GLUTEN FREE APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL BARS

This is another new recipe I tried that was a big hit during the birthday party weekend. I made these so my daughter with a wheat allergy could eat these while the rest of us had the Grands cinnamon rolls. Delicious! These are very handy to have in the freezer for a quick breakfast anytime, or for a snack, but I made double and there were none left to freeze.

I found this recipe on the blog 'Iowa Girl Eats' here . She also has other versions of this oatmeal bar on her blog.

This calls for oat flour or put some of the oatmeal in a blender or food processor and that is what I did and that worked out very well, so there is no need to buy the expensive oat flour, providing you can find it in the store. I did not. I also used quick oats rather than old fashioned and that worked well too. Again, no pictures due to the busy weekend so you can check those out on the Iowa Girl Eats blog.

Notice that there is no refined sugar in these bars.

APPLE CINNAMON OATMEAL BARS (gluten free)

2-1/2 cups certified gluten-free old fashioned oats, divided
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk, any kind
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons no-sugar-added applesauce
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (I used regular vegetable oil rather than buy coconut oil)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees then spray an 8x8" baking pan with
nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Add 1 cup oats to a food processor or blender then process until
oats have turned into flour (alternatively you could use a scant cup
oat flour.) Add flour to a large bowl with remaining 1-1/2 cups old
fashioned oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt then stir with a
fork to combine and set aside.
3. In another bowl, add milk, applesauce, maple syrup, coconut oil,
egg, and vanilla then whisk to combine. Pour into dry ingredients
then stir until just combined. Fold in grated apples then pour batter
into prepared baking pan.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and
the center has set. Cool before slicing into bars then store in the
refrigerator, or individually wrap bars in saran wrap and freeze.

This is a keeper for me and I will certainly make them again. In fact, I think I better make some today.

Enjoy!

EASY CARAMEL CREAM CHEESE APPLE DIP

This caramel cream cheese apple dip was a huge success on the weekend of my birthday party. It is so easy and quick to make and I know you will love it, too. Be sure to have plenty of apples on hand! It looks pretty in a clear glass dish for serving. This is a nice dip to add to holiday events so you may want to keep this handy to make soon.

I found this recipe at Living Well, Spending Less here . With the busy weekend I did not get pictures, but you can see some pictures at the link above.


EASY CARAMEL CREAM CHEESE APPLE DIP

• 2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 14 oz jar caramel sauce
• 2-3 Heath candy bars, crushed (or use Heath toffee chips)
• Serve With: Granny Smith apples, sliced
• 
  
• INSTRUCTIONS
• Combine cream cheese and 1/2 of the caramel sauce in mixing bowl; beat until well-blended. Then mix in 1/2 cup of toffee chips to mixture.
• Spoon cream cheese mixture into pretty serving dish.
• Cover cream cheese with remaining caramel.
• Sprinkle caramel with toffee chips.
• Serve immediately with sliced granny smith apples.
• Preparation time: 5-7 minutes
• Number of servings (yield): 12

YUMMMM

There is a very popular drive-in in this area and everyone loves their loose meat sandwiches. Some may call these Maid-Rites. They are not tomato based like Sloppy Joes.

My son got hold of a recipe that is very close to what the drive-in has, and his sister-in-law made a big crockpot full for supper here at home after the birthday open house.

Here is the recipe.

I am  not a fan of horseradish but I could not taste it. It does add to the final taste. This is a large amount that could be cut in half, but why not make the whole thing and freeze in manageable portions. Enjoy!

MY LIFE IN PICTURES

These are the picture collages my daughter put together.

Bottom row, second from left is me with Grandmother in California at age 4.

 Here are two pictures of me with my dad.

 Dad did not like to have his picture taken, so these are precious.

And finally, a few pictures with my husband.

BUTTON BUTTON

 Last week my kids hosted an open house for my 75th birthday. They used a theme of sewing and buttons since I have always done a lot of sewing and needlework. I am sure they remember me sitting at the sewing machine a lot, and sitting in my chair in front of the TV at night knitting or crocheting some project for all their lives.

It may be a little hard to tell  in this picture but these mints look like buttons. My oldest daughter made them from the old standby recipe of cream cheese and powdered sugar and made the holes in the buttons with the prongs of a sweet corn holder. I had to ask her how she did it as I noticed the holes were so evenly spaced on every mint. She used a small lid to make the little button mints. She says she got ideas from Pinterest.

 The circles on the cake represent buttons as well. And notice the spool of thread with a needle at the end of the thread in the center.

 Here I am, testing the frosting and it was yummy cream cheese frosting. (I didn't really stick my finger in the frosting😃) The cake and frosting were yummilicious.

This is the photo table my family set up. You can see several of the sewing notions, and that huge basket of yarn that my son gave me later! He specified that the yarn be used for making hats and mittens for mission, which I did for several years.

 My younger daughter made the photo collages and put in transparent frames, then put a variety of buttons and papers with sewing/button themes at the top corners.

Every time she came here she went through all the old photo albums and took pictures with her phone camera of the pictures she wanted. Then each collage is made up by my age or period in my life. She did an amazing job of arranging to fit the pictures together and have them turn out so evenly. I will post about those later.

This is the box for cards my oldest daughter came up with, and the invitation is center front.

The party was a lot of fun as I saw some long time friends from high school and family friends that I had not seen for a long time. There were also a lot of church friends who stopped in as well. I have not been able to get to church for a long time so it was wonderful to see them too.

The whole weekend was very busy with all three of my kids and their spouses, and three of my five grandkids, with one grand son-in-law. All stayed overnight except for my son and his wife so it was a houseful! There were 5 people sleeping on the floor with air mattresses that they brought along. Just the 13 year old twins that had to sleep on the floor without mattresses. I would have never been able to do this at my former house.

That was Saturday night. Sunday morning I got up and put 2 pans of Grands cinnamon rolls in the oven for a quick breakfast before church. They were a huge hit and so easy.

Check back for more of the events.

FLYING RADIOS

Well, actually a Radio Flyer wagon. An antique. It is the one I had as a child so it has to be more than 70 years old. I had planned to paint it years ago but never got it done (procrastination again). When I moved I really had no place to store it and knew I would never paint it, so offered it to my kids.

My son wanted it and took it back to Virginia with him. This is what he and his wife did with it this summer. I know the wagon is much happier there than it was in my garage collecting junk, dust and spider webs.