Food For Friday: Homemade Granola

In my continual quest for us to eat fresh, homemade, and with as few chemical additives as possible, I wanted to get in the habit of making fresh granola for us to have on hand for breakfast.  Sure, you can find healthy and delicious granola at your local health food store, but at upwards of $4.00 or $5.00 a lb, I can make our own for pennies on the dollar.  My friend TJ made this recipe for our staff team when we were in Austin, and she shared her recipe with me.  It's a very simple and easy granola, but with a wholesome sweet flavor and some good crunch from the nuts.  It's perfect to sprinkle on yogurt or to toss in a bowl with some fresh fruit and a splash of milk for a quick and easy breakfast.

I have bookmarked a few other granola recipes to try to add in some variety.  I hope to find a few other favorites to share in the future!

Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats (not quick oats!)
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola Oil)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan warm the oil and honey. Whisk in vanilla.

Carefully pour the liquid over the oat mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon; finish mixing by hand. Spread granola in a 15x10 inch baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Transfer granola-filled pan to a rack to cool completely. Stir in raisins or cranberries.

Seal granola in an airtight container or self-sealing plastic bag. Store at room temperature for 1-2 weeks or in the freezer for 3 months.

Makes 7 cups.

Baby Nyla

On Friday evening, we had the opportunity to take newborn photos of sweet baby Nyla for a friend of ours.  She is four weeks old and just precious.  We were planning to get some shots of her with her two big sisters, but her oldest sister came down with a fever the day of the shoot, so we are hoping to reschedule soon to get photos with their whole family.  This was our first baby shoot, and we had so much fun capturing her little features and all her sweetness!

Food For Friday: Homemade Popcorn

In recent months, I've been on a homemade popcorn kick.  It's one of my favorite snacks, is a healthier alternative to other munchies like potato chips, and it is a whole grain and good source of fiber.  With the chemicals used in microwave popcorn having come under scrutiny as "likely carcinogens," a quick and easy batch of homemade popcorn is a tasty and healthier alternative.  If I can have a great snack in less than 5 minutes with no added chemicals and know exactly what ingredients I put in, I'd prefer to skip the unneeded chemicals that I can't pronounce!  (I don't miss the added fat either!)

You only need a large lidded pan, your stovetop, and three simple ingredients: olive oil, popcorn kernels, and salt.  And really, the salt is optional.  (I prefer to use yellow popcorn because it pops fuller, but it's a matter of taste preference.  You can use white or yellow popcorn.)  After experimenting with ratios of oil to popcorn, I've found my perfect combination to be 3 tbls. oil and 1/3 cup popcorn.

Put 3 tbls. olive oil in your 3 quart or larger lidded pan.  Add 2-3 popcorn kernels and place the lid on the pan, then turn on the burner to medium heat.  Give the oil a shake every minute or so until all the kernels have popped.  This lets you know that the oil is hot and ready for the rest of the kernels to be added.  Be sure that all 3 of the kernels pop or you risk getting "popped" with hot oil and a flying piece of popcorn if you remove the lid with an unpopped kernel remaining! 

After all of your test kernels have popped, pour in 1/3 cup popcorn kernels and quickly replace the lid.

Using oven mitts or potholders, lift and shake the pan side to side every 15 seconds or so, to move the kernels around in the hot oil.  It will start popping rapidly.  It's important to keep shaking the pan so the kernels don't burn.  If you have kids and a spot where they can see but not touch, they would probably enjoy watching it pop!

It usually takes just a few minutes for the popcorn to finish popping.  Listen for the popping to slow to several seconds between pops, and when it sounds like most of the kernels have popped, remove the pan from the heat.  Let it sit for a minute or two with the lid on, until any final pieces are done popping (since any remaining kernels usually continue to pop for a minute or so after you remove it from the heat.)

This is when I remove the lid, and add a little bit of popcorn salt to the top, give it a little shake, and dump it into a bowl.  Then I add a little bit more salt to the top of the bowl to make sure it's evenly salted.  It's that fast & easy!

Then grab a movie or your family & friends and enjoy!  I think popcorn is a perfect snack for the cooler temperatures of fall, and also a great snack for Saturday football marathons.  My hubby takes care of those in our family!

If microwave kettle corn is what you crave, there is one quick addition to this recipe that allows you to have delicious homemade kettle corn!  When you add the popcorn kernels to the hot oil after your test kernels have popped, pour in the popcorn, then sprinkle 3 tbls. of sugar on top of the kernels, and replace the lid.  Pop as usual.  I would recommend measuring the 3 tbls. of suger into a little bowl so you can quickly pour it in with the popcorn and get the lid back on before the first kernels start popping!  When the popcorn is finished popping, salt as directed above and immediately pour into a bowl.  If you let it sit in the hot pan for too long after it has popped, it will caramelize & burn.

A New Labor Day Tradition?

Ever since we moved to Denver a year ago, we've been talking about going camping.  We both went camping with our families growing up and love being out in nature, but we had yet to go camping together.  The leaves have already started to change up in the mountains, and in just weeks, it will be way too cold at night to camp outside (in my book anyway!), so our time was running out for a camping trip this year.  With the last days of summer looming, we decided that it was time to make it happen, and we headed out to Buena Vista for a Labor Day camping trip.

We spent 2 nights in the San Isabel National Forest and enjoyed these beautiful views of the Chalk Cliffs and surrounding Rockies.

Since we decided a bit spur of the moment to head to the mountains, and over a holiday weekend, the campground only had available sites for Sunday night, so we went a bit, uh, rustic (for me, not my backpacking-loving husband) on Saturday night and tried out dispersed camping.  Dispersed camping = a rock fire ring + no bathrooms and no water, but it was just us and nature, and these beautiful views.

We grilled over the open fire and enjoyed some delicious fajitas for dinner.

The views from our 2nd campsite were even better.  And there were toilets (a "luxury" even though they didn't flush).  I was a happy camper.

The weather was nearly perfect.  We took a short hike to see a waterfall.

We read in the warm sunshine while we listened to the Aspen leaves fluttering in the breeze, talked by the campfire after dark, and ate lots and lots of s'mores.

We played Scrabble in our tent at night by the light of a headlamp.

We had an awesome long weekend and made lots of fun memories on our first camping trip together.  We both love being out in nature and the slower pace that comes with camping.  Our time was refreshing and relaxing.  It felt like we were gone for longer than 2 nights and it was a peaceful, fun little getaway.

As we got in our car to head home, we decided this just might be the new Lo family Labor Day tradition.

Mountain Retreat

Have I mentioned lately just how very much I adore living in the beautiful state of Colorado?  Because I do! 

Lately, the trend has been that every time I get home, I get to unpack for a few days, only to re-pack my bags to head off on another trip.  This past weekend, we spent a few days up in the mountain town of Silverthorne with our Campus Crusade for Christ staff team for a fall planning retreat.  This was the awesome view from the porch of the condo we stayed in:

We are blessed to be just over an hours drive from gorgeous mountain spots and that we get to head to the mountains for our ministry retreats.  We spent hours sharing about our lives, dreaming about what God can do in the lives of students on college campuses across Denver, and creating strategic plans for our ministry this semester.  We cooked together and laughed over meals.  We even squeezed in some late night hot tubbing under the stars.

 On Saturday afternoon, our director and his wife planned a few hours of fun & relaxation for us and we took a boat out on Lake Dillon.  I grew up boating with my family and absolutely love cruising around a lake.  I think it's so peaceful and calming to spend time out on the water....especially with these gorgeous views!

We really appreciate the awesome group of people that we get to serve with.  They are a lot of fun, they love well, and they challenge us to walk closer with the Lord. We enjoyed this time to connect as a team after being spread out all over the world this summer, and to get to know our newest teammate better.

And, I'm thankful that my bags get to stay unpacked for the next month!  Well, after we get back from our Labor Day camping trip, that is.  Photos from more mountain adventures to come...

Blogosphere Blessings

Last week, I was back in Ohio where I grew up and I had an opportunity to meet one of my blog friends in person.  This was the first time I had a chance to meet someone face to face that I know from the blogosphere.  And it was wonderful!

I don't even remember how I discovered her blog, but I have been reading Christy's blog for about 2 years, soon after she began blogging.  I have always appreciated how real, genuine, sweet and wise she is, and I love the perspectives she shares on her life and the Lord.  I have thought on many occasions, "if she lived close by, I would love to have her as a friend in real life and just be able to sit down and grab a cup of coffee with her."  When I realized I was going to have a little bit of free time during my visit to Ohio, and that she lives just 45 minutes away from where I grew up, I just knew I had to e-mail her and see if it might work out for us to meet.  She invited me to her home for lunch (which included some delicious chocolate brownies and coffee) and we spent the whole afternoon chatting about life, ministry, marriage, and how we've seen God's hand on our lives.  We even discovered during our visit that we were born in the same hospital!

Christy was just as warm and thoughtful as I knew her to be from her posts.  Her home is beautiful, cozy and inviting, just like her blog.  I felt welcome and comfortable from the minute I walked in the door. 

If you don't know Christy already, head over to her blog Between Here and Home.  I think you'll be so glad you did!  And if you ever have a chance to meet a blog friend in real life, take it!  It is so fun, and a sweet blessing, that two women who never would have had a chance to meet, were able to do so because of the blog world.  God can encourage and bless us in ways that we wouldn't expect and I am thankful that He has blessed me with Christy's friendship through our blogs, even though we live thousands of miles apart.

P.S.  There are still more photos coming from our summer adventures in Africa & Italy, but we've had a back-up drive issue that has meant hours and hours and hours of backing up & recovering photos.  Thankfully, we didn't lose any photos!  I look forward to sharing a few more posts in the coming weeks!  And some fun crafty projects too!

BEAM Africa

Our Campus Crusade for Christ team was blessed to serve with BEAM Africa for 2 weeks in the Nellmapius Township outside of Pretoria, South Africa.  More than any thoughts I can share, a photo is worth a thousand words as you look at the faces of the precious children we worked with at BEAM.

Just looking through the images from our time loving on these kids makes my heart ache to be back with them.  I miss their sweet spirits, their huge smiles, the sounds of their belly laughter floating across the field, and their deep joy.  I miss being greeted by little feet running to our vans each morning, warm bodies jumping into our arms before we could even get out of the car, and shouts of "bye" chasing us down the road until they couldn't keep up any longer, as we drove away each afternoon.  We didn't do anything extraordinary to be embraced so extravagantly by these hundreds of little faces.  We just loved.

This is my sweet little South African friend, Ofrance. (O-france-ay)  She was my buddy and was usually by my side all day every day that she was with us at BEAM.  I miss her gentle spirit and her smile that melted my heart.  I'll share a story later about how the Lord used this little girl to speak into my life.

Truman loved them as much as they loved him.  This picture just makes my heart smile.  He's going to be a great dad!

Hours and hours of soccer were played.  It's always a favorite, but these were the weeks of the World Cup, so there was a special excitement for all things soccer.

Kids of ALL sizes loved taking turns riding on the shoulders of our US students. "This one, this one" could often be heard as they shouted and pointed to themselves to be sure we knew that they wanted a turn next!  No wonder our students were so tired every night!

 

All of the girls LOVED to play with our hair.  They could braid and re-braid for hours.  Sometimes, 2 or 3 girls would even share a head if there weren't enough to go around.  We ended up with some very creative hairstyles!

 

At times, my lap was VERY full!  It wasn't unusual to have 2 or 3 kids sitting in my lap while another 1 or 2 played with my hair.  (That's precious Ofrance again on the left.)

This little one is Norshea. (Nor-shay-uh)  She was standing alone crying when we arrived at BEAM our last morning.  I picked her up and held her in my arms and she wouldn't let me put her down for the rest of the day until we got in the vans to leave.

Some hugs, care, and attention turned her tears into smiles.  And some upside down swinging brought out belly laughs.  Seeing that smile all day brought me such joy.  I was the one in tears when I had to say goodbye that afternoon.

This was Truman's buddy, Chantel. She sat with him one afternoon and then she wanted to hang out with him all the time.  She even brought him a little gift and he gave her a bracelet the day we left.

 

Even though it was winter, many of the children didn't have shoes. Many of those that did had holes in their shoes.  

BEAM does an amazing job of serving a complete meal each day including meat, vegetables and a starch. For many of the children, this might be the only meal they eat that day.

If you saw any of the opening or closing ceremonies for the World Cup, you probably heard the Shakira song "Waka Waka" that was the official anthem of the World Cup.  We literally heard it at least once a day (but usually more like 5) for the entire five and a half weeks we were in South Africa.  It was a favorite of the kids and little voices were often heard singing "Waka waka, eh eh, Tsamina mina zangalewa, This time for Africa."  

It wasn't lost on them that this was a special time for their country.  In many ways, they couldn't have been farther removed from the glitz and glamour of the World Cup.  Most of them have never stepped foot outside of the township.  But somehow they sensed that eyes from all over world were on their country, and they had a pride that welled up within them that they are South African.

In my eyes, I see future leaders.  I see the beginnings of men and women who can change their township, their country, their continent.  There are so many obstacles working against them.  But if love, God's truth, and belief in the people they are and the people they were created to be can win out over the evil that surrounds them, their country will be blessed and changed by their lives.  God has a specific purpose for each and every one of them and I am thankful that BEAM Africa exists to help them find it.  I pray for God's hand of protection over each of their little lives and for His purpose to ring louder in their hearts than any of the other voices or influences that surround them.  I see their joy.  I see their gentle spirits.  I see their strength.  I have hope for their future.  It's Time for Africa.