Granola Recipe

I have been wanting to make granola for awhile but just haven't gotten around to it. I was watching a Food Network show, Mexican Made Easy, and she was making a granola her Mom used to make. It looked easy and good so I decided to give it a try. I was happy with the results and it was very easy to make. I have even caught Chris munching on it, so I know it's good since he doesn't really like granola ;) I will make notes as to what I am planning on changing/trying next time. I think if you followed the recipe though you would be happy!

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries (next time I am going to try raisins or dried apricots)
1 cup sliced almonds (I used a small pkg ea. of almonds & pecan pieces, will use more nuts next time)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar (will try using less next time)
1/4 cup honey, plus more for serving (will try using less next time)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.


Line a 9-inch square baking sheet with foil, allowing the foil to extend over the sides. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the oats, cranberries, almonds, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine the butter, sugar and honey in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the butter melts and the mixture begins to boil. Add the vanilla and stir. Remove from the heat.

Pour the butter over the oats, mixing until well coated. Transfer to the prepared pan and, using a spatula, press the oats evenly into the pan.

Bake until the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool. Using the foil as aid, lift out of the pan and place on a work surface. Crumble into pieces.

My little lady!

Uh oh, Mama caught me in the baby swing!

Thanks for the cute chair Granny!

Reading to Brother

Well, I am glad that my growing belly can provide a book stand for Harper...I like to think she is reading to her brother :)

Breakfast with Mommy

We walked over to Central Market this morning and enjoyed some breakfast together! Harper had waffles and strawberries, yum!

Fun with flash cards!

I picked up a box of flash cards awhile back and took them out for the first time today...I figured since she is saying more and more words every day she might benefit from looking at flash cards and maybe learn some new words! She seemed to really like them and recognized "ball" and "duck" and "car"...she also said a few new words. I think I will try and do these with her every day!

Look at what I can do on the couch Mama!

Vocabulary

Harper is amazing me everyday with the addition of new words to her vocabulary! The other day when I picked her up out of her crib in the morning she looked right at me and pointed to my eyes and said "eyes" perfectly, a word she has never said before! She also pointed up to the sky the other night and said "moon"...she is probably saying at least a couple new words a day, so crazy! She is copying me a lot so I am trying to pronunciate really well and talk to her all of the time, it's so much fun to see what she is going to say next!

Climbing time!

Friday morning Harper and I met up with some other mamas and kiddos at My Gym, an indoor play area set up with lots of things to climb, bounce and explore on! My friend had been telling me we needed to check it out because she knew Harper would love it, boy was she right! As soon as Harper hit the floor she was off and didn't stop moving for almost 2 hours straight! We have a little monkey on our hands and she doesn't have any fear, she just goes for it! We had so much fun, we can't wait to go back again!

Happy Mother's Day!

Feeling so blessed today to be Harper's Mom and will soon be a Mom to the baby boy growing in my belly! Motherhood is absolutely indescribable...it is like nothing else in the world, being a Mom fills my heart with so much joy each and every day!

Quick Mole Sauce

I have always wanted to make mole sauce but it's quite a process and a traditional sauce contains quite a few different peppers and spices...so I was very happy to come across a very simple sauce in a magazine and I gave it a try for dinner tonight! Chris and I were both very surprised with how the sauce turned out, for a simplified mole sauce it was pretty darn good and it couldn't have been easier to make! On the side I pan fried chicken thighs and shredded the meat up and tossed it in with the sauce. I served the meat on top of white rice and made a corn and zucchini saute on the side. This meat would be just as good though in a taco or as an enchilada filling, yum!

Mole Sauce Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp almond butter or peanut butter
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Heat up skillet to medium heat. Add the oil, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and salt. Cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce, broth, chocolate chips and almond or peanut butter; stir to combine. Bring to a simmer. Throw in chicken and mix sauce and chicken together and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Harper's 1st boat ride!

We made plans early last week to take Harper out on her first boat ride on the lake this past weekend...of course as the week went on the only chance of rain was the day we wanted to go out (and by the way it hasn't rained in like forever)! Well we watched the radar on Sunday and it was hot (90 at our house) and the rain looked far away so we decided to go for it! As we were driving to the storage unit to get the boat I glanced up at the temperature gage on Chris's truck and I noticed it went from 90 degrees to 80 degrees in a matter of 10-15 miles! And then in a matter of about 5 mins we watched it drop to 73 degrees, I guess a cold front was coming in that we weren't aware of!!! The rain was staying away though and we had come this far so we picked up the boat and drove back to the lake to meet our friends who have 3 boys for a boat ride. We got there and I realized Harper was only in a swimsuit and I just had a pair of shorts and t-shirts for her to put on over it to keep her warm...wasn't prepared for the drop in temp! So I threw on the clothes I had for her and wrapped a towel around her when the boat was going, that is when it was the coldest! We found a cove and a little cold wasn't gonna keep those boys out of the water, they swam around for awhile while the rest of the stayed dry in the boat! :) Harper LOVED the boat, she was squealing, laughing and smiling the entire time...so I think we have a lake girl on our hands!!!