The Iowa Farmer's Wife

Homemade Banana Nut Fruit Bars

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In an effort to start eating less processed foods {even "healthy", organic processed foods}, I went searching for a recipe for homemade Larabars. We LOVE Larabars. BUT. They are expensive and when you need at least 2 to feed the kids, it can add up quickly. I wanted a cost effective way that didn't use 800 ingredients. I came across a few recipes, but really wanted to use what I had on hand so after seeing that I could dry bananas and use those, in addition to dates, I set out to create this recipe.
You'll need to dry your bananas first. I'm not sure how store bought dried bananas would work because these need to be somewhat sticky and help hold the bar together. Set your oven to 170 degrees {that's as low as mine goes}. Cut your bananas into slices lengthwise and place on a drying rack.

Place drying rack on top of a cookie sheet to catch any bits that may fall off during the drying process. Place in the oven and allow to dry for 8-10 hours. I started my batch at 2pm and turned off the oven at 10:30pm and left the bananas in the oven overnight. They were the perfect consistency in the morning. Recipe: Homemade Banana Nut Fruit Bars What You'll Need: 3 bananas (dried first - see above for drying instructions) 1/4 c or approximately 8 small dates (this is the type we use from Costco) 1/2 c sunflower seeds 1/4 c other nuts (almonds, cashews, hickory nuts, peanuts, etc.)

Blend dried bananas and dates in food processor until they form a sticky dough. It should clump into a ball.

Blend in sunflower seeds and other nuts {we used peanuts this go round} until finely chopped. Turn out onto wax or parchment paper and form into a ball with your hands. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Cut into desired size.

We used peanuts this time because it's what I had on hand. You could also form these into balls instead of bars. Based on the ingredients I used, these bars cost about $.31 a piece. When making 6 bars this saves me almost $1 per bar based on the price of Larabars at our Trader Joe's. Worth it!

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A Love Letter to my Daughter

Dear Sweet P,
Six. I can't quite comprehend how you are turning 6 because I can still vividly remember you staring up at me the moment they placed you in my arms after you were born. You were so alert. And your eyes were blue.
When we first found out we were pregnant with you, I was scared. Scratch that. I was terrified. We'd only been married for 2 months and had no idea what we were doing. But God knew exactly what He was doing and I've never been able to imagine what life would have been like had it not happened that way.
At 20 weeks we found out you were a girl. We were overjoyed, but that terrified feeling I'd had when we found out we were having a baby came back. All the mistakes and not so great choices I've made in my life, pains I've endured and pain I've caused came flooding over me and I desperately didn't want you to be like me. So from the beginning, I've fought to make sure you feel valued, and loved, and important. A few months ago you came to me and asked, "Mom, what does ugly mean?" I did my best to explain and then said that sometimes people call other people ugly. You looked at me with all the innocence in the world and said, "That's terrible." And it is. I suppose many would say I've sheltered you from certain things as well, but I'm okay with that. I'm okay with you not learning the definition of ugly until you were almost 6. My hope is that you see the beauty in everyone and everything - looking deeper than the surface because the surface so often hides what's underneath (good or bad).
Your birth wasn't easy. In fact, of the three of you, yours was the toughest. I pushed for 3.5 hours and I wasn't even aware of the passing of time anymore. Just that I needed to be DONE pushing and holding my baby. You were quite content to stay put, but with a little help from suction and a whole lot of pushing from me, you burst into the world. And our lives were changed. Life is so much better with you in it.

You teach me more and more as each year goes by. I was worried about having another baby because I didn't want our relationship to change, but God eased my worries and Sprout was born when you were 2 and half. You weren't too sure about him at first, but your love for him is fierce. We see it any time he gets a consequence you don't think is fair. Or when you're worried about him getting hurt. Or teaching him something new. He's hit the age where he wants to do everything you do. Sometimes you like that. And sometimes you want to be left alone. I pray you always know how loved you are. That if you ever start to doubt yourself or your ability to do anything, that you remember that anything is possible with God. That you never fear failure. Or success for that matter. And that when things get tough, you'll pray about it and keep going. I pray that you'll have the confidence to try new things, even if you're scared. That you'll grow up seeing the world through God's eyes. That you'll see that everyone matters, no matter their skin color or background or beauty. They all matter. And you do, too, You matter. Never forget that. Even when someone tells you you don't. Because you do. Your story matters, too. Be kind. Even when others aren't. This will be one of the hardest things to do - to turn the other cheek when someone wrongs you.

I pray you always love Jesus. That when you fail or get your heartbroken or find yourself in a lonely place, that you'll remember that you're never alone. Of course I wish you didn't have to fail or get your heartbroken or find yourself in a lonely place, but sadly, for most people, it's inevitable. I also hope that when you succeed, find true love or find yourself surrounded by those who love you, that you'll remember that you're never alone.
My heart feels both heavy and light as you turn 6. Heavy because I cannot believe so many years have passed and that you aren't a baby anymore. Light because I can't wait to see all that God has in store for you, for us in the next year. I feel like just yesterday I held you for the first time, but I also feel like I've known you forever.The past year has been amazing for us as mother and daughter, and I couldn't be more proud of the little lady you are becoming.

As a toddler, you were so cautious. But over the past several months I've watched you throw caution to the wind and replace it with a carefree spirit for adventure. My first born. My only girl. I have all the memories from the moment you were born stored inside me, but I feel like I blinked and we were here. I'm afraid if I close my eyes the next 6 years will have passed when I open them.
You blow me away every day with your creativity. With your wit. With your love for nature. With your strength. With your love for Jesus. I have so many wishes and hopes for you, but I know that as you grow you'll pave your own way. And as you grow, may you always feel worthy. Because you are. May you always be brave. Because you are. May you always feel loved. Because you are.
I love you, Sweet P.
Love, Mom
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Comparison is a Thief.

"Comparison is the thief of JOY." ~Theodore Roosevelt

And yet, I do it. Every day.

Even though I know it gets me nowhere. NO. WHERE. Well, it gets me somewhere. Just not where I want to be.
And I don't just do it with material things. Like comparing my house with a bigger one. I compare my mothering with other mothers. My acts of service with others' acts of service. My child with another child. I compare my entire day with a snapshot I see of another mom's day on Instagram. It's never-ending.
And it robs me of my Joy. My daily successes. My favorite bits of the day. The tiny moments of life meant just for me. It comes silently and rips them from my grip until all I see are my failures. My not so great bits of the day. And a cloud settles over me. It takes my joy and leaves me riddled with guilt and self-pity and "if I'd only."
But. I have found that comparison sneaks in ONLY when I am seeking the approval of man rather than God. Galatians 1:10 says, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." How can I serve Christ if I'm constantly comparing my life with someone else's?
I can't.
If I continue to compare myself with others, I'll never measure up. Because there's no end to comparison. It goes on and on and on until it completely sucks the joy right out of life. Until there is nothing left, but envy and anxiety and dissatisfaction and resentment.
So I have a choice. I can choose to compare (which is basically like telling God, "hey! This life you gave me? Yeah, it's not good enough so....") and continue to feel empty with each comparison I make. Or I can choose to seek the approval of God and focus on what He wants for me.
I choose the latter and the happiness and contentment that comes with it. Is it gonna go perfectly? Nope. Probably not. But I'm sure gonna try.
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Return of the Blog

How do you start a blog post after a 2 year hiatus? I've been wondering that for the past month after I decided it was time to return to blogging. And the only conclusion I've come to is to start off with what's gone on since I stopped blogging in 2013. Here are a few highlights from the past 2 years:

Sweet P turned 4, then 5 and in two weeks she'll be 6. WHAT?!#^!@ How did this happen?
Sprout turned 2, then 3 and provides constant comic relief for our family.
Bud (our 2nd sweet baby boy) joined our family in July of 2014 and we are now a family of 5!
We started homeschooling at the elementary level - Sweet P will finish our Kindergarten curriculum in a few weeks and she learned to read last fall!
Sweet P has tried cheerleading, basketball, soccer, choir, art classes, dance classes, gymnastics and continues to love AWANA.
Sprout started soccer two weeks ago and is now the coach of the green team (according to him).
Bud army crawls, rolls over and sits up. He's super close to full blown crawling, but I'm not rushing him.
TK & Uncle EZ moved to Iowa last summer! (yay!)
Auntie Rosita didn't move to Iowa, but she did become an Ambassador for Noonday Collection & we are SO proud of all she has done with that company.
Gammie, Nana & Papa Ray Ray still live in their respective areas, although we're slowly (and hopefully but surely) convincing Gammie to move to Iowa.

Much of our life continues to be the same or similar to what it was 2 years ago despite all the changes that have occurred! I'm not exactly sure what the blog will look like from here on out. Most likely a little bit of writing, a little bit of recipes and a little bit of crafty kid projects. I also plan to chronicle our homeschooling journey for the next year to share what we do with friends & family.

For a long time I didn't miss blogging. It'd gotten to the point where I wasn't doing it for me and it wasn't fun for me anymore. It took too much time and felt very forced at times. My blog had moved from a space for me to write to something else and I'm not sure I liked that something else. So why did I return to blogging? Well, I told the Farmer a few weeks ago that I've felt like I've been in survival mode for the past 2 years and have put a lot of my own interests on the back burner to care for our home & our children. Now that we've gotten to a point where 2/3 of our children are a bit more self-sufficient, I've decided to return to a few hobbies and those include writing and crafting. So here I am. It's been a slow process of getting started again and while this feels awkward and silly, ya gotta start somewhere. So here we go.

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IMM: Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Muffins

It's taken awhile, but I finally did it. I finally made a Gluten-Free Banana Muffin we ALL like. It CAN be done! These are super simple, super quick and delicioso. But don't take my word for it - go make them!

The Recipe: Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Muffins
What you need: 2 ripe bananas 1 c almond flour 1 c oats 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tbsp coconut oil 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed + 3 tbsp water) 1 heaping tbsp almond butter 1 tbsp honey (optional - omit for vegan version) a few shakes of cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use muffin liners or grease muffin tin.
Mix flax with water and set aside. Mash bananas into mush. Stir in almond flour, oats and baking powder. Add coconut oil, almond butter, honey, cinnamon and flax egg. Stir until well-combined. Pour into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Yields roughly 24 mini muffins.
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IMM: Garlic Home Fries

These are a family favorite around here and tonight we paired them with baked sandwiches and oven baked broccoli. Let's just say it was a little hot in the kitchen tonight!

The Recipe: Garlic Home Fries

What you need: 4-6 medium sized Russet potatoes 1-2 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp oregano 1/2 tsp paprika 1 tsp rosemary 2 tsp Rustic Tuscan Seasoning (Costco) 1 tbsp minced garlic
Dump everything into a gallon sized baggie or air tight container. Shake until potatoes are well coated. Let it marinate for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and dump your potatoes onto the foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Serve.
These are great leftover in an omelette or in a burrito. They are super simple and taste AWESOME. Kinda wish we had some leftover!
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IMM: Gluten-Free Mongolian BBQ

Last week we were recovering from the week before so Insta Meals Monday was put on the wayside. After a week of a stomach bug for Sweet P and bronchitis for Sprout, Sweet P had a fever on Monday (also bronchitis) so no IMM last. Hopefully this meal makes up for it...especially since it's actually a meal. Although, I'm pretty sure I could just eat Homemade Almond Butter as a meal.

My sister (Auntie Rosita) told me about this amazing Mongolian BBQ she made and I knew I had to figure out how to make it for us. It's gluten-free, vegetarian (vegan if you want to get technical) and delicioso.

The Recipe: Mongolian BBQ
What you need: Gluten-free brown rice spaghetti noodles (I use Trader Joe's) 1 medium onion chopped 2 tsp minced garlic or 2 cloves of garlic 1 tbsp olive oil 3 large carrots grated and chopped 2 cup fresh or frozen broccoli 4-5 mushrooms chopped 1/2 tsp ginger 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 tbsp sesame oil 2 tbsp sesame seeds 1/3 c Bragg's Liquid Aminos
Prepare spaghetti as directed, drain and set aside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add broccoli, carrots and mushrooms. Saute until veggies are soft, but not mushy. Add spaghetti to skillet. Stir in spices, sesame oil and aminos. Add 1/3 c of water if spaghetti is sticky (brown rice pasta tends to do that). Top with sesame seeds and serve.
Simple. Fast. Delish.
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The Sunday Showcase: Earth Day

Did you know Earth Day is April 22nd? How are you celebrating the Earth? This week I'm featuring Earth Day activities that I hope will inspire you to get out and celebrate!

Earth Day Multi-Colored Crayons from Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

Free Earth Day Song from Daria

15 Earth Day Activities for Kids from B-Inspired Mama

Were you featured today? Don't forget to grab a button!

Now it's your turn to link-up! If this is your first time, please read this informational post for details.

This is a fun and relaxed linky with a few guidelines:

You can link as many kid friendly or child-centered posts as you'd like, however, links for giveaways, shops, or downloads for purchase, etc. will be deleted.
Please try to visit a few other posts if you are linking up. Everyone loves comments, feed-back, pins and shares!
I'll share some posts via Facebook, Twitter and Google +, while commenting on and pinning others.

Please NOTE: By linking up you are giving us permission to use a photo (with proper link to you!) in our featured section! If you prefer not to be featured comment below or e-mail me.

Thanks for joining us and I look forward to seeing what you've been doing this week! Don't forget to visit my co-hosts for additional features this week!

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Here Come the Girls

Inspiration Laboratories

Train Up a Child

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The Sunday Showcase: Lions

Because I love the saying that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb and our March very much went out like Lion - I'm featuring Lions this week! Sounds a little random, but I saw these two cutie patootie posts and said, yep, Lions it is.

L is for Lion Activities from Memorizing the Moments:

Lion Crafts for Toddlers from Craftulate:

Happening on the Blog:

We spent the last 2 weeks celebrating the joy and sorrow that comes with Easter. See all of our crafts, activities and books in our Baby Bear Preschool: Easter post.

Were you featured today? Don't forget to grab a button!

Now it's your turn to link-up! If this is your first time, please read this informational post for details.

This is a fun and relaxed linky with a few guidelines:

You can link as many kid friendly or child-centered posts as you'd like, however, links for giveaways, shops, or downloads for purchase, etc. will be deleted.
Please try to visit a few other posts if you are linking up. Everyone loves comments, feed-back, pins and shares!
I'll share some posts via Facebook, Twitter and Google +, while commenting on and pinning others.

Please NOTE: By linking up you are giving us permission to use a photo (with proper link to you!) in our featured section! If you prefer not to be featured comment below or e-mail me.

Thanks for joining us and I look forward to seeing what you've been doing this week! Don't forget to visit my co-hosts for additional features this week!

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Here Come the Girls

Inspiration Laboratories

Train Up a Child

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Preschool Book Club: Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel

March's Preschool Book Club was hosted by my sweet friend Kortney - who I'm delighted to introduce as my guest poster today! What a fun day full of music, noise and outdoor play! Kortney has 2 cutie-pie kiddos and a twin sister, Brooke, who guest posted for last month's book club! Read more about Kortney in her bio at the bottom of this post.

For this month's book club, we chose Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton. My little guy and I read Burton's Katy and the Big Snow several times this winter, and he enjoyed Mike Mulligan the first few times we read it. But what really hooked us was a narration/music combo we found at our local library. The London Philharmonic Orchestra preformed a symphony composed by Stephen Simon to go along with the story. It was fantastic! We've listened so much that he literally has every word of this long book memorized. (Maestro Classics is the name of the company who produced this work, and they've done several other symphonies to go along with classic children's books. I highly recommend them!)

We started book club by listening to the symphony/story narration and looking at the pictures in the book. It was quite long and harder for a one-time listening audience, but I think kids who get to hear it over and over - or who are very familiar with the story - will enjoy the music recording better.

For our snack we did a little building of our own. The book repeats the line "four corners near and square, four walls straight down" several times. I broke graham crackers in half and we looked at the four straight sides and four corners of the cracker. Then I gave them a plate with a scoop of peanut butter and five square crackers. They were supposed to spread the peanut butter on the bottom cracker, then try to build up four walls on each side. Then end result *could* have looked like the cellar Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne dug. I'm not sure any of ours were up to building code, but it was fun to try and yummy to eat.

While they were finishing snack, I showed them a few pictures of Mary Anne from the book, and pulled out some pre-cut shapes to show them. We looked at rectangles, a square and an oval and talked about the properties of each shape. I showed them an example of a Mary Anne that I built using my shapes, and asked them to build their own steam shovels by looking at my picture and the pictures of Mary Anne in the book. They did great with this activity! We ended with naming each of our steam shovels, which was probably my favorite part — Christy, Lily, Louie and Sueie.

Since the weather is finally warming up here, we took our last activity outside. I showed the kids pictures of a few other types of construction vehicles and trucks and talked about what they do.

Then I pulled out a bag of assorted instruments - a triangle, cymbals, wooden blocks, dowels, bells, etc. I asked each child to think of a construction vehicle, and try to make the sound it makes using an instrument. My directions were a little too open-ended for this age. I wish I would have assigned a vehicle/sound to think of first for more guidance, "A cement mixer goes around and around mixing the cement. What instrument do you think could make a sound like a cement mixer?" But they got to try a lot of different instruments, make some noise and then go play on the swings!

Even the little ones couldn't resist playing some music.

{Kortney is a stay-at-home mom who spends fun-filled days with her 4-year old and 18-month old copying all the fabulous ideas she can find on the Internet. She serves as a childcare coordinator for her church and has a huge heart for kiddos. While she has no musical training or talent, she has a son who loves music and fosters that love through musical books like Mike Mulligan & His Steam Shovel.}

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Insta Meals Monday: Homemade Almond Butter

Posting a simple recipe since Sweet P had a tummy bug today. Actually forgot about IMM until about 30 minutes ago! But since Homemade Almond Butter is our new favorite food, I'm sharing that today. Adapted from Detoxinista's Homemade Almond Butter recipe. Before we get started here are a few things you should know:

Heat/roast your almonds before you put them in the food processor even if you're using roasted almonds. It makes the process 432 times faster. Trust me. HEAT them.
Be patient. It takes longer than 2 minutes.
It's so easy your kids could make it!
This is by far the best nut butter I've ever tasted in.my.life.

The Recipe: Homemade Almond Butter

What you need:

1 lb. Dry Roasted/Unsalted Almonds (I use Trader Joe's)

Optional Mix-ins: honey, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon

A decent food processor

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 3-5 minutes. WARNING: Almonds will be HOT.

Dump almonds into food processor. Turn to first setting (mine has 2 options) for 1 minute. Stop, scrape down sides. Repeat until the mixture starts to clump together. Continue scraping every 30 seconds or so until it reaches a creamy consistency. Process for 1 more minute. The mixture will be HOT. Allow to cool slightly and pour into mason jar or other airtight container. Cool completely and store in fridge.

1 pound of almonds yields approximately 12-13 oz. of almond butter.

I'm not positive how long it will last in the fridge because ours was gone in less than a week.

If you don't think it's working, process a bit longer. Remember - PATIENCE!

NOTE: I've made this twice and the 2nd time I forgot to heat my almonds and the process took MUCH longer and my mixture got clumpy and stayed that way. I heated the clump of almond butter in the oven for 3 minutes and stuck it back in the processor. It eventually got creamy, but I'd recommend roasting them first to avoid this step.

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The Sunday Showcase: Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you're enjoying a weekend full of remembering Christ, His sacrifice and His love for you. This week I'm featuring the Christ-centered Easter activities from last week's linky. Enjoy:

Resurrection Garden (LOVE this idea!) from Crafts Moms Share

Easter Cross Craft: Fingerprint Cross from Leapfrog & Ladybugs

Resurrection Eggs from Princesses, Pies & Preschool Pizzaz

Resurrection Craft from True Aim

Happening on the Blog:

We spent the last 2 weeks celebrating the joy and sorrow that comes with Easter. See all of our crafts, activities and books in our Baby Bear Preschool: Easter post.

Were you featured today? Don't forget to grab a button!

Now it's your turn to link-up! If this is your first time, please read this informational post for details.

This is a fun and relaxed linky with a few guidelines:

You can link as many kid friendly or child-centered posts as you'd like, however, links for giveaways, shops, or downloads for purchase, etc. will be deleted.
Please try to visit a few other posts if you are linking up. Everyone loves comments, feed-back, pins and shares!
I'll share some posts via Facebook, Twitter and Google +, while commenting on and pinning others.

Please NOTE: By linking up you are giving us permission to use a photo (with proper link to you!) in our featured section! If you prefer not to be featured comment below or e-mail me.

Thanks for joining us and I look forward to seeing what you've been doing this week! Don't forget to visit my co-hosts for additional features this week!

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Here Come the Girls

Inspiration Laboratories

Train Up a Child

Follow The Iowa Farmer's Wife on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

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