Love at The Ranch: The Cowboy Boots' Granola Recipe*

*This recipe actually belongs to Bridesmaid Georgia's mom and was only featured in The Cowboy Boots' out-of-town bags. Luckily, The Georgias were generous enough to share it with us! Believe me, this is good, people! There were trades going on like taffy for more granola because people loved it so much.

Greenie's Granola: The Cowboy Boots' Special Batch


Makes 8 cups of Granola

Ingredients:
6 cups old fashion rolled oats (no quick cook)
2 cups honey (we like Colorado Madhava Ambrosia Honey)
1 cup good oil
3 cups raw sunflower seeds
2 cups sesame seeds
3 cups almond slivers
2 cups Cranberries, Regular & Golden Raisins (**Note: Add at end, Do not cook fruit in oven!)

Place oil & honey in saucepan on very low heat. Mix oats, nuts & seeds together in large bowl, and add honey/oil to bowl and mix well.

On a large cookie sheet, cover with granola about 1/2 inch thick cover entirely, try to keep granola spread evenly across cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until golden, DO NOT LET BURN.

Once out of the oven, scoop granola into bowl and stick in refrigerator til mostly cool (its helpful to place wax paper in bowl, as granola will harden in fridge). Add dried fruit to cooled granola and bag!

Enjoy with yogurt & fresh fruit, oatmeal, milk or even all alone.

Recipe courtesy of Coleen Green Petrey.

Did you use any homemade goods in your wedding? Share the recipe with us!

Love at The Ranch: Out-Of-Town Bags

"Goody bags" is probably a more appropriate name for our out-of-town bags. And that's because we gave one to every guest in attendance. Out-of-town bags would also be appropriate, though, because all of our guests were from out of town. Either way you look at it, these darlings were stuffed to the brim.


I blogged about the baggies and their adorning stamps, here. Beyond the muslin bags, though, I got blank tags from Hobby Lobby (around $2.99 for 25) and the "I Do" stamp from there as well for around $3.99.

But what's inside, you're wondering...


We gave one bag per couple, so...

-Two packets of Emergen-C ($10 for 36 packets)
Good for travelers and for adjusting to the altitude because it forces you to hydrate, and we were at 8,300 feet.

-Saltwater taffy from Sunflower Farmer's Markets (around $1.99 per pound--you have to buy A LOT of taffy to make one pound).

-Lip balm with SPF 15 by Elemental Herbs (promotional item I got for free through work; normally $3.50 per lip balm).

-Homemade granola made by Bridesmaid Georgia. People were trading taffy for granola, it was that good. Recipe coming soon!!!

-A welcome note and schedule of events from The Cowboy Boots.

In case you're wondering how to craft your welcome note, here's what ours said (sorry for the small print--click it to make it larger):

We created it in Word and then went to Kinko's, bought card stock and fit four to a page. After, we sliced and diced with the paper cutter. They cost around $5 and were so easy to make!

And here's our schedule:


I dropped these off as we headed into Winter Park for the first time. Coordinating this takes a little bit of work. You first have to gather everyone's accommodations. Then, Mapquest them to figure out who comes first, second, third, etc. We had names on each of the bags so we had to make sure the correct ones went to each hotel. All of the hotels were more than happy to drop them off at our guests' rooms. Our hotel added on a $2 per bag fee which I was unaware of until we got our check-out bill, so make sure you ask if there's a fee!

What are you including in your out-of-town bags?

Copying Miss Apple Cider

That's right. It's so obvious, I made it my title. After seeing Miss Apple Cider's post on her DIY out-of-town bags, I got right down to it. I'd been conflicted over where to find cheap, bulk bags to use for this project. The best ones I had seen were at Hobby Lobby--brown paper with handles for .50 cents per bag.

But then, Miss Apple Cider came along and introduced the hive to muslin bags from this website. I followed suit and ordered 50 5" x 8" bags.

They were a little smaller than I was expecting--I guess I hadn't really thought about what 5" x 8" meant--but they would have to do. Plus, the fact that they are smaller means it's harder for them to look empty (i.e. I don't have to put as much stuff in them!). We're planning on including a welcome note, a weekend's schedule, a locally-made lip balm and a thing of homemade granola.

To decorate the bags, I also went Miss Apple Cider's route, but I had planned on stamping the bags prior to reading her post. I'd made a custom stamp of Mr. Cowboy Boot's horse that he drew for our save-the-dates from Simon Stamps.

Then, I skipped over to Hobby Lobby where I purchased a heart stamp as well as the stamp that reads "LOVE". Oh, and a few stamp pads.

Total cost of project (including shipping from ordering online):

Bags: $26.10

Custom Horse Stamp: $15

Stamps and Ink Pads: $17

Total: $58.10

Lucky for me, we plan on using the stamps elsewhere like on our note to our guests and on signage around the reception.

Did you DIY your OOT bags?