Pumpkin Granola Bars

It's back and it's everywhere. Pinterest. Starbucks. From candles to bread to drinks to the pumpkin patch. Is it just me or is pumpkin super popular these days? Like pop culture popular. I feel like pumpkin has it's own style, and it's definitely a household name. For me, it's delicious and fragrant and taking up space in my freezer!!! So, in an effort to use up last year's stock and make room for some new stuff {my parent's pumpkins are always prolific so we end up freezing a TON!} I've been putting pumpkin in everything.

When I first made these pumpkin granola bars, I wasn't sure whether my hubby would be on board or not. He likes pumpkin but not pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice lattes or any of the other pumpkin goodness that I love. But I made them with him in mind, since now he's back at school and needing snacks to get him through the day. I also made them with Burke in mind, since he's at the age where he eats like a grazer. All day long. Little bits at a time. So I like to keep healthy snacks on hand for him as well.

Needless to say, these were a hit with everyone! They had a nice granola bar texture--soft and chewy, but not sticky or messy--and they were easy to eat on the run.


Healthy Pumpkin Granola Bars 
adapted from Oh Sweet Basil Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars 
Ingredients:

4 cups quick oats

      1/2 cup coconut oil

     1/4 cup organic cane sugar or sucanat

     1/2 cup pumpkin puree

     1/2 cup honey

     1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*

     1/2 teaspoon sea salt

     1/2 cup pepitas {pumpkin seeds}

     1/4 cup sunflower seeds

      1/4 cup flax seeds

        1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

      1 Tablespoon wheat germ 

      1 – 1 1/2 cups raisins

  

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees and place parchment paper in a 9x13” baking dish
 

     In a large bowl, mix together the oats and coconut oil. Add the pumpkin, honey and sugar and mix thoroughly. Add in the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

  

      Press the mixture into the parchment-lined baking dish and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven  and press down on the granola bars using a spatula or large spoon. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely before cutting.

* Don’t have pumpkin pie spice? Make your own! Simply combine 4 Tablespoons of ground cinnamon, 4 teaspoons of each ground nutmeg and ground ginger and 3 teaspoons of ground allspice. {This will give you plenty of pumpkin pie spice for all of your Fall recipes!}

Hope you enjoy these as much as we did!!

What are some of your favorite Fall foods, flavors and/or fragrances?

Friday

It's Friday. It's warm outside. The sun is shining. And for the first time since Violet was born, we got to play outside. {my soul is whooping and hollering right now!} Seriously, the poor girl had to wait over 3 months to get her pretty face in the sun. But she loved it.

Oh my soul needed this day. And so did Burke's. He's an outdoor kind of guy--at his happiest when free to roam and explore.

All of the winter tension faded the instant we set foot outside this morning. It's beautiful out and the forecast shows more beautiful days ahead. I hope you get out and enjoy this weekend! I know we will.

Oh, and if you haven't checked out Bloglovin yet, you really should. It's amazing! And if you're already there, I hope you'll add my blog to your reading list. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Because He Lives {Printable Easter Bag Topper}

Easter is right around the corner. First there's Spring. {WOO HOO} Then there's Easter. It feels like it gets earlier each year. And besides being beyond excited for warmer weather and a big and tasty Easter dinner, you know what these two things have in common for me?

Hope. 

There's just something about sunshine and warm temperatures that make my heart overflow with hope and fill my heart with joy. I can face the future and all of its uncertainties without thought. I can take my children outside and enjoy the fresh scent of the Springtime air. Nothing is wrong with the world when my ears are filled with the lyrical notes of their laughter and coos. We can celebrate the wonder of new life: baby animals, baby buds. No doubt about it, Springtime is magical.

And hope of salvation. A hope that fills my heart with an endless and unfathomable love. A love that is greater than me. That tells me I'm beautiful. Perfect. Worthy. Even when I fail. When I'm a hopeless mess. My Daddy sees me as He created me. He doesn't see me the way I do. And there is no greater hope than this.

So as you celebrate the glories of Spring and feast around the Easter table, I wish you a heart full of hope. I pray that you too believe that life is worth living simply because He lives.

{Since my heart-shaped lotion bars were such a hit on Valentine's Day, I decided to make Easter-themed lotion bars for friends and family. Feel free to use my "because he lives" bag toppers for your Easter treats. Click here to download.}

Celebrating A New Season

and I'm not talking about Fall. Although I am pretty excited for cooler weather, jeans, boots and colorful tree lines!  

Our little family has been celebrating a new season in our lives. {I'm so thankful for seasons, aren't you? Life would be pretty boring living the entire thing in just one season!}

My hubby and I celebrated our four-year wedding anniversary! What an honor and a blessing to have spent the past four years building relationship with a man who loves me unconditionally and tells me that I'm the most beautiful woman in the world. No matter whether I feel beautiful. To him, I am--at my worst, at my best, always. I thank God for him each day. For the man he is, the integrity he possesses, and the love he has for Burke and me.

I stepped into a brand new decade last week! Cheers to my 30s! Ben was terrified to turn 30. I, however, have always thought that I'd probably be my most glamorous at 30. {I was in for a rude awakening when, as an adult, I discovered that the Victoria's Secret models were more like 18 rather than the 30-somethings I thought they were as a child.} Glamorous or not, I am thankful for 30 in so many ways. Maybe some of you had figured out life much earlier than I did, but my journey was quite long and winding. By grace, I've arrived at a place where I know who I am {a daughter of the King, saved by grace, worthy and perfect in His sight} and I now have the confidence to raise my children in love that I did not have even a few years ago. I really believe that the best of life is ahead of me. So cheers to 30!

We are halfway to meeting Baby #2! This second pregnancy is flying by at an alarming speed! I'm sure it's mostly due to the fact that Burke keeps us so busy that we hardly have time to think about the life growing inside of me. But here we are--halfway to January 3! {By the way, this means there are less than 20 weeks til Christmas!} This pregnancy has been so completely opposite my first. I was sick for the first 12 weeks, I'm carrying higher, I felt movement {strong movement} very early on, no heartburn {praise the Lord!}, and I have absolutely no gut instinct as to what the gender of our baby will be. Although we never found out Burke's gender, I knew from day 1 that he was a boy. But this one--I just don't know. Ben and I did wake up the same morning having both had a dream the night before that it was a girl... But who knows? And we're not finding out again, as it makes it all the more exciting! Either way, whatever Baby #2 turns out to be, we are looking forward to finding out even how much more love we will experience.

I have begun my new job as a full-time mama! This is perhaps the most exciting part of this new season! Today is my first day in my new role and I couldn't be happier. Over the past four years, I have been blessed to learn how to be a good attorney from some of the best in town. And even more blessed by the support they gave when I decided to resign so that I could invest my whole self in my family. I spent the past year working part-time, but even with that amazing flexibility, I found myself unable to be fully present with my son on the days I was home because I was so busy trying to do all of the chores and cooking for the rest of the week. I am so thankful for this gift of time and I look forward to discovering all of the treasures it contains.

Are you experiencing or on the verge of experiencing a new season?