Gingerbread Granola

This is a really last-minute homemade gift idea (or just a yummy recipe to make for yourself)!  If your oven is free today, you could whip up this granola and have it for Christmas breakfast or give it as a last-minute homemade gift on Christmas Day.  Bonus - it makes your house smell fabulous!!

Are you celebrating Christmas at somebody else's home?  How about giving the host/hostess a gift of homemade granola and other breakfast goodies like fresh fruit, coffee/tea, etc.?  It's nice not having to cook breakfast the day after preparing so much food!

Gingerbread Granola
(adapted from a recipe in All You Magazine)

3 cups old-fashioned oats (I used organic)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup golden raisins (optional - dried apples would also be good)

Place racks in top and bottom thirds of oven.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Line 2 cookie sheets with foil.

In large bowl, mix oats, nuts and wheat germ together.  In a smaller bowl, combine brown sugar, molasses, oil, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.  Whisk together until smooth.  Stir molasses mixture into oat mixture until well-coated.  Spread evenly on 2 cookie sheets.

Bake granola about 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  After 25-30 minutes, switch cookie sheets from top to bottom and turn sheets around.  The granola will be dark due to the molasses.  After baking, remove cookie sheets from oven and put granola into a large bowl to cool.  Stir occasionally and add in raisins or dried apples if desired.

One of my favorite ways to eat granola is with vanilla yogurt.  Doesn't it make a cute parfait?  Yummy too!

Do you have a favorite granola recipe?  I also like to make this Super Light Granola to give as a gift and to eat with my yogurt.


This post linked to:
~ Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Have a fabulous day and a Merry Christmas friends!!

Coffee Break In A Box

Another last-minute homemade gift idea today!  If you're looking for a homemade gift for a group of people - like in an office - you might like this idea!  I put it together last week to share with the staff at our Christian school and they loved it!

I found 3 boxes of the same design but different sizes at Dollar Tree, but you could use tins or baskets too.  You could also combine this into one big basket.

In the first box I put a variety of hot chocolate packets, Starbucks Via instant coffee packets, and different tea bags.  You could add in packets of hot cider too.  I added a little sign that said "Pick 1."

In the second box I put two different kinds of homemade biscotti - Dried Cranberry Biscotti and Double Chocolate Walnut Biscotti.  You could fill this one with any homemade goodies!  I added a sign that said "Pick 2" and made sure I included enough for 2 for each staff member.

In the third box I put enough snack size baggies for everybody.  I labeled some "Coffee Break" and some "Afternoon Tea" and a few "Chocolate Attack."  :)  Cute labels printed off the computer would be the way to go, but I didn't have time and what you see is actually cut up name tag stickers - LOL!  I put in a sign that said "Pack it up" so each person could take their coffee break with them.

This was actually quite thrifty and fun to put together!  Do you know a group of people who would enjoy this?  The great thing is that you can do this any time of year as a special treat - not just Christmas!

This post is linked to:
~ WFMW at We Are THAT Family.
~ Chic & Crafty at The Frugal Girls.
~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom.

Have a fabulous day friends!!

Sweet Spiced Nuts

It's not too late to make homemade goodies to give out to family, friends, and neighbors for Christmas!  I mean, really, there are still 5 whole days - plennnnty of time!  :)

I made these yummy spiced nuts for Thanksgiving - tore the recipe out of a magazine a couple years ago (Food Network magazine).  They would make a great treat at a party or to bag up and hand out.

For Thanksgiving, I borrowed the idea from the magazine to put the nuts in a waffle cone at each place setting to look like a cornucopia.  All that's missing is a cute ribbon (but I just had guys at my house, so no ribbon necessary - LOL)!

Sweet Spiced Nuts

1 large egg white
1 tablespoon water
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
3 cups assorted nuts
2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.  Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Whisk egg white and water in large bowl until frothy.  In small bowl, combine sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cayenne pepper.  Toss nuts in egg white mixture.  Stir in spice mix and dashes of Worcestershire.

3. Spoon nuts onto baking sheet in small clusters.  Bake 30-35 minutes, until golden.  Cool completely and then break into pieces.

I'll have a couple more last-minute homemade food gift ideas to share this week.  And if you're need of a warm drink to go with your homemade goodies, stop by Frugal Plus where I posted a recipe for Snow-Topped Tea Nog!

This post linked to:
~ Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

Have a delicious day friends!

Crafts By Manuella Giveaway Winner

Thanks to all who entered the Crafts by Manuella giveaway for some sweet baby booties (custom color and size)!

Aren't these some of the cutest baby booties you've seen?!

And the winner is...

Silver Pansy Designs

Congrats Silver Pansy Designs (Karen)!!

If you didn't win, you can always stop by Crafts by Manuella to purchase adorable baby booties, beautiful blankets, American Doll sweater sets and more!

Have a lovely day friends!

Ruffles and Fringe Giveaway Winner

Thanks for entering the Ruffles and Fringe giveaway!  And thanks again to my "models" for helping show off Nicole's lovely headbands!

And the winner is...

Charlotte

Congrats Charlotte!!!

If you didn't win, you can go order a pretty headband for a gift or for yourself from Ruffles and Fringe!

Have a wonderful day friends!

Etsy Giveaway ~ Crafts By Manuella

**Giveaway now closed.**

Oh - another Etsy shop for you today!!  I told you how fun it is to know Etsy shop owners in real life - this is another one!  In fact, I've known her for a few years and not through blogging.  She is a wonderful lady with a great family (her daughter used to babysit my son) and she has such a servant's heart!  I am so glad that she has opened an Etsy shop and I am honored to be able to share it with you today!

This wonderful lady's name is Manuella and her shop is called Crafts by Manuella.  She knits all sorts of things for babies and dolls.  She sells the cutest baby booties that I have ever seen!!  She makes adorable sweater and hat sets for American Girl dolls and other lovely items.  Let me show you a few of my faves...

I have to start with the super cute booties - I LOVE these colors for Spring and Easter!

And how about this set for a sweet baby boy?!

Another cute color combo!

And just look at these beautiful baby blankets  - soft and pretty!

Look at the adorable doll sets: love this Easter yellow doll set!

If I were a young girl, I would have to have this pretty pink set for my doll!

And isn't this set cute with the little kitten buttons?!

There are too many cute things to show you here - you simply have to go over to Crafts by Manuella to see it all:  booties, blankets, doll sets, hats, slippers, etc.  I can tell you that these items are high-quality and well-made.

Any of these would be so cute for your own babies or children, but they also make wonderful baby shower gifts!  I was at a recent baby shower where a pair of Manuella's baby booties were one of the gifts.  Let me tell you - everybody "ooohed" and "awwwed" and they were passed around the room to admire!!

Manuella generously offered to give away a pair of her baby booties to one of my U.S. readers!  The winner chooses the color and size!  Thank you Manuella!  You don't need to have your own baby to enter this giveaway - think about your friends and family that have babies or will be having babies.  You might become the favorite "Aunt" for giving these booties as a gift!  :)

*Giveaway closed.*

How to enter:  Go over to Crafts by Manuella and look around, then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite item is or what colors you would pick if you won the baby booties.  That's it!

This giveaway will remain open through Monday 3/29 and I will announce the winner on Tuesday 3/30.

Disclosure:  I did not receive any items from Crafts by Manuella.  I personally know her and have seen her work in person and my opinions are based on that!

 

Have a great day friends!

Simple And Sweet Baby Shower Ideas

I recently attended a baby shower and had such a fun time!  I just had to share a few ideas from the shower with you in case you ever need to throw a baby shower (or adapt the ideas to fit a different type of party)!

All decor was done in neutrals which turned out so lovely and fit in well with the home's shabby chic decor.  I forgot my camera so I had a friend (thank you LW!) snap a pic of the cutest (yet simple) baby decor idea.

Do you see the word "baby"?  Those are little onesies with iron-on letters strung up with twine/string! I LOVE that idea!  You could even use it in a baby's room and could even spell out the baby's name on onesies.  So precious and clever!

And check out the gorgeous tissue pom-poms hanging!  Really cute!  I just saw a tutorial on how to make a small pom garland (which make great party or Spring decor) at A Life Designed, by RJ - check it out!

The neutral theme continued with the baby shower favors.

These hand-made cones were filled with candies - a simple and sweet idea!

And I managed to win a prize for one of the shower games!

It doesn't get easier than that!  My gift was inside the paper strips.  Neutral, simple, and still lovely (it's cuter in real life than my pic)!

There was great food, of course!  Rather than a cake, there were white cupcakes with white frosting - half of them had little toppers with a boy's name and half had toppers with a girl's name (the parents-to-be want to be surprised!).  You could also use a recipe like Almond Baby Cakes and spell out whatever you like on the tops.

And we played some fun games!  I wanted to share one quick and easy idea that I thought was really clever for any kind of shower.  Each guest addressed an envelope to themselves for the mom-to-be to use for her thank you notes and then one of them was drawn for a prize.  So easy and helped out the mom-to-be with pre-addressed envelopes!

I was just so impressed with the decorations and how the party was done that I felt I had to share some of the ideas with you!  I hope you enjoyed it and found a tip you can use!

Have a simply sweet day friends!

Etsy Giveaway ~ Ruffles and Fringe

**Giveaway now closed.**

I have another Etsy shop to tell you about today!  I hope you are having fun checking out some new shops!

I do love Etsy shops of people that I know through my blog and twitter, but you know what's really fun?  Having a friend that you know in real life open an Etsy shop!  I got to know Nicole through twitter and was blessed to actually meet her last year.  Here we are at a Yanni concert:

Nicole had a frugal blog (Being Frugal is Fabulous) but recently gave up her blog to focus on family and work on an Etsy shop instead.  Her shop is so cute!  It's feminine and trendy and works for little girls all the way up through lovely ladies!  It's called Ruffles and Fringe!

Nicole was sweet enough to give me 2 headbands to review.  I must say that they are well-made and even cuter than the pics!  Now my son wasn't about to model headbands for me - LOL!  I needed some cute girls to do it.  My friend's daughters helped me out - thank you girls (and thank you to my friend for taking the photos)!!

This is a pink tulle headband.

And this is a red rosette trio headband.

Aren't they pretty?  The headbands and the girls! I like this teal headband too:

And this pretty pink rosette headband:

Nicole has more than headbands in her shop.  Look at this pretty hair clip!

And check out this gorgeous melon pin:

There are too many lovely things to show you here - you need to go check out Ruffles and Fringe to see them all!

Nicole has a sweet treat for you!!  She is offering one of my U.S. readers a $15 gift certificate to her shop!!  Thank you Nicole!!

*Giveaway closed.*
How to enter:  Go over to Ruffles and Fringe and look around, then come back here and leave me a comment telling me what you think you would order if you won the gift certificate!

This giveaway will remain open through Friday 3/26 and the winner will be announced on Saturday 3/27.

Disclosure:  Ruffles and Fringe provided me with 2 headbands to review and generously offered to give away a $15 gift certificate.

Places you can find Nicole:
Etsy:  Ruffles and Fringe
Facebook:  Ruffles and Fringe
Twitter:  @rufflesnfringe

Thanks again Nicole!!  :)


Have a marvelous Monday friends!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ Godiva Giveaway

**Giveaway now closed.**

Welcome back to Chocolate Friday!  Time to reward yourself with some chocolate after a hectic week!

Oh, did I say Godiva?  Did that get your attention?  Well you know Godiva has fabulous chocolate!  And they have a lovely new Spring collection including chocolate truffles, bunnies, biscuits and more just in time for Easter gifts or even Mother's Day!

Look at this beautiful Spring Ballotin with the daffodil magnets on the box!

And I love these new Spring gift boxes with spring truffles (Cheesecake, Spring Raspberry, and Strawberries & Creme)!

Can't have an Easter collection without some adorable chocolate bunnies!

I had the opportunity to sample some Godiva chocolate!  I got to try this cute carrot filled with candy-coated chocolates!

Yummmm.  Hubs and I had it and well, we enjoyed it so much we ate.it.all. in one sitting and never even saved one bite for our son (don't sorry about our son, he has plenty of candy)!  Those chocolate pearls are delicious!  The candy-coating has just the right amount of crunch and sweetness and the chocolate inside is high quality as you would expect from Godiva!  And isn't that the most adorable packaging?

One of you (U.S. only), my fabulous readers will win one of these Milk Chocolate Pearl Carrots for yourself!  And because Godiva is generous and I worked with a sweet PR person (thank you Casie!), the winner will also receive one of the charming chocolate flower lollipops pictured below!

I know.  I rock.  Actually, Godiva rocks!

**Giveaway closed.**
How to enter:  Stop by Godiva and then come back and leave a comment telling me what your favorite Spring item is!  Super simple!

This giveaway will be open through Wednesday 3/24 and the winner will be announced Thursday 3/25.

Disclosure:  I received some free Godiva candy to sample and review if I chose and was generously provided with more candy to give away on my blog.
  
Enough of chocolate from me!  This is Chocolate Friday and I'm counting on you to link up some fabulous chocolate posts!  Please remember to only link to family-friendly posts that have something to do with chocolate and please try to include a link back here in your post so everybody can easily find more chocolate today!

Have a chocolatey day!

What Makes My Friends Think I Like Chocolate?

Maybe it's something to do with my blog name...or the desserts I make...or the chocolate smudges on my chin - LOL!  OK, so I DO like chocolate!

I have some very sweet friends!  My friend Lori Ann saw these items and said that they were calling my name so she simply had to get them for me!  I have to agree with her - they match my blog!  It's a dish towel and a little tray.

Aren't they CUTE?!  I love them - what a sweet blessing!  Thank you Lori Ann!!

Remember, I'm not really here today.  I am offline - completely - all day.  I might be curled up in a ball on the floor suffering computer withdrawal.  Or I might be attacking the cabinet of paperwork I talked about yesterday.  Hopefully the latter.  :)

Have a terrific Tuesday!!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Cinnamon-Eggnog Scones

Are you sitting down with your cup of tea?  I hope you get to have a few relaxing post-Christmas moments!  I thought I better share these scones while there might still be eggnog in the stores - in case you want to hurry up and try this recipe!

I made these Cinnamon-Eggnog Scones from King Arthur Flour for our Christmas morning breakfast.  Wow - absolutely delicious and liked by all!  I will definitely make them again next year!  They are rich and have such a nice flavor combination.

I didn't get the best pic of them, but here it is:

You can stop by King Arthur Flour's blog for the recipe.

And just because it goes with tea in my mind, I'll tell you a couple of gifts that my hubs gave me: the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy) and the BBC version of Jane Eyre (with Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester)!  Isn't that sweet?

I hope you get to try these scones - they're so yummy!  Did you make something special for Christmas morning?

Friends Don't Let Friends Go Through Life With Unresolved Barbie Doll Issues

Yes, you read that right.  And yes, I am the one with unresolved Barbie issues.  If you already saw the vlog (video) I posted a few months ago, then you know what I'm talking about!

Here's the link to that video in case you feel the need to better understand my childhood and you have a spare 5 minutes or so that you'll never get back.  If you decide that you would rather not watch the crazy chocolate woman babbling over-dramatically about her childhood issues (though now I've made you curious, haven't I?), I can sum it up for you.

My parents did not buy me a Barbie doll...ever.  *gasp*  They did buy me (the supposedly favored eldest daughter) a Skipper - Barbie's short, flat-chested little sister.  BUT, they bought my sister 2 different Barbies and a Ken doll!  Shocking!  Anyway, I've never gotten over it and my sister's Kissing Barbie's pretty pink floral dress is burned into my memory.

My friend Katie was well aware of my video and er, issues.  She knew just what to do - she got me the perfect Christmas present!

YES!!!  I am now the proud owner of a very cute and glittery Barbie doll!  Thank you!  I feel that some bitterness has just melted away - LOL!  Hey sister's old Kissing Barbie - see that tiara and heart-shaped handbag?  That's MY Barbie...uh-huh,YEAH...that's right.

Wow - childhood issues resolved.  Well, one of them anyway.  One of many.  Hmmm...I wonder if a friend would be willing to get me a Big Wheel??

Did you have Barbies?  And did you have a favorite?  And do you have childhood issues like me?  :)

Have a marvelous Monday!