I seem to have a problem staying focused lately. I can compare my thoughts and actions to a pinball game and I’m the ball. Some might call it multi-tasking but is it really advantageous and does it save you time so you can enjoy other, more important things such as spending time with the family? Food for thought.
And now that I am talking about food, well, I made my Q recipe. Yep, back on track for a little while. It has been so long since I worked on my baking project. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been baking. I made sugar cookies Tuesday night and then a chocolate cake followed by a second chocolate batter from which I made cupcakes and vanilla frosting Wednesday night. I have also been using my newly purchasing ice cream maker. Two batches of vanilla for my little man (others help him eat it) and a batch of cheesecake ice cream for my little woman (let’s say rich, creamy and soooo delicious).
This recipe had a nice flavor but it is not a keeper. The bars crumble A LOT so out it goes. Olivia crumbled her bars into yogurt and ate it that way. Creativity – I like that. So if you want to try this recipe, here it is. Perhaps you bars won’t crumble! And no, I did not take pictures of these imperfect bars. I should have though so you could see how crumbly they were. Disappointed but another recipe’s fate has been determined.
Quick Granola Bars
4 ½ cups rolled oats
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup honey
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups add-ins
Add-in options: mini-chocolate chips, raisins, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries, nuts.
Lightly butter a 9x13-inch pan and preheat the oven to 325F.
Combine the butter and honey in a large bowl and mix well. Add all ingredients except the add-ins and mix until combined. By hand, stir in the add-ins.
Press mixture into the pan. Mixture will be sticky so you can wet your hands with water and press the mixture firmly. (Is this why they were crumbly???)
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. They won’t look done but will firm up while they cool. After they cool for about 10 minutes, cut into bars. Store at room temperature.
I’ll keep looking for a good granola bar recipe because I really want to stop buying and feeding the kids the processed bars that are full of bad ingredients – lots of sugar, fillers and preservatives that are damaging to their bodies.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Marriage and Children
I know I am blessed as I am sharing my life with a wonderful man. Besides being handsome, he is a hard-worker, intelligent, humorous and a great father. He loves to spend time with me and our two children. We have similar values and outlook on life. Family is important to us and we both invest a lot of our time in our children and home life. We enjoy the time spent with Olivia and Elliott. Whether it is an outdoor activity, helping them with homework, crafts, hobbies or just talking. It’s precious time well spent as it passes so quickly. To be a happy family, the parents need to be happy – and we are. We work at it. Another investment that both of us benefit from.
Date Nights. Studies show couples that take the time to nurture their relationship are healthier and happier people. I agree, as it makes sense, the hard part is making the time. We do make the time but we don’t necessarily go out every chance we get. We might stroll around the yard and field. Walk to the garden and talk. Enjoy an early morning on the deck before the kids wake. These moments, stolen from the day, for us, add up and they keep us united as one. It’s always nice to be able to talk without a child interrupting or having them screaming in the background. Not saying I don’t want that noise and those interruptions, it just makes those moments more fulfilling. We can focus on each other.
Our son thinks we shouldn’t have date nights because we are married and old. Two strikes against us right there. Funny boy. Isn’t it interesting how he tries to justify his desire to have us stay home. It’s not like we go out regularly or even once a month but we have had three “dates” in the last two months so I can understand why he may feel these might become more frequent. However, they get to spend time with their grandparents. Grandpa taught them to play dominoes and they love it. They also play Chinese checkers and watch movies with them. When they visit grandma, they get to sit around a campfire and play games outside. Quality time and a win-win situation for all of us.
Usually when we go out, we have dinner and walk the mall or go to a store. Last night, we went to a company dinner for employee award recognition. John was a little stressed (ok, more than a little ~ I think he was quite miffed at me) because I remembered the times wrong. We weren’t sure we’d make it to the restaurant before dinner started. He said, maybe we should not go. I said no. We are going, arriving late or not. Why is it when you are late, you always get stuck behind a slow car? It did not matter if we changed lanes or not, we were in the slow lane. However, we pulled into the parking lot behind a few other vehicles and arrived four minutes before dinner. Whew! Besides, dinner did not start at the planned time (they never do) and John was handed a cold drink while I went to check in and pick up our name tags. All was good!
After dinner, the speeches and presentations began. John was acknowledged for his contribution and received a trade secret award. I am so proud of him. It was a great evening as we enjoyed a nice dinner, award presentations as well as visiting with co-workers. It was fun. I enjoyed myself because I used to work for the same company (that’s how John and I got together) and many of the people there worked in the department that I did.
The best part was being with my handsome man though.
Congratulations John on your award! I am so proud of you!
With lots of love - me
Date Nights. Studies show couples that take the time to nurture their relationship are healthier and happier people. I agree, as it makes sense, the hard part is making the time. We do make the time but we don’t necessarily go out every chance we get. We might stroll around the yard and field. Walk to the garden and talk. Enjoy an early morning on the deck before the kids wake. These moments, stolen from the day, for us, add up and they keep us united as one. It’s always nice to be able to talk without a child interrupting or having them screaming in the background. Not saying I don’t want that noise and those interruptions, it just makes those moments more fulfilling. We can focus on each other.
Our son thinks we shouldn’t have date nights because we are married and old. Two strikes against us right there. Funny boy. Isn’t it interesting how he tries to justify his desire to have us stay home. It’s not like we go out regularly or even once a month but we have had three “dates” in the last two months so I can understand why he may feel these might become more frequent. However, they get to spend time with their grandparents. Grandpa taught them to play dominoes and they love it. They also play Chinese checkers and watch movies with them. When they visit grandma, they get to sit around a campfire and play games outside. Quality time and a win-win situation for all of us.
Usually when we go out, we have dinner and walk the mall or go to a store. Last night, we went to a company dinner for employee award recognition. John was a little stressed (ok, more than a little ~ I think he was quite miffed at me) because I remembered the times wrong. We weren’t sure we’d make it to the restaurant before dinner started. He said, maybe we should not go. I said no. We are going, arriving late or not. Why is it when you are late, you always get stuck behind a slow car? It did not matter if we changed lanes or not, we were in the slow lane. However, we pulled into the parking lot behind a few other vehicles and arrived four minutes before dinner. Whew! Besides, dinner did not start at the planned time (they never do) and John was handed a cold drink while I went to check in and pick up our name tags. All was good!
After dinner, the speeches and presentations began. John was acknowledged for his contribution and received a trade secret award. I am so proud of him. It was a great evening as we enjoyed a nice dinner, award presentations as well as visiting with co-workers. It was fun. I enjoyed myself because I used to work for the same company (that’s how John and I got together) and many of the people there worked in the department that I did.
The best part was being with my handsome man though.
Congratulations John on your award! I am so proud of you!
With lots of love - me
Monday, June 18, 2012
Summer Time...Sweet Summer Time
Oh the memories I have of summers past. Lots of swimming, bike riding, time at my grandparents farm. Apples, playing in the creek, watching stars and catching fireflies. Night tag in the yard with the neighborhood kids and we’d all end up in the swimming pool. Marco Polo anyone? Those carefree days. We ran out the door in the morning and played all day long. Mom had to yell for us (not at us) to come home to eat. Then right back outside. Love them. Miss them. Have fond memories because of them. County Road 11 was the best!!!
Summer is right around the corner for us. Can you believe we are halfway through the month of June? Whew – flying right by, isn’t it? Crazy. Just crazy I tell you.
This week is the last week of school for the kids. Just four more days and HALF days at that. Olivia will be a 7th grader next year – yikes!
We attended the middle school academic awards last Thursday night. Her discipline and commitment to her studies was recognized by her teachers. She came home with three awards. The first award she received was for perfect attendance. John and I looked at each other and Elliott said, she was sick. Thinking back, she was sick, however, she was sick during spring recess so she had perfect attendance. Then she received an award for all of her classes as she is a high honor roll student and her grades reflect her time and effort. Her last award, was a reading medal. There was a large group of students for this award. Students read a book, take an AR quiz and earn points based on their score. Olivia is a member of the 100 point club but last night, she was given her medal for having 250 AR points. Wow – yes, she is a reader and she had a goal in sight and we are so proud of her for her achievements. We keep telling her, she set the bar high right from the beginning. We love you Olivia! Keep up the extraordinary work you are doing. You are on the right path to success.
Elliott has been cleaning out his desk and bringing lots of projects and papers home. He’ll be in third grade next year and Thursday, he not only finds out who his teacher will be next year, he’ll get to go to her classroom and work on a quick project. I hope he gets the teacher we both want him to have. He’s a little sad summer is near because he loves going to school and being with his friends. I remind him that he is participating in the school program and will see some of his friends there. He'll soon forget about school.
Summer time is close and we are ready to enjoy it. Vacation is on the horizon for our family. Once again, we’ll head north to Canada. Eh? A week on the lake with a boat, fishing poles, swimsuits and sunscreen – Ithink know we are ready. We are anxious and I have my lists started. The guys have been busy replacing fishing line on the poles. They even went fishing a few times to work out their kinks. Guess who caught the only fish and a nice one at that? Miss Olivia. Yep, she might just bring home the pot of cash for catching the largest fish in Canada. Go girl, show those boys how it is done! I’ll have pictures for proof too. The big question is “Who’ll come home with bragging rights?”
We have been to the Portland, Ontario area three previous times. We love it. We rent a cottage on the lake. The lake is so clean and we enjoy exploring it. We rent a boat – at their age, the kids favor a pontoon boat. We know the area well so we can make quick, if necessary, trips into town. We have visited the local sites - locks, museums, a small local cheese factory. On our last vacation, the kids whined when we wanted to go somewhere. This year, we’ll stay put. We’ll enjoy the lake - swimming, fishing, boating –time. No need to go anywhere. We slip into our routines so quickly when on vacation. John boats early in the morning. I get to knit or read. When the kids get up, John is usually on his way back. We eat breakfast then we all go boating and /or fishing. We come home, swim until we are tired or hungry, eat then back outside. It is so relaxing. No schedule, no time clocks. Just hours and hours of family time. I prepare for the week by making salads, bake good and a menu so little time is spent in the kitchen or at the grill. I have my list and check it twice-at least! The kids have made their lists (so different than mine) – snorkels, swim suits, water shoes, flippers. You get the idea – only the essentials!
Love the vacation time but even more, I love the FAMILY time.
Summer is right around the corner for us. Can you believe we are halfway through the month of June? Whew – flying right by, isn’t it? Crazy. Just crazy I tell you.
This week is the last week of school for the kids. Just four more days and HALF days at that. Olivia will be a 7th grader next year – yikes!
Elliott has been cleaning out his desk and bringing lots of projects and papers home. He’ll be in third grade next year and Thursday, he not only finds out who his teacher will be next year, he’ll get to go to her classroom and work on a quick project. I hope he gets the teacher we both want him to have. He’s a little sad summer is near because he loves going to school and being with his friends. I remind him that he is participating in the school program and will see some of his friends there. He'll soon forget about school.
Summer time is close and we are ready to enjoy it. Vacation is on the horizon for our family. Once again, we’ll head north to Canada. Eh? A week on the lake with a boat, fishing poles, swimsuits and sunscreen – I
We have been to the Portland, Ontario area three previous times. We love it. We rent a cottage on the lake. The lake is so clean and we enjoy exploring it. We rent a boat – at their age, the kids favor a pontoon boat. We know the area well so we can make quick, if necessary, trips into town. We have visited the local sites - locks, museums, a small local cheese factory. On our last vacation, the kids whined when we wanted to go somewhere. This year, we’ll stay put. We’ll enjoy the lake - swimming, fishing, boating –time. No need to go anywhere. We slip into our routines so quickly when on vacation. John boats early in the morning. I get to knit or read. When the kids get up, John is usually on his way back. We eat breakfast then we all go boating and /or fishing. We come home, swim until we are tired or hungry, eat then back outside. It is so relaxing. No schedule, no time clocks. Just hours and hours of family time. I prepare for the week by making salads, bake good and a menu so little time is spent in the kitchen or at the grill. I have my list and check it twice-at least! The kids have made their lists (so different than mine) – snorkels, swim suits, water shoes, flippers. You get the idea – only the essentials!
Love the vacation time but even more, I love the FAMILY time.
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