Sane Cooking ~ Banana Muffins

Do you buy bananas but never seem to finish them before they go brown and yucky?  It happens to me ALL the time!!  I hate to just throw away the rotten bananas.  I guess I could make baby food with it, but as you know, there aren't any more babies here.  I make banana muffins!

My mom has been making banana bread my whole life.  A nice warm slice with a glass of milk...YUM!

"The Nag" is completely infatuated with mini muffins.  It doesn't matter the taste, just the fact that they are mini muffins is enough for him.  (And I really like them too!)


Banana Muffins
 
Ingredients:

1 1/4 c flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas (the more brown the better)
2 eggs
walnuts optional

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• Sift dry ingredients in bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients with beater until well mixed.  Slowly add the dry ingredients with the wet ones; continue to beat.
• Bake in a cupcake pan with liners or spray with cooking spray for 15-20 mins.  You can also bake in loaf pan for 30-35 mins.

We don't seem to make it past 3 days with those little guys!  Everyone grabs them by the handful as they walk out of the house in the morning.

ENJOY!


Alexis

Cake Pop Extravaganza!

Ever since I stumbled upon Bakerella, I have been obsessed with cake pops!
I have tried her strategy of "messing up" on a cake and rolling it together with cream cheese frosting.  But the balls never came out uniform and my hands got so messy.


Then I came across this nifty little invention...

What an adventure this was!!  


You start with a regular boxed cake mix and a box of instant pudding the same flavor as the cake.
You mix the cake and pudding powder with a little less water and a little more oil.


You fill the bottom pan halfway in each semi-circle cup.  Be careful not to fill it up too much...or batter spills out the top of the pan. 

I filled mine too much and batter came through the top! UH OH!

But the messed up tops were like little yummy mushroom caps! Delicious with a glass of milk!!

The cake balls come out perfectly round!

I used candy melts to coat the cake balls....still an art I have yet to perfect!

Not as cute as Bakerella's, but they'll do!

Have you tried making cake balls?  What works for you? 


Alexis

Passing Down Tradition ~ Italian Knot Cookies with Recipe

When I was little, I remember my grandmother letting me help in the kitchen.  One of my favorite things to help with was her knotted cookies.  She would let me mix the ingredients and mold the dough.

Unfortunately, my kids were never able to meet my grandmother, but today,  I passed down that same tradition with them.  We worked together to recreate those same knotted cookies.  



Italian Knotted Cookies with Sugar Glaze


Ingredients:

Cookies:
1/2 C sugar
3 C flour
2 TBL Baking Powder
3 eggs
1/2 C oil
1 TBL vanilla

Glaze:
1 C of confectioner's sugar
3/4 C water
vanilla, lemon or orange extract


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Sift all dry ingredients together.  Slowly fold in wet ingredients.
Blend ingredients together to make a dough.  (If very sticky, add flour)


Take about 1 TBL of dough and roll into logs.  Twist logs in knots.


Bake for about 15-20 minutes.  The cookies will remain light in color.







Glaze:
Blend all ingredients together.  The glaze should be a syrupy type consistency.  If too runny, add more confectioner's sugar.


Glaze cookies once they are out of the oven.  You can add sprinkles for decoration.


Unfortunately, our attempt was nothing like the cookies that my grandmother made.  They actually look more like piles of poop and they came out too big...but the taste was still there.

Do you have any memories of cooking with your grandparents or parents?  Have you passed down that tradition to your kids?




Alexis

How to Stay Sane on Rainy Days

Rain, rain, go away.  Come again another day.  Little boys NEED to play!  Rain, rain, GO AWAY!!

It has been raining in South Florida for more than 24 hours.  I'm not just saying an annoying rain, I'm talking down pours!  That kind of weather used to be welcomed in this house....we could stay in bed, drink coffee, read books, watch movies, and take naps.  

Now with two overly active boys, it could be MURDER!  

It takes a lot to make this family stay still for longer than 2 hours.  We aren't used to sitting still.  But we have been forced to.  

Here are some things to do to stay sane with your little ones on rainy days (while staying in your pjs all day!):

1)  Play games 
And not just the electronic kind.  We played Guess Who and UNO.  Two family favorites.

2)  Draw 
Always a kid favorite.  I keep them drawing longer by telling them that they have to add background to the pictures.

 

3)  Crafts 
I found some easy foam sticker crafts at Michaels.  Today, the boys made spooky skeleton door hangers.  We also made Shrinky Dink pirates.  (Throw back to my childhood!)

4)  Bake.  We made cookies and brownies. (Not that I needed either of those!)

To be honest, all of that took approximately 2 hours out of the 12 that we were awake, so we decided to:

5)  Watch movies
 The boys chose to watch Annie (a personal favorite) and Shrek.  The whole family snuggled on the couch with popcorn.

Maybe rainy days aren't so bad afterall....

What do you do to pass the time on rainy days?

Alexis