Homemade Granola Bars and a New Mission

I have a new calling at church: I am now the Second Counselor in Relief Society (Relief Society is the women’s organization in our church). This means that I am responsible for all of the meetings that are not Sunday meetings. Our big “optional” meeting is held once a month, and in our congregation it’s every third Thursday evening. Many years ago it was called “Homemaking Meeting”, then for awhile they called it “Enrichment Meeting”, now it is just called “Relief Society Meeting”. During these meetings we focus on a variety of areas: spiritual progress, homemaking skills, family relations, service projects, crafts, etc. The “Gan-Green Thumb” and I will be reporting on the worthwhile things we learn there and we will share our new knowledge with you.

Last night we had several things going on, but something of interest might be the cooking demonstration that was given for a recipe using oats. Here is the recipe that was given at the meeting:

Homemade Granola Bars
4-1/2 cups rolled oats (regular, not quick)
1 cup flour (I like to use whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

Optional: 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (raisins, dried cranberries, and other dried fruit, whatever you like!)

Combine all ingredients but the chocolate chips (or whatever optional ingredients you are putting in). Mix and then add the chocolate chips in and mix again. Press into a greased pan (Pam works great!). Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes. Enjoy!!

**This is a basic recipe. . . if you like other things, try putting them in and make it your own recipe! Nuts, seeds, coconut, peanut butter. . . the options are endless! Note that if you add a lot of optional ingredients, you might want to increase the butter and honey in order for the mixture to be cohesive and not too dry.**

So…How Ya Bean?

Dry beans are a great food storage item. When stored properly they have a long shelf life and they are a great source of protein. The food cannery that I utilize has pinto beans, white beans, black beans, and dehydrated refried beans. Since I do a little emergency preparedness/food storage newsletter for my group at church, I was on the prowl for some recipes using those items. I was surprised at how easy it was to find recipes using beans that are already cooked and then canned – those recipes are everywhere in abundance! But I was somewhat discouraged at how few recipes I could find using uncooked, dry beans.

The solution: I just needed to find a chart that would tell me how many dry beans equaled one of those cans of cooked beans so I could do a little “translating”. That was when I discovered that there is actually an agency that is devoted solely to dry beans! Can you believe that? Yes, it’s true – The U.S. Dry Bean Council is there to promote the consumption of dry beans, and they have a great website! On this website you will not only find some recipes, but you will find information on soaking beans, cooking beans, storing beans, and cooking with canned beans. And, yes, I was able to find what I was looking for; here is information from that website from an article they call “Counting Beans”:

One 15-ounce can of beans = one and one-half cups cooked beans, drained.
One pound dry beans = six cups cooked beans, drained.
One pound dry beans = two cups dry beans.
One cup dry beans = three cups cooked beans, drained.

There is a website for the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County which also seems to find beans exciting. On this website you will find some recipes for beans, as well as articles with titles such as the following :

“What amount of beans should we eat to gain their health benefits?”
“Aren't dry beans considered an "incomplete" source of protein?”
“How do canned beans compare to dry-packaged beans?”
“How do you cook dry-packaged beans?”
“What can you do if dry beans give you “gas"?”
“Can one dry bean be substituted for another bean in recipes?”

So there you go…if you have wanted to have beans in your food storage, but weren’t quite sure what to do with them, there are resources, as well as a whole Council out there to help you! (If you really want to have some fun, type in “recipe for pinto bean fudge” into your internet search engine. You will be amazed at how many websites pop up!)

Summer Garden 2010 Final Report: The Good, The Bad, and The Really, Really Ugly

This was the third year of summer gardening for “Gan-Green Thumb” and I, and The Thumb was in fine form. There was plenty of devastation throughout the garden, a testament to the power of idiocy and a hidden mean streak targeting all things green. Here is our final report:

We cannot grow tomatoes. They start out great, and the plants even get some pretty good size on them. But they have two enemies that we just cannot seem to overcome, no matter how much we spray and treat. The first enemy is something called “blossom drop”. I’m pretty sure that our summer daytime temperatures of 975 degrees were to blame for this. I may try to start earlier in the season next year and just do some greenhouse/covered gardening. The second problem I encountered was what I think might have been “blight”, although I’m not totally sure. After being unsuccessful with various treatments, I pulled the plants up in order to prevent them from contaminating the rest of the garden, just in case it really was blight. If we are going to have tomatoes, I guess I will have to barter for them with something that I CAN grow.

Our corn burned up. Especially the corn that the Old Coot had put in containers – it is hard to garden in containers when it’s 975 degrees. You just can’t keep things from drying out in two hours. I can’t explain what happened to the corn in the back of the garden. I’ll be bartering for that, too.

The little cherry bushes that we planted were massacred by the Golden Marauder. They are coming back up from the bottom, but I don’t know how they will EVER contend with her. She’s tenacious and unyielding, and seems to have some major grudge against them.

The Golden Marauder:


The green beans were a mixed bag. They started off great, planted in a little planter which was placed just outside the protection of the garden fence. They grew and grew, using the fence as a trellis, and making little green beans like crazy. Then the leaves started turning yellow. I checked for pests and disease – nothing. “Gan-Green Thumb” swore innocence in the matter. There was no explanation. Then my mother came in from sitting on the back porch.

“I know what’s wrong with your green beans,” she said. “I just saw Toffee lift his leg and pee all over them.”

Eeeewwww! I decided to leave the green beans for the birds and the squirrels. Even they didn’t want them. Next year we will plant green beans INSIDE the fence.

Here is Toffee, The Leg Lifter:


The cucumbers that I planted died (I think the Old Coot had sprayed some forbidden chemical in the spot in which I planted them earlier). The cucumbers that he planted lived and grew, but we are still waiting for cucumbers (I have picked ONE so far). I’m hoping that cooler weather will help pull them through.

Our strawberries did just what they were supposed to do, and they put on some pretty good growth. I look forward to watching and picking them next year.

Once again the blueberries did GREAT! The birds in the neighborhood had a beak-smacking good time with them. Next year there WILL be netting placed over the blueberry bushes.

The blackberries were quite productive also, not that we got to enjoy them. Next year there WILL be netting placed over the blackberry bushes.

The grapevines recovered from the attack by the Golden Marauder which occurred early in the season, and they put on some really good growth. I look forward to seeing some grapes next year (I think I will need more netting!)

The bell pepper plants have me confused; they grew tall and wide early in the season. A couple of them are taller than I am. But no peppers, all summer long. I decided to keep them alive anyway, and now that it is no long 975 degrees, there are peppers popping! I look forward to actually picking some soon.

And now, for the greatest success of all: My black-eyed peas. They did great! No bugs, no disease, just peas, peas, peas. The only problem was that I only planted only one small row, so there was never enough at any one given time to do a lot of good. Next year, I will just forget about those stinking tomatoes and give all of that space to black-eyed peas.

So there you have it. Another summer garden has lived and died, and I learned a little more this year. I have not yet decided if I want to mess with a fall garden (although logic says that would be the thing to do when living in the heat of Hades). However, I have a lot going on this fall. Of course, there is always time to read and attend some classes and garden club meetings. “Gan-Green Thumb” and I will keep you posted!

Injury Alert: Heat Exhaustion!

As the season has progressed, “Gan-Green Thumb” and I have done our best to fight the bugs and fungi that have threatened to creep into our garden. Things have gone pretty well on that front so far, although my plants will probably never be featured in a magazine that shows pictures. I am beginning to wonder if my tomato plants might be showing signs of “early blight”. After reading more about it, I am pretty sure that my tomatoes last year might have fallen victim to this. So I’m spraying and doing what I can to try to save my tomatoes (once it starts, can you ever really stop it?) "Gan-Green Thumb” strikes again!

However, more than bugs and fungi, my biggest foe this year has been something that I can’t do a whole lot about: Texas heat. I don’t even know what this month’s water bill is going to be. I once watched a home gardening show produced out of Utah, and the hosts were actually talking about watering ONCE A WEEK! Were they kidding? Everything here is just absolutely baked, even with constant watering. Here is a picture I took at 5:00 p.m. of ground that had been soaked earlier in the day (about 8:00 that morning):



The Old Coot Who Married Me has been doing some experiments with various kinds of container gardening, but Texas is not conducive to that. These pots were thoroughly watered the night before (about 8:00 p.m.), yet this is what his plants looked liked by high noon the next day:


Fighting the heat has been my biggest struggle this month. So how is everything else going? Let’s take a look:

One of The Old Coot’s peach trees has major problems:


Is it the heat? That was my guess, although he has found some evidence of damage on the tree that he suspects was caused by the 10 million squirrels that live in the neighborhood. This is likely, since “Gan-Green Thumb” and I have found lots of peaches on the ground that have been enjoyed by the squirrels:


The grape vine is recovering (thanks to a barrier put up by The Old Coot), but there will not be grapes this year:


My bush cherries were finally planted, and at first glance seem to be doing okay:


But closer inspection reveals that the Golden Marauder has struck again!


Despite their struggles, the tomato plants are seeing a little progress:



The birds and squirrels got most of the blueberries, but there are still a few left. Occasionally the Old Coot and I find a lone ripe blueberry (they never ripen at the same time!), and whoever is lucky enough to get it will giggle like a kid while chewing that ONE berry for all that it’s worth!


The pepper plants have a lot of growth on them, but I’m not really seeing any peppers yet:


The strawberries have a little growth on them, but they sure look hot sometimes:


The corn in The Old Coot’s “experiment” is hanging in there:


His green bean experiment is hanging, too:




And joy of joys (for a Southern girl!), the black-eyed peas are coming along, too (Mom and I picked some this morning):



The Old Coot pushed his blackberry bush underneath our tree, and it is doing well. (I asked him if he was trying to make it easier for the squirrels to get to them and he laughed):


The Old Coot also scored big when he passed by a house that was getting rid of an old-fashioned claw-foot bathtub (it was missing a foot). His was tickled to death when the owners said he could have it, and we planted some of our raspberry bushes in there. They seem to be pepping up a little now that they are out of their little pots:


And the plants that are doing the best out of everything in the whole yard? The plants that were planted by the squirrels! You see, I buy a wildlife mix that has “pumpkin” seeds in it (although it was cantaloupe that grew from them last year) and the squirrels always have to “hide” a few:


Maybe I should just forget gardening and turn the whole yard over to the squirrels!

INJURY REPORT! The First Casualties of the Gardening Season!

When “Gan-Green Thumb” and I planted our garden this year, we knew that there would be problems, but we didn’t know that they would come so soon! As you know, at last report, things were going well, but sadly, there are injuries, and possible casualties, in our garden. Come view the sad evidence with us:




The first thing that struck me was the condition of the grapevines. What on earth could have happened here:


“This looks like the work of Molly Hatchet, aka: ‘The Golden Marauder’!”


“I’d be willing to bet on it!”


“It looks like the Golden Marauder struck the raspberry bush, too! Absolutely diabolical!”


“I don’t think the Golden Marauder did this. It might be time to do a little spraying!”


Is anything going right in the garden? The lone blackberry bush, safely out of reach, seems to be doing okay:



They Old Coot’s experiments seem to be doing alright, too:



The strawberries and tomatoes are growing:



The corn and black-eyed peas have popped up, but I think that they were planted to far apart to qualify for “companion planting” (I never get anything right on the first try!). The marigolds are good and stinky, and hopefully will keep the Mexican bean beetle at bay:


The blueberries actually look like blueberries now:


Yet, the Golden Marauder continues to do her dastardly deeds. Here she is with some of her newest handiwork:


I have a feeling that if we actually were to have to live off of what we could grow, we might just starve to death!

Ready…Set…Garden!

It’s that time of year again…”Gan-Green Thumb” and I are ready to start gardening. Gardening in Texas can be tricky; you have to plant your vegetables late enough that they are not in danger of frost (and here you never really know when the last frost will be), but you also have to plant them early enough that you can harvest them before the fire of Texas summer burns up the whole yard. This will be our third year to garden. Our first year was pretty much a wash-out (“Gan-Green Thumb” started way too late), and although last year was better, we still have a long way to go. But we are excited and ready to get going on this year’s garden and put to use all of those books that we have read.

There is a new threat to this year’s garden, however, and it is even more destructive than the “Gan-Green Thumb”: Molly-Anna Marie. She’s our new golden retriever puppy.

Yes, she’s cute, and oh-so-soft, but when it comes to plant life, she can tear out a newly planted violet in record time. She also loves to dig in the square foot gardens and stomp all over EVERYTHING! We will see how much suffering is caused in the days to come!

I have eagerly awaited the return of my four beloved blue berry bushes. I bought them year-before-last, and they were just tiny twigs (I had read on the internet that it was best to have two different varieties). Knowing that they liked soil that was more acidic, I planted them in pots with a mixture that was about 1/3 potting soil and 2/3 peat moss (give or take a little). I also give them a little shot of azalea food now and then. They have done so well! In fact, they have done so very well that they really are outgrowing their pots. Where we are going to plant them is still under much discussion, but they definitely need a new home soon:

I had ordered something called the Hansen bush cherry last year, which I have since read is not that great. However, here it is, and two of the three plants that I ordered actually survived the winter. It is another little critter that will need to come out of the pot before next year (I think I may need to buy some acreage!).

Miss Molly-Anna has done quite a number on my young grape vines, chewing some of the branches off at the base, but there is a little bit left, and they are looking pretty good:

One thing about which I am really excited is that this is the first year we have had a dedicated garden spot (besides the square foot gardens). I learned in a gardening class that tomatoes and peppers really do better if they have some room. I'm thinking that corn will probably like some room, too! The Old Coot Who Married Me borrowed a tiller from a friend and tilled up a little area in the back:

He has even been working on a simple little fence (to protect from golden-haired marauders). It will also be used as a trellis for the cucumbers and zucchini that I planted next to it:

The gate has been built, and is ready to be mounted:

The square foot gardens are still intact, and my raspberries are looking like they might need a little more “foot-space”. We are hoping to find an old, antique style bath tub or a stock tank to plant them in, because we have learned that they will take over the whole yard if they are not contained at all!

Since we absolutely LOVE strawberries, I decided to dedicate one of the square foot gardens to them, with enough room to run (I hope!):

The Old Coot Who Married Me has some experiments of his own going, including something that he calls “vertical gardening”:

My bell peppers are okay so far:

And I even have some little tomatoes starting:

This may look like some terrible dirt, and I admit that we have a few more years of amending this soil to get it in shape, but this is actually a row of corn with a row of black-eyed peas planted directly in front of it:

I am trying something called “companion planting” which is a concept put out by the book, “Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening” by Louise Riotte. The idea behind this book is that certain plants do well when planted with other plants. Supposedly, the black-eyed peas will provide the corn with needed nitrogen, while the corn stalks will provide support for the peas to climb. I will later plant some marigolds among all of this, which are supposed to repel the Mexican bean beetle. Those little critters did a real number on our peas last year, and I was angry! If the marigolds don’t work, I will see if I can get some DDT or a flame thrower! (You don’t mess with a Southerner’s black-eyed peas!)

Here are more “Old Coot” experiments (our soil here is awful!):

And here are my compost bins:

I wish I could have the compost set-up that is recommended by the “Dirt Doctor”, but it is an open system and we have had too much trouble with mice around the green house, and they don’t need to be fed any more than they already are! The large green barrel is a compost bin that I ordered a couple of years ago. It does everything that it claims to do, and it was easy to assemble. However, for those who are budget-minded, a trash can with some holes drilled in it (as seen on the left of the picture) is almost as good. I have enjoyed having compost bins – between my recycling efforts and my composting efforts, the amount of trash that we set at the curb each week has been reduced significantly. However, my compost does not seem to “cook” as fast as I would like, and I obviously have more to learn before I am a “master composter”! I had to buy compost this year, which did not make me happy, but compost is not only a natural way to fertilize your soil, it can actually help to change the texture of that awful, clumpy soil that we have (over time). There is a website that I found that is dedicated to composting, and I will be spending some time there!

Once again we have cute little peaches making an appearance!

Will the birds and squirrels get them all, like they did last year? Will the mocking birds eat all of the blue berries once again? Will “Gan-Green Thumb” lose the battle with the Mexican bean beetle this summer? Will Molly-Anna Marie just take the whole garden out, saving us the struggle? Check back in a few weeks for answers to these burning questions!