Baaaanananaaaaa!

I LOVE banana's, I can eat them by the bunch full. I am a regular monkey, uh lets make that  a gorilla! Besides mango's they are my favourite and best fruit! However..... I often buy them and never can eat them fast enough! Call me weird, but  I cannot eat a banana that has a slight blemish on it when peeled! The mere sight of a brown mushy spot makes me get all funny inside! Like seriously vomitty! I kid you not! Hence there always seem to be 3 or 4 mangy minging banana's in my kitchen.

 

See What I Mean?



There really is only so much Banana Bread and Banana Ice Cream one can make! And to be honest I could make and eat more but I also think I am a bit bored with my recipe(even though it is Yummeeeeee!) I had thrown these 3 sad and tried looking banana's in the fridge a few days ago.... I was determined to find something useful to do with them... For 3 days I watched them look more and more pathetic! Really, they looked Disgusting! When I looked at them today I decided enough was certainly enough! I popped on to the World Wide Web - trawled and took pot luck- and Boy-Oh-Boy, did I find a winning recipe!

This recipe had all my favourite ingredients in the title so it was my instant choice! I mean when you type Healthy Banana Muffins into your search engine........ a trillion recipes come up - The one that caught my eye said Skinny  Peanut Butter and Banana  Muffins - Bingo!!!  And on the plus side - you could add my other favourite thing CHOCOLATE!!!!!(Don't know how Skinny that makes them but really - who cares ?)

 

That Looks Better!

I am not going to bore you with the precise making- suffice to say I threw everything in and baked, I also changed a few things here and there but nothing major! I will give you the recipe and tell you what I did in red and  brackets.... You all know me MRS EASY!

 

Chocolate..... Heavenly Chocolate!

Yummy Looking Batter!

Skinny Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins

• 2 ripe large bananas, mashed with no chunks - I used 3 Banana's
• 1/4 cup honey (or pure maple syrup)- I used half Honey ,half Maple Syrup(didn't have enough of either)
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup 0% Plain Chobani Greek Yogurt   - I used plain  old yogurt
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or cow's milk, soy milk, rice milk) - What ever... I used 2% low fat
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (non-oily natural style is OK) - I used normal peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 and 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (or an even mix of whole wheat + all-purpose) - Used White Flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder - I left out the Baking Soda and used 2 tsp of Baking Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips - I used 100g of milk chocolate- which was perfect!
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, melted

Directions -

Preheat oven to 425F(225 degrees Celsius) degrees. Spray 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the mashed bananas, honey, brown sugar, yogurt, egg, and milk together until combined.  Whisk in the peanut butter and vanilla extract until smooth and thick. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips together (if using).  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and lightly whisk until combined.  Try not to over stir the muffin batter or your muffins will have a tough (not soft) texture. Stir as little as possible until no flour pockets remain. - I put the Dry ingredients straight into the Wet bowl( why wash 2 bowls!)

 

Fill the muffin cups practically all the way to the top. Between 3/4 full and all the way full.  Bake for 5 minutes at 425F (225degrees Celsius)degrees. Keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350F(180 degrees Celsius) and continue to bake for 12 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. - I baked mine for about 17 minutes  Drizzle muffins with melted peanut butter if desired. - I  left out this step as I felt it might be too Peanutty!

Muffins stay fresh at room temperature for 3 days. Muffins without peanut butter on top freeze well, up to 3 months.

Oh! One last thing on these muffins - I used muffin cases but won't do this again, they stuck to the cases and there is NOTHING more frustrating than trying to get half your muffin out of a fiddly bit of paper!!

Pre Baking



Baked!

Moist And Delish!

They smelt gorgeous, a combination of peanut and banana wafted through the house! They rose beautifully they looked delicious and when APPLIED TO MOUTH ....... SUBLIME! The combination of peanut butter, banana's and chocolate is mouth watering! I initially thought that I should add more Chocolate however the amount I put in was just  perfect. I will try them with Dark Chocolate next time I make them....  Will I make them again ?  The recipe  has been printed out and stuck into my cook book already! So I think that is a resounding YES!  And as for  Ripe banana's they might not be so bad after all!  xxx

 

PS: I was just looking at the recipe and realised that they really are very skinny and really healthy!(Weeeellll, if you don't add the chocolate!) No butter and only a quarter of a cup of brown sugar! So NO extra fat and very little sugar!

Muffin Number 2 being Applied To Mouth!

 

Feel Good Day!

Today was supposed to be like any other day...... normal.... routine and well ... ordinary. It was anything but .....So a very quick post, because I wanted to share my lovely day!

 

I started the day JoYfUlLy, by attending Mass at Little Madame's school. The sheer joy of hearing those beautiful little voices lifted in Praise is like nothing you will ever hear. I am often moved to tears as I sit and listen! 

Then it was off to Market day! Remember...... I now have a table at a little Local Market, the Market is on the last Friday of every month. Today was busy... I had sold out of Bacon Jam in half an hour! This caused problems as everyone seemed to be after said Yummy Jam! And soon after the Cheese and Jalapeno Biscuits were gone too. It was a good day at Market!  This made me HaPpY !

There is a second hand book table and I picked up 2 books for next to nothing, I LOVE a bargain, and cannot wait to start reading tonight! I love reading and although I have a Kindle - nothing beats the feel and smell of a real book. Again this made me HaPpY! 

 



I had to collect Little Madame after school, and quickly popped home.... To my sheer joy, my Amazon delivery had arrived, the soundtracks to my favourite TV show of the moment Nashville! ( Yes!  I do like country music - STOP laughing please!) We listen to them loudly all the way back to the market - singing at the top of our voices! Yes I was HaPpY !

At last months Market, a gorgeous bag had caught my eye! It was dear, very DEAR! So I said to myself - I love it, but do I really NEED it? If it was there next market I would buy it! To my joy and delight it was! I bought it immediately! I love the quirkiness of it and it slings over one shoulder, it  is a hands free bag! And of course the bag has made me.... Yes you guessed it - HaPpY !

  

 

I also found the two lovely little wall hangings you can see about! The one made me tear up and the other made me laugh and oh yes -  HaPpY !  

A sweet bracelet and some beautiful ribbon, caught my eye too! I seem to still be very into the aqua blue colours. Can you see the tiny little bird cages on the ribbon! The heart bracelet reminded me that I am so loved and so  very HaPpY !   









We got home and as I was unpacking I heard the sweetest little voice singing, I peeked out of the window and the picture above is what I saw! Gosh, Golly and Darn, she is an angel, Little Madame was singing away to the  new Nashville sound track! My heart  was HaPpY !

 

When I walked into the house, I found the sun streaming into my lounge, beautiful golden rays made everything look warm and inviting. My home is most certainly my HaPpY place!

 

So now you can see what I mean, my day was anything but normal, it was  extraordinary! It was a joyful day, filled with chatting, singing, laughing and HAPPINESS! I hope you don't mind me sharing all my happiness with you, I seem to be bubbling over with HAPPY right now and  I really hope your day was HAPPY and JOYFUL too. xxx

Vanilla Ice Icing Baby......

The year before last I went on a few cake icing courses, which I really enjoyed! I even got the number for the local cake icing Guild but alas life gets busy and it all fell by the way side.....  Enter my cousin Vivian, I had seen a few posts on her face book page, she was making the most BEAUTIFUL cakes, with gorgeous little fondant things on them. Now I need to digress here just a little..... To tell you that although Viv lives just down the road, well, about a 30 minute drive we hardly see each other, like me she is a mother, to two very beautiful girls and is constantly busy, so we seem to only see one another on rare occasions! It is sad! But on with the ramblings....  I commented on one such post, and Viv responded with - 'Why don't you join me?' And so I did!

  

 Something Sweet is something else, owned and run by Kerry, who is an absolute sweetheart. She is a lovely lady who immediately welcomes you like an old and dear friend! She is kind and infinitely patient!! She is also a really great teacher, she explains things in a very simple and to the point manner!  She has been decorating cakes for many, many years, she says. Kerry relaxes you immediately and gives freely of all her knowledge, anything you ask, she can and does answer The classes are run from her home, she did have a shop but  decided to move it all home, and is busy renovating her garage  by herself, well.... with the help of her husband, who by the way bakes a mean apple and custard yummy little tarty thingy! The classes are about 3 hours long, but pass by in a flash! I have seen many beautifully decorated cakes BUT this lovely lady is seriously talented! All you have to do is take a look at her face book page..... Which you will find here  

So what did I do? I magically changed hard candy Easter eggs into the sweetest little dinosaur, a frog, a chicken in a nest (that looks more like an angry bird) and a elegant, cute little tea pot!

A lump of brown  marshmallow icing was round and shaped into a gorgeous little bear! I have only ever used plastic icing and I  really found the marshmallow fondant much easier! It doesn't crack as easily as plastic fondant and it rather like working with play dough!

And the left over was quickly made into a teeny tiny little bear! Let me tell you how this happened, LSO and Little Madame did not believe that I actually made the bear  - so I made one in front of them..... Thank you Kerry for teaching me so well!

 

The next class I did was my favourite and my best! It was a flood icing class! I have tried so hard to make flood icing biscuits but always failed dismally! My icing was too runny, it didn't flood it raged!  And sometimes it just sat on top of the biscuit like an island! Now I can do it! Its Easy! Its Fun! I L-O-V-E it! 

Flood Icing Ready

 

Kerry gave us exact recipes on how to make the perfect flood icing, then she patiently showed us how to make the icing and how to flood ice a biscuit!

 

Kerry Rocking It!

Then we all made the beautiful biscuits you see below! A teddy bears picnic feast! 

 

Teddy Bears Picnic Biscuits





Next class was a mom and kiddies class, as it was school holidays, I took Little Madame and Viv brought her one Little Madame and other Big Madame! It was so simple, A lollipop or sucker as we call them, covered in the marshmallow fondant,(I forgot to mention that this fondant also tastes really good!) We made A flower, a fish and Mike Wasowski(I know that's not how you spell that name) from Monsters University! It was such fun and once again clever Kerry was patient and caring with all of us, ESPECIALLY the little peeps!   



Our Masterpieces

 

Marshmallow Fondant

Cousins And Their Fish

Viv has so aptly named the icing classes - Play Dates For Moms! It is the perfect name! I really look forward to going, as a matter if a fact I cannot wait to go! Not only am I learning new and VERY exciting skills but I am seeing my cousin regularly AND I have met someone very special! Someone who is inspiring me to be more creative! Thank you Kerry, you are a STAR! xxx

Me and Mike!

Hot Cross Bunnies

It is almost my favourite chocolaty time of the year! Yes, Yay and Hooray! Easter is almost upon us! Now you all know from my previous Easter posts that I love Chocolate so it follow that I love Easter! But A funny thing has happened this year, my home seems to have been invaded by bunny's  but alas NOT chocolate bunny's!  I am not sure how this has happened but today I looked around me and all I can see is bunny's, they are everywhere! I have been unconsciously buying bunny, I think that my thought process is that I am buying them for Little Madame but some how they all seem to be hanging out in my entrance hall and my lounge! Its ODD!

 

I have even been trawling the world wide web.... For what you ask..... And yes!  You guessed right! Crocheted Bunny Patterns ! On one such trawl, Little Madame was sitting with me and we came across a very cute BUNNY, a bubble headed bunny. A bubble head is apparently a animal with a really large head. After much begging and pleading I downloaded the pattern and began to hook!

This pattern is a amigurumi pattern, I think I have spoken about this form of crochet before! it is small and done in  rounds or circles - remember my hedgehogs..... If not look here.

A Little Circle!

I said in that post that I found this form of crochet a little on the trying side, however this time it was a breeze! I think that there are two reasons for this! no1 - Little Madame was engrossed in the pink panther, for some unknown reason this has become the carton of the minute! No 2  - I sorted out a way to not have to constantly count rows! So clever I am! for some unknown reason, I had left a long tail at the beginning of my circle, it kept getting in my way, hanging over the end of the circle. Then it hit me use this long irritating tail as a stitch counter, soooo I counted my last row, then simply flopped the tail over the beginning of the row and crochet all the way round until I was above the tail, I pulled it out and flopped it over again, did three rows then came the test...  I counted the stitches and it was exactly what the pattern had said!

The Long Tail!

A Clever Stitch Counter

I am probably not the first hooker to do this but  I was really chuffed with myself. Yay! No more counting and no more fiddly little stitch counter thingys, that is until I needed to decrease again! Apart form the tiny arms and the huge ears the whole bunny was made from crochet balls, and you stuffed as you went, even the eyes went on as you were crocheting! 

A Bubble Head

 

I think that I might just end up making loads of this Amigurumi crochet, and I think I might use loads the  pattern on this beautiful  blog- its called All About Ami. The quaint little animal she crochets are sweet and pretty! She crochets beautifully! Small and delicate little animals, that are Adorable according to Little Madame! She also crochets other things, bags, the sweetest little girls boots, slippers, baskets ,cowls, the list is endless. Go onto her Patterns section for gorgeous free patterns! ....It still totally surprises me that so many amazing artisans are selling there beautiful wares on the Internet!  The Internet has truly made it very easy for crafters of the world to connect and share....

 Anyhoooo, back to my delightful little bunny! Once all the little rounds were complete and stuffed, she came together very quickly. Eyes were simply 2 buttons and a little pink flowers was pulled out of my flower stash, Little Madame chose the flower! It was her bunny after all!  

  

Nearly There.....



 A vintage fabric was used for the ears and soon she was looking cute and sweet! Felt served as paw pads ! All that remained for me to do was sew on a little nose! It was at this point that Little Madame popped over to see if said little bunny was ready, she grabbed it and when I said 'hold on she needs a nose' I was told that she needed nothing more, to be precise, Bun Bun( The  name of said little Bunny) was just PERFECT the way she was!  

 

What do you all think?

Bun Bun



Where Is My Nose....?



Sweet Tail!

And still  more and MoRe and still MORE bunny's keep appearing! Every where I look, there seems to be another bunny that has hippity hopped its way into our home!

  

Caged Bunny's

A Bunny From Her Nana

And of course, although I swore blind I was not going to make anything for her class, but then  I found a sweet and funny little poem on Pintrest and  made 27 little packets of Bunny poop! The little poem is so sweet I simply could not resist.....

 

I got you something special!

And here 's the inside scoop

Its very rare and magical! 

A bag of Bunny Poop!

 

The 'poop' is simply  chocolate covered raisins and I added 3 little marshmallow rabbits. I am so sorry I wanted to give you the link for the tags but I cannot find it..... So If this tag is yours, please forgive me for not linking it, I always give credit where it is due!

 

Class Bunny Poop!

And so in keeping with a new sort of Easter Tradition, a new little Easter bunny has joined the 2 that were crocheted for her over the last 2 years! And once again it has become Little Madame's faithful companion. As you all know the best part of making anything for her, is her total and utter appreciation and joy of handmade toys! I now have an idea brewing for a sewn bunny too, so watch this space...

My Egg Stash!

I am now totally happy that went the Easter Bunny arrives on Sunday, he won't feel lonely, after all our house is full of little bunny friends! So  this Easter eat loads of Hot + buns, and  as many eggs as you can! I can assure you all that is exactly what I will be doing for the next few days!  Have a Happy and Blessed Easter Beautiful Peeps! xxx

My Favourite  - Tiny Little Chocolate Eggs 

 

Granny Shawl..... Never!

I have been know to be very focused when I get a new idea in my little head! And yes I can just imagine those of you that know me having a chuckle! No, I am certainly not OCD however if I get an idea I need to act on it! Sooner rather then later! Recently I got a bee in my bonnet about a shawl! When I told LSO , I was thinking about crocheting a shawl it was met with peels of laughter and the words "A GRANNY SHAWL? "and more laughing! Yeesh! You would have sworn I had wanted to buy a zimmer frame! (Maybe I should, I know what I could do with it......)

 

So the hunt was on, I trawled the web, looked in my VAST library of magazines and books but could find nothing even vaguely funky or fun..... they were indeed all lacy  with tassel's .... actually the only way to describe them was - Yes, He was right! - GRANNY SHAWLS! I was a tad put off but still in the back of my mind a shawl was brewing.....

 

I have told you all before that I would lurve to be able to write my own patterns, in my head I can see what I want but I just need a starting point, in this case I wasn't sure how to get the 'V' shape going! Did I start at the top and decrease down or did I start at the pointy end and work up and increase as I went...... My brain just wasn't getting there!

 

Late one night I happen on a lovely blog,(My Rose Valley) and there it was, a beautiful and funky shawl, the lady, Anette who writes the blog had written  the pattern herself and it was for sale! You can find it here! She called it a Nordic shawl. It was thick, pretty and the colours were really gorgeous! It was very 'un granny' It was just what I was looking for, I purchased the pattern on the  etsy shop, read it and it seemed simple enough and easy to follow!   

 

I was off to the yarn shop like a flash the next morning(any excuse to purchase yarn) and bought the beautiful mix of colour that you see in the picture above! I am  often asked,  how I chose colours for the things I crochet and to be honest with you... Its not rocket science for me, I do not agonise for hours, I simply stand in front of the wall of yarn, and pick out  colours that appeal to me, often more than are needed. When I get home I put them all together and arrange them over and over until I have a pallet that I like.. I needed only 6 colours for the rows in the shawl, and had purchased 7 colours....   

 

I could not  decide between these two colours, I kept swapping them until I found that the colour of the darker one was more appealing with in this particular piece! I am actually in love with the darker aubergine colour, this picture does it no justice! And although I now have an extra ball of yarn,  I can assure you it will NEVER  go to waste!! 





I began to crochet, ever spare moment I had was devoted to this shawl, it certainly was not going to take me months.... I needed it before Winter!  It progressed really quickly, the rhythm of the granny clusters was therapeutic, and I must admit at this point that this is my favourite crochet stitch! I think that these sweet little clusters represent crochet perfectly. My first memory of crochet is my granny Shiela's traditional  Granny Square Blanket.  

 

I  stuck to a very neutral colour for the main body of the shawl, there were a few times that I looked at it and thought to myself it was looking really boring! Second guessing is a major fault of mine! Soon I had finished the main 'V' shape and it was time to start the colourful rows and this is when it all came to life! The colours I had chosen were perfect! They were so me!  

  

 

At this point of the shawl you begin to work the rows around the outer edge's of the large 'V' shape and it grows rapidly, you also stop using granny clusters and crochet a combination of double crochet, half trebles and trebles! I must have gotten awfully excited at this point because I completely forgot to take any more pictures but to be honest with you .... The end product is so pretty that those are all the pictures you need to see...  

 

And so with out any further commentary ....... I present to you my beautiful Nordic Shawl and I think it really deserves a great big..... TA DAH!!!!!!

I have already used my shawl. Now it certainly is not cold enough for me to wear it yet, sooooo I simply cranked up the air conditioner and sat in our lounge with my warm and beautiful shawl wrapped around me. I am so H-A-P-P-Y with it! I keep looking at it, it is fun and actually quiet funky, I would wear it with jeans, boots and a jacket, It certainly is not what a granny with a purple rinse would wear! LSO hasn't seen it yet and when he does I don't think granny shawl will come to mind ..... well here's hoping anyway! xxx  

 

PS: Barbie in her "granny shawl" this Barbie shawl was mine as a child, I recently gave all my dolls and dolls cothes to Little Madame - she loves them!

PS: LSO is not at home right now, so no picture of me with my shawl - Sorry!