an excuse not to. It really gave me a lot of confidence and a new drive to do more. I have some projects in mind including stuff for the kids and some stuff for the house, too. I'm not good at thinking of things to make for myself, but I'm hoping to try some of that this year as well!

I'm going to try and be gentle on myself and not set crazy goals or deadlines for finishing books or projects. This is supposed to be a hobby and be fun. And of course, I will still be cooking up a storm! That is one thing I've never stopped doing and probably never will! Join me!

Spinach and Cheese Calzones

I am in love with these things! Not only are they easy as can be, but you could add just about anything you want to them. You really can't go wrong with cheese and dough add in some spinach and I am in Heaven. If I had more time, I would maybe make the dough from scratch but when you are in a time crunch these are perfect. My oldest son even asked for seconds! We don't eat meat, so we kept ours with cheese and veggies but you could easily add in any kind of meat you want. Here is what you will need:

*Preheat your oven to 375

*On a lightly floured surface, roll out your refrigerated pizza dough into a large rectangle

*Cut into 4 squares

*In a large bowl mix together 10oz ricotta cheese, 1.5c shredded mozzarella cheese, 12oz frozen spinach cooked and drained, 3 chopped green onions, and salt & pepper to taste

*Spoon a good amount of the filling onto each square of dough that has been placed on a non-stick cooking sheet

*Fold the dough over and crimp the edges with forks or roll them up

*Make an egg wash with 1 tbsp water and an egg whisked together

*Brush the tops of the calzones with the wash and cut a small slit in the tops of them

*Bake for 20-5 minutes or until golden brown

*Serve with marinara sauce for dipping

Skirt From an Old Pair of Jeans

Truth be told, my husband bought my daughter a hideous pair of jeans!! They were on clearance and he was excited to get a good deal. So, I decided to take the $3 pair of jeans and turn them into a cute spring skirt for her using just some material I had around the house. This is super easy, super cute, and it took me less than 1 hour to make! Here is how I did it:

*Get the ugliest pair of jeans you can find (ok, maybe these are not THE ugliest but pretty darn close!) and some material of your choice

*Cut the legs off of the jeans right under neath the back pockets (this might be different if you were making this for an adult, I would just measure it to how long you would want your skirt).

*Cut a length of material twice as long as the skirt is around and about 7 inches long

*Sew a seam around the bottom of the material and then sew in some gathers

*Attach the material to the bottom of the cut of jeans by sewing all the way around

*That's it! Doesn't get much easier than that! Here is my lovely daughter in her new skirt...

Bow Holder

Now that Elliot is starting to get more hair, she is starting to get more bows! I looked on the internet to try and find something to keep them all on so they would not get lost. What I found were some really expensive, although really cute, little bow holders. I saw these ranging from about $30-$40! I figured I could do something similar for much less. I spent a grand total of $5 making this. Here is what you will need:

First cut some ribbon. I didn't really measure. Just make sure it will be long enough to fit all the bows on! Use some fabric glue to attach it on to the back of your wooden letter and let it dry.

When the glue is dry, paint your letter however you want. I painted blue and green dots with Q-tips to match the blue and green ribbon I used.

When it is all dry, hang it up, and attach your bows! Elliot has more bows coming in the mail this week so I may need to squeeze these in a little.

Black Bean Burgers

I have heard of black bean burgers and, to be honest, they have always sounded a little strange to me. Last Sunday when I was sitting on the computer planning out my meals for the week, I cam across a recipe for homemade black bean burgers. All of the stuff that was in it was stuff I liked and sounded good together and it seemed easy enough so I thought I would give it a try! I cooked mine on the George Foreman grill and they came out really good, we will definitely have these again. You could probably half this recipe if you have a "normal" sized family. The recipe I am listing will make about 12 burgers. Here is what you will need:

*Rinse and drain 2 cans of black beans

*Put the beans in a big bowl and mash them up with a fork

*In a food processor add in 1 green pepper, 1 onion, and 3 cloves of garlic. Finely chop. (I actually used my Magic Bullet which I love!)

*Add the veggie mixture to the bean mixture and mix well

*In a small bowl whisk together 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of chili powder, 2 tablespoons cumin, and 2 teaspoons of hot sauce.

*Add this to the bean/veggie mixture as well. Mix until combined.

*To hold it all together and to make it so you can form it into patties, add about 1.5 cups plain bread crumbs and mix thoroughly.

*Heat the George Foreman grill and form into patties

*Cook for about 8-9 minutes on the grill

*If you are making these in the oven: pre-heat oven to 350 and cook for 10 minutes on each side!

Chocolate Brownies (shhh... they're vegan!)

I am 3 days into the 21 Day Vegan Kickstart! I am not going to lie, it has not been easy. I have done without meat for quite a while now, but this is a whole new ball game. It is just a different frame of mind in regards to food and I am slowly getting there! I feel great though! I can really tell a difference. I was searching for some vegan desserts online and I found a yummy recipe for brownies. I changed it a little and used applesauce instead of oil. I am eating them right now with a cold glass of almond milk. Who says vegans can't eat anything?! Here is what you will need:

*Preheat oven to 350

*In a small bowl combine 1c flour, 1c sugar, 1/4c plus 2tbsp cocoa, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt

*In a large bowl combine 1/2c water, 1/2c applesauce, and 1/2tsp vanilla

*Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well

*Pour into a greased pan (all I had clean was my silicone stuff...oh, well)

*Bake for 15-20min

*Let cool and enjoy!