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Recipe: Pumpkin Granola Bars

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I hope your Halloween was delightfully spooky, frightfully fun!

We enjoy the flavors of fall quite a bit around here because one thing Eli can not get enough of is pumpkin. Well, perhaps I should revise that to say, pumpkin in carbohydrate form: pumpkin bread, scones, waffles, pancakes, muffins. We made pumpkin scones earlier this week and I had leftover pumpkin puree that I didn’t want to waste. I woke up on Halloween morning feeling pretty pathetic that I hadn’t made a pumpkin treat on the biggest pumpkin day of all. I was going to make pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast, but we could hardly get Eli to sit still for breakfast because he was so excited to wear his costume to school. Needless to say it did not seem like the ideal morning to change up his breakfast routine. Instead, I whipped up these granola bars once he was off to school. This recipe is low on effort and high on taste, so I thought I’d share it.

Pumpkin Granola Bars  makes approx 18 2×3 inch bars

Dry ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (or substitute raisins, cranberries or nuts, as desired) optional

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbspn ground flaxseed

1/2 tspn baking powder

1/2 tspn salt

1 tspn cinnamon (I actually added a bit more b/c I love cinnamon)

1/2 tspn nutmeg

1/4 tspn ground ginger (adding some chopped crystallized ginger, too, might be divine)

1/8 tspn ground cloves

Wet Ingredients:
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1/2 cup oil (I use this safflower oil)

1/4 cup agave nectar

1 egg, beaten

2 tspn vanilla

3/4 cup pumpkin puree (that’s how much I had leftover)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 13×9 inch baking dish by greasing well on bottom and sides (I use baking spray).

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. I stirred with a fork to help break up the brown sugar and distribute the spices. In separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients together. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; stir well to combine and avoid dry spots. Pour batter into prepared dish and use rubber spatula to spread and flatten. Bake for approx 25 minutes. Bars will no longer look wet and will feel mostly firm when done. Allow to cool in pan on rack for at least 10 minutes before cutting to desired shape. Long skinny bars will look more like traditional granola bars; more square-shaped bars are perfect for smaller hands (and those trying to reform their candy-scarfing of the past few days!).

 

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Yum. I’m starting to believe that you could add pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to just about anything and it would be delicious. Now, if I can just get my children to take a nap this afternoon, a cup of tea and one of these bars will make for some tasty mommy-time.

Have a great weekend!

 

 

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KCW Fall 2013: Day 4

You’re getting sleepy. Very sleepy.

No, wait a second. I’m getting sleepy. I am sleepy. But it’s Kid’s Clothes Week-induced sleepiness, so I’m okay with it. Late nights at the sewing machine are worth it.

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On the docket today — pajama pants! And flannel pajama pants, no less, from the snuggly soft Fanfare line from Birch Fabrics and designed by Rae of Made By Rae. Yep, good ol’  Rae. I say that like we’re dear friends, but basically I just cyber-stalk her by devouring every word of her wonderful website. The woman is a sewing and pattern-making rockstar and she recently added fabric design to her list of talents, too.

Her flannels have been making the rounds on blogs since their debut. Using them to make pajamas/lounge pants is hardly an original idea since it was done many times already during the blog tour (check out Rae’s site here for more info). But every post I read raved about how soft and comfy these flannels were, so I had to take the plunge. The fact that Eli went straight into thumb-sucking, fake-sleeping mode upon trying them on tells me I chose well. I’m sure it had nothing to do with 4 consecutive, napless days. Nope.

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I used Rae’s parsley pants pattern as the base for these PJ pants. Eli wears a 4T in the pants pattern, and I cut the fabric between a 4T and a 5T for these PJs to make them a bit more roomy and lounge-y. I added a cuff in quilting cotton from Michael Miller Fabrics Mini Mikes collection. He’s wearing them with the cuff rolled up right now; but they will definitely last through the winter (maybe into next winter????) with the cuff rolled down if necessary.

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These pajama bottoms also serve a very practical purpose in our house.  Full bodysuit-style pajamas pose too big a challenge for a young boy who is still new to staying dry overnight. These pajama pants are easy on/off with an elastic waist and faux drawstring.

 

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Sweet, soft, flannel dreams!

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KCW Fall 2013: Day 3

Okay, day 3. We’re going from red and trendy on Kids Clothes Week Day 2 to a more refined and classic look today.

Shedding the stretchy skinny for perfect, polished pintucks.

 

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I am a big fan of these pants. The fabric is so soft and has great drape, and the pintucks dress them up without looking too stuffy. I used the Parsley Pants Pattern by Rae of Made By Rae. I used this pattern over the summer to make shorts for Eli, but this was my first time making full pants. It’s a well thought out pattern with several variations and great instructions. I highly recommend.

The fabric I chose is a stretch sueded twill from fabric.com. It is incredibly soft and truly looks and feels like suede. The website indicates it’s 100% cotton, but the wrong side of the fabric neither looks nor feels like a natural fiber. I forgot to take a photo to show you.

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Yes, these boots have seen a lot of wear!

I made a size 4T and cut them slightly, slightly wider in the hips since the pattern indicates the pintucks will make the pants about an inch slimmer through the hips. My son is pretty slim, but I wanted to assure the pants would have an easy fit throughout; it worked out beautifully. And since my son tends to grow up more than he grows out, I also made a nice wide hem to allow me to let the hems down after the next growth spurt.

There are plenty of even viagra online free cheaper anti ED medicines available that help men to get rid from the dysfunction and to maintain sufficient erections. This drug is prescribed for a happy and long sexual life but it also cures minor heart problems. cheap sildenafil uk works on male reproductive system by the same way that the levitra works. Sorts of could arise within the lean meats in the type of hepatitis, cirrhosis possibly ailing liver failure. buying viagra in italy There are so many people round the corner who are simply okay by living with this issue and all the credits go to wholesale viagra. With these snazzy new pants to carry him through the cooler months, I needed to make sure he’s warm up top, too. Enter the warm, snuggly shawl collar cardigan.

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The cardigan is from the Dear My Kids Shawl Collar Cardigan pattern. Another good pattern!

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Confession: I love shawl collars. My son will probably end up hating them since I can see myself making this cardi for him every year until he outgrows the pattern! Although, he looks pretty happy right now.

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When Eli first tried on this outfit, I thought, “hello, Professor.”  Too stuffy? Naaahhh…

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He’s still got his goofball side!!

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KCW Fall 2013: Day 2

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Let’s paint the town red, shall we? I’ve mentioned before that my son’s favorite color is red. Still is.

During the Celebrate the Boy sewing challenge earlier this year, I made him red shorts, by request.  He has outgrown the shorts, and we are headed into cooler weather, so his special request for KCW was — you guessed it — red pants!

How could I deny him?

Behold the power of red pants.

They might make you want to dance. (Note to David Bowie: consider changing lyrics to put on your red pants, and dance….)

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Or make you fly like superman.

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Or, climb the walls.

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I used the HOSH Pants pattern from LouBee Clothing, purchased here on Etsy. It’s intended to be a kids unisex pattern. I still can’t believe, however, that I made skinny jeans for my son. Even though I own a couple pairs, I kind of hate skinny jeans. And skinny jeans on men? No thank you. But I think I can tolerate skinny jeans on children. I think. I’m seriously considering re-making these pants for my son and cutting the legs just slightly wider. The pants have a flat front — no fly — so they make me a little uneasy that they look like red leggings on my son.

And here, if you are giving order for the branded one it is okay, but if it occurs, promptly go to see your doctor. levitra professional Or, he will recommend other natural treatment lowest prices for sildenafil if it is too mild. Spinal decompression works by gently stretching the buy cialis from india icks.org spine – taking pressure off spinal discs (gel-like cushions between the bones in your spine). Counseling is a effective way to treat ED- Fact Many couples still buy cheap sildenafil don’t understand the importance of counseling.

In order to tackle my leggings-look-alike concerns, I decided to add rear pockets. And not just plain old pockets, but arrow ribbon adorned pockets!

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I found the ribbon at Jo-Ann’s while I was looking for embellishment for a different project. I think the pockets and the ribbon rescued the pants from potential legging-itis. The pattern doesn’t call for pockets, and they were an afterthought for me, so I ended up adding them to the previously constructed pants.

Okay, wait for it ….

BUTT SHOT!!

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(By the way, are you amused by the left/right designations on my son’s shoes? )

Despite my skinny-pants-on-guys issues, I loved sewing this pattern. Great instructions, no heavy lifting. And I love the bonus feature of an adjustable waistband! The waistband is sewn as a separate piece from the main pant pattern pieces and looks so nice. I used stretch denim (from Jo-Ann’s) and it was perfect for this project. I also trimmed the waistband seam using blue bias tape for an extra special finished look.

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I have the feeling I will use this pattern many more times. I already have a few stretch fabrics set aside to make Hosh Pants for my daughter; and modified with a slightly wider leg, they will be a great fit for my son, too.

Okay, two projects completed for this KCW. That’s double my output from KCW Summer 2013. Let’ see if I can keep ’em coming!

kid's clothes week