HOMEMADE CRUNCHY GRANOLA // M.STUDIO LIVING BEAUTIFULLY WITH CONSOL GLASS

HOMEMADE CRUNCHY GRANOLA // M.STUDIO LIVING BEAUTIFULLY WITH CONSOL GLASS

The Satisfaction that comes from spending time in the kitchen is something I really (REALLY) want to cultivate in my life.

I have been blessed with a husband that’s extremely passionate about cooking… so spending time in the kitchen has not always been at the top of my list ( & in my younger years, entrepreneur life was BUSY & time in the kitchen took a lot of self-discipline. )

I started with something easy & also thought it would be great to kick off the food section of my blog with something that’s on the healthier side when it comes to my late afternoon sweet cravings.

I love storing my Granola in my Consol glass jars…

It looks beautiful, it’s eco-friendly & it’s also a beautiful gift idea!

This recipe is perfect for a family of 3-4,

I would suggest splitting the recipe in half if you’re only making it for 1-2 people.

Prep time: 15min // Baking time: 30min // Total time +/- 45min

INGREDIENTS:

  • 300gr pumpkin ( Peeled & Diced )
  • 3 cups Rolled oats
  • 1 cup raw almonds – roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup walnuts – roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup raw coconut flakes
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 3 Tablespoons coconut sugar ( or other sugar alternatives )
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

    *optional – dark chocolate ( melt & drizzle over once cooled down )

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two 25cm roasting trays with baking paper

2. Steam pumpkin for about 15 minutes or until soft. Blend smooth & then set aside in a bowl

3. In a separate large mixing bowl, add the oats, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, coconut flakes, dried cranberries, coconut sugar ( or alternative ), salt & cinnamon. Toss them together & set aside

4. In a saucepan, add the coconut oil, maple syrup ( or honey ), & the puréed pumpkin. Bring to a gentle simmer and mix well until completely combined. Add the saucepan mixture to the large mixing bowl of dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.

5. Divide the mixture between the two roasting trays and spread it into an even layer so it can bake evenly. Pop it into the preheated oven and bake for 30mins, turning gently at the halfway point. This will break up the clusters, so you can decide how big you want them to be. Once the granola is golden brown, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely. ( once cool, drizzle your melted dark chocolate

6. You can store your granola in an airtight container. I love using my Consol glass jars & keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy your granola as a topping for yogurt or as a snack. Get creative with your granola & experiment with adding some of your favourite nuts, seeds & dried fruits.

Enjoy

Mariaan

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M.STUDIO SPRING BRUNCH // FEMALE NETWORKING EVENT

M.STUDIO SPRING BRUNCH // FEMALE NETWORKING EVENT

The most inspiring and colourful female networking event in South Africa… M.studio’s annual Spring Brunch throwbacks are a creative feast for your eyes!

We celebrated the start of spring and summer with ‘LIFE IS PEACHY’ as the theme for 2022’s Spring Brunch. It was a female-empowered morning full of peaches & blossoms… picture me&u documented and captured all the peachy moments for us!

Corks&bubbles welcomed the ladies at Hello Timber with delicious drinks at their tuk-tuk as we kicked off a morning filled with inspiration, networking, flowers, spoils, great music by Wesley West. A delicious brunch was prepared by feed food studio with freshly baked, naturally-coloured pink and purple sourdough bagels baked by Grace&Crumbs.

Love&sparkles made all my event signage visions come to life. I designed the signage and goodie bag artwork in Adobe Illustrator which they then screen printed and laser cut from acrylic that matched the event’s colour palette. ( *you can also learn to design beautiful details like this at one of my International design workshops )

Consol Glass spoiled each lady with a pink water bottle, because yes, a girl’s gotta stay hydrated while writing in her M.studio Beautiful Life Planner and using all her favourite M.studio planning tools. During the event everyone also got to fill a Consol Glass jar with their favourite spring beauties to take home. Blooms to place in your home office with the intention to refill when buying flowers FOR YOURSELF (because we should totally buy ourselves flowers more often!) Team A seed to sow curated and styled everything floral at this year’s event!

Home/Tuis magazine inspired us with so many beautiful ideas from the issue we received to create a home and workspace that we ABSOLUTELY love. We mingled, laughed and networked whilst sipping on  The Duchess’s  delicious elderflower drink in one hand and flowers in the other! Instax, you guys are the bomb. Thank you for making sure the M.studio community of women got to capture all their sweet spring brunch moments in style with your squareilicious Fujifilm Instax SQ1 Instant Film Cameras.

Oh! And I did the most beautiful spring-summer dress collaboration with Truly Yours Clothing this year and we launched the limited-edition range on spring brunch weekend… They were a HIT! I also want to throw in a special thanks to Divine Nails & Beauty Boutique for our spoils, team Beauty Gen for the goodies and the lovely giveaway from Styled by Emma Christina.

Team Konfetti Love made all our event decor and styling dreams come true… I loved conceptualizing with them and designing the details for the M.studio ‘TAKE WHAT YOU NEED’ station. This (to me) was the most intentional event spoil of the day… I designed beautiful affirmation cards that the attendees could take home and stick to their mirror or in a place where they could read them every day… I wanted them to really take a moment and TAKE what they needed for this new season in their lives… That is: SELF-LOVE, PATIENCE, CALMNESS, KINDNESS, CONFIDENCE &/or ABUNDANCE…

Outside & In magazine, thank you for reminding all the ladies to love everything green and growing in our homes and our gardens. We loved peeking through the pages of the issue and enjoying all the refreshing flavours from Pura Soda!

If you have been following my journey over the past few years, you’ll know there was A LOT of movement and change, but Cape Town is finally HOME for me and the place where I want to plant my roots! I was blessed to work with Alichia from a Journey to Joy earlier this year on my journey towards ‘owning less’ and living more organized. She made such a massive impact on my life and it was such an honour to have her and her beautiful brand part of this year’s spring brunch! Cheers to a beautiful new season with Boschendal bubbles and Whisk Away Ice Cream popsicles.

I wanted you all to remember that Life really is Peachy if you let it be… I designed cute little vinyl cut-outs and had so much fun making them with Cricut… 2022 was my first year working with the Cricut team and I am extremely excited about the future of creativity and living beautifully with them here at M.studio.

To the Keepsake Studio, thanks for the most adorable handmade flower-preserved resin hair clips you made for each lady. Forever wearing these flowers in our hair with a pretty dress! No M.studio event or workshop is complete without treats and cookies in packaging designed by M.studio from one of our biggest clients ( you might have seen these in the SLOW lounges on the airports. )

And finally, as always, it was an absolute dream working with Team Guddle to make M.studio’s events Pinterest perfect for all those social selfies and content!

I try to do something special for myself every year when it’s Spring in South Africa. This year was a BIG one as I welcomed a new hairstyle ( ‘bob’ ) after having really long hair for more than 20 years! ( there’s a more personal story behind this change… but that story deserves a post on its own. ) Team Lovingly, THANKS for making me the PRETTIEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL pink and floral and sparkly Spring Brunch outfit ever.

I loved celebrating everything beautiful and inspiring with ALL OF YOU!
Let’s do it all again soon love’lies! #mstudiospringbrunch

INVITING LOCAL BRANDS AND SME’s :

*Want your brand and/or business to be part of M.studio’s events and workshops? Get in touch

HERE : hello@ilovemstudio.com

STAY UP DATE :

// Daily inspiration and everything pretty on my Instagram @ilovemstudio
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Sending light, inspiration and lots of creative + good vibes your way!

Mariaan

M.STUDIO SPRING BRUNCH 2021

M.STUDIO SPRING BRUNCH 2021

It’s with the greatest excitement in my heart that I kick off my first blog post for 2022 with THIS one… & it’s a BIG one !!!

This M.studio annual event literally went from sprouting to blooming & doubled in size. I loved working with a bunch of my favourite suppliers again & we got to add some of my favourite well known brands to the goodie bags to make this day even prettier.

Flowers make people HAPPY.
It’s not just a feeling, it’s a fact…
They trigger all those happy brain chemicals…
DOPAMINE – flowers bring so much joy.
SEROTONIN – flowers make you feel happy.
OXYTOCIN – flowers bring feelings of love & connection.

In 2021 I wanted to make all the M.studio community ladies really HAPPY
I wanted to inspire them, I wanted them to feel excited about THIS new season…
because SPRING is a time for NEW’ness in so many areas of our lives!

We went all ‘citrus’ inspired as the theme for 2021’s Spring Brunch…
BECAUSE ‘when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade’ &
WE NEED TO ‘live our ( beautiful ) lives with zest’ ( *always )

We pinned blooms in our hair & wore our favourite + brightest dresses. It was 2 days full of inspiration, flowers, spoils, great music, networking, a delicious brunch, pink lemonade & citrus flavored ice cream.

 

a BIG THANK YOU to my Spring Brunch Dream Team

( *a day like this would not be possible without you! You are all, as always… an inspiration to me too! Make sure to check out the beautiful mess we made at the end of the weekend… carried 100s of flowers outside & danced amongst the balloons… I am so excited to see what we’ll make & create together in 2022 ! )

photography // PICTURE ME&U
venue // HELLO TIMBER
florals // A SEED TO SOW
styling & decor details // KONFETTI LOVE
ice cream // WHISK AWAY
brunch // ANNE MARIE’S CATERING
music // LUCINDA
cocktails // CORKS & BUBBLES
sponsorships // GUDDLE
lifestyle spoils // SARIE MAGAZINE
beauty spoils // WELLA

a SPECIAL thanks for gifting each lady with your beautiful products & services:

Feed Food Studio / Truly yours clothing / The keepsake studio / Alè.within you
Tarryn and Craig Ceramics / Flawless makeup / Avenue

See all you babes in September 2022 again!!

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FREE PRINTABLE // SPRING TIME GIFT TAGS ( ENG & AFR )

FREE PRINTABLE // SPRING TIME GIFT TAGS ( ENG & AFR )

SPRING is a season of ‘new’ness & stepping into a chapter that’s inspiring & beautiful… & it needs to be celebrated! Let’s celebrate flowers, blooms & blossoms with the people we love !!  
Download your M.studio tags to print at home with the links below :
*Remember to print then on your favorite colored paper & use ribbon you love!!! Enjoy… !!! & remember to tag us on social media @ilovemstudio, we’d love to see all those pretty gifts with these M.studio tags. Much love Mariaan
M.STUDIO SPRING BRUNCH 2020

M.STUDIO SPRING BRUNCH 2020

Spring is my most favourite time of the year!!! 

Here, in South Africa, ‘spring’ falls over the month of September. It’s a time of the year when flowers bloom & blossom… It’s a time when nature spoils us with the most beautiful colors all around us & it’s just amazing that we get to experience this EVERY year! As I’ve grown a little older my deep love, appreciation & ‘awe’ ( a feeling of reverential respect mixed with wonder ) for flowers have ‘grown’ immensely!

I also married Werner, my sweetest husband, soul mate, business partner & best friend in the SPRING of 2017. We filled my bouquet, hair & wedding details with cherry blossoms that my Mom gathered from our neighbourhood. I cherish the delicate little cherry blossom flower the most… for reasons I do not exactly know yet. I also really dream of one day experiencing the cherry blossoms season in Japan with Werner!!!

Spring, for me, is a season of ‘new’! It’s a time to bloom & blossom… it symbolises a time for fresh starts in whichever aspect of life where it’s needed… our careers, personal stuff, emotional stuff, relationships etc. Maybe it’s also just a time for us to love ourselves a little more & appreciate our life’s journey a little more, a time when we should put fresh flowers somewhere in our homes & spaces where we can appreciate this delicate, perfect & colorful piece of earth that just BLOSSOMS.

In the past, I hosted my annual #mstudiospringbrunch for M.studio’s clients, our brand ambassadors, bloggers I often work with & fellow industry friends. I received so many requests to open this event to the public as well & in 2020… I did JUST THAT… I invited all of YOU to come & brunch with me.

The M.studio Spring Brunch is an inspirational morning spent with beautiful people, in a beautiful space, surrounded by flowers, inspiration & beautiful food. It’s a morning dedicated to just taking a break, spoiling yourself with some ‘me’-time & networking with a bunch of pretty inspiring & strong women ( mammas, friends, sisters, #girlbosses, entrepreneurs, creatives, artists, corporates etc etc. ) . We all, basically, spend the morning mingling, chatting & also of course… stuffing our faces with vanilla konfetti cake!

Words cannot express what a beautiful day this year’s spring brunch was with all of you. ( especially in a year like ‘this’ one… a year that’s been ‘different’ for all of us. ) 

I tried my best to share everything about this day in this blogpost… from setup to event day! There were cherry blossoms… lots & lots of them! I hope to host another one in Sept 2021 & maybe we’ll do one in Cape Town too… let’s see where this creative journey takes me next year! THANK YOU to each & every lady who supported me & continue to support my journey! Without you… beautiful M.studio events like this will not be possible.

I would also like to send so much love to each & every creative who worked with me on this M.studio event! I want to thank you for following your heart & also doing what you love… because through that, you are inspiring my heart & those of many others, to also create, make & follow their creative curiosities. BIG THANKS TO YOU ALL…

HELLO TIMBER – one of my most favourite venue spaces in Gauteng

A SEED TO SOW – this girl is just amazing with flowers

SARIE TYDSKRIF – dankie vir ons elkeen se bederf, julle is vir ons ‘n inspirasie

EATRITE & YUM STUDIO – you have spoiled us with bags & bags & bags full of treats

WHISK AWAY – best homemade ice cream in the world

JAURNE ILLUSTRATES – this girl! …gifted each girl with the most beautiful personal illustration 

KONFETTI LOVE – prettiest decor details

PILATES BY LUCINDA – thank you for gifting each lady with a pilates class!

TISH & SHOO – prettiest tissue paper details for the M.studio goodie bags.

ANSU VISSER – girl, thanks for the freakin’ beautiful spring brunch film

*Thank you for the beautiful giveaways : PLANT PRETTI , PICTURE ME&U , LOVILEE , KONFETTI LOVE, BRONNY CREATES, HELLO TIMBER, WEDDING WONDERS

( also throwing in a SPECIAL thank you to my family… everything I do won’t ever be possible without you… you always just show up to assist, unpack, run, pick up, wrap & deal with all the behind the scenes… I LOVE YOU! )

…Flowers grow without anyone asking them to grow, they just grow… & sometimes they even grow in the most difficult spaces & places. They are a symbol of this beautiful thing called ‘life’ & how we need to experience the seasons in our lives as much as we experience them in nature. We need to allow things to flow & respect where we are NOW. So go buy yourself some flowers girl! ( I do it often! ) Put them in beautiful jars & when you look at them feel what you need to feel & also… just love & adore them for their beauty!

Sending you all so much love!

Mariaan

here we go!!! …full day of setup that ended with the most amazing golden sunset amongst a beautiful mess, a mess that I absolutely love, & always comes with ‘getting ready’…

M.studio Spring Brunch day…