This Time, I Promise!

I know, I know... last time there was a lag in posts, I said I was back for good.  Clearly I've been out-of-control busy with a ton of additional responsibilities for work and have been slightly overwhelmed!  But, I PROMISE I'm back.  My goal is 2-3 posts a week because posting everyday is too time-consuming, especially with things being so hectic in my life right now!

This morning, I woke up super early and decided to get a jump start on the day, so I went right to 7:30am mass!  The priest was uber-quick with mass, so I was home by 8:30! Score!  Home by 8:30 meant that I was able to whip up a new recipe.  Technically it's a recipe I found online, but I altered it a lot because I felt I could make it slightly healthier! :)  

My new recipe?  Banana Muffins! :)  I L-O-V-E bananas, so when I'm wasting my time on Pinterest, I'm always looking for recipes with bananas.  I had a few bananas that were looking less than appealing, so I figured PERFECT!  Brownish-gross bananas make for the best banana bread! ha!  I found the recipe at this website, but like I said, I altered it!

First I mashed up 3 bananas.  Two of the bananas were pretty brown and the other one was still yellow.  It worked out just fine though.  After I mashed the bananas, I added a teaspoon of ground cinnamon - scrumptious! :)  Since I'm OCD about measurements, I measured the mashed up bananas and it was almost 1 full cup.  

 Love mashing the bananas! :)

This is where the recipe was altered - the original recipe called for 3/4 cup of all-purpose white flour and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour.  I decided to use all whole wheat flour, despite the websites I found online that said it's not a good idea to substitute ALL whole wheat flour.  It worked out just fine!  The recipe also called for a tablespoon of baking powder, but I felt like that was a lot, so I did one teaspoon and it turned out lovely.  I thought maybe it was a typo, but no one left comments about it, so I decided just to do my own thing.  Like I said, it turned out great!  

 I couldn't wait for them to cool...

 I ate it almost right out of the oven! :)

 So yummy! :)

Healthy Banana Walnut Muffins (Makes 12) (Adapted from The Reality of Skinny)

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg (I suppose you could use 2 egg whites instead to make it even healthier)

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

chopped walnuts, optional

1. Mash bananas in a bowl.  Add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, stir, and then sit aside.

2. In another bowl, add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Stir and then set aside.

3. In another bowl, add your bananas, applesauce, vanilla, egg, and sugar.  Beat with an electric mixer until it's all blended.

4. Add your flour mixture to the banana mixture and blend on low for about 30 seconds until well blended.

5. Pour mixture into muffin tin (I used paper baking cups) and sprinkle a few chopped walnuts over each muffin and bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean!

I enjoyed mine with a few sprays of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!  Delish!  :)

Now I'm off to Lakeshore to laminate some work stations for my first graders for this week!  I may be experimenting with chicken pot pie tonight, so there may be another recipe this afternoon!

Have a stellar Sunday!

Sweet Hugs,

Lauren