Gluten Free Mound Bars

Since going gluten free a few months ago, I've missed some favorite desserts that have a graham cracker crumb base, like cheesecake or the classic "Mound Bars."  I was brainstorming something I could use in place of graham crackers.  I've had good luck using Rice Chex to make coating for fried or baked chicken, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

Oh. My. Gosh.  I think I've died and gone to heaven! I can eat homemade Mound Bars again.  The crust turned out so well, and it's easy to make. If you've read my blog much, you know I don't do many recipes. Cooking is not my favorite sport...baking I like, but cooking is just not fun for me.  I can cook well, I just don't enjoy it.  There I've said it. Normally I leave the food posts to all of you who are so amazingly good at it.  But I just had to share this recipe.

I could just share the recipe (I will) and skip all the unnecessary photos...but what's the fun in that?  It's all in the journey, am I right? If you must skip to the recipe below because I'm boring you to death you just can't wait to try them yourself, then by all means scroll down.

It only takes these 6 ingredients to make.

 Pour the Rice Chex into a food processor (or crush them in a bag with a rolling pin if you don't have a food processor).

Process until they look like graham cracker crumbs.

Melt butter, then add honey and mix well.

 Pour the honey butter over the Rice Chex crumbs and mix well.

Pat those yummy crumbs into the bottom of you pan.  Bake.

 Sprinkle on your toppings.  You could also add almonds or walnuts (or any old nut you want), but my boys are allergic, so I left them out.

 I used mini chocolate chips because I couldn't find the 6 bags of chocolate chips that I just bought, because my dear hubby put them away where I couldn't find them.  At least he put them away right?  These worked just fine.

 I pretty much cover most of the coconut.  What can I say...I looove chocolate!

Pour the can of condensed milk over.

Just look at that creamy, chocolatey goodness!

Bake and try to let them cool before tasting!

Is your mouth watering yet?

For homemade Valentine treats, cut them into hearts!  Sweeeet!

Gluten Free Mounds Bars

Green Willow Pond

2 1/3 C ground Rice Chex

1 stick of butter

2 T honey

7 oz bag coconut

1/2 to 3/4 bag of chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Mix melted butter and honey.  Pour over Rice Chex and blend well. Pat firmly into 13 x 9 inch baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes; remove from oven.  While hot, sprinkle coconut, then chocolate chips and nuts (optional) on top. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top. Bake an additional 12 minutes.

Enjoy!

This post is linked to these awesome parties:

Wowza Weekend Party at My Love 2 Create
Inspiration Monday at Twelve O' Eight
Project Inspired at An Extraordinary Day
Take it on Tuesday at Romance on a Dime
From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer
Tuesdays with a Twist at MsMoozy's Open House

What We Accomplished Wednesday #39

Want to be a pin-up girl?  Join the party, and if you are featured, I'll pin your project to my Green Willow Pond Features Board!



Wrap yourself in a blanket, and maybe a hat and mittens too, grab a cup of tea or whatever you're drinking to keep warm, and join the party.  "Baby it's cold outside," doesn't even begin to describe it. When you step outside at -15 degrees, with -30 degree windchill, it takes your breath away.  Today we are having a regular heat wave at 11 degrees!

If you missed my Farmhouse Spice Cabinet you can run over here and take a peek.  Don't forget your scarf and boots though!

And if you are really hardy, you can check out a blast from the past post about my "Twins" and the labor pains I experienced bringing them into the world!  Laughter will help keep you warm!

On to the features from last weeks party!  I am in love with the treatment that Mary, at Orphans With Makeup used on these inexpensive dressers. She can make the most ordinary pieces of furniture, extraordinary!

Elisha, from Pneumatic Addict, also turned an ordinary table into this stunning Farmhouse table.  Check out the hardware details they included.  Awesome!

Another amazing dresser was created by Sayuri, from Vintage Breezes.  I love all the typography and detail she used.  Beautiful!

This play kitchen, created by one of the Shabby Gals (not sure which one) and her hubby, is just adorable!  They used two dry sinks to create this amazing piece for a very happy little girl.

This sweet bird collage was created by Diane at Design Till it Shines.  She used scrapbook paper and stamps.   I love her table arrangement with it too.  It gives me hope that spring is coming!

My food pick for this week are these yummy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes, made by Jennifer at Thimbles, Bobbins, Paper and Ink.  These are so easy to make and they look scrumptious!

Now it's your turn.  Join the party and ink up your favorite projects below!

 Da Simple and Easy Rules

1. Only projects you have made/accomplished pretty please. Items for sale are okay, as long as they are in tutorial form, and linked to your blog post.  No links to shops or Etsy stores, please.  Link up to 3 posts - please link posts new to this party.

2. Linking back to the party (text or button) within your post is very much appreciated . You can grab a button from the side bar if you like.

3. I have one teeny little rule change that I would be so grateful if you would make note of. I ask that you share new projects (new to this party) each week, rather than linking up the same ones. If you make a mistake, no worries.  I will not hunt you down and give you twenty lashes with a wet noodle :)

4. By linking up here, you are giving me permission to feature you here, on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and/or Pinterest.  I'll only use 1-2 pictures from your post and link back to you. Then people will be flocking to your blog to read all about it!!  Spreadin' the love around baby!
Most importantly, go visit some of the links because otherwise it wouldn't be a party would it?

I am no longer automatically adding you to my email list to send out reminders about the party. If you want a reminder each week, just use the little sign up form below. You will only be signing up for party notifications. I will not use this list for anything else, nor will I ever share it with anyone. ever. period.

Sign up for party reminders

Twin Topiaries - A Blast From The Past!

Since my blog has been around for a while, and many of you may not have seen some of my older posts, I thought I would feature some old posts occasionally.  It won't be a regularly scheduled event, but now and then I'll have a Blast from the Past post.

Today's blast is about my Twin Topiaries.  It was one of my very first posts.  It is a tongue-in-cheek tutorial about a "labor" of love.  You can read about it here.  I hope you enjoy my little trip down memory lane.

Dilapitated Cabinet Turned Farmhouse Spice Cabinet

This poor dilapitated old cabinet had seen better days.  Seriously.  It was in terrible shape, but had such charm.    

This was wedged in a crevice of the cabinet.  I found it after I had vacuumed and scrubbed it down.  I can't believe I didn't impale my finger on it!  It's a very rusty needle with some thread still attached.

I imagined a young bride's husband handmade it for his new wife to hold her sewing supplies. After many years of use, the wife grew old, her husband passed away, and her vision dimmed.  No longer could she see to sew.  The cabinet got put in the attic and forgotten.  Soon the wife died too.  Her only child, a son, took the old cabinet to a thrift store while cleaning out the attic.  He didn't know that it had once been made by his father for his mother.

Sigh...what a bittersweet story I wove in my mind.  Then I turned it over and saw this.  (input the sound of a needle scratching across a record).  So unromantic!  I ripped that insulting tag right off and I'm sticking by my version of the story.

This thing was filthy!

Someone had repaired one of the shelves with gobs of glue.   Who does this?  I had to use a scraper and a lot of elbow grease to get it off.  The shelf was also glued in crooked.  Guess what...it stayed crooked.  Just part of the charm right?

After vacuuming, cleaning and scraping, I gave it a good coat of primer.  It's already looking better!

To keep paint and primer off the screen doors, I covered the edges of the screen with masking tape on both sides of the door.

All primed and ready for paint:

After priming you could see how out of whack this piece really is.  I glued several places with wood glue, then used a ratcheting strap to pull everything in tight while it dried. You can see the ratchet part of the strap at the top of this picture.

It never ceases to amaze me what white paint can do.  I mixed up my own chalk paint for this project, using this recipe.  I love this recipe.  I've tried unsanded grout and plaster of paris, but the paint was gritty and very quickly hardened.  The calcium carbonate is key.  I was able to use the leftover paint even several days later.

I added 4 new shelves that I cut out of a thin sheet of board from Home Depot. What a challenge to fit shelves in this piece!  Nothing was straight.  It isn't perfect, but I just kept telling myself it's part of the charm...am I right?  At least my shelves are straight.  The crooked ones are original.

I found these jars at JoAnn's and ordered 20 of them.  I just love the shape.  Using my Silhouette, I made vinyl lettering for all my herbs and spices.

Sixteen jars fit inside.  I perched 4 more on top of the shelf  (not shown in these pictures)

Before my spices were in those annoying little jars they come in...the ones you can't fit a teaspoon inside so you have to use 2 half teaspoons, or worse yet, 4 quarter teaspoons. Spice jar manufacturers obviously don't cook!

 My spices used to be in different spots in my kitchen, because I didn't have space anywhere to keep all of them together.  My latest solution had been to dump them into two baskets and stack the baskets precariously in my kitchen bookshelves.  Now I can see everything and acess it without pawing through two heaping baskets.

So much better don't you think?  

I'm so honored this project was featured at:

I've linked to these awesome parties:

What's it Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do
Project Inspired at An Extraordinary Day
Every Room in the House Party at A Joyful Cottage
Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors
Thrifty Life Thursday at Revisionary Life
Shabbilicious Friday at Shabby Art Botique
Share Your Cup Thursday at A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Wowza Weekend Party at My Love 2 Create
Inspiration Monday at Twelve O' Eight
Take it on Tuesday at Romance on a Dime
From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer
Tuesdays with a Twist at MsMoozy's Open House

What We Accomplished Wednesday #38

Want to be a pin-up girl?  Join the party, and if you are featured, I'll pin your project to my Green Willow Pond Features Board!


Christmas is gone and Valentines is almost here.  Time marches on and most days it feels like a sprint rather than a march!  I shared one last Christmas post this past week about our Christmas tree.

I finally figured out how to find my top posts for the year in google analytics, but it wasn't easy.  I'm sure there is an easier way to do it, but I am technologically challenged!  If you are so inclined you can see my Top 10 posts for 2013 here.

Now lets talk about last weeks links.  Pure awesomeness!  You are some very talented people...seriously! I know you are going to want to pin some of these, but please, click on the images and go to the original owner's post and pin from there.  Let's give credit where credit is due.

First up we have this amazing Trestle Table, made by Elisha at Pneumatic Addict.  Love the finish and the double trestles!

Terry at Forever Decorating remodeled her guest bathroom. Aren't that mirror and those sconces gorgeous?

This little desk by Biljana, from Biljana Shabby is oh so pretty!  I love how she used a picture on one of the drawer fronts and attached the knob right through it.

 Laurie's husband, from Heavens Walk, turned their dining table into this beautiful rustic plank top prairie table. Stunning!

I love these sweet little handwarmers made by Jackie at It's Organized.  They would be great little gifts and I imagine greatly appreciated during this deep freeze so many of us are under!

My mouth is watering for this Crockpot Cranberry Pork Tenderloin by Julia at Happy House and Home.

Now it's your turn.  Join the party and ink up your favorite projects below!

 Da Simple and Easy Rules

1. Only projects you have made/accomplished pretty please. Items for sale are okay, as long as they are in tutorial form, and linked to your blog post.  No links to shops or Etsy stores, please.  Link up to 3 posts - please link posts new to this party.

2. Linking back to the party (text or button) within your post is very much appreciated . You can grab a button from the side bar if you like.

3. I have one teeny little rule change that I would be so grateful if you would make note of. I ask that you share new projects (new to this party) each week, rather than linking up the same ones. If you make a mistake, no worries.  I will not hunt you down and give you twenty lashes with a wet noodle :)

4. By linking up here, you are giving me permission to feature you here, on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and/or Pinterest.  I'll only use 1-2 pictures from your post and link back to you. Then people will be flocking to your blog to read all about it!!  Spreadin' the love around baby!

Most importantly, go visit some of the links because otherwise it wouldn't be a party would it?

I am no longer automatically adding you to my email list to send out reminders about the party.  If you want a reminder each week, just use the little sign up form below.  You will only be signing up for party notifications.  I will not use this list for anything else, nor will I ever share it with anyone. ever. period.  

Sign up for party reminders