zweitblog-manu: October 2011

Monday, October 24, 2011

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe is for my dear cousin Stephenie.

She visited a few weeks ago and I sent her home with a batch of these muffins.

She has asked for the recipe and I am happy to share it.

They are our family's favourite muffins....I have been making this recipe for almost 20 years.

It's an easy recipe to make...you can mix it up with a bowl and spoon in 10 mintues!

That's it!

And they are the yummiest muffins...so moist and good..you can eat them for dessert!

Great for a lunch box. Or breakfast.

Or 2 am in the morning.

{But no one here does that}

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

{makes 12 muffins}

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl:
Mash 1 cup of ripe bananas.
Add 3/4 cup white sugar and
1 cup Hellman's Mayo. {Use only Hellman's mayo..it substitutes for the eggs and oil in this recipe. Do NOT use Miracle Whip, or your muffins will taste like a super weird sandwich. Been there. Done that.}

Mix these 3 ingredients until smooth.

In small bowl, mix together well:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add flour mixture to banana mixtuer. Stir untiol just moistened. Add 1 cup of your fav chocolate chips. Scoop batter into muffin tin. Bake for approx. 20 minutes.

If you want these muffins to look more 'gourmet', add dried banana chips, large oatmeal flakes and choc chip as a topping. I've done this before to give these muffins as a gift!

Enjoy!

{Love you Steph! Come back and visit again soon!}

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Inexpensive Artwork For A Little Boy's Bedroom...

When I was home visiting in Nova Scotia this past summer, I had the pleasure of helping my cousin & his wife put together a look for a bedroom that was going to become Big Brother's room when Little Brother arrives this fall.

We chatted about a look for the room, and I suggested that the room could fresh & fun without being too 'themey' or 'disneyed out'... a room that could grow with 'Big Brother' for the next few years.

We started off with a visit to Homesense to search for new bedding for a twin bed and some inspiration for a colour pallette for the room.

Mom fell in love with a beautiful cotton bedding set that was made up of various shades of blue.

Then we chose some fun accents pieces in frog green to give the room some great little boy energy.

{I really wish I had taken pictures of the bedding and accents...but it was such a busy few days!}

One thing we couldn't find for the room was some artwork.

I suggested we look at children's books to see if we could find something suitable to frame.

After some time browsing through children's books, we found one that we liked.

A counting book {$7.95} with cute animals...perfect for a little boy.

I loved the counting theme and the simple, black typeface with sweet pictures.

We visited a local dollar store and picked up some inexpensive frames.

And because the pictures from the book were a little small, I added some scrapbook paper in blue & greens to make borders to fill in the frame & compliment the artwork.