homemade granola bars (with only 4 ingredients!)

in an attempt to be healthier and to stop getting so dadgum hungry in the middle of the day, i decided to try out a new homemade snack food. and it. is. AMAZING. i don't know why i'm so surprised, but these little granola squares are so good. and so much better for you than store bought! goodbye corn syrup and preservatives! (well, that statement really depends on the ingredients you use, and i admit, i could have made them even healthier than i did. i'm not sure if the peanut butter i used is actually preservative free, but the next time i make these granola bars, i'm going to be using homemade peanut butter from a post i just found on pinterest yesterday.) the original recipe can be found here.

this is seriously all you need:

4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped peanuts (i used honey roasted because they were on sale)

3/4 cup peanut butter (the healthier the peanut butter, the healthier the bar)

1/2 cup honey

(1/2 cup chocolate chips--optional. i made half the batch with, half without)

this is what you do:

i first chopped up my peanuts in the food processor, then combined them with the oats. add the honey and mix it all together. i couldn't get it to combine completely, so i did as much as i could without getting frustrated, then moved on with my life.

next you melt the peanut butter and add to the concoction. once the peanut butter was added, it was a lot easier to combine it together. it takes a few minutes to get it all worked in together. give it some time before you decide to add more honey or peanut butter because i was surprised at how well it eventually mixed together.

 if you are wanting to add in anything else like chocolate chips--that's what i added to half the batch--or dried fruit, now is a good time to do that. the "dough" wound up looking something like this. it was pretty crumbly-looking, but it was still moist throughout and once i pressed it into the pans, it was a uniform mixture. 

put the "dough" in a greased baking dish...

and press it down. 

this is what i ended up with.

bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. the amount of time you need and the overall crispiness of the granola squares depends on thick you make them in the dishes and how much you press the "dough." mine were about a 1/4" thick. bake until golden brown.
note: i went ahead and cut mine when they first came out of the oven because they were still soft. after cooling they hardened more, so i am glad i decided to cut them fresh!

did i mention how amazing these are? 

greeeeeeeeen smoothie

so as part of my week's resolutions, i tried out a smoothie recipe this lovely sunday afternoon that i'll be eating (drinking) for breakfast tomorrow. i made it today in case my resolution for getting out of bed earlier failed and because i wanted to make sure i liked it before i used valuable morning time on something i won't actual drink.

i started out with someone else's smoothie recipe (pictured above) and then added some of my own flair. the original recipe claimed, "drink this daily and watch the pounds come off without fuss." i don't really believe in miracle cures, but i do believe that antioxidants and all the other goodies found in this smoothie help with weight loss, energy, and overall good healthy feelings. the last three ingredients in the list are my own. since i wanted to use it as my breakfast i decided to add the protein powder to help sustain me to my 1:30pm lunch period. i added the green tea because i swear by green tea. it's amazing. i added the strawberries because i had strawberries on hand.

ingredients

2 handfuls spinach

2 bananas

1 cup yogurt

1 cup water

1 cup chunk pineapple

4 strawberries

1 scoop protein powder

1/4 cup blueberry green tea 

directions

put all the ingredients into the blender. all i did before blending was break apart some banana...but that's really only to make it fit better.

 then blend, blend, blend until it's a texture you enjoy.

taste and add any ingredients you'd like to add.

i chose to add strawberries...

and blueberry green tea. (i steeped two tea bags in a 1/4 cup boiling water.)

blend again, pour, and enjoy!

this week's resolutions

i have a few resolutions for this week. and only this week. i can't commit to anything longer than this week--that's the current state of my mind/heart/life. when i think about all the changes i want to see in my everyday life, habits i want to break, new habits i want to begin...i get really overwhelmed. so, one week at a time. here are the resolutions for this week:

1. wake up 15 minutes earlier everyday than i have been. i've been hardcore pushing it lately. i've been giving myself juuuuust enough to get dressed and to get to work on time. 15 minutes seems like a doable amount of time to start chopping off this week. 
2. drink a glass of lemon water before i drink my mug of coffee. i have a deep-seated affection for lemons in general, and this blog post i found further reinforces my love and desire to make my love of them a daily habit.
3. make a breakfast and eat at home/in the car everyday this week. when i pack it to eat at school, it's hit and miss whether or not it actually ever gets eaten. something i've really been wanting to try is making high-protein smoothies. i found some delightful-looking recipes on pinterest. anything worth giving a second try i will blog about.
4. be prepared for the school day before the actual school day begins. last week i had an awfully stressful day because not only was my lunch block taken by duty but my planning period was unexpectedly taken up, too. it was so stressful because i barely, just barely, worked it out. not only are my nerves struggling to keep up, i'm way behind in preparing for the after-school play. 
5. go to the gym at least one day this week. it hasn't been happening at all as of late, so maybe one day a week can eventually turn into, well, more than that.

so 5 goals. i'm hoping i can handle that. i'll let you know how it goes. 

there is much to learn

i have seen and felt so deeply recently that my heart tends toward melancholy and that it tends towards anxiety. i've been sitting here all evening looking at pinterest and checking out blogs and growing oh-so-discontent. i was going to come and write a blog about all the things i wish i could be doing with my life right now instead of what i am doing. but i'm not going to. not because those desires aren't valid but because obsessing over them isn't helpful and is so far from the point. i have been overwhelmed this week at how my job is my current crucible. now you really need to know it's not a crucible because of my administration or because of my co-workers or even because of my students. it's a crucible because it forces me to go against all of my natural tendencies every single day. my first instinct is not confidence but fear, not fight but flight, not confrontation but unresponsiveness. for example, the thought of having to call a parent about a student's behavior will make me feel so physically sick i think i might throw up...for up to two days. yeah, it's bad. my job is so hard for me, but i'm seeing (reluctantly so most days) that there is such value in my being there because i have to struggle to believe and live the Gospel everyday. i have to struggle to not be compelled by a desire to please people but by a desire to serve people. i have to struggle to not be compelled out of fear of getting in trouble but out of conviction of what is right. i have to struggle to not be compelled by a desire to be applauded but by compassion and love for my students. more than that i have to struggle to believe that living in the Gospel is actually everything i'm looking for--it is the only means to true freedom, joy and peace. honestly, most of my year has been spent relinquishing the fight to my anxiety, which has made me self-serving, self-preserving and people-pleasing more often than not. i have grown exhausted and despondent. Jesus has been so sweet to me and has been so faithful to wash my heart with Truth. one example of that comes from isaiah 35, which is below. the entire passage is so beautiful and so full to the brim with hope. i have felt freedom this week in the Gospel that has been very foreign to my soul for awhile. this freedom has not yet overwhelmingly transformed my actions but it has begun to creep into my soul, transforming my heart and thoughts. there is hope yet.

that is all for now, but i'm sure there will be so much more to come over the next few weeks. there is much to learn.

from scratch honey sesame chicken

the hubs and i love us some cheap asian-esque food, so i am so excited to say that i have a recipe that is--to our taste buds--just as good as a restaurant (at least the cheap ones). i took a crock pot recipe to make the sauce and i simply fried some chicken and tossed it in the sauce. note: i think i figured out how to mimic Chick-fil-a chicken nuggets...but more on that later. here's the recipe for the sauce. enjoy :)

ingredients

1/2 cup honey

1/4 soy sauce

1/8 cup ketchup

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 tbsp water

sesame seeds

directions

1. heat the honey, soy sauce, and ketchup on medium heat. i used a small whisk to help combine them.

2. add the red pepper flakes and garlic. whisk again.

3. add the corn starch water mixture and bring sauce to boil.

4. stir as it boils until it seems to get to a consistency that you like. (if you want the sauce to be thinker, add more cornstarch.)

5. toss the chicken nuggets in the sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

note about cornstarch: i grew up with a mother who was allergic to corn, so i'm assuming that's why i am just now discovering the magic of creating sauces with cornstarch. for those of you who are also new to the world of cornstarch, let me tell you the most important fact: you have to bring it to a boil in order for the cornstarch to thicken the sauce. the first time i attempted this sauce i royally messed up and made it way too thick. the recipe i was using failed to mention that whole boiling thing, so i kept adding cornstarch. fail. but i have since learned my lesson and i love this new-to-me technique.