Banana Bread Muffins with Cinnamon Butter

It seems that on the weeks that don't buy bananas my family gets irritated and asks "Why didn't you buy any bananas this week?" On the weeks that I do, they sit there untouched. I love this recipe for those weeks when my family just lets them get very ripe. These are truly one of the best banana muffins I have ever had. The first time I made them my husband asked if I would make them again tomorrow.

Ingredients for muffins:

1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c vegetable oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 tsp baking soda

Directions for muffins:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin cups with cooking spray and place in muffin tin (or just grease muffin tin if you don't use muffin cups).
Mix sugar, oil, and egg until creamy and light yellow. Add bananas and walnuts. Next add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until completely smooth. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean after being poked through the center of a muffin.


Ingredients for cinnamon butter:

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter softened (real butter, not a spread)
1/2 to 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 to 2 tsp cinnamon (this is really to taste. start with 1 tsp, gradually adding more until you reach your desired flavor)

Mix butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners sugar, adding up to 1/4 cup more until you reach your desired consistency. Mix in cinnamon. Serve with muffins.

Homemade Puffy Paint

My niece and nephew came over for a visit on Saturday. Since it was going to be rainy out, I knew I had to come up with something to do that would entertain them for a few hours. I remembered reading about homemade puffy paint from Delaware County Moms and thought that would be a fun craft project. They kids had a blast creating their art projects!


What you need:

Equal parts water, all purpose flour, and salt.
Food Coloring (I used Wilton's Gel Food Dye)
Squeeze bottles (I bought an 18 pk at Michael's. They were $13. I used a 50% coupon and got them for $6.50. If you don't have a 50%, they usually have a printable 40% on their website)

Directions:

Mix flour, water, and salt together in a large bowl with a wire whisk until smooth. Separate about 1/2 cup each into separate bowls. Put a few drops of food color in your desired shade into each bowl. Stir until color is blended through.
If you have a funnel, pour each paint mixture into plastic squeeze bottles. (I didn't have a small enough funnel but it was easy enough pouring it in with a spoon).
Now go make some awesome puffy paint art!

*Kids like to pile on the paint, so it does take a while to dry. You may want to put cardboard under their paper because some of the moisture from the paint does soak through. (Not the color, but the water does get the backing of the paper a bit wet!)

Don't mind Allison's crazy hair. She just got out of swim class :)

Damian with his masterpiece. You can see where the paint is lifted from the page pretty well by the sun.



4 Cheese Chicken Pasta Bake

This dish is one of my family's favorites! My kids don’t like any pasta with a red sauce, so they usually eat just plain noodles with a pat of butter. This is one pasta dish they will eat and I usually don’t have leftovers on because they gobble it right up.

Ingredients:


8 oz uncooked penne
2 tbs butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (about 10 oz) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened and cubed
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup milk
1 jar (about 4oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1/4 cup  Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 cups cooked and cubed boneless, skinless chicken breast


Topping:
3 tbs butter, melted
3/4 cup crushed butter round crackers


Directions:


Cook penne according to package directions. Drain, and set aside.
In a large skillet, sauté garlic in butter 2 minutes. Add the soup, cream cheese, cream and milk. Cook and stir just until cream cheese is melted. Stir in the mushrooms, cheeses, and spices. Cook Just until cheeses are melted. Add chicken breast and penne. Heat through.
Transfer to a 2 1/2 qt baking dish. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients, then sprinkle over pasta mixture. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Uncover, bake 15 minutes longer, until it is bubbly and golden brown.
Serve.

Leprechaun Trap

The girls and I decided we were going to try to trap a leprechaun this year. Mariah wants to go on vacation this summer, so she really wants some of that gold. Allison just wants to keep the leprechaun as a pet. I don't know how well that would work for her, but if we catch one, I'll let you know!

We decided to put our crafting skills to the test. We built our leprechaun trap with scraps we had laying around the house. We cut a little trap door in the floor of the box in front of the pot of gold and covered it with clovers so hopefully he will fall through it and get stuck. Then, since we all know leprechauns love shiny things, we glitter coated almost everything to attract him to our trap. Hopefully our plan works. If we actually catch him and hit it big, we will be sure to share the wealth. Wish us luck :)

Little Joys!

I always look forward to spring because I know that Cadbury Eggs are just around the corner. My husband brought me a few home this week and I was thrilled! As I sat there eating an egg I thought how funny it was that something so simple as a Cadbury Egg could just make my day. I kept thinking about how true it is that it’s the simple things that just make life so grand. I can think of a lot of little things that have brought me so much joy this week alone:

Tuesday visits with my mom and nephew.


Watch week at my kids swimming and Allison’s gymnastic classes.


Free samples in the mail.


Pretty nail polish colors.


New socks.

source

Having lunch with Allison at her school. This week I got to hear all the gossip of 8 year old girls, which was quite entertaining. I heard about new tv shows, who’s a brat (their words, not mine lol), who likes who, and that Mr. Dan is soooo cute! (Mr. Dan is the custodian, who actually does have a Channing Tatum look about him.)


3 hours I get to spend alone with my husband on Sunday afternoons when the girls go to their grandmothers. Some days it’s hard figuring out what to do, and even when we can’t figure anything out, that time is some of the most precious to me.


Stealing a few minutes each night to catch up on The Hunger Games (fantastic books by the way!)


Good Neighbors.


Warm days and having the door open.


My Gnomeo and Juliet plant pot stickers I just bought at Hobby Lobby. Aren’t they cute?

These are just a few things that have made my world so much brighter this week. What are some of your little joys?

Source

St. Patrick's Day Game!

St. Patrick's Day is one of our favorite holidays! Every year my girls look forward to playing our St. Patrick's Day game. All you need is some green construction paper, a little black pot (I find a 6 pk at Walmart or Michael's for $1-$2) and some gold paper wrapped candy.

Cut out a lot of 3 leaf clovers from the construction paper. Then just cut out a few (I only have 3) four leaf clovers. Sprinkle them all over your house and once the kids find a four leaf clover, they get rewarded with a pot of gold!

I usually make them wear silly headbands while searching. It makes it a little more fun and festive!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes!

What do you do when your big sister has a friend sleeping over and they don't want to play with you?

Make cupcakes, of course!

Poor Allison is at the age where her big sister just doesn't want to play with her when her friends are over, so yesterday we had a fun filled day of playing on the Wii, watching Mr. Popper's Penguins, and enjoyed some St. Paddy's day themed cupcakes!