No Bake Chewy Granola Bars

No Bake Chewy Granola Bars

I wanted to repost this in case you missed it.
It's one of our most popular pins on Pinterest.
My kids especially like chewy granola bars but they seem to be one of those things that just keep going up in price and I'm not sure how healthy they actually are. I have tried a gazillion recipes and my daughter repeatedly gave the thumbs down....until this recipe! This one actually tastes better than the store bought kind. YAY!!  It took me under 10 minutes to make them-love that!  I adapted this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pods.

So here's what you need:  

• 1/4 c unsalted butter
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 c creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups oats, I use old fashioned oats, but the recipe calls for quick oats
• 1/2 c crispy rice cereal

OPTIONAL: (3/4 c.) chopped pretzels, (1/4 c.) mini Reese's pieces, mini M&Ms, mini chocolate chips, ground flax seeds

Spray pan or put a square of parchment on the bottom of an 8x8 inch baking pan.
In a large sauce pan, add butter, brown sugar, honey and peanut butter. Heat over med-low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture starts to bubble. Once it bubbles, cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract.
Stir in oats, crispy rice, and if you used pretzels add those. Stir until coated, pour into pan and press evenly. Sprinkle with mini candies or choc. chips and gently press into mixture.( I only put the mini M&M's on some of them and they kept falling off, so the next batch I didn't add them, plus I felt like they were a little healthier without them)
Put in refrigerator and let cool at least 30 minutes, then cut into bars. I wrapped mine individually for easy, quick snacks to go. I cut them like granola bars and got 10 from this recipe. Enjoy!

***UPDATE: 2/19/13***
I took a suggestion from one of our comments and made the latest batch with Nutella. They got mixed reviews at my house. I thought they were delicious, and I'm not crazy about Nutella. My kids, who really like Nutella, didn't like the bars. I thought they tasted like chewy chocolate granola bars. I did miss the peanut butter, so I think next time I might try using Nutella and peanut butter. I followed the same recipe but substituted Nutella instead of the peanut butter and didn't add any additional candy pieces or pretzels. -Thanks Jodi for the suggestion! We love getting new ideas to try!

~Simply Angie

Decoupage Project-French Stool

 

If you haven't tried decoupaging yet, or even if you have, there are so many projects that can be done that are quick and easy. It's a great way to update or give things a new look.  I found these great free printables from Graphics Fairy. She has tons of transfers and some of them are in the reverse so they can be used on furniture, fabric or pretty much anything else.  I also discovered a new technique, which is what I did on this stool.  First, I painted the stool white to go with my french country kitchen, let that dry, then printed a reverse image on regular copy paper from my home printer. I used a foam brush and spread my Mod Podge on the printed side of the paper, then placed it on the stool where I wanted it. It should dry overnight...but I'm not that patient, so I gave it about 4-5 hours until it was dry, then used a damp sponge to wet the paper until I could see the letters through it. I used my finger and rubbed over the image, gently removing the paper. What was left is what you see, then I lightly sanded the top to remove any excess paper and used a furniture wax to seal it, you could also just apply another coat of Mod Podge.  Let us know what projects you are working on!

~Simply Angie

Homemade Pizza

One of our favorite weekend meals is homemade pizza! My recipe makes 2 pizzas. Even if we are dining alone, I still make 2 pizzas and freeze the leftovers for future meals. I use organic ingredients but you can use your favorite ingredients. The first pizza is a taco pizza and the second is Canadian bacon and cheese.
Pizza Crust:
1 1/3 c warm water (about 112F degrees)
1 T yeast
3 c flour
1 T honey
3 T olive oil

• Pour water in a medium bowl, add yeast and honey. The yeast will start to get bubbly after 10-15 minutes. Stir in olive oil and flour - I use a wooden spoon to stir. When the dough is mixed, sprinkle a small amount of flour on your counter or pastry board and knead the dough for a few minutes. It might be a little sticky, keep adding a little more flour but not too much flour. I usually use my fingers and grease my bowl a little so the dough doesn't stick. After you have finished kneading the dough, place it back in the bowl and cover. I love the flour sack dish towels for this. Let it sit for about 15 minutes or until it rises not quite half of the original size.
• Lightly grease your pizza pans with olive oil. Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Divide your dough into 2 balls. Press the dough into your first pan with your hands or use a pizza dough roller. Make the crust as thick or thin as you like. We like ours somewhere in the middle. 
• Start layering with your favorite ingredients. I start with pizza sauce. For the taco pizza, you can use brown ground beef, buffalo, or vegan meat crumbles, in a pan over medium heat. Add about 1-2 T chili powder after the meat is cooked. Add a little water, not quite 1/4 cup, let it simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Place meat over pizza sauce.
• Start layering with ingredients such as onions, mushrooms, sliced olives, assortment of red and green peppers, and cheese (colby, cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella, provolone, Romano are our favorites). Since the children were here and don't like some of the freshly chopped ingredients, I only used meat, olives and cheese for our taco pizza. 
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven, or until the crust is lightly browned and the cheese has melted.
• Add lettuce, salsa, plain yogurt (or sour cream) and crushed tortilla chips before serving. I put these ingredients in bowls and everyone can add as much as they like. Homemade pizza is the best!

Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi

Magnetic Chalk Board

 

Lately I've seen chalkboards, memo boards, and magnetic boards so I decided to combine them all in one, and make a magnetic chalkboard.  I found 2 new frames at the thrift store, they were already white so all I needed to do was paint the glass.  At my local Michael's Craft store, I found Martha Stewart Magnetic Paint...there are probably other brands that make this, but I was so excited when I saw that there was actually Magnetic Paint, that I just bought it (plus I had a coupon, which always helps persuade me!) I also bought my chalkboard paint there too, but I did see a larger, cheaper bottle at Walmart later...so I bought that one too! The whole project was less than $10. I made 2 magnetic chalkboards to hang, plus I still have lots of both paints left for other projects.  Check your specific brand for directions, mine said to apply 2-3 coats and let cure for 24 hours, the magnetic paint didn't seem quite as magnetic once I applied the chalkboard paint over it, but overall it still works and I am pretty happy with the results.  

Tammi and I celebrated our 1 Year Blogging Anniversary this month!! Thanks to all our readers and viewers for keeping us going!! We hope you are finding some useful tips and ideas! It's been an amazing, fun...and sometimes frustrating, adventure! We are learning a lot and have more ideas, thoughts and recipes to share. If you have other projects, ideas, or things you would like us to try out or blog about, let us know, we love hearing from you!  

~Simply Angie