Afternoon snack: Cranberry Cereal Bars

Need a little afternoon snack to get you through til dinner?  These little bars are a favorite around our house. As easy as Rice Krispie treats, but a whole lot tastier in my opinion.  There's something about the crunch and flavor of the Cheerios in these bars that I just love.  So a quick, easy, kinda-not-terrible treat for you...plus your kids will love to help make them!


Cranberry Cereal Bars
4 Tbs butter
1 10 oz bag mini marshmallows
6 cups Cheerios (or other toasted O kinda cereal)
1/2 tsp salt (sounds weird, but critical- don't omit!)
1 cup dried cranberries

Spray a 9x13 dish lightly with cooking spray.  Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in marshmallows.  Stir constantly until completely melted.  Remove from heat and add cereal, salt and cranberries.  Immediately transfer to prepared pan and pat into place firmly.  (I usually use a large spoon sprayed with cooking spray to keep from sticking.) Let cool about an hour.  Cut into 24 bars and enjoy!

recipe slightly adapted from Everyday Food
photo: courtesy of Martha Stewart 

Sidewalk Paint

A fun and easy activity for these last few lazy days of summer, Sidewalk Paint!  Maybe I'm the last to the party on this one, but it isn't something we've ever made before.  Yesterday afternoon seemed like the perfect time to try it and we loved it.  The colors are so bright and pretty!  Couldn't be easier to mix up, either. Mix together 1/2 cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup water.  Divide into as many cups as you want colors.  We did four and had plenty of paint.  Add several drops of food coloring to each bowl and stir.  That's it.  See?  Easy! We did find that sponge brushes worked especially well after a bit of trial and error.  Paint away!

Mati's New Wall

Mati moved to a big boy bed last November and since then I've wanted to re-do the wall over his bed.  That wall previously held his dresser and the rocking chair so we had a mirror and a print on the wall.  Back in March we bought a few little pieces to re-do the wall and they've sat in his room since then.  Until Saturday when I had had enough.  I really wanted to get it done, but I also know you can't force yourself to be creative.  I had an empty canvas I wanted to use but wasn't too sure what to do with it...but then inspiration hit and I'm happy with it.  It's nothing really original, but it works great in his room.

 A blank canvas, quickly painted and then his name cut out with the Silhouette with some paper in my stash.  A little twine, a few triangles and you've got yourself some pennants!  Cute!

And the whole wall view- I promise things don't look this crooked in person!  I even straightened everything before I took the picture.  If I were a perfectionist I would go take another picture. I'd also go fix the bumps in his bed so it looked nicer.  I'm not a perfectionist.  Good enough is more my style when it comes to stuff like this.  I'm so glad to have this little project done.  On to the next thing on my to-do list!

Friday Favorites

It has been awhile since I've shared some of my favorite things.  I know you've been missing it (ha!), so I'm going to do my best to rectify that today.  Remember, I share because I care.  And because I seriously enjoy these products/items!

-Razors, a boring but necessary item. I've been using these Noxzema disposable razors for the last 4 years.  I tend to have sensitive skin and had tried lots of different razors in an effort to find one that didn't make my legs break out in a rash.  I found these one day and have never used anything else since.  The blades stay sharp forever and give you such a smooth, close shave.  They can be hard to find (I even considered buying off Amazon at an exorbitant price because I love them that much!), but I've had success at Walmart locally and they are under $3/4 pack.  Shaving my legs is still not a favorite task, but these razors at least give you great results that make it worth it.

-While we're down at the end of the body, let me talk about my feet.  I am a barefoot girl.  This time of year you will only see me with shoes on if I'm out and about.  Even in the dead of winter I'll be barefoot and them complain about having really cold feet.  Because of all the barefootedness, I'm pretty hard on my feet.  They get dry and callused and I can get cracked heels easily.  I've tried every foot lotion and potion available at your local drugstore with marginal success.  Last year, I decided to give Avon's Foot Works lotions a try.  I love them!  I've never had such good results with products before.  They have a huge line of products and I've tried a ton of them.  Not kidding- here's my stash!

 My current faves are the Hydrating Foot Serum and the Overnight Cream.  And for the first time ever, I have something that helps with the cracks I sometimes get.  Great prices on great products!  You can order online and there are always free shipping deals.  And no, I'm not an Avon representative, but maybe I should be!

-One more cheap beauty product for you...several weeks ago I ran out of moisturizer for my face.  I'm not brand loyal about that so went to Target to see what they had.  Well, Boots is what they have!  Who knew six bucks would find me such a great moisturizer.  I love that this goes on really light and I can use it during these warmer months.  It's an enormous bottle and will last me forever which is good since I love it!

-A year ago, a friend introduced me to the deliciousness of Greek Gods Yogurt.  The plain is great, but the Honey flavored yogurt is out of this world good.  It's my favorite breakfast, snack or dessert with some fresh berries and a sprinkle of granola if I'm feeling crazy.  I never knew I could be so passionate about yogurt, but I love this stuff!  I've only seen it at Kroger and it isn't cheap, but it is worth it.  It frequently goes on sale and when it does I stock up!

-We are always trying to figure out new systems or methods to get the kids involved around the house.  A month or so ago, I read about MyJobChart and it has been the best thing for our kids! It's a free program that you manage all online.  You assign jobs to each of your kids and can completely customize.  You can assign point values or dollar values to each job and it keeps track of all of it.  We are using points and points can then be redeemed for a trip for ice cream or computer time.  We will add more as we go, but for now that's working great for Haven.  (Mati's a bit sporadic in his job completion!)  I would highly recommend checking it out!

-I saw this project earlier this week and adored it: Butterfly art- Haven and I are so making this!

Found anything you've been enjoying lately? Happy long weekend, my friends!

Family Rules

New artwork at our house, The Family Rules.  Proudly displayed in a 16x20 frame in the kitchen where we can always see it.  We even used it this week for a class where we needed something to express our family's culture. I think this captures what's important to us as well as anything could.  Thanks again to Cale for his graphic design.  (He's for hire!) Now a picture where you can actually read what it says...

Let me know if you're interested in a copy of this print.  We can also customize one for you.  

Home

Our house has been emptier this week and feeling more like just a house then home.  It's never the same when he's not here to fill in the empty spaces, balance me out and lay beside me at night.  But he's back and we all laid in a jumbled pile this morning as if he'd been gone for weeks, not just 4 days.  A moment to savor, all of us together; my house feels like home again when we're all together.

I just finished reading what is certainly the best book I've read in 2011 (and I've read some good ones like this and this.)  Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief has made me rethink what home is and how it is created and the sacredness of it.  I cried and I laughed and I re-read sentences that were too powerful to absorb in just one take.  Room by room, the author tells his story and his family's journey and how he has come to see the holiness all around us, if only we would open our eyes to see.  Beauty and pain, hope and despair, peace and angst...all of life lived out inside these four walls, and He is in the midst of every moment.

"This book is the story of how we reclaim the things that are lost. It's also the story of a how a home can become sacred, and how in the process it can sanctify us as well...Home is more than a place where we eat and sleep; it is where we learn grace, where we glimpse heaven.  Is is where we find or lose God, or perhaps where He finds us if we will only be still long enough to listen for Him."

It is not an easy read (have a kleenex nearby), but one that will challenge how you think about your home. I can't recommend it highly enough.

He is Risen!

Joy to the world! He is risen!

Hallelujah! He is risen!

Hallelujah!
He is risen!
Hallelujah!

A classic song for this most joyous of days.  And yes, I'm a Keith Green fan, especially on this song.  Listen to it and you will be, too!

Decals and cookies

I realized today that I never shared one of my favorite Christmas presents.  And that's a shame, really, because I love it!  Then I realized that I was going to be showing off my mixer and am empty mixer is pretty boring.  So I whipped up a family classic.  My mom made these all the time for us and they are a recipe I still turn to when we're in need of a cookie fix, but I don't feel like baking.

But first, admire my KitchenAid decal.  I found it here and ordered it for myself for Christmas (on Cale's behalf of course because I like to be helpful!). It arrived and I waited for it and then Cale forgot to wrap it and put it under the tree.  Oh well!  I've got it now and it makes me happy every time I use my mixer.  Since it's always out on the counter it adds a little personality to my otherwise boring (but oh so useful!) appliance!

And now back to the cookies. Enter: The Toffee Bar.  No idea why the toffee, since there is none included and in fact, you probably always have these items on hand.  I like to make up a half batch for us because it satisfies the cookie craving without too many leftover.  It's also a fun one for this time of year, because you can shape it into a heart for a little Valentine treat that takes about 5 minutes to make.

Toffee Bars
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (or pecans)

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add vanilla.  Then add flour and mix til totally combined.  Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.  Press dough onto cookie sheet in a rectangle (or a heart!).  Bake at 350 for 16-20minutes or until edges are golden brown.  Slice into bars while still warm.  Wait til cool to remove from pan.


-I like to under bake them a little bit so they are nice and chewy. Also, if you're going to make a heart shape I would recommend doing it with a half batch otherwise it's a lot of dough to mess with.

Teaching them the way that they should go

I know that many of you who read this take very seriously your role in training your children in the Word and the Truth and sharing His love.  We certainly do here and I'm always on the lookout for great resources to help us teach our kids about the great God who loves them.  I thought it might be nice to share a few of my more recent finds here and maybe you'll find something new.

We ordered this book several months ago and we absolutely love it.  It's not a typical children's Bible story book in that it doesn't focus on the characters in the story as much as it focuses on how God was at work in and through these stories.  Each one highlights a character attribute of God and how He was working in that specific way.  I think our kids are a little young to fully engage with the questions and activities included with each story, but they'll grow in to it.

We also ordered this book a few months ago, but just started it at the beginning of the new year. There are over 70 weeks of 5-day devotionals that cover many of the major characters and stories of the Old Testament.  They are short devotionals, but substantial.  Haven is at the younger end of the spectrum for this book, but it is still something that we can engage in with her and we all love using it for family devotions.  I'm certainly no expert in family devotionals, but this one just seems like a fresh presentation and doesn't dumb down some huge truths that we want to impart to our kids.  I can't recommend this highly enough!

Have you heard of Seeds Family Worship?  It's straight up scripture, set to music that everyone will like listening to.  When you buy a CD, you get two; one to keep and one to share with someone else.  I love that! We have Seeds of Praise, but I'm planning on ordering another one very soon.  We listen to it in the car all the time and I think I might be impacted by them more then the kids.  I love having the Word being the soundtrack to our days and catching myself singing them all the time.  Great stuff!

Do you have any resources for teaching our kids about the Lord that I need to know about?

Friday Favorites

Here's a few things I've been enjoying lately...

--A few weeks ago, I ordered this great map and it arrived bent up. Not good. But the customer service people at Uncommon Goods were awesome and a new, unbent map arrived at my door yesterday. They asked me questions, cared about my feedback and did everything they could to make sure I was a satisfied customer. I will definitely shop with them again. And, how cute is that map?! I love eeBoo things! We have this game and the illustrations are just too darn cute!

--I am loving these cool morning and evenings like nothing else. Gives me hope that fall is on its way. But I really am trying to soak in as much summer goodness as possible. Promise. (But can I just say how badly I want to wear jeans and boots and maybe even a sweater!!) But I love sleeping with my windows open and this week has been perfect for it!

--I had the pleasure of attending Beth Moore's Living Proof Live two weekends ago with a few of my favorite girls. It was a wonderful weekend in every way. We had so much fun together- worshiping, learning, shopping, eating, talking, laughing, praying- it was just so good. Of course, we had to peruse the bookstore they have on site and I picked up a copy of Beth's Jesus: 90 Days with the One and Only . I've only done the first 10 days, but I would already recommend it! They are relatively brief (compared to her usual 5 day/week studies), but deep and meaningful. It's been great motivation to get back into my early morning quiet time.

--Of course we have had a few new recipes recently and two of them are good enough to share. We tried Zucchini Deep Dish Pie and it was great served with a salad on the side. We also had Lemon Orzo Chicken Salad. It was really lemony, but we enjoyed the bright flavor of this light meal. As written, it makes pretty small portions if you're eating it for dinner, but it was full of vegetables, easy to throw together ahead of time and really tasty.

--I've been trying to get up earlier lately and really wishing I was a coffee person (well, beyond my beloved Iced Capps!), but I'm just not. So a few mornings this week I've been trying some tea. Tazo Vanilla Rooibos Tea has hit the spot! I bought some several months ago (in bags, not the loose one this is linked to) and then kind of forgot about it. I've rediscovered it and am loving it! I have loved Rooibos since we lived in Namibia and it was a staple of our diet. I am so glad it's easy to find all over now.

Happy Weekend!

A field trip

We went on a field trip with my mom earlier this week. We found ourselves in the rolling hills of Amish country and wound up at The End of the Commons. And this store made me so, so happy. Especially, this aisle...

It's all flour! Every kind you can imagine and probably a few you've never heard of. I bought 40 pounds myself and can only imagine the delights I will make with that kind of quantity. I was just a little excited, as you can tell, because who really takes pictures of the flour aisle??!! Me, I guess!

Free for the pickin'

We have the best neighbors. They are helpful, generous and love on our kids like another set of grandparents. And they really like to share. They've been on vacation this week and gave us free reign on their very large, very abundant garden. This is what the kids and I hauled in after a 5 minute picking.

photo courtesy rachaelraymag.com

And that soon became Eggplant Cacciatore Sandwiches for dinner. Of course, I can't ever leave well enough alone and so I added zucchini, because, hey, I had it. We had also gotten a loaf of multi-grain bread free from church which brings the grand total cost of this meal to about $1 for the cheese (I used mozzarella because it's what I had) and a can of tomatoes from the pantry. It was delicious! We will definitely be enjoying this again very soon. Especially if my neighbors keep sharing their bounty!

Balsamic Black Bean and Corn Salsa

This salsa is summertime perfection! I've made it twice in the last 2 weeks and just threw together another batch to take camping with friends this weekend. It's easy, makes a ton and is even better the second day. It's outstanding with my favorite summertime drink, too, which is equal parts Simply Limeade and ginger ale mixed together. Enjoy!

Balsamic Black Bean and Corn Salsa
from My Kitchen Cafe - one of my favorites!

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed well
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained well (you could use frozen corn, thawed)
½ medium onion finely diced (about 1/3 cup)
½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 (7 oz.) can salsa verde (I used Herdez brand- and only half of it)
Juice of 1 lime
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the salsa marinate for a few hours (or overnight before serving). Drain most of the liquid from the salsa before serving. Serve with tortilla chips.

Happy dishes and a favorite meal

My happy dishes have made their way back to our table again. Last night they were filled with one of our favorite ways to eat zucchini. We usually eat this as a main dish, but it's also great as a side with grilled chicken.

Veggie Veggie Couscous

for the veggie part:

2 Tbs olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, diced

2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (optional- I don't always add these and if I do, only half the can)

16 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup raisins

Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add garlic and onion and cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle spices over onion and stir constantly for about 2 minutes. Add zucchini, chickpeas (if using), tomatoes and raisins. Cover pan and lower heat to medium. Stir occasionally until zucchini is tender and juices have thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve with couscous.

For couscous: Boil 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, 1 Tbs butter and a tsp of salt. Stir in one cup of whole wheat couscous and remove pain from heat. Let stand 5-10 minutes and then fluff with fork before serving.

Another delicious variation is to add a diced red pepper in with the onions. Really, you can't fail with this one. We love this dish and can't wait til we have lots of generous neighbors unloading zucchini on us like crazy!

A new favorite

One of our favorite local restaurants has a delicious item on there menu called Baked Hummus. Imagine a pita slathered with hummus, topped with the most random assortment of vegetables, including, but not limited to- carrots, peppers, mushrooms, beans (any kind!), broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, tomatoes and peas. That concoction is topped with cheese, broiled and then given a healthy drizzle of their homemade garlic sauce. In a word: delicious.

Now imagine my delight this past weekend when I created my very own version of Baked Hummus! In my own kitchen! And it didn't cost me $7.50! This is my new favorite meal. It just begs for variation; I've already come up with about 20! We're going to be on a heavy pita-themed rotation around here!

Please, please try to make these! Homemade pitas are infinitely better and make this dish so darn good! You will be so impressed with yourself when you turn these out of the oven. So we started with a homemade pita (and by the way this time I used white whole wheat instead of regular whole wheat and they were even better!) and layered on a healthy spoonful of roasted red pepper hummus. I wanted my kids to eat them so I used veggies I knew they liked as a starting point. Enter a steamer bag of carrots, peas, corn and green beans. That got thrown on top of the hummus. The grown-ups also got sauteed onions and mushrooms and roasted red peppers added to theirs. Then a sprinkle of sharp cheddar and under the broiler they went. Once they came out the pitas were doused with garlic sauce. . It's not even similar to the one from our restaurant, but it was still good and a great contrasting flavor to the rest of the dish. I used this recipe, but would add more garlic next time to up the garlicky-ness!

We all loved this and ate every last bite. I've eaten this three times in as many days and just might fix it for myself again tonight! The possibilities are endless. I can't wait til we have lots of lovely summer produce like eggplant and zucchini and fresh picked tomatoes to add to the delicious mess!

Try it. You'll love it!

Conquering Kitchen Fears: Volume I

Guess what this is a picture of? My very first (and definitely not my last) batch of homemade whole wheat pita bread. I have wanted to try making some for a very long time and was always intimidated by it. Well that ended today! Start to finish, including rising and baking, it only took me an hour to turn out a dozen delicious pieces of pita bread. And then they turned into this for dinner...

Pitas topped with fresh spinach, roasted red peppers, havarti with dill and some fresh pepper and sea salt...fantastic!

This recipe was so simple and easy; I can't recommend it enough! My notes are in italics.

Zohar's Pita Bread from Meet Me in the Kitchen
1 packet yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp)
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 tsp salt

1. Mix first 3 ingredients, then add the next 3 ingredients.
2. Knead for 10 minutes, and let rise for 30 minutes. (I did this all in my Kitchenaid making it even easier!)
3. Take a ball of dough just smaller than your palm and roll it very thin (1/4 inch) with a little flour on the surface and a rolling pin as needed.
4. Place 2 rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet and broil about 5 inches from the top element until they puff up and start to turn light brown in spots. This goes very fast (less then a minute for me) so you have to watch closely and do not get distracted. Turn them over and brown on the other side. This will only take half as long as the first side.
5. Repeat with remaining dough.

What are you afraid to try making on your own? What will be next on my list?

Griddle art

A perfect project for us this dreary Monday morning...griddle art! We pulled our griddle out of the pantry and put it on the warm setting. I covered it with a large piece of foil and Haven drew away. We used old, broken crayons to draw because they melt as you draw with them. To make prints of the drawings, we placed a piece of paper over the foil and smoothed over it using an oven mitt. It worked beautifully and Haven was thrilled with the results. Wipe off the foil with a damp cloth and keep drawing. We loved this fun project from The Preschooler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner which is one of my favorite activity resources. Who knew griddles weren't just for pancakes?!

Drawing a house and being very careful to not touch the warm surface

Haven's print of Mati, complete with "his curls".

Can't you see the resemblance??!! This is his mean face!

**Of course, use great caution working around the hot surface, but we had no problems at all.**

A stack of goodness

I love to read. I always have, even from a young age. My favorite thing to do on summer vacation was go and get a stack of books 20 high and read them all in the two weeks before they were due back. Time doesn't allow such reading habits anymore, but the love for it is still there. People who know me well know this about me evidenced by the stack of books I received as Christmas and birthday gifts.

So here's a look at what I'm currently reading or will be reading soon... (from the top)

-Jesus Lives by Sarah Young : I already mentioned how much I am enjoying this book and that hasn't changed in the last few weeks. Great encouragement/conviction daily.

-The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson : I loved Clarkson's Mission of Motherhood and I'm sure that this will be equally as good. Thanks, Jenny!

-This Momentary Marriage by John Piper : It's been awhile since I've read any books by Piper and I've been missing out I think! This book is thick and rich (of course, it's Piper!), but so readable and applicable to my marriage. I'm halfway through and already planning a re-read!

-Ten P's in a Pod by Arnold Pent III : A family's story of their life as they travelled across the country with their eight children in tow. Should be a fascinating read. Thanks, Julie!

-Adopted for Life by Russell Moore : I have heard nothing but great things about this book. Obviously God has already opened our hearts about adoption, but I'm excited to read this book about how the church can be the church in caring for orphans.

-The Used World by Haven Kimmel : I found this little gem perusing the clearance rack at the cheap bookstore and was beyond delighted with the find. I've been a fan of Kimmel's since reading her first book A Girl Named Zippy several years ago. And yes, it is where I first heard the name Haven and filed it away until it was needed. I started it last night and am thoroughly engaged 30 pages in.

Other things I'm reading include my five magazine subscriptions, our home group books (there's two), Ramona the Brave with Haven (plus 10 others a day!), and of course, the Bible. And I love all of it! Give me a few spare minutes and you'll likely find me with a book in hand.

What are you reading?

The Gift Game

I love this time of year! I love to give presents to friends and family and I enjoy receiving gifts that have been chosen especially for me. I love to watch Haven anticipate and get excited about gifts that people have for her. But sometimes I don't like how she responds to the person and about her gift. Granted, she's only 3.5, but I don't think it's ever to young to really talk about appreciation, thankfulness and receiving a gift graciously. Enter "The Gift Game"!

First, let me just say this is not my idea. I read about it in the December issue of Family Fun magazine and would link to the article if only I could find it. I read about it a few weeks ago and knew it was something that we should do with Haven. Here's the gist of it: Dig out as many gift bags as you need for as many players you have minus one. So at our house we play with three because we make Mati play along, too. One person sits and waits while the rest of us shop the house and pick out a gift for them. The gifts themselves aren't really important. We've used a pencil, stuffed animal, silverware, candles, books...anything is game. We then present our gifts to the designated person one by one. The rule at our house is that you have to look at the person handing you the gift and say thank you. Then you are allowed to "open" the present. Once you can see what the gift is, you need to think of one nice thing to say about the gift. For example, when receiving a stuffed animal, "This will be so cozy to sleep with." Or how about a marker, "I love to draw!" You get the idea, right? Once I gave Haven a snowman candle and she said, "This will look so nice in my bathroom!"

We've been playing for the last week and Haven loves this game! We're hoping that all of the "playing" will deepen her heart of thankfulness and appreciation, not just for the gifts she receives, but the people that give them to her. I hope that it's helping her focus on each individual gift as a special thing and we can avoid the frenzied rushing from one gift to the next that can easily happen. I guess we'll see next week, won't we?!!

Where have you been all my life?!

Seriously, I feel deprived! Why has no one ever told me about these little gems before? I read about Pretzel Turtles this morning in my Google Reader and a few hours later Haven and I set to work. So easy and SOOO good! I'm so glad I bought that bag of Rolos at Target yesterday! I can't imagine a better use for them. Go here to read the recipe for Pretzel Turtles. You won't be sorry!