Homemade Granola!

Where has time gone?! I swear the older I get the faster time flies. About a week ago my best friend, Susan and I made tons and tons (and I mean tons) of homemade gluten-free granola bars. What we did was find a basic recipe and made variations with the goodies that we added. It was so much fun and by the end we were having a grand 'ole time and drinking some wine. We ended up with tropical granola bars, cherry almond granola bars, Almond Joy granola bars, and even one called TMW granola bars (Too Much Wine granola bars).

OMG these dried cherries were to die for! I could eat them just as a snack alone!

Time for wine...

The wine miraculously gave me super fast stirring powers!

And voila...the yummy, hearty, gooey goodness...

And our basic granola recipe:

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Rolled Oats

1/2 cup Gluten Free Oat Flour

Any filling you desire!

Wet ingredients:

1/4 cup Molasses

1/4 cup Honey

1/4 cup Peanut Butter

2 Tb Fruit Juice (your choice

1 Tb Vegetable Oil

Okay so Susan is the mad scientist when it comes to recipes and tweaking and changing and perfecting. So, she figured out that for this recipe we use 3c + 3 tbs dry ingredients to 3/4c + 3tbs wet ingredients. So, whatever is in the list of dry ingredients, just make sure it equals the 3c + 3 tbs and whatever wet ingredients you desire make sure it equals 3/4c + 3 tbs. Does that make sense? :)

Anyway, it worked for us! They were delicious...and now I have one hundred pounds of granola to last me the year. When the wine started flowing, we couldn't stop making. LOL!

P.S. Sorry about the spacing issues on this post. I get so frustrated with pictures and spacing. Am I the only one with this problem or am I the only one that doesn't know the secret? :)

Mr. Quincy is a calendar pinup!

Thanks to Ms. Kitty and daddy Egmont, Quincy won the photo contest hosted by Ms. Kitty and dad over at A Cat's Golden Years! We are so proud of Mr. Quincy. He is finally a star. Lol! Every three months Ms. Kitty has a calendar contest. We find it very fun and a great way of getting to know the other kitties out there! This month, Quincy is Mr. April. He is also in the company of some very gorgeous kitties! Neytiri and Maui. These beauties are making Quincy look very good. :) Feel free to swing by all these kitty blogs and you are sure to get your PURRRR ON! If you want to download the calendar, go over to Ms. Kitty and her dad Egmont's blog and they will have a link! By the way, Ms. Kitty recently had a golden birthday very close to Quincy's birthday. She is a beautiful young 17 year old. Swing over and checkout the beautiful golden eyes she sports. Thank you Ms. Kitty and Daddy Egmont for hosting a wonderful contest!!

Fashion tidbit of the week. A little of everything...

Wear a statement piece that stands out like my hot pink watch. Layering it with feminine bracelets creates a funky, sporty, yet dainty look. Like I said, I'm a Gemini, so for those who can't make up their mind like me, why not combine it all?

Container Beets

Yep, this is the new addition to my container garden this Spring. Beautiful, aren't they? I love beets and I thought this Spring I will plant something new and exciting in my deck garden. I'm starting my Spring cleaning, including the deck, and have my list of veggies and herbs I want to grow. I thought they could use a new friend. :) So, here's to new friends and a new victim for my palate!

Got any new friends in your garden this Spring?

The sweetest find ever!

If you love the smell of lemon poundcake....

Then you MUST try out this candle from Walmart. It's inexpensive but has the smell of any high-end rival!! It made my entire room smell like I was cooking lemon poundcake all day. :) In fact, time for me to swing back by. This one is almost gone.

Birthday Pictures!

Well the party turned out great! Quincy and Oliver finally saw each other after two years (they saw each other once before since being separated). No hissing took place just alot of sniffing. Lol! We all had a great time except Quincy had to slap the dogs a few times but he TOLD THEM! Lol! Emma was also there but I couldn't get any good pictures with her. She actually handled the dogs alot better than Quincy. She didn't even care they were around.

You kinda smell familiar...

Awww...come on Quincy, it's your birthday. Smile!

Everybody wears hats! Michelle loves torturing the poor things. Lol!

Seriously Auntie 'Shelle...you are humiliating me.

Dinah was a good little sport!

Caity had a little too much to drink.

You're going to wear this hat whether you like it or not.

And not sure if I've ever shown you the boys' father. This is Tux. One of their creators. Lol.

Happy Hump Day!

Happy Birthday Quincy and Oliver!

Today's a very special birthday. The boys are 4 years old! Where did the time go? We are having a special birthday at Oliver's home. Wondering if Quincy will recognize Oliver after all this time. I'll let ya guys know and show you my war wounds afterwards. Lol!

All in attendance, me, Susan, my best friend, Janet, our best friend neighbor of Susan's, Caity, Janey (mommy and daughter Cairn terriers), Nick, Oliver's older brother, Dinah, Janet's sweet Beagle and Quincy and Emma! We will leave Mocha home. She would hate me for rocking her world if I brought her. Lol!

Even a few party favors for everyone...

I'll let you all know how it is. Until then...happy birthday you beautiful Irish boys! We love you! Oh and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Prayers for Japan

What an emotional week. When I heard the news about Japan I was still up when it happened. I was in shock....stunned....the magnitude of it all. I couldn't even comprehend what the people in Japan were feeling. This personally hit home for me though. My grandmother lives in Japan. We have many family friends in Japan as well. I didn't know how far my grandmother was from where it happened so I was hysterical and called my mom right away. She reassured me that grandma was 500 miles away so I was relieved. My mother also heard from all her friends saying they were okay. However, it didn't give me any relief for everyone else who was affected by this terrible tragedy!

Please continue to pray for everyone in Japan.

Sunday Afternoon and A Special Gift

This is what my Sunday usually looks like. :) My special indulgences....

But today I got a gift that was even more special. One of my youngest volunteers at the cat shelter, Payton, made this especially for me. She comes with her mom because she loves cats so much. It made my heart melt when she walked up to me and told me she made this for me. It's hanging on my wall now. :) Thank you sweet Payton.

Hope you're all having a relaxing Sunday afternoon like me. xo

This weather....

It's just making us want to yawn and sleep all the time. Where are you Spring? Oh but we love sleeping too. :)

I Heart This Outfit

I think I can replicate it for a kajillion dollars less than what this probably cost. ;)

Craving Banana Muffins...

So I had a few bananas that needed to be used ASAP. Soooo....off I went to do a search on the internet for the best banana muffin ever. Then I realized, holy mackerel there are A LOT of recipes out there. I was successful though! I found THE yummiest muffin recipe from this blog....Cat Can Cook. Of course I find it on a blog that references a cat. I adore her cat logo. :) These are DE-licious. I also have a little secret. I like leaving my bananas in chunks and not really beat them down until they look like mashed potatoes. That way, you get a surprise when you bite into them!

Hope you try 'em! I'm going to package some up to bring to my sweetie. Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!

A Stylish Award!!

We have been given an award by the wonderful and beautiful Miss Kitty over at A Cat's Golden Years. Miss Kitty has the most wonderful blog. It tells of Miss Kitty's golden years and my Mocha can relate. :) The kitties here always enjoy making new blogging friends. :) Please swing by and give Miss Kitty some kitty hugs and checkout the most beautiful golden eyes! We all want to give a big hugs and a huge thank you for awarding us this fabulous and stylish award!!

Now the Stylish Blogger Award asks the receiver to share seven things with my followers, seven things they may not be aware of. I am going to do a couple of these for each of the kitties. :)

First we will present Mr. Quincy.

1. When I first saw Quincy he was 4 months old and it was at a cat show. He was a show kitten and I fell in love with him at first sight. His show name was "Red Fred" but I didn't bring him home until a week later and drove three hours away to get him because I couldn't stop thinking about him. :)

2. Quincy was born on St. Patricks Day! He is the perfect little red head indeed!

Miss Mocha:

1. I bought Miss Mocha in Costa Mesa, California 15 years ago. I bought her at Petsmart during their adoption day. I had intended to purchase this adorable tabby kitten since the last tabby I had stayed with my ex husband after our divorce. :( Fortunately, a store attendant brought me this screaming ball of fur and fleas and begged me to take her because no one wanted her. You know me, being a soft heart and all..I succumbed to her blue eyes and screaming cries. Lol!

2. Mocha has had her battles with IBD. She is the strongest kitty I know as far as resilience and determination. A few times we thought we were going to lose her but she always bounces back! She has the strongest zest for life of any cat I know. :)

Last but not least, Miss Emma:

1. Little Miss Emma has a strange injury on her right back leg. When she was very young, only about 6 months old, she jumped off an outside chair that had a cushion on it and the cushion caught on her nail. She twisted her poor little foot and it has healed funny ever since. Now her leg bends both directions! Oh and she loves sleeping. :) Mommy is going to have to get Emma to start exercising a little though. ;)

2. Emma eats too much but she has the sweetest demeanor. She is never too feisty, always very sweet. She cleans Mr. Quincy ever chance she gets because she doesn't think he cleans himself all that well.

The last question I will leave to me. Something you may not know about me. Hmmm....besides looking at home decorating and crafting blogs, I adore fashion style blogs. I love fashion and makeup and all things girly!

Botanical Facelift

I got bored. I looked at the wall and one of my rustic window decors. I looked at the website in front of me. I began printing....and printing...and printing...and now my ink cartridges are low..and printing and printing.

Finally, voila. Ahhhh...much better than empty little windows. :)