18K Gold Granola Bars

First time I created a recipe completely on my own, and boom! Fabu! *toot toot!* < that's me tooting my own horn. :-p

My daughter needed more variety for breakfast and more nuts and seeds (gotta have those omegas!) in her diet. So Mommy came up with an unbeatable recipe for getting her to eat....(drum roll, please!).....

* Pumpkin seeds
* Flax seeds
* Sunflower seeds

Those foods can be rough to eat, especially for a 5 year old. Personally, I can eat them all individually. Well, flax seeds on their own are a bit slippery and odd in texture. But I needed to dress up those power foods with something that would make her beg for more. And that, she did!

Here's my 18K Gold Granola Bar Recipe. I named it this because it has 18 ingredients. You can substitute certain ingredients for others, eliminate a few all together and up another ingredient. There are endless combos for granola bars, but this one is utterly magical!

18K Gold Granola Bars

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat flour (or all-purpose)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup soft butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup canola oil (or vegetable)
1/2 cup honey (tip: if you measure the honey with the cup you measured the oil with, the honey will easily slide out.)
1/2 cup sugar (or skip this and just use a full cup honey)
1 tbsp molasses (or just use brown sugar instead of sugar or none at all! lol)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

1/2 cup cashew pieces (or chopped cashews)
3 tbsp flax seeds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup sweetened cranberries
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Mix first 4 ingredients into the large main bowl.

Mix next 7 ingredients in medium to large bowl. Add this mixture to the the large main bowl.

Mix next 4 ingredients in small bowl (or just throw these ingredients into the main bowl and stir).

Mix last 3 ingredients in small bowl (or again, just throw these ingredients into the main bowl and stir thoroughly).

Pour into greased pan and bake at 325F for 25-30 minutes or until desired consistency.

I used a pizza cutter to cut these into bars while still hot.

Voila!

You're welcome. ;-)

xo
jbnewcomb<3

Buttercream Butter Dream

Creamy dreamy buttercream. Oh, my lovely butter dream. Everything tastes better with butter. Everything tastes better with cream. And if you disagree, you're probably just trying to convince yourself because of the guilt-potential. :-P

I made buttercream frosting for the first time today. It's 228 calories per serving, but they're super dee duper delicious calories! Is it totally crazy to eat veggies for every meal just so I can eat buttercream frosting? Umm yeah.

The buttercream adventure began with my disatisfaction with Oatmeal Cream Pies. Plastic comes to mind when eating them. Plastic and sugar.  so when the whole box was gone, I decided to invent my own non-industrial version.

First, I made oatmeal chocolate raisen cookies. They didn't come out as flat as I wanted, so a little more experimenting is needed. Oh darn. ;-)

Next came the buttercream frosting to be sandwhiched between two cookies.

I found an amazingly simple and noisy recipe. One stick of butter {mmmmmmmm}, 2 cups powdered sugar {10X sugar is what the hardcore buttercreamists call it}, a bit of vanilla, 2 tbsp. of milk. Using a noisy mixer, cream {fancy word for mix} the butter, then slowly add the sugar, next the vanilla and milk, and voila! Buttercream that will make you use the word "buttercream" in every song....if you're lyricists like my crazy family pretend to be.

My hubby is playing the guitar and singing these lyrics with Aurora as I type. Here are a few gems:

"I like it....on my cake
  I like it....on my steak

  I will eat it....with a carrot
  I might even....share it

  Ohhhhh I like buttercream,
  I like buttercream."

And the lyrics go on and on and on in Dr. Seuss style.

Needless to say, buttercream frosting will be made on a semi-regular basis in this house...

{I secretly saved a cookie sandwich to take a picture of, which is coming soon!}

Big Girl Blues

Why does anything good have to end? There's less than two weeks left until she goes to a new school, and she has no idea how much she's going to miss her first school, her first best friend, and the amazing teachers she grew so close to.

My baby--no, my "big girl"--is graduated from preschool. Yes, there was a graduation commemorating her completion of k-4. She even wore a cap and gown...no joke. :-)

It's wonderful and dreadful at the same time. She's thriving and moving on to more advanced work, but with that comes more stress and less fun. There is so much expected of kids in kindergarten. Kindergarten is the new first grade, and that means more responsibility. It's funny how kids want to grow up so badly. They admire teenagers, pretend to be adults, and yet they have no idea, NO IDEA how much work it is being "mature".

Aurora's first school, Stage Door Preschool of the Arts, is the creme de la creme of preschools as far as I'm concerned. I feel silly even saying such a thing :-P But they are impressive!

They provide such a rich environment for students to express themselves in many ways: dancing, drawing, painting, coloring, music, and they even have a special Spanish class. And to top it off, they're rated 198 out of 200 in preparing children for Kindergarten. Go Stage Door!

From the first day, Aurora had a best friend. Lilia. What a cutie. And they're so much alike. After one conversation, Lilia's mom and I discovered they even sass in the same way. They love each other so much. It's hard for me to think of them not going to the same school this fall. Look at these adorable partners in crime....



It's hard to let go of my little girl and let her grow up, but I'm proud of the changes she makes ever day. I'm so blessed to watch this amazing little human being evolve into a strong and self-sufficient young lady. This year is sure to be full of major changes! Most of all, I am looking forward to the advancement in her reading skills. Because once one can read anything, the possibilities are limitless!

xo

jbnewcomb<3

My Leo Lover

She spent weeks crafting him present after present. The moment she awoke on the big day, she went to work on wrapping up her works of art. Finished, she helped me make him breakfast, complete with his favorite flaky rolls.

"Happy Birthday, Daddy! Time to get up! Breakfast is ready!" Aurora announced as she jumped on top of her sleeping Daddy. He wrapped his arms around her, and I fell into their love pile to take part in the birthday wake-up call. Jason was simply happy. The love was palpable. And there's nothing that means more to me than seeing my loved ones happy. Especially on their birthday! :-)

Birthday celebrations are one of my favorite events. Of course nothing can take the place of weddings in my heart, but birthdays are a close second. Love! Cake! Presents! Birthdays and weddings have it all. But one thing birthdays have over weddings is that we get one every year! {I'd love to be able to afford a full-on wedding every year!} Jason's birthday this year was made oh so special.

The morning went swimmingly! Jason was so impressed with Aurora's homemade presents. Among them was an incredibly detailed Chinese Dragon. I've seen our daughter produce amazing works of art, but this was in a whole other league! She'd perfectly cut out an orange dragon, bejeweled it with glass stones, and drew a beautiful, realistic face. It was superb! Besides being an exquisite piece, Jason looooves Asian art!

Jason also loves attention. Of course he would. He's a Leo! AND his birthday is the 1st of the month. I love attention, too, but I also love to make my loved ones feel like the center of my world. And my world is blessed with a man with many wonderful qualities. He's strong-willed, ambitious, and outgoing. All of those intense qualities are balanced out by his extraordinary, intuitive sensitivity and his humble {sometimes too humble ;-)} nature. All that is topped off by a controversial sense of humor. His fresh perspective is always entertaining! Politics. Religion. Society. Pop culture. All taboo subjects, he lightens, hence lifting my spirits with his open-minded humor. He's my favorite comedian. My favorite lover. My favorite friend. And he can cook, too!

Happy Birthday, baby! May we get to spend dozens more together. :-x

xo
jbnewcomb<3

Super Deliciousnous!

He just could stop himself. The moment the sweet deliciousness touched his tongue, he was addicted! No one thought they looked like anything special, including me. It was a simple, mostly pre-packaged recipe, but oh so freaking fabulous!

For the 4th of July, my fam went to our daughter Aurora's best friend's house. Aurora and Lilia were smitten with each other since day one of preschool, and they had a BLAST watching fireworks and playing with glow necklaces! It was Lilia's brother Ren who was smitten with the dessert we brought.

The cookies we brought were Aurora's creation. She drew a picture of what she wanted them to look like:

What a creative mind! She's simply amazing!

Here's Aurora's recipe, which is not from scratch (my favorable method, but we were limited on time)...

Ingredients

Sugar Cookie Mix (plus all the necessary additions)

Pre-made CREAM CHEESE frosting (again, I would have preferred making my own, chemistry set-free :-P )

Blueberries

Strawberries

Powdered Sugar (granulated would work too)

Directions

Follow Sugar Cookie Mix Directions

If you wish, roll out dough and cut into fun shapes. We did stars for the 4th of July!

Bake, then let cool

Place Strawberries and Blueberries in a bowl and coat lightly with sugar

Spread a thin layer (or thick, as my hubby prefers) on each cookie

Top cookies with blueberries and strawberries, and voila!

Now try this and tell me you could resist it...I think it's pretty impossible!

xo
jbnewcomb<3

What a Beaut!

Gosh, she's a beauty...

How lucky I am to have a gorgeous muse for my photographic journey! I'm so enjoying learning my camera settings, lighting, and composition with Aurora. Her energy is intense, which also helps me to practice getting the shot! lol

More kids coming soon!

xo

jbnewcomb<3

Learning to Shoot Manually

I dreaded learning it. I've always photographed in auto mode, and I knew if I wanted to learn photography, I had to go manual, baby! Guess what? It's not that difficult (adjusting the settings, that is). Phew! Of course I have a lot to learn about photography in general, but at least I'm not whining about my pictures being crappy. I like them anyway. :-) That's saying a lot, for me. GO ME! :-))

I've been shooting in manual mode for only a few days now (only shot in manual focus toward the end, though). It's actually a lot of fun! It's hard to believe anyone with a nice camera wouldn't shoot this way because you get such great photos in manual. I love the control. I love to play. I actually LOVE learning how to shoot manually. Who would've thought? Not I!

Here's a few of my first photos in manual mode...of course they're of my favorite models, Aurora and Elena...

Aurora and her favorite buddy, Juliet. <3

Juliet doesn't mind...she's a glutton for attention ;-)

I just L<3VE Aurora's Eyes in this one!!

My Sweet Girl :-)



Elena's eyes look just like Aurora's did at this age...so precious...



Look at that mouth! (Background's not so cute lol)

My smiley baby :-))

xo

jbnewcomb<3

My Humble Poetry, I

My Babies

Innocent, Curious Eyes

A Lovely, Sleepy Smile

Tiny, Strong Hands

Endless Possibilities

And Limitless Love

These are My Precious Gifts

The Luck I’ve Been Given

Twice.

xo

jbnewcomb<3

Thanks, Old Hollwood

There are not many movies for adults that children can enjoy too. Luckily, many movies from Old Hollywood are perfectly fine for me to watch with my five year old. Musicals are especially fun. She loves music and singing and dancing.

Compare adult themes in old movies to adult themes in modern movies, and it's like night and day. Kissing is so syrupy sweet in old movies and sex is rarely even mentioned. Of course not all movies from Hollywood's Golden Age are appropriate, but modern movies are pretty much completely inapropriate.

I love my DVR. I watch 75% of TV on my DVR for a half dozen reasons. And TCM is one of my favorite channels to record.

Recently, I recorded a bunch of Esther Williams films. If you don't know the name, she's the actress who played in all of those swimming and mermaid-type movies. What a beauty!

Because she prefers musicals, I was surprised that my daughter was hooked from the time I selected play for the first film. She let out a titter of excitment when I told her I'd recorded several Esther Williams films. "I really like this movie. I want to watch it everyday," she said with excitement for the 1945 movie Thrill of Romance with Van Johnson.

From the moment Esther Williams dove off of a high-dive board, Aurora was captivated. She'd obviously never seen that before, and technicolor movies are just so saturated with vibrant color.

Thanks, Old Hollywood, for producing films my daughter and I can enjoy together. :-)






My Tiny Dancer, Aurora :-)

xo

jbnewcomb<3