Frozen Chocolate Chip Granola Bar Balls

My Chocolate Chip Granola Bar Recipe variation!  My family loves granola bars.  I started making homemade granola bars after my first was born and became addicted to having something healthy, filling and easy always on hand, especially in those first 2 years of motherhood when my thyroid which was hypo since I was 15 turned for the worse which I later found out was Hashimotos probably following Post Partum Thyroiditis.  (The endocrinologist I saw at that time only tried to give me a heavy duty anti depressant when I asked her if my symptoms were related to my thyroid, she laughed, said no gave me the prescription and I asked if that medication would be bad for my daughter whom was still nursing and she said "oh, she's starting to get active and mobile so if anything it will be good for her too...if she gets any from your breastmilk it will just help her be more calm."  Thank goodness for a caring pharmacist who was friendly at our neighborhood pharmacy.  He knew me from when I would pick up my levothyroxine and when I brought him that prescription he looked alarmed and cautiously commented "this is a pretty serious medication for major depression, what was this prescribed for? You just don't seem like....well...." I said I had checked off the box on my questionair about getting anxious and that I thought it was my thyroid because it wasn't always but I was getting anxiety attacks from time to time.  I could see how conflicted he looked and like he had a lot he wanted to say but had to be careful what he did say..,.do after some facial contortions he said "here's the prescription but do yourself a favor.  Don't take it until you read about ALL the side effects and decide if it really makes sense for you and if the benefits will outweigh the risks and side effects."  Well I wasn't even halfway through the known common side effects when I realized the side effects were worse than dealing with periodic anxiety.  I later moved and found a new endocrinologist who said at that time I was suffering Post Partum Thyroiditis and that my tiny dose of levothyroxine was equivalent to taking M&Ms and he named every symptom I had dealt with (including the periodic anxiety) like he was reading my mind! I didn't even have to explain.  He knew his stuff.  Anyways....all that to say...my homemade granola bars were essential to me back then...when you're feeling so fatigued all the time it's hard to take care of yourself.  When your energy is that low, EVERYTHING feels exhausting, even making a sandwich so being able to make a tray of granola bars that I could eat off for the week was so awesome.  When we went gluten free this recipe hardly changed, I used gluten free oats, flax seed or puffed millet instead if wheat germ, rice chex instead of Cheerios...and either the Giradelli or Costco chocolate chips that are not made with dairy.  

When we were living in Dallas, our apartment would be really hot in the summer and I was making a batch of these granola bars and was loathing the idea of turning the oven on when I had an idea to just use a cookie scoop and plop scoops of dough on a tray and freeze them.  Like those Oris Spunkmier cookie dough plops I would sneak and eat from my mom's freezer!  Well, we all became obsessed!  So now that is what we do, regular granola bars in the cool months and cold granola bar balls/bites in the hotter months.  

I make this recipe so frequently now I don't measure the peanut butter so they are a little different every time but the recipe is essentially this:

Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

1-1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple sauce/coconut oil or other oil you have

1/2 cup raw honey

2 tsp pure vanilla 

3 cups gluten free oats (I get Bobs Red Mill on amazon subscribe and save)

1 cup puffed millet 

1/2 cup rice chex 

3/4 cups chocolate chips

You can also add in ground flax, ground almonds etc.... It's a great recipe to play around with to get the flavor and consistency you like.  My consistency also changes depending on if it's the top half if the peanut butter jar or bottom half! Lol!  I try to stir it good but doesn't matter it's always runny on top and dry in the bottom.  

Then either roll into bite size balls or use a cookie scoop and place on a parchment lined baking sheet or plate, cover with plastic wrap and freeze (or if you have a big Tupperware container that would work) the parchment paper keeps them from freezing into the tray and then you have to pry them off and it's annoying to do that.

Then.... Enjoy!  

I didn't plan to have that whole story to post a recipe but it is part of the story.  And as another side note, after going gluten free and dairy free, my endocrinologist had passed away and I moved again and had a new dr.  They tested my antibodies and said I didn't have hashimotos...although before I did.  It was weird and no one really thought about it but I now think that maybe I don't have antibodies because my body was healing from the gluten and dairy.  Celiac and autoimmune disease run in my family and although I never got tested for celiac, I react to gluten the same as my sister who is celiac.  At that time I had learned the tests weren't totally reliable and I just decided to test by elimination instead.  I had also read somewhere in my thyroid research that the cellular structure of gluten is very similar to that of our thyroid so if our body is reacting to gluten, it could cause an autoimmune attack on the thyroid.  

Fast forward 4 years later after going gluten free and 5 years dairy free, I feel better than I ever have in my life.  Even as a teenager I was exhausted, tired and never could get enough sleep.  Teachers hated me because I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open or sit up straight and showed up barely on time looking disheveled...I was just quiet and tired all the time!  Teachers took it personally even my art teacher didn't like me Bc I guess they thought it was an attitude problem but I was just suffering and not really understanding it.  The teacher of my best subject said to me as I walked in class one day "How do your parents even love you!" Rolled her eyes and walked away...

Anyways, now...having changed my diet over the last few years I can look back and see the difference in how unhealthy I always was and the slow recovery I've made in the past 4-5 years.  The only major noticeable difference right away going off gluten was my joint pain stopped, I thought I had fibromyalgia because I had pain every day and always somewhere  new, each day I'd wake up and some random part of my body would just hurt all day.  I also couldn't braid my daughters hair and it was becoming more and more painful to open small containers or unscrew anything.  My fingers would lock up and throb.  That all stopped pretty quickly after gong completely gluten free.  But the thyroid health I can now say is so much better too!  I was diagnosed with Hashimotos before I changed my diet now I never have antibodies in my blood work anymore so technically I don't have hashimotos now....although I was told once you have it you have it forever so maybe it could flare up again...all I know is since being off gluten 100% for a time I no longer have thyroid antibodies and currently haven't been on any thyroid medication for probably 2 years. I was on a VERY high dose of thyroid medication, But I started getting symptoms of hyperthyroidism and had to keep cutting back more and more to avoid those hyper symptoms...to the point where I couldn't even have a sliver of a dose without feeling irritated, racing heart and anxious...so I just stopped taking it all together and have continued to feel good and have my lab work look good. Lab work is great but at the end of the day it's how you feel that matters.  I know lab work can look fine and a person can be suffering greatly because that was me from age 15-26 taking 25 mg levothyroxine and bring told "yep your good!"

So as of now, my lab work is fine but most importantly I feel my best and I'm realizing that is a few years into my diet changes and my body has had time to heal.  Now I'm still a mom with a toddler I still have tired days and I'm not some energizer bunny person, I have a chill personality.  I do notice though that I can have flareups if I'm not eating properly or managing stress well or putting too much on my plate...but for now, as long as I'm not eating too much sugar and balancing out carbs with protein, not saying yes to everything and running around too much, not worrying too much and just trying to make the moments count and be content, and teaching my kids to be content, that we don't have to have big plans all the time...we get into our own creative flow and living life at a slower pace than most, but feeling a lot healthier and balanced and I don't feel like I'm going to collapse when I have to stand in line, fall out of a chair sitting in a waiting room or like my arm might fall off from the exertion of reaching up into the cupboard to get out a glass.  I've learned and still learning to pace myself.  I'm naturally a people pleaser but I feel like just learning NOT to be that...has helped my health so much too along with being off gluten and dairy.  I don't have a perfectly healthy diet, I'm not a nutritionist, I eat potatoes and hamburgers and even though I looked into the vegan lifestyle when I went dairy free since I never really enjoyed meat...now being more in tune with my body I actually thrive on red meat particularly and feel my best when I'm eating it regularly over chicken/turkey.  So our gluten free dinners consist of normal meals like hamburgers and homemade french fries, tacos with either ground beef or pulled pork, pasta with ground beef and sometimes also some ground pork, fried rice with chicken and easy vegetarian nights we do a big sheet of roasted veggies like red potatoes, peppers, onions, broccoli wtc depending on what we have on hand and season it and just eat a huge plate full iof that.  We're a family with young kids, and easy go to dinners we all like and repeat those a lot and then try new things when we are up for it and have the time but between those staples and having these granola bars around has made being gluten free and dairy free so much easier without feeling like we're starving or spending tons of money or going over the top with effort because as you can now see, I didn't have the energy for things that required too much effort when we first changed our diet.

These Chocolate Chip Granola Bars are quick and easy to whip up and everyone likes them, whether you are gluten free or not, it's a great staple to have on hand. Even for an easy filling on the go breakfast, lunch or snack.  

Charlotte Mason Nature Study - Garden

We had a wonderful day at a beautiful, large and boutique-y garden center for our Charlotte Mason Nature Study today.  I adore garden centers, even if it gives me more inspiration than would ever be in the budget...it's just such a happy place for me!  And all the kids in our group seemed to really enjoy it too. 

After we explored the many different areas of the nursery, we regrouped and took some time for our nature journals and we did a simple garden scene.  I try to keep the demonstrations simple because we aren't spending a TON of time on it during our meetings but the idea is to get the kids just doing it and inspired so they can do more nature journaling in their own.  

I made 2 examples for the kids.  The first example was a blend of the famous painter/scientist Carl Linneas from the 1700s who studied plants and made botanical illustrations and then would add  up close details of different parts of the plant along With the style of John Audobon and his bird paintings and adding notes and facts about the item being illustrated. The idea is to pull a plant up by the roots (if you have permission) and hold it in one hand or lay it beside your drawing page, study it and then just draw it, the same size and just have fun.  Then paint it with watercolor or use colored pencils.  After going hone you can look up the plant and find the name and some facts about it and write them down around your illustration.  I did a dandelion (although I did mine at night so I looked at a picture online lol) 

The other example was a simple watercolor landscape of a garden showing perspective.  We focused on perspective and just having fun capturing the general shapes of the plants as they get small as they get farther away, and using various shades of greens, yellows and browns.  It was very simplistic and quick but they did great.  The kids got the perspective down and had cute little garden scenes Peter Rabbit would be happy to visit.  We started making a horizon line on the top third of the page then drawing lines for our garden rows showing the perspective.  Then we drew our fence, just draw lines that go straight up along each row bigger in the front to smallest in the back.  Then I encouraged them to just have fun with the vegetation capturing a general shape rather than sorry about any details.  For the first row of what might be collards I just did swirly lumpy shapes that started smaller in the back and increased in size towards the front.  With the climbing plants maybe some pole beans? Who knows it doesn't matter...same thing...just sort of scribbled in some general plant shapes going upwards etc.  

on to the watercolor, first did a wash for the sky wet on wet, then did a brown wash on the lower section for the ground.  Let that dry quickly and then quickly just threw some color on our plant shapes, again nothing fancy just capturing the general shape and adding maybe a little variety of shades mixing in some yellow, various greens, and maybe a hint of blue...it is very simple and easy for young kids to create a simple watercolor garden scene for their nature notebooks.  

Here were a couple great books the kids were looking at during our Charlotte Mason nature time 

Charlotte Mason Nature Notebook

One of the things I really wanted to focus on this year was keeping nature notebooks and we have a little bit but not very much.  But it's hard to get the kids excited about it just by telling them "wow look at that red cardinal! Now go draw it in your notebook!" But the best way to get them excited about doing things is to set an example and do it myself. so part of making myself start a nature notebook was volunteering to lead the sketching portion of our Charlotte Mason Nature Club since a lot of the kids were bringing their sketch pads but no one was really sketching.  So I picked up my own fresh sketch pad and just that act alone was very exciting! Lol!  

I drew up 2 samples for the upcoming nature outing as we will be focusing on birds and I chose to draw a blue jay and cardinal because I have been enjoying watching those 2 birds in our yard lately.

Anyways I'm excited to get the kids excited about their nature notebooks and   Hopefully next week I can post a couple pictures of what the kids do if they let me!

Update:

I taught the kids the secret to drawing any bird is to start with an egg shape for the body and a circle for the head...and while studying the bird they can take into account the proportions and positions of head and body.  Then you add a curves line to connect the top if head to back and bottom if head to breast, add an eye. And pretty much straight out from the eye is a straight line for the middle of the beak.  Look at the bird, does it have a very short beak or a long beak like a hummingbird? Then you can draw an angled line from the tip of the beak back to the head on top and bottom. Then you add wings and a tail...again look at the bird, a cardinal has a longer almost rectangle tail, a blue jay tail is long but more full and rounded at the end, other birds have a very short tail.  After putting in the basic shapes and proportions you can render the details, make edges more soft and curved with feather shapes and erase you drawing lines that are no longer needed at the end and add color.  

The point of a nature journal is to have fun recording what you observed in nature and also experiment and have fun with as an art journal as well.  I always tell my kids to have fun with it, if they want it realistic they can but it doesn't have to be an exact representation of what they see.  Just enjoy nature, think about it and use it as inspiration in their nature notebooks/art journal.

Here are some other things my kids have done in their nature notebooks for example

Fall foliage

 Tracing a leaf

Watercolor sheep

Watercolor wild horse on beach (from Cumberland island)

Recording his playtime with the hose outside

A blue jay

Collecting chicken eggs 

???? Lol

3 Tier Ombré Turquoise Gluten Free Dairy Free Strawberry Cake with Whipped Coconut Filling and Buttercream

Yes it's a mouthful!  It's a gluten free dairy free strawberry cake with whipped coconut cream and strawberry filling and buttercream frosting!  And it was soooooo yummy!  I think all the moms had seconds!

This was for my daughters birthday party.  A garden theme party!

The gluten free strawberry cake recipe is from the cookbook Cooking For Isaiah by Silvania Nardone.  (Great book)

I doubled her strawberry cupcake recipe and split between 2 regular size round cake pans, a small/medium corningware dish and a small Wilton cake pan.  I improvise to make different size layers :)

For the strawberry whipped coconut cream filling I put a can of Thai kitchen coconut milk in the back of the fridge overnight and when ready to use, scoop out the cream as it seperates from the water.  Whip it in the electric mixer and add a tiny bit of powdered sugar and about a tablespoon of strawberry jam.  Put back in fridge until ready to assemble the cake.  The 2 regular size round cakes were the bottom and I spread the whipped coconut cream between the layers.  Then using a bread knife, sliced the other 2 cakes in half to put the whipped coconut filling between those layers.  

For the frosting I user the regular buttercream recipe on the powdered sugar bag although I substitute butter with Spectrum Organic palm shortening and Earth Balance Vegan Butter (you can do all shortening though) and use almond milk.  

I applied frosting between the different tiers to secure the cake and applied a thin crumb coat...then skipped the whole freezing thing...went straight to piping on icing.  I added a drop or two of Wilton gel pastel blue food coloring for a very soft color and then just piped on with a frosting bag.  I didn't use a tip, I just snipped the corner of the bag and started piping it on.  Each time the bag ran out of frosting, I added a drop or 2 more of Wilton turquoise food coloring and continued piping frosting around the cake, basically just squeezing the bag and rotating the cake stand to get it around.  I'm not a cake decorator, so I have no special techniques or anything...but I had fun kinda slightly changing the way the frosting piped on as it went on, working from the top and spiraling down.  

At then end, with the left over dark turquoise frosting I piped a heart on top and my daughter placed little paper flowers we found in a $0.50 bin at micheals.  

This cake was one if the yummiest cakes I've ever had!  I wasn't sure about the strawberry whipped coconut cream but it was a good experiment!  I was originally just going to out strawberry jelly between layers and then the idea to mix it with coconut cream came to kind and I live how it turned out!  

We try to avoid food dyes for the most part, but sometimes it's nice to make exceptions and have a pretty turquoise cake :)

The best part us when you make something gluten free and dairy free and everyone loves it...not because it's "good for being gluten free and dairy free" but because it us just freaking good!!!  I love this strawberry cupcake/cake recipe from Silvania Nardone and I would love to post it but it's not mine and besides, her book is good anyways!  

DIY Cinderblock and Paver Stone Bench

I

So I was getting tired of the spot where our driveway just stops and drops off into the woods, it's bushy and not fun to have to climb through there to fetch all the kids stuff that rolls off the edge and down into the woods.  I put up the 2 flower pots we had in the basement from the previous owner and planted hydrangeas...it was looking better but wasn't solving the problem. I realized it would be a great spot for a bench, it gives a great view of the front yard and back yard for watching the kids and hanging out.  

We have a pile of bricks and cinderblocks in the woods off the side of the driveway that were left over from when the house was built so I thought maybe I could try building something with the cinderblocks and hope it wasn't ugly! I always get excited about being able to make use of stuff that's already lying around!  I brought the cibderblocks over 1 by 1, and lined them up the edge of the driveway and my 5 year old son helped top it with paver stones we found in various areas on the property lying around.  

Add some Dollar Tree Solar lights and black wire Decor in the flower pots and we are loving the difference this cinderblock bench wall makes.  It's inviting when you walk out the back door rather than walking out and seeing tricycles, scooters and balls mixed in among the brush.  

It's been great!  We finished this pretty quickly to surprise daddy when he got home.  The kids have taken their lunch out their everyday to sit and eat there, watching the birds and hanging out.  They also love to hang out on the cinderblock bench wall after dinner to sit, do balance beam routines, jump off repeatedly or play their ukuleles.  

Yay for free cheap easy DIY fixes!!!!  

The next day I put together my first wood working project an obelisk ...simple I know, but I am proud of it all the same! Lol!  It cost less than $5 to make, all I bought were 5 lengths if these thin planks of wood for less than a dollar each and then used screws and spray paint I found in the basement.  I put the obelisk near the new cinderblock wall bench and planted some sweet peas on 2 corners of it, I plan on planting some honey suckle or climbing rose bush at some point though.  

The area still needs a some work...maybe a couple more boxwoods or space out the ones I planted last year a little more.....

Last year the whole end of this driveway and the hills sloping down from it were overgrown messes of brush and red dirt...that little path with the pot at the end just went into the thick overgrowth, but I added the planter (another find in the basement) and planter a Lavendar plant......LOVE Lavendar!!!!!

To the right of this photo there is a hill sloping down... It was all giant weeds but last year I landscaped it into a berry patch with blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.... However last year our chickens ate all the berries before we could so this year I need to strategize!

Behind the obelisk and going down the slope on the un-landscaped portion are wild blackberries....yeah my husband had a good laugh when after I planted blackberries we soon noticed the wild ones growing right there!  

Anyways...this spring has been exciting so far as we are finally settled and my hubby spent all last year cutting down trees and brush pushing back the woods and opening and cleaning things up....now we get to have fun with that space!  I am really REALLY loving having stuff to do outside.  It's so refreshing and satisfying and exciting to see things start growing and putting our own little stamp on the place here and there, making our home more our own.  I used to think I had a black thumb and would never   garden like my mom and I may never garden to her degree of amazingness...but I'm finding out that I am enjoying landscaping and gardening all the same!  Little by little....

Restoration Hardware Teepee Knockoff

Back in the fall I saw a picture of this amazing teepee from Restoration Hardware and fell in LOVE!  I had just built a stick teepee outside for the kids as we were having fun study early American history and acting out being pioneers and Native Americans in their playtime.  And then I saw this Teepee and it was just so whimsical to me!  So I picked up brown and white chevron fabric at Hobby Lobby 40% off and got home and set out to work figuring out how to cut the fabric and out it together.  We had new kittens and I just ended up stashing the bag with my sketch and measurements in a bag in the closet.  I had also gone out in the woods with a big pair of loppers and cut down some trees that were pretty straight and no more than 1.5 - 2 inches round for poles. Then it all just sat...and sat....but last week was the week!  My son has his first ever birthday party to celebrate turning 5 and it was Native American themed and that spurred me on to finish the teepee!

I had looked online but didn't find a tutorial that I liked because all the tutorials used some sort of large sheet, drop cloth or super wide fabric so the measurements and pattern didn't work for my 45 inch wide patterned hobby lobby fabric.  

So here is my tutorial for a DIY Restoration Hardware Teepee / Pottery Barn Teepee for less than $30. I bought more fabric than I needed Bc I didn't know how much I needed until I made it so I'll save you that!

Supplies

3.5 (or 4 just to be safe) yards heavy weight fabric (duck/canvas) hobby lobby has lots if fun prints around $9.99 and you can use the hobby lobby app on your phone to get it 40% off! For 4 yards that's $24.

Thread

Ribbon

4 poles either cut trees or PVC pipe ~70 inches long

Measuring tape

Pencil

Long straight edge like a board or yard stick

Sewing machine

Lay out fabric, folded in half lengthwise.

Measure 62 inches up and mark fabric with a pencil.  Use a clear quilting ruler to cut straight across at that 62 inch mark. 

From folded edge, lay out your long straight edge to get a straight line from corner to corner.  (I used the board we had just used as a cross for an Easter lesson). 

 Draw along that straight edge with a pencil.  

Then carefully cut along your pencil line

You will have this... When you open it you have one large traingle and two halves of another triangle.  

Repeat that process again with the remainder if your fabric.

Now you should have 2 large triangles and 4 half triangles.  Take one of the half triangle pairs and flip the fabric so the right sides are facing eachother and everything is lined up and then along the straight edge (not the angled edge) stitch the two pieces together creating a full triangle when it's opened.  

Repeat that process with the other half triangle pieces except this one will be the front of teepee with a door so start sewing from the top of the triangle and see down the the edge about 24 inches and then back stitch to finish it off.  I left the raw edges as is because I liked the frayed look.  

Now you should have 4 full triangle pieces.  

Next step is to simply hem the top and bottom of each piece.  Turn over the bottom edge of each triangle about half an inch and see along creating a hem.  

For the tops, we need to create space for a hole for the poles so fold the tops of each triangle over about 3 inches and see down to crest a finished edge.  

Now to assemble the triangles together.  

Place the triangle that has the opening for the door right side with one of the triangles with no seam up the middle (the triangle with the seam in the middle will go in the back).  With right sides facing eachother, see along one of the outside edges of the triangle to connect the pieces. 

Open it up and do the same thing, placing the other full triangle (with no middle seam) lined up with the triangle with the doorway, right sides facing eachother and sew together along the opposite side of that piece.  

When you open it up you should have the  front teepee piece with the opening in the middle with the 2 side pieces connected on either side.  

Now you just have to connect the back piece.  The one with the seam up the middle.  

Open up your teepee and place the last piece on top of one of the side pieces, right sides facing eachother and sew along the raw edges.  Then, connect the two last raw edges of your teepee together right sides facing eachother, and sew along the edge completing the teepee.  When you flip in right side out you will have a lot of fabric all connected!  

Now cut some lengths of ribbon ~18 inches (hopefully you have some on hand that you can use up and don't need to buy any!)

I simply reached inside the teepee and quickly centered a ribbon with each seam on the lower half of the teepee and stitched it down right along the seam.  Then repeated the process attaching a piece of ribbon to each inside seam on the upper half if the tent.  

The ribbons don't need to all be at the exact same spot in each seam, it's just to tie to the poles to help keep the seams lined up with the poles once you erect your DIY teepee.

now take your poles all gathered together and slide them up the middle of your teepee and spread them out. 

I then used some twine to tie up and secure the poles once I had them positioned the way I wanted them.

 Crawl/reach  inside your teepee and tie the ribbons securely around each pole.  

If you have your teepee on hardwood floors, consider throwing down an area rug or some canvas drop cloth to protect your floor from scratches. 

My son playing the drums I made as favors for his birthday party inside the teepee!

Later we hung a dream catcher great grandma had sent on the front

And added a basket to the side with play invitations, toms for playing the drums, feather headband, frayed t shirt, binoculars made if toilet paper tubes, a bear, bow and arrows etc.  

Spare throw pillows thrown in... Now not only are the kids drawn into this whimsical cozy space, but has become a new favorite napping place for the cats!  Which in the play world are wild cougars!!! Watch out!!!