Granola Snack Mix

I love Granola! You can make it yourself so much cheaper than you can buy it.When you make it, you can add the flavors and goodies you love and crave! It's win-win!
This is my favorite one to use as a starting point, I never make it the same way twice.

The Best Granola Recipe

5 Cups old fashioned oats
3 cup almonds Chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 un-toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 applesauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
2 Tblsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
 1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips or any kind of chips you would like.
the zest of one orange (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 300*
 Let me say this at this time : I did not have any sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, so I left them out. I added wheat germ. You can put what ever nuts you would like. I put about a cup of pretzels chopped and 1/4 cup Heath bar bits. Like I say you can take it and make it your own. Okay , I will now resume the recipe.....as you were....

In a large bowl mix the first 6 ingredients . In a separate measuring cup mix all of the wet ingredients and pour over and mix , put on two cookie sheets . ( I sprinkled the Heath bits on top of the pans of granola) put in oven and cook for 45 minutes stirring every 10 minutes. Remove and sprinkle with 1/2 cup chips ( I used cinnamon chips) Let the chips and the granola cool . The chips will melt and cause some of the granola to stick together,Yummy clumps of goodness!!

This is so good ! Add what you like leave out what you don't! I think Craisins and white chocolate chips would be good together with a little orange zest. The flavors are limited only by what you have on hand!

It's Giveaway Time!!!

I can't believe I reached 1000 "Likes" on my Facebook page!!!   When I stared the page I thought at least my Family and friends would follow me... I had no idea it would take off like it did! I just am humbled to have anyone read my ideas and recipes and follow me as I share what I like !
 As a thank you , I am going to give away 3 cookbooks. You know my love for cookbooks!

So, I have picked 3 of my favorites for you!  So without further ado... here are the ones I have chosen, I hope you like them.

I love Paula Deen cookbooks! And this one has some really good recipes in it!! Fix-it and forget It, If you have a crockpot you need this cookbook!! It has every recipe you will ever need for your crockpot!
Pampered Chef...Need I say more?

All you have to do to enter is follow the steps on the rafflecopter ! Good luck!!

The Giveaway will end Friday March 22

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Strawberry Tart !

 In Honor of PI day I have made a lovely Strawberry Tart! Oh it is so light and tasty, just a delicate hint of lemon! It would be lovely for Easter!

Recipe for crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
2 tablespoons cold shortening (recommended: Crisco)
1/4 cup ice water

Put everything but the water in a food processor and pulse until it resembles peas,

Add ice water through the tube and pulse until it comes together,

Place on counter and form a ball and flatten slightly and put in refrigerator until for 30 mins. Roll out and place in tart shell,put a layer of parchment and then dried beans or pie weights and bake for 10 minutes  in preheated oven at 375*, then remove parchment and beans and bake for 5 more minutes or until lightly browned. Set on counter to cool




 Cream filling

2 cups milk
1/3 cup corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla bean split
1 Tbl butter
the zest of half a lemon
3 egg yolks

Put all of the ingredients in a blender(except vanilla bean) or use an immersion blender and mix thoroughly. Pour in pan and add vanilla bean, cook stirring constantly on med heat until it thickens.
remove bean and scrape the beans out and add to the pan and stir in butter.
Put plastic wrap on top of filling and cool.

Fill tart shells  and decorate with 2 pints of strawberries ! Enjoy!!

I hope you enjoy it!!!

Favorite Cook Book

Do you have a favorite cook book? You know that "Go To" cookbook that has all those things you love to fix or that your Mom fixed.
 I love cookbooks, this is just a small selection of my cookbooks! I love to just sit and read them. There are so many more I would love to have ....But I need more shelves !
 My favorite "Go To" cookbook is not one of these slick new cookbooks with pretty pictures, and a fancy cover. Nope ! My favorite cookbook is a sad, sad looking thing,

Pages curled, stained...food dropped on it...

This is My Mom's coveted Betty Crocker cookbook!  I have no idea what year it is...the covers are gone. Moms hand written notes are in it...her substitutions !

I look through it and remember the family meals we shared, the laughter, reading the recipe with Mom.
I cherish this book! My kids want it .....They will have to wait , I am not done with it yet!!
This is my favorite cookbook, What is yours?

Shaklee Giveaway...

Hi there!  Today I am so excited to introduce to to Julia Kendrick.  She is a busy Mom of 3 Boys and loves to help other families live frugal and healthy!  Today she is guest posting on my blog and going to tell you more about Shaklee and do a Giveaway for FIVE of my lucky readers!  I LOVE Shaklee and use their Vitalizer, cleaning products, and Beauty products!  Did you know that they are the #1 Nutrition Company in the US? I will turn it over to her and she can tell you more!

I am so humbled to be guest posting today on Nana Nita's!!  I love her blog and her Facebook page too!

So, What is Shaklee you ask?

Today I am going to show you! :) 

Shaklee has an awesome Get Clean line. Once you switch to these safe, frugal and great working cleaners, you will never go back to the harmful and expensive ones you used before!

This Get Clean kit is $99 and will last you a long time. If you were to go to Walmart and buy the equivalent amount of cleaning products, you would spend over $3,400! So to say these last a long time...is an understatement. A long time and saves you A LOT of money.

 Let's talk about safety for one. What other cleaners can your kids help you clean with that is completely safe? If my kids want to help me spray down the table, they can! We have 2 bathrooms, so they each wipe down a bathroom every day too! I would NEVER trust them with any other cleaner to do that. Too dangerous.

Also, dollar store cleaners do not even stand up in comparison to Shaklee Get Clean cleaners! Ours are frugal AND safe. Those ones on the left leave harmful carcinogens in your air and residue on the surfaces that you clean. I know I don't want that around my kids and where they are playing. 

You can click HERE to see our Get clean line!

We also have our awesome Healthy Beauty line. I use this stuff every day!! It lasts a long time too. Did you know that a lot of your beauty products contain harmful parabens? Shaklee's Enfuselle line is completely safe and paraben free. 

I don't know about you but I am going with a safe beauty line. I don't need any cancer causing products.

We have our 180 Weight Loss Line...I am losing A LOT of weight on this right now!! If you are serious about getting your body healthy and losing fat and gaining muscle then you need to check these out.

 And our most important line of all, our Healthy Nutrition line. Our food is such poor quality today. Even if you buy organic food, you never truly know what you are getting. It is vitally important that you and your family supplement with vitamins. We even have an amazing line for your children. I can't even begin to tell you some of the results we have seen with these supplements. 

So these are the great products that I am proud to market and refer my friends and family to. I am blessed and thankful that I am able to share them with you too!

So here is where you can find the best products for the #1 Natural Nutrition Company in the U.S. who uses the most potent and purest ingredients to make their products the best!

Healthy Nutrition

Healthy Weight

Healthy Beauty

Healthy Clean

Follow me HERE on my personal blog!

Enter the Giveaway Below to be one of FIVE winners of a Shaklee Basic H Concentrated Cleaner Sample!

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Thanks for Guest Posting, Julia!  

Nana Nita

This is such a good flavor combination! I saw a recipe some time ago using  Dulce De Leche, but in my little town in Virginia, I could not find it. So, I had to find a way to make it my own.

Caramel Banana Tart

Start out with a basic 9' pie crust recipe You can find mine here:http://nananitas.blogspot.com/2010/07/had-long-break-and-i-am-back.html  Scroll down till you get to the pie crust recipe.

   Ingredients 

• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
• 1 cup dark-brown sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 medium ripe banana's 

Directions

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll pie crust to 1/8-inch thickness. Fit into a 9-inch pie dish.( I used a tart pan) Trim edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Tuck overhang under dough so edges are flush with rim, and crimp edges. Lightly prick bottom of dough with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line dough with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges begin to turn gold, 15 to 18 minutes. Carefully remove weights and parchment. Bake until crust is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Crust can be stored overnight.)
3. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until butter browns. Stir in sugar until it dissolves, about 5 minutes. Slowly pour 1 cup cream down the side of the pan, stirring constantly until smooth (caramel will bubble). Remove from heat.
4. Whisk cornstarch, salt, and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Whisk into butter mixture until well combined. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thick, about 7 minutes total (about 2 minutes after it comes to a boil.)
5. Whisk yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Pour in milk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking until completely incorporated. Return mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Immediately remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Let custard cool in saucepan on a wire rack, whisking occasionally, for 10 minutes.
7. Cool for 30 mins in the refrigerator 
8. 
9. , then  spoon a thin layer of Caramel onto bottom of crust and then a layer of sliced banana and  repeat layering finishing with caramel.
10. 
11. I topped with cool whip. 
12. This is so good! I did have just a bit of filling left over, so I might have had just a taste! :)   I hope you Make this and love it like I do!! Till next time , Nana Nita 
13. 
    

Maple Biscotti !!

I love Biscotti! It is crunchy, not to sweet and so versatile! Once you have a basic recipe you can make them just about any flavor you like! Add nuts dried fruit,a glaze or sprinkle with sugar. Here is what you will need:

Add dry ingredients to large bowl and in a smaller bowl add oil, eggs Maple flavoring and beat to mix slightly, pour over dry. With a fork start incorporating wet into dry. This is going to seem like it is too dry, but keep working it, it will come together.

Turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead until it becomes smooth, about 5 minutes. Cut dough in half and roll into a log.

 roll it out to 8 inches,

And flatten it out to about 1/2 inch thick. Place both logs on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper,

and bake at *350 for 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes

Then slice on the diagonal and lower temperature to *325 and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.
I made a maple glaze to go on top, with 1 cup powdered sugar and maple flavoring ,cream and a splash of coffee.

These were so good, all you need is a cup of coffee!



 Maple Biscotti

2 3/4 cup four
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp maple flavoring
3 eggs
1 Tbsp soft butter


In large bowl mix together dry ingredients, in a smaller bowl stir together eggs oil and maple flavoring. Pour over dry mixture, add butter and mix with fork until comes together enough to work with your hands, it will take a bit but keep working it. When it comes together put out on lightly floured surface and knead it for 5 minutes. Divide in half and roll into logs about 8 inches long and then flatten to 1/2 inch and put on  parchment lined cookie sheet. Pre-heat oven to *350 and bake for 30 minutes . Lower oven temp to *325
Let cool for 15 minutes and then slice on the diagonal,lay on cookie sheet and bake again for 10 to 15 minutes . Drizzle with glaze and sprinkle with almonds. (If you like them really dry and crunchy turn them over and bake again for another 10 minutes)

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp maple flavoring
 1 to 2 Tbsp cream
a splash of cold coffee
mix until it is the pouring consistency

1/4 cup sliced almonds for sprinkling on top

You should smell these cooking!