The Simple Pleasures Of Sunday!!

Ahhhh…. Sundays!!  How I love thee… I spend them catching up on quality time, chores, rest and cooking!  Its really become known as our family day and I look forward to them.  No rushing or yelling or fighting… (okay some fighting…lets be honest!!! I have two small boys that all they do … LOL) but just AHHHHHHHHH!!!

The boys are not feeling a 100% today so we decided to stay home, just rest and do things around the house.  Honestly, I felt so tired that I wanted to cuddle on the couch the entire day with them.  Do you ever feel this way?? Not wanting to plan and prepare… Just relax and go with the flow?  So… because its Sunday and thats what Sunday is about… I grabbed a cozy blanket and I cuddled and snuggled them as we watched their favourite cartoons.  Later, we did a little workout together… some arts and crafts… cooked supper together…did some baking… bubble baths… story time and then bed!!

The simple pleasures of Sunday inspired me to want to bake some simple pleasures!  I decided this time I would like to try my hand in some delicious breakfast bars. I have never tried making them before but have made granola bars a few times.  After I began baking I realized the two are quite similar.

Everything In My Pantry Breakfast Bars:

I found a recipe online Oatmeal-Raisin Bars @myrecipes.com but I changed ingredients and amounts- I adopted this recipe and just used whatever I had here at the house .  Which is normally how I roll anyway …lol!  So use what you like…

1-1/4 cup of Almond Milk (you can use whatever type of milk ya got)

1 Large Egg

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 tsp of Vanilla (i just got some great tasting vanilla while on vacation and was so excited to use it 🙂 … Simple Pleasures )

1 tsp Cinnamon

1-3/4 cup Oats

1/4 cup Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1/4 cup chopped Pecans

1/4 cup Coconut

1/2 cup raisins (soak them for few minutes in hot water to soften if needed)

> You can add whatever things you like: dried cranberries, sliced almonds etc.

> I should mention that these are NOT very sweet!  My boys actually said they were a little disappointed because they needed to be a little sweeter.  So next time I will add Stevia or Brown Sugar to make them more appealing to the kids.  Use your own judgements… thats just how the Sheppard House rated them 😉

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; Line and 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Leave about an inch or so hanging over the edge of the pan for easy removal after baking so they can cool nicely.

2. In a large bowl, whisk milk, eggs, honey, vanilla and cinnamon.

3. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Pour batter into baking pan and spread evenly.

5. Bake until golden brown edges and they are set in the middle.  About 35-40ins in my oven.

6. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing into bars 🙂

My kids really enjoy helping me in the kitchen.  As as you can tell they have some good advice… like “Mom, these need to be a little sweeter… Next time add some brown sugar!”  Try not to stress about these types of things… this recipe is great because its easy and you can just make it your own.  Let the kids have a say in the flavours, experiment and really enjoy days like this.  It will be Monday before ya know it and schedules and deadlines and the RAT RACE will all start again!

TAKE TIME TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE WITHOUT SO MANY LIMITATIONS AND EXPECTATIONS… YOU MAY BE SURPRISED AT THE WONDERFUL OUTCOME!!!