Homemade Granola

My favorite granola recipe is not only thrifty but a cinch to make.  I usually make two batches and rotate the baking sheets in the oven for even baking. 

Homemade Granola 

3 c. old fashioned oatmeal

½ c. nuts

½ c. coconut

1/3 c. canola oil

½ c. pancake syrup or honey

1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

1 c. dried fruit

1 c. All-Bran (original) 

Preheat oven to 300°.  Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray. 

In a large mixing bowl thoroughly combine oatmeal, nuts, coconut, oil and syrup.  Spread evenly on baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Stir granola and return to oven for 15 minutes more.  Remove granola from oven, sprinkle with dried fruit and All-Bran, stir again and allow to cool completely.  Store in airtight container. 

Nuts – use slivered or sliced almonds, peanuts, chopped pecans or walnuts. 

Dried fruit – use raisins, cranberries, cherries, blueberries, banana chips, apples, etc. 

Use your imagination to come up with multiple variations of granola flavors like almond blueberry, cinnamon raisin spice, or banana walnut.   

Sprinkle some granola on top of your homemade yogurt.  Heaven!! 

Consider giving granola as a gift too.  Delicious, nutritious and very budget friendly.  Enjoy!

My Big Spring Project

My 1977 13ft Scamp Trailer

Because we are staying put I quickly decided not to sell my little travel trailer.  I also told myself that if I am keeping it we will be using it – often.  Along with all the other projects I have taken on in the past six weeks I also decided to give my trailer a much needed overhaul.  There isn’t much to these little trailers but, as with anything, they do need to be maintained and eventually they need a little more than routine care. 

My trailer is a 13 foot Scamp built in 1977.  The company is still in existence today, despite a factory fire a few years ago that destroyed all of their fabrication equipment and their buildings.  Thankfully they were able to rebuild and are now fully operational again.  They have a website if you would like more information - www.scamptrailers.com

My parents bought the trailer I now own and I knew the first time I laid eyes on her that I wanted one for myself.  It was small and adorable, lightweight and had everything in it I needed.  At this time we were strictly tent campers so this was a serious upgrade.  I also know that because of its size I could handle it and pull it with my little pick up, no problem. 

When my parents decided to upgrade (Mom wanted a toilet) she became mine.  I was so excited to get her because I never thought my dad was ever going to let this thing go.  I still think he dreams of stealing her back sometimes. 

I have owned this trailer for 12 years now and we have put a lot of miles on her.  Other than keeping her clean the only thing I’ve done up until now was to have my dad put a new laminate top on the table about ten years ago and a new set of tail lights last year.  Oh, and I replaced the propane regulator sometime ago too.  This spring, however, I felt she was showing her age so I decidedto do a lot more. 

Thank goodness for the fact that I happen to have been blessed with a talented father that can fix anything and who also happens to have a big shop full of stuff.  The first thing he did was to put new marker lights on the side of the trailer, her old original ones no longer worked and then to weld on a new tongue jack for me, the old original one was worn out. 

He primed and painted the tongue and bumper for me and because he had an extra battery box, and a battery no less, he added that too.  Now I have battery powered lights inside!  We have never had those hooked up before.  I am so pleased. 

A couple Sundays ago I went up to help him and we re-plumbed the propane line simply because it was the old original and we felt it was time for an upgrade.  Safety is key.  Then we added a new counter top and replaced the table top so it would match. 

New countertop & updated cabinets

Matching table top

So nice!  I just love it.

Last week we put her back into my driveway and I was able to sand and paint the cabinet doors, add new knobs and paint the inside of the cabinet floors.  I have scrubbed every nook and cranny of this trailer inside and out.  My mother insisted we clean the inside of the hubcaps!  So I do mean every nook and cranny. 

The wheel bearings have been re-packed and on Monday I took her down to get new tires.  All I have left to do is finish applying the gel gloss to the exterior, which I do annually, and to re-fill the propane tank.  Once that is done she will be ready to roll. 

My dad had all the lumber, screws, laminate, welding supplies, hardware, most of the paint, etc.  What I had to purchase out of pocket was bearings, flexible propane line, marker lights, tongue jack, paint for the cabinets, new knobs and of course, tires.  My out of pocket expense came in just under $350.  Not bad when you stop to think about all we did to her. 

Fortunately I still had just enough money left from my yard sale to cover the paint and knobs for the cabinet doors.  I was able to pay cash for everything but the tires.  I put those on my credit card and will be getting that paid off next month when the bill comes due. 

We are so excited about using her this summer and getting out and about.  I’ll keep you updated on our travels as we re-discover the great state that we live in.  Hopefully next year we can head out of state and explore some of the places we always talk about like Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. 

Thanks for indulging me here.  Do you have any fun trips planned for your summer?

Our Garden

I had the best weekend.  Because it was Mother’s Day weekend we got to do what I wanted to do and I wanted to put in our garden.  Thankfully my girls were all for it because it was a full weekend of work.  Normally we would just do up our flower pots and plant a new perennial or two.  This year we put in our long awaited garden. 

Over Memorial Day weekend last year we spent five solid days putting up 187 feet of brand new cedar fencing and re-landscaping the front yard.  We nearly killed ourselves in the process because it turned out to be far more work than one anticipates. 

The backyard was not completed as we had hoped but we did get one thing started back there.  We recycled the old fence posts and made raised planting boxes out of them.  We then hauled in a truck load of dirt from my parent’s place to fill them.  The rest of the backyard remained hideous.  So much so I didn’t take a picture of it.  Too embarrassing! 

On Saturday we added on another section to the planting beds and used up most of the last remaining posts.  Then we set up the drip irrigation system (the one for Dummies) and planted the beds. 

Ready for planting

Then we cleaned and cleared and re-stacked and re-organized and raked until the yard looked like a yard again.  Then we collapsed. 

On Sunday, Mother’s Day, the girls fixed me a lovely breakfast and I got to open the gifts they had made for me at school.  Then we headed off to the store to get more supplies for the garden.  We were pretty eager to get started again. 

We also had to buy new pickling cucumber and chive seeds as our old ones didn’t sprout.  We planted those in peat pots as well as some more herbs for our herb garden.  Everything else did just fine and most of it is already planted in the garden. 

We built another planting bed out of leftover lumber from our deck construction and then filled it up with dirt to plant corn and cucumbers.  We finished the day out by mowing and trimming the lawn, weeding and getting everything watered.  Everything looks beautiful and we are excited to watch our garden grow and see how well it does this year.  It is our first real garden. 

For Mother’s day the girls bought me six new perennials to add to the flowerbeds we put in last year.  I still need to get them planted, but I feel like we are off to a really great start.  I’ll keep you posted on how it all comes about.

The Choices That We Make – Happiness

We are very blessed in that we have the opportunity on a daily basis to make our own choices.  In fact, we make 1000’s of them every day.  Not every choice we make will always be the correct one but, even still, we have the chance to make another one. 

The simplest choice we can make every day, every morning when we get up is to decide whether to be happy or not.  I choose happy.  Life is so much better that way. 

Happiness is a life choice.  It is not something that happens to you.  Other people cannot do this for you.  Shopping won’t accomplish it.  A brand new car, all the latest and greatest things money can buy, that fabulous vacation of a lifetime won’t do it either. 

Happiness comes from within each and every one of us.  Once you decide you are going to be happy everything good that comes your way enhances that feeling and the result is joy. 

Genuinely happy people are enjoyable to be around.  They exude confidence because they don’t really care what other people think because they are happy.  They have fewer battles with stress, fatigue and depression.  When bad things do happen, and we all know they do, happy people generally handle these situations better. 

Happy people tend to be more pro-active in taking care of their business so it doesn’t have a negative impact on their joy.  They plan for and embrace their future because it means more resulting joy.  They have a better outlook on life and live with less fear. 

Happiness is like a snowball running down a hillside.  It gets bigger and bigger as it gains momentum.  It can also be contagious. 

So when you wake up in the morning choose to be happy - all day long.  Then you can choose what color underwear you are going to put on. J

Happy Mother’s Day

Wishing you all a very happy Mother's Day!

Food Storage - Our Pantry

Our pantry used to be the coat closet.  Located right between the front door and the opening to the kitchen it became the dumping ground and a serious bone of contention.  It was always a mess and difficult to organize.  It didn’t help that my son was at the age where he couldn’t get anything to stay on a hanger.  So I did away with it and have never regretted that decision at all. 

Our tiny kitchen didn’t have a pantry and, with limited cabinetry, food storage was a serious issue.  I tried everything I could think of to make it work but just couldn’t seem to pull it off. 

My light bulb moment came after expressing my frustration over the repeated condition of the dreaded coat closet.  As it was, I felt it was a complete waste of space as I once again pulled everything out of it in a feeble attempt to once again clean and re-organize it. 

What is that saying?  Insanity is the definition of doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  I was going insane. 

After pulling everything out of the closet into a heap on the entry floor it occurred to me that if I were to line it floor to ceiling with adjustable shelving I could make it into a much needed pantry.  I could install a coat rack in the laundry room to hang coats and honestly, the rest of the stuff in here could be stored elsewhere in the house. 

Coat rack in laundry room

And so it was.  After a trip to Home Depot for supplies I put in the adjustable shelving.  I made a coat rack and installed it in the laundry room.  Threw out a bunch of stuff we didn’t need (funny how that happens) and relocated what remained to different areas of the house.  It only took one day to complete this project. 

Then I filled up my pantry.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  Bliss! 

All neat and organized with a space for my bread machine and all my containers of pasta, rice and beans.  And in true Sleeping With The Enemy fashion all labels facing the front. 

This pantry perfectly satisfies my anal retentive qualities.  I love to clean it, fill it, organize it, rotate the stock, and so forth.  Sometimes I just like to open the door and look at it.  For me a full pantry is a big accomplishment.  Keeping if full, on a regular basis, is my goal and I do put a lot of work into it. 

The coat closet has been the pantry for sixteen years now and I can’t imagine how I would have survived if I hadn’t done this.  I have since added a second coat rack to the laundry room for the girls to reach better and hooks to the hall closet for our overflow items. 

Hall closet

A good lesson learned.  If something isn’t working do something else.  What a concept! J

Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

20th Anniversay!

This Saturday May 12^th is the annual letter carriers Stamp Out Hunger food drive.  If you have extra items in your pantry now is the time to load up a bag and put them in your mailbox, hang it on your mailbox or just set it near your mailbox.  Your letter carrier will pick it up when they deliver your mail.

Our family loaded up a bag and we are ready.  How about joining us?