Homemade Granola

It feels so healthy to make anything homemade, because you can see exactly what is going into it. I had been spying some granola posts on tastespotting and kind of made my own concoction.

Your Granola

4 c. organic rolled oats

1 c. raw sunflower seeds

1 c. raw pumpkin seeds

1 c. natural unblanched almonds

1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 c. sesame seeds

1/4 t. ground cinnamon (optional)

1/4 t. ground ginger (optional)

1/4 c. natural maple syrup

1/3 c. honey

1/3 c. sunflower oil (or canola oil)

1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

1/2 c. any dried fruit of your choice

(cherries, raisins, apricots, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the maple syrup, honey, oil, vanilla and set aside.

Toss together all the dry ingredients, minus the dried fruit.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix with a spoon until the oats are well covered.

Spread the granola on the baking sheet into a thin layer.

Bake for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown.

Place on cooling rack for 5 minutes, mix in the dried fruit and store in an air tight container until ready to eat.

I love to eat granola with vanilla yogurt and blueberries! Enjoy!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin!!!

Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Pound Cake, oh how many pumpkins things can I make???

It's the way it shatters that matters!

On my recent trip to Dallas I stopped to buy my one and only favorite candy. Nothing else compares to my Violet Crumble. I bought three of them and graciously gave one to my husband and hid the rest for me.

Welcome Fall!

I am so pumped that it is officially Fall! I don't know if it's cheating to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte while it was still summer, but oh well, I did it; the temptation overtook me.

There were several things I did to celebrate the first week of fall.

1. Buy decorative pumpkins to put outside my windows.

2. Baking, Dark Chocolate Pistachio Chip Cookies. I used this recipe and switched white chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips, I love the bitter taste.

3. Baking, Pumpkin Brownies. I didn't make the brownie part from scratch like the original recipe states; I cheated and made the brownies from the box :)

Etsy Obession

I can't get enough of searching for great things on Etsy. I would literally be on there all day if I could. I get so excited when I come across a great shop!

esther coombs

heather jeany

sakurakittycreative

kankalinhats

In Progress

As a side job, I would LUV to design people's wedding invitations, shower invitations, personal stationary or any kind of announcement. I've been doing a couple of things for some friends lately and have enjoyed it so much!

Here's a watercolor I found in my closet that I forgot I had painted. I need to find a good home for it, in or out of my apartment.

I'm looking forward to framing these prints from a 2007 calendar of vintage maps and hanging them in my bare hallway.

Old to them, new to me.

Our librarian at school is finding and giving away tons of discarded books that were published in the 1940's to 1970's and I'm reaping the benefits. There are so many great illustrations in these books that not only inspire me artistically, but could make for some great art to hang on the walls. Here's a glimpse at what I found: