Care Package #32: Whole Food Bars

I have been wanting to try this recipe for months, but I kept forgetting to soak the almonds the night before. Well, I finally remembered and I love the way these bars turn out! The other nice thing, especially considering the heat wave we've been having, is that they are made in the food dehydrator instead of the oven.

Whole Food Granola Bars

2 C raw almonds
1 C applesauce
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1.5 C water
1.5 C dried figs
.5 C dried cranberries
.5 C chopped prunes
.5 C raisins
.5 C chopped walnuts
.5 C whole wheat flour
5 C old fashioned oats
honey or molasses for sweetener

Soak almonds in water for at least 6 hours. Remove almonds skins and drain water. In a blender combine almonds, applesauce, cinnamon and water. Thoroughly process the mixture then pour into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix. Plop 1/4C of dough onto parchment-lined dehydrator trays. Flatten to about 1/2inch thick and shape into bars. Dry until bars are hard, allow to cool, then package.

You can use any combination of dried fruits or nuts that you'd prefer. I'm going to try this one again, but replace the applesauce with mashed bananas (and maybe even another batch with peanut butter!). Enjoy!

Knitting, knitting, knitting

After making the cute Cable Cap, I decided to try a few of the other patterns in my "Hats Gloves Scarves" book.

I was a little wary of this ribbed hat. Would I like making a whole hat in ribbing? Would I be able to focus on the rib pattern and not get frustrated? Would I even like the end product? Ends up the answer to all those questions is "Yes!"


The next hat I tried was a simple cap with small stripes. I love this pattern because it's letting me use up some of my stash of yarn scraps and it has such a nice, rich tone to it.

In fact, I like the striped pattern so much that I just started another one in greens!

For something a little different, check out my recent backyard visitor! It reminded me of the worm at the beginning of Labyrinth, without the charming accent.

Care Package #31: Birthday!

Today is Brian's birthday! I sent his birthday package early just to make sure it got to him on time (not being a better fan of the "better late than never" mentality). Since I knew Brian would be getting this package after his PT test, I decided that a not-so-healthy goody was in order. So, as requested, I sent a batch of brownies that had Brian's name all over it (the M&M's were easier to read before the batter was baked, but it still has his name on it).

Months ago, back before Brian ever left for Iraq, we were talking about things we liked as kids. He mentioned enjoying the old Popeye cartoons and the Popeye movie starring Robin Williams. I didn't even know there was a Popeye movie, but I started looking for it last year. My hope was to find a used copy on eBay or Amazon or something, so you could imagine my surprise when I found it for $5 at Target! I also found a great set of really old cartoons on DVD for a $1 at Michael's craft store. I wanted to add something else fun to tie in with the Popeye theme, but thought it would just be mean to send a can of spinach. So I bought two cans of fruit cocktail with pop-top lids and made my own Popeye-themed spinach labels for them.

So proud!

That's my boy!

So much for relaxing summers...

You may be thinking to yourself "Hmmm, Skye has been quite the slacker at blogging lately. She must be just lazing around on the beach enjoying that sweet Savannah summer."

Oh, how wrong you would be! Here is a quick summary of the last few weeks (not necessarily in chronological order).

Last weekend was the annual Thrivent St. Mary's to Fernandina cruise.

Joy and I rode along on Kevin's motorboat since the sailboat was out of commission this year.

We got to see the ponies on Cumberland Island and Fort Clinch, both from a distance. Lunch was fun, but being in the direct sun for 2 hours was a bit much for me and I rode home with Dad in the car.

When I got to Dad's that Friday after work, I had just enough time to get in a quick workout on his treadmill. I forgot how much I enjoy jogging when it's not on hard pavement or 98degrees outside. When I came home I decided that I would start trolling CraigsList and FreeCycle to see if I could eventually get lucky. And lucky I was! I managed to score this sweet tready for a bargain.

I had to make an exception to my July spending-freeze (once a quarter I implement a spending -freeze and don't buy anything except gas and groceries), but I didn't know when another deal like this would come along and it seemed like adding cardio was the next rational step in my exercise program.

On the crafting front, I have continued experimenting with the little zippered pouches. I think I might be on to something with the striped pouch below...

In addition to the zipper and exterior pocket like the others, I have added a flap that has a few card slots. It still needs some fine-tuning, but I really like it!

Jessie has a great book of cute, quick patchwork projects, where I found the pattern for this adorable little bird ornament. It looks very different in the book, where they used floral and patterned fabric. But with the solid colors, it just feels like it's lacking something. Eyes? Wings? I'm not sure yet...

In the knitting world, I FINALLY finished the lacework shrug that I started last May! Because I improvised the pattern, it ended up not being exactly the right size to make the type of shrug I intended. But in true crafter form, I winged it again and am really happy with how it came out. Of course, it's a bit too warm to wear anything wool right now, but come Fall this will be perfect.

To celebrate the completion of a ridiculously long knitting project, I decided to whip up a really quick one! This charming little cabled cap came out much smaller than I expected, but looks to be just the right size for some folks!

Yesterday was my 8-hour home buyer class, which really means a 10+ hour work day on a Saturday. Blah. If you think that means that I took today off completely, you would be wrong again! This was my to-do list for today:

I also made my lunches for the week and finally updated my blog (as you have just witnessed). The yogurt will go in the oven tonight and since I'll be taking a comp day tomorrow, hopefully I will get to those last three items!

Care Package #30: Red, White and Blueberry Bars

Even though I have a handy little spreadsheet to help me plan out the care packages to coordinate shipping dates with special days, I occasionally get a little off track. The S'mores package was all shelf stable goods and hence was shipped out as soon as I knew that Brian himself had shipped back out. So they arrived in Iraq in time for the Fourth of July, while my actual Independence Day themed goodies were mailed out the day after the holiday. I know that I'm probably the only one who would notice, or even care, but it still irked me.

Especially since I had what I believe was a really neat idea. I took Oats and Honey Nature Valley Granola bars (I'm still trying to find a recipe that bakes up as crunchy as these), frosted them with melted white chocolate chips, then sprinkled dried blueberries and cranberries on top. Ta-dah! Red, White and Blueberry Bars!

Okay, so the picture isn't the greatest. But they sure tasted good!

...and may all their wishes come true.

My very dear friends, Alana and Xander, have recently adopted two of the most precious little ones that I have ever seen (and will soon get to meet!).

Earlier in the adoption process, Alana had talked about wanting to make a "Wish Quilt" for their kids. I was immediately taken with the idea: friends, family, etc all submit a wish or favorite quote which is then compiled into a quilt. The thought of all those loving wishes swaddling their babies just gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

When Alana decided that she just wasn't up to coordinating and making the Wish Quilts, I knew I couldn't let this great idea slip away. I reached out to any friends/family of theirs that I knew or could track down and asked them to secretly pass along their wishes to me. I know this was many months ago, but it takes a while to weave together all those lovely thoughts!

Below are the finished quilts, along with close-up shots of all the wonderful wishes that were sent to Henry and Yona. I would like to thank everyone that contributed to this project, and especially to Alana and Xander for letting me be a small part of the huge process of starting their family!