Homemade Granola Bars {Large Family Food on a Budget}

Yikes!  Granola bar prices just keep going up at Aldi.  It was time to leave those grab and go snacks on the grocery store shelves and make our own.  Like just about everything I do in the kitchen we did this big time.  At last count we made a total of 80+ bars and one bowl of delicious granola chunks.  But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Amber and I spent some time on Pinterest looking for granola bar recipes similar to the kind I've been buying.  We settled on four recipes, grabbed our coats (and Joe) and headed to the grocery stores for all the ingredients. 

I'll share links to each recipe and any changes we made.  We doubled all the recipes because we're a lot of people.

5 Ingredient Dark Chocolate Almond & Coconut Homemade KIND Bars {Beaming Baker}

I have to be honest after mixing these up I had my doubts as to how they would turn out.  Come on nuts, coconut, salt and maple syrup will some how turn into granola bars???  Yes, some how it happened and they were delicious.  They turned out very crunchy, yet chewy in the middle.  So good!!  These were by far my favorite.  However, we did not dip them in chocolate or add the chocolate drizzle - they just didn't need any more sweetness.  They also didn't cut well into bars.  I think I was only able to get about 6 bars; the rest cracked and crumbled into what we ended up calling granola bites.  We gobbled it up in one sitting and I have BIG plans on making this again with other nuts and 85% chocolate bits.

Homemade Granola Bars:  No-Bake {Creations by Kara}

Kid friendly describes these to a "T".  No nuts, no dried fruit just regular chocolate chip granola bar stuff with flax hidden deep within the peanut butter and brown sugar.  Emily and Amber doubled this recipe and pressed it into my Nordic Ware 1/2 sheet pan. 
They were very thick and once cooled, set and wrapped made for a very filling snack.  The kids ate these up so fast.  Next time I really need to "quad" the recipe which would be so easy to do.

Blueberry Vanilla Greek Yogurt Granola Bars {Half Baked Harvest}

These were definitely the most putsy of all the recipes and if we'd made them correctly it would've taken 5 days to be completely finished.  My crew doesn't want to wait that long for any food even a super yummy granola bar.  So after freezing them down we simply put on the greek yogurt frosting drizzle and didn't do the dipping.  I'm sure they would've held together better if dipped, but they still got eaten up.  Oh, and I substituted what else, cranberries for half the blueberries.

Homemade Clif Bars {Liv Lives Life}

These were sticky so we packaged them in snack size baggies, then stored in fridge.  Maybe because they were in the fridge they didn't get eaten as fast as the others.  Nick took complete advantage of that eating nearly every one himself.

How much did we actually save?

Well.  Granola bars at Aldi range anywhere from $0.16 each for the basic up to $1.00+ each for the knock-off Clif and Kind bars.  Since I added all ingredients and divided by the total number of bars my average price per bar is.......

1 Homemade granola bar = $0.30 or less even with the expensive box of cereal added in.😉

This was really a fun day spent in the kitchen with a number of my kids.  It was loud and chaotic, but isn't anything when moms, teens, and littles are involved??? 

Want a peek into our granola bar escapade check out our YouTube video.

Why I Started Ordering Household Supplies From Walmart

Haven't had to step food in @walmart with these #cuties for over a month.  I love their 2-day free shipping.  I'm getting quite a stash of boxes, but they make great animal houses and dolly beds. #walmartmom #nevergoingtothestoreagain #shoppinginthecomfortofmyownhome #walmart 😃😃😃

A post shared by Jennifer Brockman (@camphomeschool) on Jul 2, 2017 at 6:38pm PDT

The mention of Walmart brings one of two reactions:

1.  Ugh.  It's so huge; it takes me forever to get through the store.

2.  Love it.  Love the prices.  Love that I can get everything (almost) in one place.

I side more with the second reaction, unless of course I'm toting along three youngsters.  Then I'm more like ugh!

I've seen a lot of hype online about ordering household supplies from Walmart.  Amazon vs. Walmart price wars has also been a headliner in the news.  So I knew I had to check it out.  I've been an Amazon Prime member for years.  I've used the Subscribe & Save feature, the 2-day free Prime Shipping option, and Amazon Pantry.

Even though I was already familiar with the Amazon way, I really wanted to check out Walmart.com because I buy most of our household supplies and a few specific grocery items at Walmart every month.  I typically head into town for one giant grocery shopping trip to Aldi and then drive South to the Walmart.  

It's not such a bad gig if I'm alone or with only teens, but with the younger ones it pretty much adds up to misery.  They want to sit in the cart, but there's no room.  They don't want to sit in the cart, but they're getting into the way of other shoppers.  They have to go potty.  They're thirsty.  They want ice cream and cookies and fruit loops and a papaya and yogurt tubes and, and, and.....

Two or three hours of shopping just isn't their thing.

Enter Walmart.com 2-day free shipping.

I've been placing orders since May, I think.  And I have it down pat now.

Here's how I use Walmart.com to order our household needs for a family of nine.

Most importantly is I have an account that I stay logged into.  Then instead of writing down items we're running low on, I just go straight to Walmart.com, shop for the item I need, place it in my cart, and then go about my day like nothing happened.  Adding to my cart instead of writing on a list has revolutionized my shopping.  I'm always watching for things that we're getting low on instead of waiting until we're out and running to the store.  I've only had to make one stop at Walmart and that was to get a few meat items and some jeans.  But, guess what?  Now that I know what size, style, and brand works for Nick, I can just order him another pair of jeans.

Right now my cart looks like this:

When I have enough for free shipping, I hit the purchase now button and in a couple of days my items arrive at my front door.

I use scrip to support our church and this still works perfectly.  I purchase our monthly Walmart budget amount in scrip cards and then use them to pay for my online order.  It's so simple!

So that's how I've been ordering household supplies from Walmart.  Here's a look at my latest shipment.

This last order was divided into a number of boxes.  I do understand separating food from cleaning supplies, but this seemed a little over the top.

Box #1 - pretty full

Box #2 - huge box, not much in it, a couple boxes were squashed (didn't have any effect on the contents)

Box #3 - not too full

Box #4 - another big box for not a lot of stuff

Box #5 and #6 - Really?

Here's a look at what was actually in all those boxes.

A few squashed boxes, but nothing that hurt the product inside.

I buy most groceries at Aldi, but there's always a few things I can't get there like:  coffee, Knorr seasoning, corn starch, bulk black peppercorns, self-rising flour (I'm reading the Rachel Yoder books to Peter and Maria, Rachel makes a birthday cake for her brother and the recipe is included in the book.  They want to bake the cake so I bought self-rising flour)

Joseph and Maria packed it all back up and got it into 2 medium sized boxes.  I'm sure Walmart has their reasons for separating it out into so many boxes and I still got free 2-day shipping.  Ordering this way has been such a time saver.  The closest Walmart is 30 minutes from home making home delivery quite a treat.

Shopping this way has also saved us money.  The typical quick trip to Walmart for a few things can easily turn into a long, pricey excursion with endcap specials and unnecessary extras.

Have you made the jump to online ordering?  Yes?  No?  Why or why not?  Share your experiences with me and all my other readers.  We'd all love to hear about them.

Black Bean Quesadillas :: Frugal Friday Lunch

I think the cold, wet days of this Wisconsin spring are almost behind us.  YEAH!!!  Today is absolutely gorgeous, then it looks like one more gloomy day before the sun hits.  Here's the upcoming forecast and I couldn't be happier.  There's a pep in everyone's step, smiles on their faces, and the scene from the kitchen window is three shirtless kids jumping on the trampoline.

• Thursday

  May 4

  PM Showers

  PM Showers

  6337

  40%
• Friday

  May 5

  Sunny

  Sunny

  6440

  0%
• Saturday

  May 6

  Sunny

  Sunny

  5934

  10%
• Sunday

  May 7

  Sunny

  Sunny

  6137

  0%

When the weather finally decides to warm up we love to take full advantage of it spending as much time outside as possible.  All that outside play and sunshine makes for a bunch of hungry tummies.  Come noon, making lunch is usually the last thing on my mind, but eating lunch is the first thing on everyone else's mind.

That's when I pull out a few simple pantry staples and make Black Bean Quesadillas.  These are especially nice during Lent when we want to change it up a bit with the meatless Friday meals.

Here's what you need to make a large family portion of black bean quesadillas.

2-3 cans black beans

about 1 cup salsa + more for dipping

flour tortillas (2 per quesadilla)

shredded cheese - colby, colby jack, cheddar - or mix it up

sour cream

Basic Directions - can be adjusted to fit any family size

Drain and rinse black beans.  Dump into flat bottomed bowl/pie plate.  I use a deep dish pie plate and then use a fork to smash the black beans somewhat.  Add salsa.  Just enough to wet the beans.  You don't want it too drippy.

In the picture below you can see the process of building the quesadillas.  Lay out flour tortillas on baking sheets (Amazon tells me I purchased these in 2011 - I use them almost daily and they are still in great shape; definitely worth the price).  Top with black bean mixture, add shredded cheese.  Cover with 2nd flour tortilla.  Sometimes I add sliced black olives.  Sometimes I make a couple quesadillas with just cheese and black olives for the little kids or just cheese.  These are so versatile.

The pan on the left is my favorite Nordic Ware baking sheet.

Before going in the oven.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until the flour tortillas are as crispy as you like them and the cheese is melted.  We like the tortillas crispy around the edge, yet soft in the middle.  Let them cool a bit, if you can wait, then cut into wedges with pizza cutter.  Don't worry if some of the good stuff squeezes out, just stick it back in or grab it quick before someone else does.

Plate up with additional salsa and a great big dollop of sour cream.  Yum!!

In other recipe news:

We try new recipes quite often, usually found through Pinterest.  Some quickly become family favorites and others, not so much.  Amber made Brookies the other day.  They came together quickly and disappeared super fast.  So if you have a bake sale coming up and need a show stopper cookie, you'll definitely want to give these a try.

Pinnable Image

Calming Clipper Review

We're in the bedroom.  Joseph is struggling to get free; I'm laying on him, holding his arms to his side.  Warren's armed with the hair cutting scissors.  Joe's screaming, I'm sweating, Warren's frustrated.  Cutting Joseph's hair is akin to bathing a cat.  Catch my drift?  It's not something you want to get involved with.  This stellar parenting moment happened about 3 years ago.  

He's calmed down a bit.  No more full contact on the bed haircuts.  In the summer we set him on the 4-wheeler and nearly grizz him bald.  One haircut = One entire summer season.  It's not easy - there's a lot of yelling and crying and flailing of arms, but we get it done.  For the rest of year, we're in the kitchen on a stool toggling between the clipper and shears, singing, dancing, promising treats, anything to get him to sit still and accept the haircut.  It's been a difficult road to say the least.  He hates the buzz of the clipper and moves so much that it's nearly impossible to use scissors without at least one nick.

Getting a haircut can be a traumatic experience for children.  And children with special needs often have sensory sensitivities making it even more traumatic.

I first saw Calming Clipper on Facebook.  They graciously offered to send me my very own set in exchange for an honest review.  I've actually had the Calming Clipper since last June and have used it many times.  I finally took the time to take pictures.

Before

Calming Clipper

Quality of Product is excellent.  The scissors are super sharp with a rounded tip and the finger grips can be removed for larger fingers.  Changing out the length guards is super simple and quick.  

These scissors are like the clippers for those off the grid - no electricity required.  Hence, they are quiet and do not vibrate.  That's what makes them calming.

I use the longest guard to remove the bulk.  Just cut, cut away.

I like to give Joe lots of praise.  This is amazing - if I were using a traditional clipper, he'd be screaming and I'd be stifling my screams.  Even so, I still take short breaks and wipe his face with a cool washcloth to remove bothersome, little hairs.

Slipping in a shorter guard, I work up the back removing more bulk, working towards my desired length.

That smile.  He actually seems to be enjoying this or maybe it's the camera.  He loves mugging for the camera.

Just being silly!

Now, I've moved to the shortest guard.  I make quick snips, checking both sides for evenness.  I'm no pro, it takes me plenty of time, but Joe's remaining calm.

See the red marks on Joe's neck?  He has such sensitive skin; the electric clipper does a real number on his skin, but the Calming Clipper is gentle, leaving only small, light red marks.

 My handsome young man - all clipped up and very calm.

Thank you Calming Clipper for providing me with a simple solution to calming our nightmare haircuts.

Note:  This was my 6th or 7th time using the Calming Clipper.  My first haircuts didn't turn out this nice; it definitely takes practice.  With each haircut my confidence increases and the time decreases.

More tips for working with your special needs child at home.

Laundry Room Speech Therapy

Two Clothing Tips for Kids with Down Syndrome

Wisconsin With Kids {Free Fun in Stevens Point}

One highlight of January is Cranberry School.  It's basically a trade show highlighting cranberry products and services plus a number of seminars aimed at educating cranberry growers of all kind in the latest cranberry related research and practices.

It's been years since we tagged along, watching cable from a hotel bed, swimming, snacking endlessly while Warren learns all he can for the upcoming growing season.  It was mostly bliss until we had to check out 3.5 hours before Cranberry school let out.  What was I going to do with 4 kids in Stevens Point?  More specifically free things in Stevens Point.

Having gone to UW-SP I was familiar with their Natural History Museum located in the University Library.  It's been updated and is a really nice place to hang out with kids.  It's just big enough that you feel like you're at a real museum, but it's not so big that everyone's sick and tired of walking by the end.  Another bonus here - the kids can basically walk around the entire museum without supervision because it's small, not much chance of getting lost or stolen.  Because really, would a college student want to steal a pre-schooler who snacks every 10 minutes?  I don't think so.  

The museum starts out with this beautiful butterfly and other insect display.  Joe started counting 1, 2, skip a few 99, 100.  

Dinosaur artifacts - bones, teeth and more.

Looking at the temperate climate display.  There were scavenger hunt sheets available, which was fun and helped keep us their longer hunting for specific animals.  Remember we had 3.5 hours to burn.

Neat display of large cat skulls.  And a wall of cat puzzles, too.

3-D Wisconsin was interesting.  We looked for high points and flat lands and river valleys.  Joe said the glasses made him dizzy.

After visiting the wall of birds of prey where Peter took a blurry picture of every eagle, hawk, falcon and owl we sat down for a bit with the provided coloring pages and mazes.  There were also field guides and other books to peruse and the couch made a nice reading spot.

The museum is free, but if you wish, cash is accepted in a donation box.  Gift shop is available.

Next up was the Sculpture Park.  It's a loop off the Green Circle trail and completely new to me.  We weren't particularly dressed for the occasion - a winter hike, but we went with it anyway.  Wisconsin kids are tough kids.

Again, free, but donations are welcome.  This time in the duck bill.

Outhouse in the Sky #2 

I'll spare you the picture, but after all the potty talk that went with viewing this sculpture, I turned around to see Joe's pants around his ankles, doing his #1 business in the snow.

Wired

And this was my favorite of what we saw that day.  An Aldo Leopold bench - oversize edition.  Makes me want to read A Sand County Almanac again.

We didn't see every sculpture.  Wet and cold feet, numb fingers, much needed potty breaks (not for Joe, though) and a desire for ice cream had us running back to the van for heat.

Last stop was Culver's.  And because I'd saved Scoopie coupons, everyone got a free ice cream cone before picking up Dad from Cranberry School.

I'd love to see more suggestions for Free Fun in Stevens Point.  Leave a comment here or at Facebook.

Thanks for reading and have a great evening.  It's gray, snowing, and 16 degrees F.  It's also time to feed the natives.

5 Money-Saving Tips for Buying Kids Clothes

Children.....they're born naked, and then at around 3 hours old they don their first teeny, tiny wrap-around t-shirt.  And that's when it starts......their constant need for increasingly larger clothing.  What?  You want new jeans to fit your new mama shape?  Sorry.  Baby needs a couple sleepers.  What?  You want a new bra to fit your new mama #%&*?  Sorry.  Baby needs two more sleepers because every night they poop through the first two before midnight.  What?  You want a new dress just because you want one?  Sorry.  Baby needs onesies and socks and rompers and then, oh no!  they just outgrew it all.  And the story continues and continues and continues.  Our oldest is 18 and I can tell you the need for clothes hasn't stopped yet.

What is a mama to do?  She wants to wear comfortable and stylish clothing, yet her children need clothes that fit.  And that's when thrift shops are a godsend.  I've been shopping Goodwill and other thrift/resale stores for years.  Since before my oldest was even born.  I've learned a lot over the years about shopping for previously owned clothing and I'd like to share my tips with you.  

I'm going to focus on buying kids clothes, however most of these tips work for adult clothes as well.  I've noticed that kids clothes stay stylish longer and are bargain priced more often than adult clothing.

Tip #1 - Know what sizes/gender are easy to find

Infant and toddler clothes are the easiest to come by.  Infants often receive so many gifts and grow out of their clothing so fast, it rarely gets worn out.  Toddlers are a little harder on their clothing, but still most things have quite a bit of life left in them.  If girl clothes are what you're looking for, consider yourself lucky.  The choices are endless even well into the older girl sizes.  Boys clothing, on the other hand, is spotty at best over 4T.  Just forget about finding size 7/8.  Boys do indeed wear their clothing to shreds.

Tip #2 - Know what items to look for

Never, never, ever, ever buy brand new pajamas.  Never.  Sure, you want cute and cuddly.  Obviously, you want the zippers and snaps to work.  It's very easy to find jammies to fit both categories.  Dress clothes are another fairly easy item to score.  Fancy dresses, dress pants, tiny suit coats, ties, church coats - all are worn only a few times before being outgrown.  Play clothes or everyday wear can be more difficult to find, simply being, they've been worn for play.  Play = dirty.  Dirty = stains.  Everyday wear can be found, it just takes patience and multiple stops.  Snowpants are easily found for small children, but once they get to the king of the hill age, most likely you'll have pass by the thrift shops.

Tip #3 - Establish your price limit per piece

Over the years I've overpaid for shorts, t-shirts, and leggings and it really miffs me.  I hate it when I'm strolling through Walmart and see shorts for $2.97 and think back to my last Goodwill stop where I paid $2.99 for a pair of used play shorts.  So, I've set price limits to help me shop smart.  Prices will be different for gender and size because certain items are harder/easier to find.  And size matters.  Older kids clothing will typically cost more than infant/toddler so plan accordingly.  Here are my current limits.  Having these limits keeps me from buying every cute dress I see.  

Currently I'm buying size 2T/3T dresses - $3.00 or less
2T/3T leggings - $2.00 or less
Boys 5T anything - $4.00 or less
Boys size 8 anything - $4.00 or less
Boys size 18/20 shirts/shorts/swim trunks - $5.00 or less
18/20 jeans - $8.00 or less
Everyone else wears adult sizes.

Tip #4 - Know when to shop

Every thrift/resale shop has a system to clear out clothing that's been there a while.  It's in your best interest to find out what day they begin their 50% sale and shop on the first day for the best selection.  The Goodwill color of the week begins on Sunday.  I like to get their in the afternoon and rummage through all the kid clothes looking for the sale color ticket.  I bought Maria's Christmas dress in October; a beautiful plaid, taffeta, layered dress for $1.50.  She wore the dress about 4 times.  Less than 50 cents a wear!  Another favorite shop of mine has a color of the month, so it's best to get there as close to the first as possible.  Now's a good time to mention shopping ahead.  I keep an eye out looking for items the kids will wear next season and buy them up, especially if they're 50% off.

Tip #5 - Accessories

Shoes, hair accessories, slippers, bathrobes, swimwear, belts, purses, backpacks, winter hats and gloves.  I like to peruse through these items as well.  Often I find mittens for under $1, adorable shoes for under $4.  And if you've shopped for shoes lately, you know what a steal that is.  Kids shoe prices are a racket.

                                                                             ***

From ThredUp

If you'd rather shop from home, ThredUp is a great option.  I've purchased a number of items and everything has come in perfect condition and so well packaged, it feels like I'm buying new clothes. 

Shop through this link, you get $10 to spend and I get $10 to spend.  Thank you.

Hopefully these tips have given you a little insight into the art of thrift shopping.  And with all the money you save shopping smart, you will have enough to keep yourself well-dressed to boot.

Share your shopping tips in the comment section below.

How to Patch Insulated Carhartt Bib Overalls

We're finally getting the snow we've been waiting for and that means the Carhartt bibs were dragged out.  Last winter Nick spearheaded a campout which ended up being the coldest couple days of the entire winter.  Night temps were -10 F.  Day temps weren't much better.  In an attempt to keep warm the boys huddled around a giant fire they built in an old silo base.  Nick didn't realize just how close he was until someone pointed out that his bibs were burnt to a crisp.  It seemed every time the bibs were dry I didn't have time to repair the damage so here we are a year later and I finally took time to patch the burn holes.

I've made patches this way before and they're working well and holding up to the demands of boys.  Last year I patched the knees of Sam's Carhartt bibs - he loves the patches.  In case you find yourself in need of patching insulated bibs, here's my method for heavy duty, long lasting quilted patches.

This is what I had to work with.

First I measured the damaged area.  Then I added a couple of inches to my measurements.

I chose a heavyweight twill because I want these patches to be tough.  I cut a piece twice the width needed.  Then I cut a piece of batting and laid it inside the patch fabric.

I made a fabric/batting/fabric sandwich.

Using a long straight stitch, I quilted the patch in straight rows about 1 inch apart.

This is the quilted patch.  

I like patches to have rounded edges, so I folded the patch lengthwise and rounded the edge with sharp shears.

Then I laid it out to make sure it was going to work well.

I pinned it in place and used a heavy duty trade show clip to secure the bottom.  Since the bottom of overalls take a beating, I planned on folding the patch over the hem, but once I started sewing, I found it was just too thick.  I made an adjustment by trimming the bottom of the patch even with the hemline.  I double stitched along the lower edge and I think it turned out great.

Once pinned in place, set your machine to a wide zigzag, medium stitch length and stitch the patch in place, sewing about a 1/4 inch from the edge of patch.  This was kind of tricky because of the bulk of the overalls, but working slowly and pushing the extra pant leg through the sewing machine throat I was able to get it done.

Stitch a 2nd time all the way around the patch making sure the needle comes down right at the edge of the fabric.  Stitch a 3rd time along the bottom edge/hemline.  Trim any loose threads and you're done.....if your son only burned one leg, which mine didn't.  He burned them both so I did this process again making a quilted patch for the other leg.

Happy Patching!  And now he's ready for some serious sledding, snowmobiling, ice fishing, whatever the winter brings.

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