Hannah Garrison 2/27/14 Hannah Garrison 2/27/14

A Little Bird Told Me to Blog About Granola

Granola is food. As far as I am concerned anything with proteins and carbs that is EASY to eat in many different ways is PERFECT.

It also makes me feel all glowey inside when I make a big batch of ANYTHING. Like I've turned into some kind of survivalist.

So here is what you can do to feel like a glowing bass-ass survivalist:

In one bowl :

Three cups of grains (I use mostly rolled oats and a bit of uncooked quinoa).
One to one and a half cups of nuts. I find a combo of pecans and almonds pretty dope as long as I chop them up super fine.
One teaspoon of salt - I like bigger crystals so it crunches.
One to two cups of seeds (I favor raw pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds).
One cup of shredded coconut. Yum.
Two teaspoons of spices. I am currently using cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg. Explore!

Mix these all up together. Then add,

1/4 - 1/2 cup of oil (olive or canola works well)
1/2 - 3/4 cup of sweetener (I use maple syrup)
Optional - One egg white, whisked until foamy before adding. This makes those clusters that I love.

Mix it all up – spread on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet (for easy clean up) – bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes (stir mid way if you don't want clumps).

It will NOT be hard when you pull it out of the oven. It hardens as it cools. Let it cool all the way. Then add some chopped up dried fruits. About of cup of cranberries, chopped figs and raisins does the trick quite well.

I double the batch and share some with this chick.

Hannah Garrison 9/6/13 Hannah Garrison 9/6/13

On Blogging, A Conversation

I got this message from a friend and colleague:

"Ya know. I'm not sure whether I love or hate the fact you send me mass emails about what's going on in your life."

I got this message from a friend and colleague:

"Ya know. I'm not sure whether I love or hate the fact you send me mass emails about what's going on in your life."

I wrote back:

"You love it. I know you love it. At least you know they are mass emails. You don't know how many responses I get from people who think I am personally writing to them."

He says:

"That's because you're the only person that has given their personal life a brand. Lots of people don't exactly understand what you're doing. Your the only real person that they know who is doing this. Let's compare you to Martha Stewart. Your friends and family get a branded email from her and they know it is an ad because she is unreal. When they get a similar style of message from you. (Obviously you're not selling bed skirts) but when they see a message from you, they don't know what to make of it. Because you're real to them. Don't get me wrong. I admire what you're doing and what you've created. And I think you need to continue doing exactly what you're doing. I'd call you a lifestyle maven."

I am giving myself six months of playing with categories and writing styles and links and tagging and SEO to just kind of explore in public what my goals and purposes are thru blogging.

Am I trying to update people on what's up in my daily life?
Am I trying to help people live their lives?
Is this only for business people?
Is this targeted at moms only, self employed only?
Who it the market? Who is the readership?

This is how he clarified it for me:

"I think it boils down to this. 80% of the people I know have been bred to believe that a 9-5 lifestyle is the only way to get the things they want. But you've made a different way work for yourself and your family. Not to say you don't work your ass off trying to do it. But you do it your own way. That's an incredibly appealing idea for people. And to give some insight into how they might do that for themselves is a great opportunity for you. Believe it or not you are sort of living some people's dream. You didn't have to become famous or incredibly wealthy in order to live how you want. And you didn't have to subscribe to some big companies ideals."