Bazinga!
Monday, January 23, 2012 •
Sunday, January 15, 2012 •
Anyone with mad knitting skills want to hook me up??? I found this on Pinterest tonight and would LOVE to have it for Amelia but I am not so talented as to make it myself.
Saturday, January 14, 2012 •
Spice up Banana Bread
I'm guilty of making the same banana bread muffin and loaf recipe every time. I never mess with my Mom's banana bread recipe and I've never messed around with my muffin recipe either. That all changed the other night thanks to this little website called Pinterest. Have you heard of it? If not I don't suggest that you accept an invite. You will be in up to your ears in ideas and projects and will find there are not enough hours in the day to get everything you want to do done...but I digress...I saw a recipe for Reese Peanut Butter Cup banana bread. It looked so good I had to experiment with my recipe and peanut butter and chocolate. The results were pretty good if I do say so myself!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread
3 mashed bananas
1 banana, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all natural, unsweetened peanut butter
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup mini peanut butter baking cups, frozen (I used PC mini baking cups)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl combine the mashed banana and sugar. Melt the butter and peanut butter in the microwave. Combine with the banana and sugar mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking to incorporate them into the banana mixture. Add the dry ingredients and then fold in the peanut butter cups. Divide into muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce oven to 200 and continue to bake another 10-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.
Makes 12 muffins (7 WW PointsPlus each)
Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Bread
3 mashed bananas
1 banana, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all natural, unsweetened peanut butter
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup mini peanut butter baking cups, frozen (I used PC mini baking cups)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl combine the mashed banana and sugar. Melt the butter and peanut butter in the microwave. Combine with the banana and sugar mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking to incorporate them into the banana mixture. Add the dry ingredients and then fold in the peanut butter cups. Divide into muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes. Reduce oven to 200 and continue to bake another 10-20 minutes until toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.
Makes 12 muffins (7 WW PointsPlus each)
7 Months
Time is flying!
She's sitting up and making babblings of her own. Her first word was Dada and she says it all the time. Just the other day she started blowing and vibrating her lips. She loves the sound it makes. Amelia has changed so much in just the last few weeks. She's finally doubled her birth weight and her cheeks and little thighs have filled out. And boy does she love to eat! Bananas, Cheerios and pear were her favorites but now there is a new favorite on the block...
Say hello to blueberries!!! It took a few days but her little hands are no longer purple. Gotta love it! She's having fun and her personality is really starting to shine. Now if I could just get her to sleep through the night.
She's sitting up and making babblings of her own. Her first word was Dada and she says it all the time. Just the other day she started blowing and vibrating her lips. She loves the sound it makes. Amelia has changed so much in just the last few weeks. She's finally doubled her birth weight and her cheeks and little thighs have filled out. And boy does she love to eat! Bananas, Cheerios and pear were her favorites but now there is a new favorite on the block...
Say hello to blueberries!!! It took a few days but her little hands are no longer purple. Gotta love it! She's having fun and her personality is really starting to shine. Now if I could just get her to sleep through the night.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 •
We rang in the New Year with a great group of friends. Everyone had a great time! Conversation was rich, drinks were flowing and the children made it past midnight with no meltdowns. I've never seen anything like it. Once the clock struck 12 "Glittergate 2012" took place!
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| Glitter in her hair! |
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| Glitter, glitter everywhere! |
As 12am struck, fistfuls of glitter went everywhere, covering Kelly's house, every one's hair, clothes and, my personal favorite, little baby toes. It was so much fun. The girls kept scooping it back up off the floor and celebrating the moment all over again. It was a great memory and I'm sure 3.5 Dyson canisters of glitter later, Kelly would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Austin takes after his Daddy for sure. As the girls continued to play with the glitter, Austin was using a horse's mane to try to sweep it up. All he did was push it around but he thought he was helping.
Little Mark partied too hard and didn't make it to the glitter but I think this picture is probably an accurate reflection of his New Year's to come!
Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for reading this blog and for being interested in what I have to say, share and bake!
Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for reading this blog and for being interested in what I have to say, share and bake!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 •
What is better on a cold day than hot chocolate and marshmallows....why HOMEMADE Hot chocolate and vanilla marshmallows!! I gave this as gifts this Christmas and it was a huge hit. I will not buy hot chocolate in a canister again. Not when this one is so easy and so delicious!
Hot Cocoa
Recipe from My Baking Addiction
Ingredients
Directions
Hot Cocoa
Recipe from My Baking Addiction
Ingredients
2 cups Powdered sugar
1 cup Ruby Red Cocoa
2.5 cups Skim Milk Powder
1 tsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Cornstarch
Mix all ingredients in a bowl using a whisk to ensure that everything is well incorporated. Store in an airtight container. This makes 5.5 cups of mix.
Combine 4 tbsps of the mix in a large mug. Add boiling water, stir and savour!
4 tbsps of the mix is 2 PointsPlus values
Now if you really want to make this special add a homemade vanilla marshmallow. They are super easy to make but very impressive.
Vanilla Marshmallows
Recipe from Martha Stewart
Recipe from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1 oz gelatin (three packets of Knox gelatin)
1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste
Directions
Sprinkle the gelatin over the first amount of water in the mixer bowl with the whisk attachment in place. Do not stir this. Let it sit until you are ready to add the sugar mixture.
In a pot combine the remaining ingredients except for the vanilla bean paste. Stir until combined then allow the mixture to boil. Once it is at a rolling boil, allow that to go for 1 minute. Carefully pour the sugar mixture down the side of the mixer bowl. Turn the whisk to medium high as you do this. Use a spatula to get all of the sugar mixture from the pot. Turn the whisk to high. Set a timer for 12 minutes. Add Vanilla at the 10 minute mark.
Spray a 9x9 square pan with cooking spray. Working quickly, pour and scrape the marshmallow from the mixing bowl in the the pan. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray. Put this on top of the marshmallows and use your hands to smooth the top. Allow to sit for 4 hours or overnight.
Cut into 36 squares. Lightly coat each square with icing sugar to prevent it from sticking. Store in an airtight container. Each marshmallow is 2 PointsPlus.
1/2 cup water
1 oz gelatin (three packets of Knox gelatin)
1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp Vanilla bean paste
Directions
Sprinkle the gelatin over the first amount of water in the mixer bowl with the whisk attachment in place. Do not stir this. Let it sit until you are ready to add the sugar mixture.
In a pot combine the remaining ingredients except for the vanilla bean paste. Stir until combined then allow the mixture to boil. Once it is at a rolling boil, allow that to go for 1 minute. Carefully pour the sugar mixture down the side of the mixer bowl. Turn the whisk to medium high as you do this. Use a spatula to get all of the sugar mixture from the pot. Turn the whisk to high. Set a timer for 12 minutes. Add Vanilla at the 10 minute mark.
Spray a 9x9 square pan with cooking spray. Working quickly, pour and scrape the marshmallow from the mixing bowl in the the pan. Spray a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray. Put this on top of the marshmallows and use your hands to smooth the top. Allow to sit for 4 hours or overnight.
Cut into 36 squares. Lightly coat each square with icing sugar to prevent it from sticking. Store in an airtight container. Each marshmallow is 2 PointsPlus.
Enjoy!