Easy Granola Bars

I like these granola bars because they are easy, versatile, and all of my kids like them!

Ingredients:

4 cups of oats (instant or old fashioned)b
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup of applesauce (today I substituted pumpkin butter and no one noticed)
2 tsp of baking powder
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of honey
1/2 cup of chocolate chips
1/4 cup of chopped nuts (today I used sunflower seeds)

Combine everything and press into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

I know it's not quite the right season for this recipe, but I thought I'd go ahead and share it anyway. We were given a huge white pumpkin last week. One of my favorite parts about fresh pumpkins is roasting the seeds. Here's how you do it:

Take your seeds out of your pumpkin and put them in a bowl of water for a little while. This makes it a little easier to separate the pumpkin membrane from the seeds and washes off your seeds. Drain them & rinse them (getting as much of non-seed off as possible). Pat them dry.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and stir it into the seeds, giving them a nice tasty coating.

Spread the pumpkin seeds out on a lightly greased cookie sheet and sprinkle them with salt. Roast at 300F degrees until they're golden brown. It may take an hour. Stir them once or twice while baking.

Enjoy!