Is it blogger or is it me!?

I am not sure what happened but when I opened my blog this morning, all my followers pictures were gone! They still showed up in my dashboard but not in the blog view.  Sometimes it is blogger, but maybe it was me!  At least they are back now, whew, I hate feeling like I am talking to myself!

I made one of our favourite snacks the other day and it is so simple that I thought I would share it with you.   It stores well and travels well in case you like to keep a snack in the car for those days when the kids are starved and you are not at home to feed them.

So here is a very easy recipe for Nuts and Bolts:  (measurements don't have to be precise)

1- 400gram box Cheerios cereal (454 grams is 1 pound)

1- 350 gram box of Crispix cereal

1 450 gram bag of mini pretzel twists (I don't use the whole bag)

450 grams of cashews (approximate)

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch (dry) dressing mix

1 cup oil (I use canola)

 1 large roasting pan

Heat oven to 250 degrees.  In a two cup measuring cup mix one cup of oil and the dressing mix powder, stir with a whisk and set aside.  In the roaster, place a small layer of each cereal, nuts and pretzels then drizzle with the well mixed oil mixture, stir.  Repeat until all ingredients are used or roaster is full!  Cover and place into oven so pan is in the middle (I have to take out my top rack).  Cook for 1 hour in total but  every 15 minutes you need to take the covered pan out and shake it to mix the ingredients around so no part gets too toasted.  I leave the lid on and just look like I am doing the "shake, shake, shake", all around the kitchen! Anyone who laughs doesn't get in on the first round of taste testing!!! These are so good, NO ONE says anything!)

I let them cool in the pan and then I store them in glass preserving jars.  They last a long time stored like that (if I hide them well enough!)  For the car I put some in a large Tupperware or Rubbermaid container and those ones never last very long.

Well I am off to sew up a bag I wanted to get done at Christmas!  My granddaughter's quilt is done and I will post that as soon as I get a good picture of it!

Have a great day!

So today, I putter...

I am off today, officially that is.  Wednesday is my real day off, but I have been home sick all week.  I almost never take time off, I have to be almost dead....and I was!  Even my kids were suggesting that I should stay home, that is just too strange!
I am feeling better today thankfully so I am puttering.  Which is also strange because I am so driven usually (to a fault!) but I seem to have no focus.  I am just reading the blog roll and realizing just how much I have to be thankful for.  Some big things, some little...

Like this little gem:  

Which makes packing bananas in lunch bags so simple!

I want to share a recipe that I am making for dinner tonight.  Nothing spectacular but yummy all the same.  It is the reason that I have the recipe that makes me smile today.  It is Mrs. Bell.  A lady I met five years ago, when I move here to take care of my parents and had to put my kids in day care.  My daughter did not do well in day care she was a stay at home Mamma's girl.  (literally kicked out of 13, yes thirteen, daycares in seven months for uncontrollable crying, aka separation anxiety!) But I really had very little choice, if I wanted to feed these little lovies, I had to work.  So to day care twice a week she went while her brother was in school.  Mrs. Bell was our saving grace.  Each time we arrived with Moo in tears, she would snuggle her up in her lap and talk to her and encourage her and say things to make her feel safe until Mamma came back.  She did this everytime.  She never got frustrated or upset with her or made her feel like she should not cry as I left.  She just held her and chatted and distracted and whatever else was needed.  She also noticed that my little Moo did not eat much.  So she took it upon herself to find something that she would eat.  Brought in her own recipe and had it passed through the day care administration hoops.  And incorporated it into the menu.  And guess what...Moo likes it!  So dear sweet Mrs. Bell gave me the recipe!
It is just a sauce that you cook on a ham that is like a glaze.  (Which surprises me because Moo doesn't eat sauce or dip of any kind...not even Ketchup!) 
So here you go:

                                      
  add your brown sugar

and then the honey

2 TBSP orange juice









and (SHHH!!) mustard

pour over ham and cook as usual!

Enjoy!