DIY: Granola Bars

If you read my previous post on Goals, you may remember that I want to try some DIY projects this year.  This week presented a great opportunity to try one out.  We've been trying to eat healthier recently--whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, etc.  However, the problem with healthier meals packed full of fruits and veggies is that sometimes you don't stay full as long as you would if you'd eaten a heavier meal.  Hence, more frequent snacking.  We've been going through fresh fruit between meals like nobody's business, so I thought I would try to figure out some other semi-healthy snacks.  And that's how I ended up making homemade granola bars.  The recipe I used was this one from KitchenStewardship.com.  I was enticed by its claim to be an easy, no refined sugar, whole grain recipe.  Basically, it is a rolled oat/butter/whole wheat flour base, sweetened with honey, with your choice of mix-ins.  I didn't have the more healthy options for the mix-ins on hand, so I used chocolate chips and peanuts.  Here's the result:

Overall, we liked the recipe.  It was quick to make, the bars were easy to cut, and they weren't dry like similar recipes I've tried in the past.  As you can see in the top picture, they were a little crumbly, but not enough to keep most of the bars from holding together.  They tasted pretty good too - Caleb said "Are you sure these are healthy?" and said he wouldn't mind considering them a dessert.  Next time I'll use some healthier mix-ins like dried fruit instead of chocolate chips.  In the end, they aren't really a healthy snack, but they are certainly a smart and tasty alternative to typical diet-blowing dessert fare.  Plus, they are cheaper and lack the preservatives and high refined sugar content of similar store-bought Quaker granola bars.  I'll keep this recipe!

Goals for 2013

When I was six or seven, I heard adults talk about setting new year's resolutions.  I didn't quite get the whole idea.  I remember setting a resolution one year to only order vanilla milkshakes when the occasion arose to go to McDonalds.  This was a sacrifice because chocolate was my favorite, but I decided I would strive to only order plain-jane vanilla just to see if I could do it.  I don't imagine we went to McDonalds all that often, so it probably wasn't too hard to keep... if I remembered my commitment!

As an avid reader of the Money Saving Mom blog, I've been inspired by reading about the author's yearly goals and monthly goal updates over the past year.  She talks about setting achievable goals, not for the sake of seeing if she can accomplish them like my vanilla milkshake idea, but to make progress in honoring the priorities in her life.  She then breaks her goals down into manageable pieces so that they are actually achievable and not overwhelming.

I set some goals for myself last year, but looking over them, one of the few I actually completed was making a habit of drinking more water.  I don't really feel guilty for not completing my other goals though, because I didn't really have an idea of what 2012 was going to be like when I set them - pregnancy and motherhood certainly change priorities and expectations!

I'll share some of my 2013 goals with you:

Priority #1: God
Read through the Old Testament using a reading plan.
Memorize the book of Ephesians.

Priority #2: Husband
Re-establish the habit of a weekly date with my husband, including at least one date a month out of the house without the baby!
Pray more specifically for my husband every day.

Priority #3: Children
Read at least two parenting books.

I have some other on-going things I'm going to work at being more faithful in for the priorities of church/ministry and family that I won't go into here.

Household/Personal Goals:
Read at least 24 books this year (I would have thought this goal was silly when I was a kid because I read voraciously anyway, but these days it requires more forethought and intentionality!).  This goal is not so much to hit the specific number of 24 as it is to strive to make time to read one fiction and one non-fiction book a month, since it is something I enjoy and find relaxing, and because I want to continue learning!  I actually made a list and have picked out two books that the library has to read each month.

Try at least six do-it-yourself (DIY) projects.  I might try some of the following:

• Homemade diaper wipes
• Homemade nursing pads
• Homemade frozen yogurt
• Homemade yogurt (trying a new method since I failed last time)
• Window sill sprout garden
• Laundry detergent

What are your goals for 2013?