Granolas and Terrariums!

Chewy granola bars are perfect snacks if you are into healthy eating. These bars contain all the fibre, proteins and carbohydrates to fuel you during the day. Sometimes when I don't get to have lunch in between lectures, granolas come in really handy. Just 3 to 4 bars is enough to keep me full for a few hours :)

Recipe:

190 grams oats

90 grams dessicated coconut

100 grams sliced almonds

30 grams raw sunflower seeds

30 grams raw pumpkin seeds

60 grams dried cranberries

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

60 grams unsalted butter

45 grams light brown sugar

160 ml honey

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1.Preheat to 175 degrees celcius.

2.Line baking tray with parchment paper. ( 23 by 33cm)

3.Mix the rolled oats, coconut and sliced almonds together in a large bowl.

4.Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes (until lightly browned), stirring occasionally. 5.Transfer the heated oat mixture to a large mixing bowl.

6.Stir in the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, salt, and cinnamon.

7.Melt the butter, brown sugar, honey, and vanilla in a small saucepan with medium heat.

8.When the sugar mixture boils, reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.

9.Pour sugar mixture into oat mixture. 

10.Stir the granola so that all the dry ingredients are completely coated with the sugar mixture.

11.Pour the granola into the prepared baking tray and press the granola evenly into the pan with damp        hands.

12.Bake for about 20 minutes (until golden brown).

13.Then remove it from the oven and let it cool for 3 hours before cutting into bars. 

Reference: http://www.joyofbaking.com/barsandsquares/GranolaBars.html#ixzz2Us40d5xj

This honey mixture below is what enables the contents to to stick together but more importantly it provides fragrance and flavor.

Healthy snack done! Now the painful part comes when u have to chop them up into bars. And i really mean CHOP because Mum literally had to bang her knife in to break it up into bars 

Dad brought back his first terrarium 2 years ago after he attended a course on how to build one. We saw it and immediately fell in love with this beautiful miniature indoor garden. It's really interesting how it works. It's basically a self-contained ecosystem because in a sealed transparent container, the plants release water vapor which condenses on the glass walls, then trickles down and re-waters the plant again! So the cycle goes on and on which makes it really easy to look after. We usually give it 15 sprays of water every fortnight and just leave it under sunlight. Here's one which Dad recently made last weekend :)

Some good soil mixture and we used pretty nerve plants.

Coloured pebbles and stones to beautify the environment

After it is done! Dad gave it a few sprays of water and sealed it up. Under the right conditions it grows really well. It's only been a few days and we are already seeing some new shoots!