photo courtesy of bbmarie

Every week or so the clothes dryer decides to eat one of your socks, leaving you with a cold foot and a mateless sock. A fun way to turn that loss into a gain is to make a sock monster, a recycling project sure to bring a smile to your face or a youngster's.

There are several books on the market with easy to follow patterns for making a variety of monsters, from the creepy to the cute to the silly and perplexing. Mixing socks of various patterns creates a monster from an unknown planet or dresses an Earthly monster in snazzy (or tacky, depending on your fashion sense) clothes for a night out at the monsters-only club. Extra buttons can be sewn on for eyes and noses. Yarn or felt can be glued on to give your monster a goofy grin or a sloppy tongue. The best thing about making a sock monster is that nothing new needs to be purchased since you're using remnants from your sewing drawer or the back of your closet.

photo by Pinot & Dita

For years granola has been touted as a healthy alternative to chips, candy bars and other high calorie snacks. Yet a look at most mass-produced granola shows that they are in fact just as bad as the snacks we are trying to avoid. Rather than giving up granola completely, a healthy option is to make your own so you can control what goes into it. No more artificial ingredients and no more picking out the raisins if you don't like them.

The base of granola is made up of oats. Be sure to use old-fashioned oats, not quick oats. The rest of the ingredients is up to you. Use your favorite nut or try an assortment of them. Do you like dried fruits? Try cranberries, blueberries, dried mango, or chopped apricots. Seed lovers may want to add sunflower or pumpkin seeds. For a sweet touch to lure in the kids add mini carob or chocolate chips. You may want to experiment with themed combinations, such as dried pineapple, shaved coconut and macadamia nuts. Spices like ground cardamom, cayenne, and cumin can add an exotic, savory flavor.

You'll need a liquid sweetener to bind the ingredients together, usually honey or molasses. Don't forget to add a touch of salt to accentuate the sweetness. Then bake until nice and golden brown. The particular recipe you use will result in either firm-packed granola that can be sliced into bars or loose and crumbly, cereal-like granola.