No-Bake Cinnamon Honey Granola Bars

This is my favorite new snack recipe.  This can be used to make chewy snack bars or used as cereal.  Here is the original recipe: 
No-Bake Cinnamon Honey Granola Bars
Serves: 4
Prep/Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
1 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. butter
½ tsp. Simple Indulgence™ Cinnamon Vanilla Blend
1 cup granola
½ cup rice cereal
½ cup thin pretzel sticks, broken in pieces
In a 3 Qt./2.8 L sauce pan, combine brown sugar, honey, butter and seasoning blend.
Bring to a boil on high, reduce heat to low and simmer until the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.
Place granola, rice cereal and pretzels in a large mixing bowl. Pour sugar syrup over the top stir evenly and coat. Cool mixture slightly. Divide the mixture into the
SnackBar Maker molds, compact with the press, seal and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes or until the bars have set.

I made a few modifications to my taste. I omitted the pretzels, used oatmeal instead of granola, and added dried cranberries. 

This is the Tupperware SnackBar maker that the recipe refers to, but you could also form bars by putting the mixture in a baking dish, compacting, and cutting into bars.

Free Children's Skincare Product

Episencial is offering a free full-size sample of their Protective Face Balm.  You will need to watch a video and then take a quiz to be eligible for the sample.  Link to offer

Lent

The Lenten season is upon us, and I (much to my husband's pleasure) have decided to not buy anything for myself beyond food and the basics for the next forty days.  No new clothes, books, etc...  May not be difficult for some, but I find myself all too often enjoying bringing home a new but unnecessary item.
It was also brought to my attention that Lent needn't necessarily be about giving something up, but maybe about taking on something new.  Stepping outside of your usual comfort zone, volunteering your time, or maybe even finishing a project that has been pushed to the side.
Either way, this year I have tried to be more observant of the season and will do my best to be more reflective and concentrate on simpler things.

Kindle Delivers

I have posted several free ebooks offered by Amazon because I enjoy finding freebies whenever possible.  The Kindle freebies are especially nice because I'm trying to read more, and having a Kindle around has inspired me to read whenever possible.  It has served its purpose: to re-Kindle my love of reading.  Yes, I certainly will and do pay for Kindle publications, but having the free offerings is just icing on the cake.

Sneaking in the Veggies

I have two fairly picky eaters who are especially opposed to vegetables.  I recently found that I can add about 1/2 cup finely grated carrots to pancake batter and you cannot taste the difference.  In fact, adding the carrots seems to make the pancakes moister.  Now I don't feel so bad serving pancakes for dinner once a week or every two weeks.  Also, instead of syrup, I like to whip together cream cheese and plain yogurt with a little sugar.  Not a low-fat option, but a lower sugar option.

Free Kindle Book

Here's a murder mystery that looks interesting.  One of the authors also writes for NCIS, which is one of my favorite tv shows.  You Can't Stop Me

Paraben Free Sunscreen

If you are interested in finding more paraben free skincare products like I am, one of the few sunscreens I have found that is paraben free and cruelty free is Ocean Potion.  Although I don't like to shop at Wal-Mart, I have found that they carry it as well as some online retailers.