Healthy Granola bars

These are so good and good for you too! I make these all the time and freeze them for a healthy treat! These have lots of fiber and protein. I like to put one of these in my bowl of ice cream when I have it. It makes me not feel as guilty about eating ice cream since I'm getting something healthy in there too!!

2 C. old fashioned oats

1/2 C. flax seed milled( you can usually find this by the cereal)

1/4 C. quinoa(you can find this by the gluten free stuff at wal-mart. At Winco you can find it in the bins, which is so nice.

3/4 C. shelled sunflower seeds(not salted)

1 C. chopped nuts(any kind)

1 C. shredded coconut

1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon(desired amount)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C. brown sugar or agave nectar( agave is healthier, because it's natural)

1/2 C. honey

2 tsp. molasses

4 T. butter( I only did 2)

2 tsp vanilla

4 T. peanut butter( best if it's all natural)

1 C. dried fruit(optional)

chocolate chips(optional)

1. Mix first 8 ingredients together and place on a rimmed cookie sheet. Toast in oven at 400 degrees for about 12 min. Stir and let cool at least 15 min.

2. Bring next 4 ingredients to a simmer, stirring continuously. Stir in the vanilla and peanut butter and cool for 2-3 min, stirring occasionally.

3. Put the toasted ingredients and dried fruit in a large bowl and pour the liquid ingredients over it. Mix very well.

4. Place parchment or wax paper in the rimmed baking sheet and butter the top side, then place the granola bar mixture into the pan. Then sprinkle chocolate chips if desired. Put another buttered sheet of paper, buttered side down, on top of the mixture and press down. Roll with a rolling pin to make it very tight, smooth, and even.

5. Let set for 2-3 hrs. and cut into desired bar size. Makes about 20-24 bars. I put them in freezer Ziploc bags and freeze them. These are so fast and easy to make. I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's so simple once you get started.

Whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffins

I grind my own wheat flour. I usually do a bunch at a time and then save it in a big container. I love to cook and I love even more to be able to make foods healthier. I like to use hard white wheat, because it's a little more like a white flour than the hard red wheat. These are so good. My family loved them and we froze some so we could grab and eat on the go!

1/2 C. butter

1/2 C. brown sugar(or agave nectar)

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 C. mashed ripe banana( about 3 bananas)

1/4 C. honey

2 large eggs

2 C. whole wheat flour

2/3 C. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan. I used my mini muffin pan and regular muffin pan. The mini ones are perfect for my little girl.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour an chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Divide batter into muffin cups, they'll be about half full. Bake until center comes out clean with toothpick, about 23-28min.

BBQ Chicken pizza

This is my husbands favorite pizza.

Ingredients:

dough(whatever recipe you like.)

1 C. cooked chicken

1/2 C. chopped cooked bacon

1/4 C. onion

2 C. mozzarella cheese

1/2 C.Parmesan cheese

1/2C. BBQ sauce

1/2 C. tomato sauce

- Make you dough. You could use Rhodes to make it easier, but I like the bread recipe I use from pantry secrets.

-Roll out you dough

-Mix together 1/2 C. BBQ sauce and 1/2 C. tomato sauce. Spread evenly over pizza.

- Sprinkle chicken, bacon, and onion.

- Next sprinkle the cheeses over the top.

- I also like to add some herbs and spices.

-Cook 425 degrees about 12 min. until browned edges.

Tinkerbell Fondant cake

This was my first fondant cake. I made this for my daughter's birthday. It was so much fun.

You want to put it on a piece of cardboard and dirty ice your cake. I just used some buttercream icing that I made. You want to get out as many flaws you can, but it doesn't have to look perfect since the fondant will cover. I made my cakes and then froze them, then another day did the icing and froze those. On the last day I did the fondant. I just used boxed cake and they tasted so good and moist.

I used white fondant and then colored it pink.

Here's the finished product... The top was white confetti cake and the bottom was german chocolate cake. The bow was probably the hardest part. You have to assemble it in 3 pieces and let them dry before you can put it on the cake. I used some toothpicks to secure it better.

Inside the top tier.

Saving $$$$

Just wanted to share some of the good deals I've recently gotten. Everything I got was either price matched at wal mart of purchased at rite aid. I love to get good deals and have so much fun doing this. If I can do it anyone can do it. Seriously...

4 boxed kellogs cereal, 4 pkgs. stayfree pads, 4 boxes bayer asprin, 2 reach floss, 4 pkgs. pistachios, 1 frebreze air freshener, 9 boxes tylenol pain patches. (excedrin PM not in pic.)

4 boxes special k cereal, 9 boxes ibuprofin, 2 pkgs. mentos candy(not pictured)

4 gillette fusion pro-glide razors, 4 finish dishwasher detergent.

Normal cost: $151.02

I spent zero dollars. I actually made $13. Can you believe it??

I was pretty excited about these items I purchased.

Christmas projects

This is one of the things I gave to my neighbors this year for Christmas. It is a box of hot cocoa and glade air freshener. It says: Here's a little something "scent" your way to "warm" up your holidays. I have to admit that I am kind of cheap and paid only 60 cents for the whole thing using my coupons.

I gave these out to friends and family. Me, my mom, and sister got together and made these sucker blocks. They turned out so cute and they were so fun to make. The suckers are made from oreo cookies and dipped in chocolate.