2012 August

Healthy Granola Bar Recipe

August 31, 2012 By Megan Leave a Comment

I posted on Twitter a while back about being on the hunt for a healthy granola bar recipe.

I eat breakfast before work every day, but come 10:30am or so, I am starving! So I’ve been on the hunt to find a healthy snack option to eat when I get hungry that would hold me over until lunch time.

Granola bars are the perfect snack option, so I thought I would try and find a recipe to make my own. And yes, I know I could just go out and buy them, but this way I know what’s going in them and I can tailor them exactly like I want. I found a great recipe from Positively Splendid and thought I would give it a try.

Here’s all the ingredients you need:: wheat germ, rolled oats, almonds, dried blueberries, chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk.

For the exact recipe and instructions, go here.

I opted to use almonds, dried blueberries, and chocolate chips in mine. Her recipe also called for dried cranberries. But you can add or take out anything you like or don’t like.

Here’s what it looked like pre-baking.

And here’s the final product.

Depending on the size you want your bars, each batch makes about 10-15 bars.

The only unhealthy ingredient is the sweetened condensed milk. I think next time I make these I’m going to try using honey or maple syrup combined with almond butter or applesauce to replace the sweetened condensed milk. The sweetened condensed milk is what binds it together and also makes it sweeter. But I think a honey/almond butter combo might work instead.

These are super easy to make and taste great! I’ve actually already made two batches. Those that I’ve shared them with, would agree that they are good

Next time maybe I’ll switch it up and use something else besides dried blueberries.

Have you ever made homemade granola bars? What’s your favorite granola bar combo?

Globe Inspiration {Decorative Uses For Globes}

August 29, 2012 By Megan Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year…back to school!

I have to say, I somewhat miss the excitement and anticipation of going back to school. When you are little and starting a new grade, it meant new friends, a new teacher and a completely fresh start. In college, going back to school meant getting to see your friends that you hadn’t seen for several months over the summer and it also meant one more semester closer to graduation.

One thing I don’t miss about starting a new school year is all the homework that comes with it. I’ll take adulthood over writing papers and studying any day. Anyone else with me?

And speaking of school, what screams ‘learning’ and ‘classroom’ more than a globe? But, a globe is no longer just for our edu-mi-cation these days my friends. Globes can also make a statement when it comes to decorating.

For example, how cute is this globe light pendant? Perfect for an office or an area of your home where your kids do homework.

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Or how about as a vase. Fall is right around the corner, and I can just envision this filled with gourds, pumpkins and leaves.

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If you are a big traveler, a globe would make a great art piece. Instead of using the below phrase, you could mark on the globe all the places you’ve visited in a cute way.

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And let’s talk about tablescapes. A vintage globe is the perfect centerpiece for a vintage tablescape.

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And I know I already showed you a picture of a globe used as a vase, but here’s a teeny tiny one. These would also make cute centerpieces.

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What about you, do you have any globes that you strictly use for decoration? Do you miss going back to school {if you aren’t still in school}?

Before & After:: Home Renovation

August 27, 2012 By Megan 2 Comments

I love a good before and after, don’t you? Something about seeing pieces or rooms completely transformed from their once drab state into something fabulous is so exciting.

You guys are in for a real treat today. I have some amazing before and after photos from a friend’s recent home renovation.

Christy was one of my small group leaders when I first moved to Nashville. Since she was 17, she dreamed of buying a house with cash. That’s right, you heard me, cash. We live in a society that is up to our eyeballs in debt. But she is a firm believer in buying things only when you have the money saved up for it. And believe it or not, a few months ago, her and her husband bought a house completely with cash. Amazing right?

And better yet, because they got their house under their budget, they had some extra money to spend on renovations.

She graciously allowed me to share some pictures with you guys so let’s dive right in, shall we?

{Master Bedroom Before}

{Master Bedroom After}

{Kitchen Before}

{Kitchen After}

{Living Room Before}

{Living Room After}

And speaking of styling bookshelves, Christy did an amazing job filling 22 feet of IKEA bookshelves with mementos and some of their favorite books.

The shelves are art in and of themselves.

Don’t you think Christy has done an amazing job so far?! I can’t wait to see the rest of the rooms in their home all finished.

You can read more about Christy and her husband’s home buying story here.

Happy Monday friends!

Healthy Blueberry Muffin Recipe Using Nectresse

August 24, 2012 By Megan Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NECTRESSE™Sweetener for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Over the last few months I’ve really tried to eat healthier. I’m buying more organic foods, trying to incorporate more vegetables into my diet and trying to cut back on a lot of artificial sugar.

We’ve all heard that artificial sweetners are bad for you, but there are several all natural sweetner options out there. Have you heard of NECTRESSE™Sweetener? Nectresse is a brand new product from the makers of Splenda® Sweeteners and is a 100% all natural sweetener. The natural sweetness comes from the monk fruit, a small green melon grown on vines in remote mountain regions in Asia. Never heard of it, have you?

Nectresse has zero calories and is 150 times sweeter than sugar. You can use it your cooking and baking and also in your favorite beverages {like tea or coffee}. The lovely Lisa Ling is the Nectresse Sweetner spokesperson. Due to a family history of diabetes she has always been cautious about her sugar intake. You can listen to what she has to say about this new product here.

So when the lovely folks over at Nectresse offered to send me some samples to try myself, I of course said yes. I’m all about trying healthier alternatives.

A friend of mine had passed along a healthy muffin recipe to me when she found out I was trying to eat better. It actually called for sweetner so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give Nectresse a try.

Her recipe called for strawberries, but I adapted it a bit and decided to make some healthy blueberry muffins.

Here’s all the ingredients you will need::

-2 1/2 cups oats {old fashioned}

-1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt

-2 eggs

-1/2 cup Nectresse sweetner {about 40 packets}

-1 1/2 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp baking soda

-1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease your muffin pan {I used vegetable spray}. *Don’t use paper liners, use foil or silicone muffin pan.

2. Next, you’ll place all your ingredients (except blueberries) in a blender or food processer.

Blend until oats are smooth.

2. Next pour all your ingredients into a medium bowl and fold in blueberries.

3. Then divide your batter in your muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes.

And voila!

If you want to try strawberries, substitue the blueberries for 1 1/2 cups of strawberries. Reserve 1/2 cup, and use the reserve amount to put on top of the batter before baking.

The muffins ended up tasting great! The original recipe did call for 3/4 cup of sugar, but since Nectresse is sweeter than sugar I decided to only use 1/2 cup. If I made these again, I would actually probably use a little bit less. The muffins were pretty sweet….a good sweet, but I think if I used a teeny bit less they would be perfect! Definitely a great alternative to sugar!

If you would like to try it out yourself be sure to sign up for a FREE sample of NECTRESSE™Sweetener.

Adding A Pop Of Color To Your Front Door

August 22, 2012 By Megan 2 Comments

First impressions are important. You can tell a lot about a person when you first meet them.

Your front door and porch is your home’s first impression. Just like you can tell a lot about a person when you first meet them, you can also tell a lot about a person based on their front door/porch area.

So if you are a person that loves color and decorates boldly, why not spice up your front door with a fun color to match and make an amazing first impression.

Here are several fun front door colors to give us all some ideas

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