Peanut Butter Granola

As you know from previous posts, this is one of my favorite blogs. I love her simple recipes, and the fact that they are nourishing and family friendly. One recipe that I have been making since she first posted the recipe is her peanut butter granola. It's actually listed as The granola...but if you look in the red print at the bottom of the post, it shows a variation for peanut butter granola. It is to. die. for. If you are careful to not mix it too much, you will get little chunks of peanut butter rolled into the toasted oats. That's my favorite part! Here's the recipe that I use...I just altered it by one or two steps. Oh, and I always cut it in half, so that it's always fresh when we eat it!

2.5 c. quick oats

.5 c coconut

3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

a big splash of vanilla

a sprinkle of coarse sea salt

.5 c. peanut butter

4 Tbsp. coconut oil

Melt the coconut oil with the peanut butter. Add vanilla. While the peanut butter and oil is melting, mix together the dry ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together...but not completely! You want those chunks of peanut butter! Pour onto a sheet pan and put into the oven at 300 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes or so , stirring every 15 minutes. It's SO simple, and will make your house smell ridiculously delicious. I love to eat it with a bowl of bananas, topped with plain yogurt and honey, with granola on top. 

Laundry Routine

I'm all about routine. I love the idea of it...but I'm terrible about executing it. I get lazy, or give up because it's too hard. Plus, with two kids aged 2 and 6 months...so many things can disrupt any routine that we might have. BUT, one thing that I have to keep as a somewhat consistent routine is our laundry. For the past month or two I have really struggled to keep our dirty laundry under control. My word...there were days where I couldn't even finish washing it because there was too much. As a person who has a tiny bit (read: SERIOUSLY LARGE AMOUNT) of OCD, I hate having wrinkled clothes, or trying to pull clean clothing out of a hamper every morning. That was what I was doing, until a friend told me about what she does...she washes, dries, folds, and puts away one load of laundry each day. Holy cow. Game changer! For the past week I have been trying to do that (yesterday was an exception because we were gone to out Bible study in the morning)...and it's been going so smoothly! We have clean clothes in our drawers, AND I don't feel like I can't keep up. Win, win!

What are some tidying up/laundry/organizing tips that you have?

Snacks

As a nursing mom, I'm obsessed with eating. I constantly find myself hungry, and needing a snack. Sometimes I'm happy with a small bite of a chocolate bar, other times I feel like I need a full meal!

Today, I decided to share my favorite snacks that are super easy to put together, quickly!

1. Chocolate bars (really any kind, but I love Hershey's dark chocolate bars

2. Larabars. They were on sale at our grocery store this week, and...I bought a ton.

3. Pirate's Booty Aged White Cheddar puff corn...I buy it for my little mister-but once I take a bite, I can't stop.

4. Fruit- I try to keep a bowl of fruit on the counter, or have some already washed in the fridge.

5. Cookies, cakes, breads...you name it. I'll eat it.

6. Cream cheese and jelly sandwiches- Put cream cheese on one side of a piece of bread, and your favorite kind of jelly on the other. Butter the outsides of the bread and cook like a grilled cheese. YUM!

7. Chips and salsa

8. Leftovers. Sometimes I just need an extra meal during the day!

9. Strawberries dipped in melted chocolate.

Those are things that I usually keep in my house. I'm struggling to eat healthfully right now...but I'm trying to get back into it. The more I keep good foods in my house, the more I eat them!

What are your favorite snacks?

Phone dump!

Just cleaning out my phone! Here's a bunch of pictures from 2013.

 It was a good year. Welcome, 2014.