Homemade Granola Bars

Homemade apple-cinnamon-craisin granola bars

Ed likes to take granola bars to snack on at work. We like Kashi brand bars, which we only get at Big Lots, but the prices have gone up even there, so I started making some last year. We're experimenting with different kinds. So far, we've tried apple-cinnamon-craisin and cherry-almond.

I got the recipe from this site, but here's my slightly modified short version (there's a lot to read on that site before you finally get to the recipe). They're really quick and easy to make.

No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars
Makes about 12-18 bars, depending on how thick you want them and how you cut them. I make about 12 5"x1.5" bars about 1/2" thick.

• 1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp.)
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 cups plain granola
• 1 cup puffed grain(s) (such as rice, millet, or a blend) or cereal (such as Rice Krispies or Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs) 

Optional add-in ideas (if combining, adjust quantities so as not to exceed 1/2-2/3 cup total):

• 1/4 cup raisins/craisins and 1/4 cup chopped dehydrated apple slices with a few dashes of cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped dried cherries and 1/4 cup thinly sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup any small or chopped dried fruit and/or nuts (apricot, tropical fruit mix, walnuts, pecans, etc.)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1 tsp. flax seeds

Directions:

1. Line a baking pan/sheet with parchment paper, wax paper, or freezer paper. (I use a 9"x13" baking sheet, but it only takes up about 2/3 or 3/4 of the sheet.)
2. Heat butter, brown sugar, and honey in medium saucepan to a boil over medium heat, then lower heat to medium-low. Simmer until sugar is dissolved (about 2 min.).
3. Remove from and turn off heat. Quickly fold in granola and puffed grains/cereal until evenly moistened, and, if using, fold in dried fruit, nuts, spices, etc.
4. Spread into a baking pan/sheet and press down. Using a spatula or some other flat utensil will help, since it'll be hot.
5. Optional: Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and gently press in.
6. Let it sit to cool and harden (I usually wait about 30 min. to an hour or so), then cut into desired size bars/pieces. To store, I wrap them individually in fold-top sandwich bags, so it's easier for Ed to take them to work.

Storage: Keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator/freezer if you need to store them for a while, so they don't go rancid.

Homemade Lip Balm

As I mentioned in the Christmas 2012 posts, I made some lip balm for gifts. I made a variety of flavors, including peppermint, lemon, orange, cappuccino, French vanilla, brown sugar, and pumpkin cheesecake, as well as a few others.

It's pretty easy and only takes about 30 minutes per batch. Most of the time is spent waiting for it to melt together and then harden again. I followed the "Flavored Lip Balm" recipe on the LorAnn Oils web site. One batch yields about eight standard lip balm tubes.

I did make one change, and that was to add a little bit more flavor oil (for most batches, I found that 1 tsp. was the right amount to cover the beeswax smell). I used the LorAnn Super Strength natural oils for the peppermint, lemon, and orange flavors. For the other flavors, I used some flavor oils I ordered from lipbalmtubes.com.

Supplies (see link above for recipe and instructions):

• 1-cup glass measuring cup* and small pan (for double-boiler)
• 1 Tbsp. and 1 tsp. measuring spoons*
• small spatula (for stirring)*
• 0.15-oz. lip balm tubes (lipbalmtubes.com)
• beeswax pastilles (lipbalmtubes.com) (these are much easier to measure consistently than grated beeswax); I used yellow (unbleached)
• shea butter (brambleberry.com)
• sweet almond oil (got it from Valli Produce, the international market in town); could use extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil instead
• flavor oil (LorAnn oils from Hobby Lobby baking supplies aisle; other flavor oils from lipbalmtubes.com)
• 1.8"x1.8" waterproof inkjet labels (20 per sheet) (lipbalmtubes.com)

*If you want to make your own lip balm, be sure to dedicate the tools you use to lip balm-making only. It isn't recommended to make it in/with tools you use for cooking.

I printed the labels on our computer using the basic template they have on the lipbalmtubes.com web site. I also got some shrink bands (lipbalmtubes.com), but I couldn't get them to shrink for some reason.

Bonus: We'll never need to buy lip balm again!

Meyer Lemon Jelly

We made our first from-scratch jelly last year. We used the Meyer Lemon Jelly recipe from the book The Art of Preserving (Williams-Sonoma).

It takes a lot longer than the other jellies we've made using liquid pectin, but it was nice to try something different. The set is softer than we expected, but it doesn't really bother us.

The Meyer lemons have a very different taste (and price!) from regular lemons. We might try this recipe again with regular lemons for a comparison and a little more sour punch.

 
I made some labels using Avery 22807 2" glossy white round labels, which is the same kind I used last year. They're perfect for canning lids. I used the blank online template (on the Avery site) to design and print them.

Christmas 2012, Part 2

Sorry it took us a while to post this. For whatever reason, we only took photos on our camera on one day while we were with Ed's family, and not everyone is in them. It may have had to do with the fact that other people were taking photos/videos most of the time, so we were waiting to get some of those before posting this.

Anyway, after we left my parents' house, we went to Ed's parents' house, and his grandmother and uncle were there. His brother lives nearby, so we got to see him, too. We went and got some photos taken together while we were there.

We got some more Clemson loot as gifts (we each got a travel cup and Ed got a Clemson Santa hat), which we always appreciate, because we can't get Clemson stuff in these parts.

One day, the guys and I went shooting on their friend's land out in the country. We shot mostly rifles, but we also shot some pistols and shotguns. Classic Southern entertainment.

See the shell flying out? Good shot (pun intended)!

Ed and I also had dinner with his college roommate, Doug, and his wife. We hadn't seen Doug in probably seven years, and we hadn't met his wife, so it was nice to finally catch up with him and meet her. (Sorry, didn't take photos.)

We headed back home after a few days and got some nice photos of the Smoky Mountains crossing from NC into Tennessee.

Ed said we HAD to eat lunch at Bojangles, so we stopped at the last one heading northwest through Tennessee.

We continued through Tennessee into Kentucky, where we started to see snow again. It was fluffy and looked pretty sitting on all of the trees.

And, of course, we saw lots of horses.

I thought the snow on top of the hay bales looked like frosted shredded wheat. I think I was getting hungry again.

We stopped in Louisville, KY for the night and left early the next morning to avoid getting stuck in bad weather. The sky looked neat in Indiana just before sunrise. I tried to get photos of it, but they all came out really blurry, so I'll leave it small. I guess I wasn't awake yet.

 It was a good Christmas, and it was nice to see family and to get a break from our usual routine (and from the cold!).

From One Extreme to Another

So, remember how it was really cold here last week?

Well, it got up to 61 degrees today. Almost all of the snow melted (there were a few small piles left here and there along the roads). It is still January, right?

Tomorrow the high is supposed to be 34 degrees. And look at Thursday and Friday. I wouldn't be surprised if we got sick with the weather changing this drastically and quickly.

Oh, and I stand corrected. I said in our first Christmas 2012 post that we wouldn't see grass here until maybe March-ish. Well, here are some photos I took in our back yard this afternoon. It was pretty cloudy and rainy most of the day, so I got out there at probably the brightest part of the day.

And it's even somewhat green. There are weeds, too.

Overall, I think this winter is even milder than last winter. Thankfully, almost every time we've had heavy precipitation this winter, it has been warm enough to just rain. In fact, we've really only had one heavy snowfall so far. We're not complaining, though! We'll see what February brings.

P.S. - I'm hoping to finally post the second and final Christmas 2012 post before February.