Whoops! Looks like I almost forgot about my pledge to post once a week! Luckily I already had this one started so I could add some lovely finds that I thought you might enjoy as well.

I came across a lot of green living, bicycle transportation, and living intentionally small this week. I posted a lot of my favorites on twitter.

On top of that, I finally responded to an email from Bicycle City which was in response to my request for more info. First time I actually heard from someone (I've been following them since 2007) and I was tickled to death!!

My husband taught me how to use Pocket to save articles for later reading instead of leaving 15 tabs open on my browser (and thus slowing my browsing to a CRAWL....).

After "meeting" Sarah through Liesl's 3 Question interview series, I proceeded to pin about a dozen recipes from her blog: The Vanilla Bean Blog. One of which I have already tried my hand at.

This board has some great eye candy for contemplating yarn storage as we continue to plan our addition (and my little etsy corner).

This might be a great way to use up my wool scraps & also allow us to stop buying dryer sheets.

And I've been doing a lot of swagbucks these last two weeks to reach my daily goal for the whole month to get a bonus 300 points. Does anyone else use swagbucks? Once I got the hang of it, it has been a great background addition to my daily computer use to earn a few giftcards toward fun things :) We are currently saving for Home Depot giftcards for home improvement projects.

What did you find worthwhile this week?

While in search of the perfect granola recipe for us, I discovered Sarah's blog through Liesl's 3 Question series.

Yesterday I tried her recipe for Maple Cinnamon Granola with only slight hesitation at the inclusion of cinnamon. I've been looking for a healthy, tasty granola to pair nicely with my homemade yogurt & a drizzle of honey (my favorite snack ever!) and the idea of cinnamon just didn't seem to fit the bill - at least in my mind. I've always thought of cinnamon as more a holiday flavor and pairing with sugar & sweets. But I decided to try it anyway since my last two batches have been quite dull in flavor. I also omitted the water she called for and added an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract instead. :)

Fresh out of the oven & cooling.

So far the flavor is smokey & delicious (I licked the spoon after pouring it into the baking sheet) and the sweet maple aroma is just starting to waft from the oven. I'm so excited to try this latest batch with my yogurt. The only downside is I'm almost out of dried cherries!

Recipe:
5 cups rolled thick oats
2 Tbs whole flax seed
2 Tbs wheat bran
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted almonds (I would have added a whole cup but this is all I had today)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup applesauce, homemade so it has a few chunks in it
3 tsp vanilla extract

Mix oats, flax, wheat bran, cinnamon, salt & almonds together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix syrup, applesauce and vanilla together. Pour wet over dry ingredients, being sure the oats are fully coated. Pour onto a greased baking sheet in an even layer. Bake at 325*F for about 30 minutes (until oats are golden brown & no longer wet), stirring about every 10 minutes.

While cooling, add in 1 1/2 cups unsalted peanuts and 1 cup dried cherries. Stir occasionally while cooling. Store in an airtight container.

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