Pumpkin Granola Bars

 One of the things I've been doing lately is trying to learn and get in the habit of making things myself that I normally buy at the grocery store.  I have several motivations for this.  First, I'm simply trying to get creative in living a more frugal lifestyle.  I think there are other ways to save besides just clipping coupons.  I mainly clip coupons for non food items like hygiene products and paper goods.  My second motivator is that I'm trying to help our family become healthier by eating more whole foods and less foods with chemicals and additives.  For example, we love granola and granola bars for snacks but when I got to reading the ingredients on the box they all contain high fructose corn syrup and ten other things I can't pronounce.  Now, before you start feeling inferior let me just say I'm not on any kind of an "all organic" high horse.  Trust me!  We do the best we can, but I'm not out to change the world in this department.  Just trying to make small changes here and there that will make a difference.  My third motivator is that when we get to Africa, I want to be able to make things we enjoy that we won't necessarily be able to access there.  Plus, I just LOVE being able to be at home and bless my family with my domestic creativity.  Okay, so there you have it.

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I thought I'd share this Pumpkin Granola Bar recipe we've all quickly come to love.  

 Here are the ingredients.  These basically came from me combining a few recipes I found online then adding or substituting with items I had on hand.

3 cups Whole Rolled Oats

2 Tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice or cinnamon

1/2 Tsp. Salt

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup Pumpkin

1/4 cup Applesauce

1/4 cup Honey

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins

1/2 cup of nuts (walnuts, almond slivers, whatever!)

handful of ground flaxseed

 My right hand man was up close and ready to help!

Combine Oats, Salt, Spices, and Flax in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, and honey

Then combine it all together (with your hands or your toddler's hands!).

After that, add in the dried fruit and nuts.

Cover a large baking sheet with foil and lightly spray it with cooking spray.  Place all the ingredients in a large ball on the sheet.  Then press it down into a big rectangle to the thickness you prefer. 

Bake it in the oven on 350 for around 35 minutes.  Watch the edges, so you don't get them too dark.  I've found the bars will harden even more once they're out of the oven.  

You can use a pizza cutter to cut the granola into bars and let them cool on a wire rack.  

With this recipe, I can get up to eleven good sized bars.  It's been great to throw them in Tyson's lunch or grab a few for the car for snacks when we're out running errands.  

Can you tell he liked them??

I Heart Fall...Food!

Here's my disclaimer up front - When I say I make "pumpkin" this or "pumpkin" that just know that the pumpkin came from a can of pumpkin puree.  I just can't bring myself to buy, clean, scoop out the guts, and cook the inside of a pumpkin just to add it to something else.  Okay there, now that I got that out on the table let's talk about these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins I baked the other night.  I found the recipe here at Allrecipes.  It made enough batter for me to pour into one loaf pan for bread and a six cup muffin pan.  They were super easy to make and turned out very moist and tasty.  The pumpkin and chocolate are a great combo.  They're not exactly low-fat or low-carb but if you're a fan of pumpkin foods in the Fall you should give this recipe a try.  I would love to hear about it if you do!  

Last night I had a butternut squash in the fridge that I knew I needed to cook soon.  I don't have many variations of cooking butternut squash in my head, so I went back to my trusty Allrecipes site again and typed in "butternut squash" under ingredients and scrolled through until I found this recipe for Turkey Chili with, you guessed it, butternut squash.  We loved it! It didn't require any packets of seasoning.  Just some chili powder, cumin, salt, and garlic.  It had a great flavor.  I was afraid it was going to be a little bland or boring but that wasn't the case at all.  It called for a can of green chilis.  I didn't have that on hand but did have a can of Rotel original which worked just fine.   Guess who else ate it up?  For someone who's proving to be a bit picky, he loved this.  I've made a mental note to pick up another b-squash.  I've found another veggie he'll eat.  Yes! 

Have a great day!  We've got sunshine here.  I think we'll go for a walk this morning.

This is What Happens....

when I ask my husband to watch over the pancakes for a few minutes. I come back to a giant pancake the size of the griddle with my initials made out of blueberries. Gotta love it!