I contributed this granola bar recipe (I discovered years ago from Darby) to Casey Leigh’s blog a couple weeks ago. It was a huge hit, so I thought I would share them here. This is definitely a recipe for the archives, my friends!!!!
If we were to meet in real life, you would find me in my skinny jeans and a plain tee, camera in hand. If you came over to my house, I would most likely be in the kitchen, cooking or baking something…for you.
I would tell you that my journey with food began in a big house in the woods when I began cooking for my large family as a teenager. 13 total siblings, to be exact. I wanted to learn it all…how to bake bread from scratch, roast a turkey for thanksgiving, and make cranberry bread in the winter. And it’s there that I learned something: the kitchen is a love language all it’s own. I learned that there is beauty in that space…in hidden places.
And I guess I fell in love with it.
The process of making and creating art with ingredients, and giving it back to the people you love.
I’m still cooking for the people I love…mostly my three kids and my husband. And although my life has gotten busier and fuller, I still revel in putting together healthy food for my family.
As a busy mom on the go, I’m always looking for healthy options that’ll satisfy my cravings for something sweet, but give me lasting energy to boot. And with my kids constantly pestering me for snacks, it’s nice to give them something that I know is filled with healthy ingredients. I keep them stored in the refrigerator and pull them out at my own leisure. Sounds so Betty Crocker, no?
You can totally make this recipe your own, mixing in your favorite combinations of seeds, nuts, and dried fruit. Here’s my favorite combination of mix-ins below…
//CHEWY GRANOLA BARS
1 cup natural peanut butter {or sunflower butter}
2/3 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups oats
2 total cups combination of coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds {or your own combination of nuts and dried fruit}
Chocolate, chopped and sprinkled on top
PROCESS:
:: In medium size sauce pan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.
:: Remove from heat and add oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and coconut. Stir well…
:: Press mixture into pan {I used a pan slightly smaller than a 9×13 and it was perfect.}, if you use a 9 x 13 you don’t have to fill it all the way, just spread to your desired thickness and sprinkle {while still warm} with chopped chocolate. {I like to press the chips in a little and sometimes I sprinkle with coconut flakes too.}
:: Chill for 2 hours in fridge and cut into bars.
:: When we’re not devouring them, we keep ours in the fridge so they’ll stay “congealed”.
And you must know, these are divine with a glass of almond milk. Take it from me.
Xoxoxo, Mary Beth
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I get asked, frequently, what camera I use and which lenses are my favorite. How I got into photography. What are the tricks to my trade. And I want to laugh a little, because if you hear me talk about it, it sounds like I am a total ignoramus. And I’m not trying to be modest. It’s the honest truth. Sometimes I practice “photography talk” with Steven so that when I work with clients I sound more convincing. I try to memorize the name of the lone lens I use and work on remembering the model number of my Nikon. D3100. You see, I’ve done my homework.
He literally laughs at me. Because I am so hopeless when it comes to the technical side of things. Because I am such a work in progress. Because my face scrunches in concentration trying to remember numbers, and what aperture and f-stop mean…and I’ve been shooting professionally for almost a year now. One more time, what do those mean again?
I am a testament to God literally using weak people.
And then there’s photoshop. I started learning it last summer and let’s just say I haven’t exactly mastered it yet. We certainly have our problems, but I am amazed time and time again at the teamwork God has brought out of the two of us. How patient of a teacher Steven is and how predictably I fall and fall again and get back up trying to learn again.
It’s a wonder that man has not given up.
I’ve tried to pin point what it is about photography that grips me. That’s gotten a hold so strong, I doubt it’ll ever let go.
And I guess, for me, it’s the ability to see the world. Really, see it. Slow down. Soak up. See the details. Find the beauty.
If we had a few hours, I would tell you how photography has changed me as a person. How it’s broadened my perspective, helped me learn who I was, helped me find beauty out of a pile of ashes.
And if you asked me how I take the photos I like to take. I would tell you.
“It’s the way I see it.”
I don’t know how to explain that in a way that sounds professional or convincing. I don’t know how to practice in front of a mirror and look the part. Or say all the right things. Photography, for me, is deeply personal. Like a third extremity that God added on later in my life. I don’t have a method, or a trick to my trade. I don’t have all the right lenses, just my fixed 50 mm I got a month ago. {And I’m not sure I’m saying that right!} I don’t have all the right equipment, just the cheapest tripod I could find at Wal Mart. I don’t have all the right education, I took one introductory class 2 years ago.
But when it’s me and my camera? All is right in my world. Things make sense to me. And I see beauty everywhere around me.
Photography inspires me to learn more. Try harder. Work on my weaknesses.
But mostly, I want photography to always be the thing that causes me to shake my head a little. To marvel. To close my eyes and see images and angles and perspectives.
To see things. Really, see them.
And appreciate it.
That’s how I see it.
{All photos taken of my beautiful friend, Emily Sue, for her beautiful new blog that you must, must go check out! It’s here.}
And a special thanks to my friends, Jason and Andrea, for letting me go out and use their beautiful Oklahoma land for the stage to this shoot. I’m smitten with the place.
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