Hopeful Homemaker

Project: Dining Room, Part I

June 3, 2009 jennifer Decorating

Here is my dining room:

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It currently contains an old table, which I painted black, and a bookshelf which houses my vintage silver.
That’s it.

No chairs, and nothing on the walls except this mirror which I bought at the thrift store for $3.00 and painted white a few weeks ago.

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There is a chair rail that my Dad helped install just a couple of months after we moved in, but which I still haven’t painted because there is more I want to do to the walls first.
But for more than a year and a half, these walls have been blank.

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Pretty boring for a dining room, don’t you think?

Several months ago I started picking up old frames that had some interesting detail to them.
Frames like this, that look brown and beat up, but I saw some potential in them.

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For a long time I thought that I would paint all the frames black because the table is black, but I’m sort of glad that I waited, because a few weeks ago I decided to paint them white instead.
I just used a high gloss white paint and I wasn’t too picky about how it turned out. I just kept painting until they were well covered.

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I’ve been collecting old black and white family photographs, and I want one wall to turn into a sort of family history gallery.

At last, today I decided that rather than wait until I get all the frames and photos I want, I would just start by hanging what I have in a collage.

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And here it is!
I want to add several more, but I’m really pleased with Part I.
Suddenly the room has a lot more character, and they are really cool photos too.

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Granola Bars

May 30, 2009 jennifer Snacks and Appetizers

My children love snacks, and homemade granola bars never last long in this house.

They are a simple thing to make, and what I love about them is that they’re so versatile; I can use what I have on hand and they always taste great. They start with a few basic ingredients, and you can be creative from there.

Begin with 1 cup of margarine or butter img_4863-large Melt the butter and add 2 cups brown sugar.
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Pour in 1 cup light corn syrup img_4865-large and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
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Next, add 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter.
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Stir the ingredients together until it forms a sort of smooth paste.
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Add 1 cup shredded coconut img_4869-large and 5 cups oatmeal. (You can also do half oatmeal and half rice krispies for variety.)
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Stir together, and then start adding whatever your family will like.
In this batch, I added some chopped smoked almonds (about 1/2 cup) img_4871-large I also added 1/2 cup flax seeds img_4872-large and 2/3 cup sunflower seeds.
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Finally, I added about 1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips.
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Stir well. The key is to have the mixture sticking together in large clumps.
As long as you do that, you can add whatever you’d like.
I like to add wheat germ, but I’m out of that today. My family likes nuts, so I always add some.
You can also add raisins or other dried fruit, or any other flavor that you love in granola bars.

Next I dump the mixture onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
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I usually save the wrappers from the butter and I use them to help spread and pack down the mixture a little before I bake it.
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Spread the mixture to the edges of the pan.
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Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the edges are bubbly and the granola bars are just beginning to brown a little bit.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool.

Now, my family always manages to get permission to cut them while they’re still a little bit warm.
They’re yummy warm, but I must warn you that they fall apart more.
If you let them cool for several hours or even overnight, then they will cut well and hold their shape without crumbling.
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These granola bars are really yummy and they’re also filling.
Granted, they have brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in them.
But I also tend to pack them with other healthy nuts so my kids are eating something with a lot more substance then most store-bought granola bars. Furthermore, the children love them because they’re delicious!

These store well. When school is in, I usually make a bunch and wrap them individually for quick and easy lunch assembly in the mornings. If I don’t cut them up and store some quickly, the whole pan disappears before I know it!

Hopeful Homemaker’s Granola Bars 1 cup melted butter or margarine 2 cups brown sugar 1 cup light corn syrup 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut 5 cups oatmeal (or a combination of oatmeal and rice krispy cereal) sunflower seeds wheat germ nuts of any kind raisins chocolate chips any other flavor you’d like to supplement!

Preheat oven to 350. Grease cookie sheet. In large bowl, melt butter and combine butter, sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and peanut butter. Stir well until mixture forms a good paste. Add coconut and oatmeal and stir well. Start adding in whatever ingredients you want, as long as the mixture sticks together in large clumps. Press onto cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and it is beginning to turn golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.
For a 9×13 pan, cut this recipe in half.

Free at last!

May 30, 2009 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

Some mothers dread having their children out of school for the summer.

Not this one.
I didn’t want to send them back after spring break.

Yesterday was our last day of school, and let me just tell you how good it feels to be done.
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I realize that it means lots of noise all day long and nonstop trips to the kitchen for something to eat.
(But, you see, with 3 preschoolers and a kindergartener, I already have that every day.)

What makes me jump for joy is that now I am free to do what is best for US, not what is best for someone else’s schedule, priorities, and so forth.
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Sure, summer brings its own brand of busyness, but it’s the kind that allows us to do what meets our needs, and let everything else go. It means my little ones can nap until they wake up, not until it’s time to get in the car and pick someone up from somewhere.
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It means I can quit accumulating hundreds of new freckles on the left side of my face simply by not being in the car for several hours every afternoon!
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It means we can read until the book ends, play until it’s dark outside, work until the job is done, and generally experience good, old-fashioned childhood for a while.