Chocolate Chip Banana Bread!!!

 How to Improve Banana Bread?

Why just add chocolate, of course!!!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I like to keep bananas around. Lily enjoys eating them, I like to slice them in oatmeal or they are good in pancake batter. (though I must admit I need a LOT of practice with making pancakes. I make yummy batter but then make the pancakes too big or burn them or they stick. Much practice is needed here!)

Anyway! I hate to see bananas go to waste so if they start getting overripe I make Banana Bread. 

Here's the recipe:
Banana Bread Recipe

Chocolate chip goodness sprinkled in JUST enough to be a yummy treat.

Today I remembered I had some chocolate chips so I decided to toss them into the batter.  I didn't add too much (maybe 1/4 of a cup) so I sprinkled some on top. The bread turned out so yummy! The sweet, occasional chip is a happy reward.

What else could one do to alter Banana Bread? Nuts? Raisins? 

What is your favorite Banana bread recipe? Share a recipe or link in the comments section.


Kids Baking Cookbook-Buy at Amazon

Doc McStuffin Birthday party

I made a card for the Sprout channel. It was chosen and shown on air!

Here is the video! Interesting note-my cousin is married to Kelly's best friend. (this host!)  I sent her a personal note along with the card and I swear she shares a special look right at the camera just for us!

At two years old, Lily didn't quite understand that is HER card on TV but someday she will know how hard Mommy worked for her 2nd birthday!

My sister works at Children's Hospital and got us Patient bands. Everyone had their name on theirs.

My sister used her Cricut machine to make these ADORABLE Doctor bags for treats. She used a different pattern and just changed the colors and added a bandaid to make Doc McStuffins doctor bags!

I found some tin cans at the thrift store and painted them white. I added the red cross and bought some bandaids, tongue depressors and cotton balls.  Kids love bandaids!!

This video walks you through all the favors, decorations and more. I forgot to take a picture of the "Big Book of Boo Boos" I made for each kid. 

My sister, Debbie came through once again and made "Thermometer" chocolate pretzels. These went quickly and were a big hit!!

I came up with this idea all on my own. Chocolate shots!!  I went to our local grocery store and asked for some syringes (needle free, of course!)  They sold me all of these for $2.00   Next I squirted frosting inside.  This is a shot everyone can love!

My Mom has an overhead projector. I borrowed it and made a large Chilly so the kids could play "Pin the nose on Chilly."  They turned out to be a bit young and didn't quite get the hang of it but they sure did have fun trying. :)

Lily's "Doctor" cake

Lily had a lovely time. I enjoy now showing her the party because she doesn't really remember it. Someday, she can look back and see how much work her Mommy did for her birthday. You may wonder why I do so much?  All I can say is I LOVE planning parties!!

Turning cleaning out the fridge into Spaghetti Sauce!

Today I wanted to clean out my refidgerator. There were some random vegetables that I did not want to go to waste. I also had leffover Turkey Meatballs and spaghetti but not enough sauce. So! I decided to make my own sauce.

I chopped up some onion, carrots and zucchini. I was careful to chop them as small as I could. It doesn't make a huge difference because I planned to puree them later but smaller chunks would make it easier.

I looked in my pantry to see what I might have for the sauce base. A friend had given me some tomato juice that her mother in law canned and I had one little jar of canned tomatoes that I put up last summer. Awesome! I was ready to go.

This is after the sauce had cooked down for about 45 minutes.

Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs a al Jessica Alba

I was perusing Buzzfeed while at work. I came across this post: 27 Healthy Versions of your Kid's Favorite Recipes

Right away I wanted to try #4:
"Jessica Alba's Turkey Meatballs"

There is even a video within the link. She made these on Martha Stewart!  I was excited because the only thing I didn't already have was ground up turkey and I knew I could get that on my way home with no trouble!  Here is the recipe if you want to skip right to it. Jessica Alba's Recipe

As I began prepping the meatballs, my stepson, Calvin wandered into the kitchen he asked what was I making? When I said Turkey meatballs he turned up his nose and slunk away. I definitely did not tell him there were carrots and zucchini squash in the meatballs!  That's right!  Veggies snuck right in and your kids won't even know it!!

Turkey meatballs ready to be cooked! Kids will never know there are carrots and zucchini tucked inside!

I did just like Jessica said and had my daughter, Lily (3) help me. She was willing to toss the veggies into the bowl (I portioned out each veggie into a small dish just like they do on TV) but she drew the line at helping me squish the ingredients into meatballs.

Yummy delicious Turkey meatballs over spaghetti and Marinara sauce!

So how did they turn out? Well, when Calvin smelled these lovelies cooking, he started hovering around the dish trying to steal meatballs!  When it was time to eat he loaded up his plate so fast I was dizzy. And then he came back for seconds! We all liked them! I LOVED them!

Here is Little Miss Fancy! She wanted to eat her spaghetti off my Pottery Barn Cake Stand. (I hadn't gotten all the party servicing dishes put up yet. Oh well! Let her be fancy!)  :)

Mine is probably over 5 years old, but they still sell it.

You can get it here-Pottery Barn Cake Stand

Lily's Little Mermaid Birthday Party!

Miss Lily. 3 years old

Miss Lily Belle Turns 3!

Lily Marie turned 3 and wanted a party fit for a Princess-Princess Ariel to be exact!!

So, Mommy hit up Pinterest.  No better way to start the creative juices flowing!!

The first  fun thing I found was an idea of "Oyster" cookies. I used Nilla Wafters, a yogurt raisin for the "pearl" and frosting to hold it all together. Easy to make but messy!  My tip-hold up the bottom wafer, squirt the frosting and then place the pearl and the top piece on and then place them in the dish for safe keeping. If you try and squirt the frosting (I used a Ziploc back with one corner cut off as a piping bag) while it sits in the tray, you have less control and it will tip over and make a big old mess.

Next up was to make cupcakes! I used a recipe from my favorite Children's Cookbook-

/www.amazon.com/Williams-Sonoma-Children Baking

I used the "Easy Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe page 86 for the cupcakes. They aren't technically "cupcakes" but they are SO yummy that noone cares!

Top off with some frosting and a Swedish Fish and Viola! Mermaid food!

Another fun treat that I made was Sand Dollar Cookies!  Here is where I got the recipe:

Sand Dollar Cinnamon Sugar Cookies

For Lily's cake I decided to make something similar to the cupcakes but on an individual and slightly bigger scale. This recipe is also from the Children Baking Cookbook. I used the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, Page 46.

 My husband did the frosting! He is better at it than I am!

Next to turn my attention to decorations!!

If found a HUGE Ariel wall mural from Amazon for $6.00!! (Though I noticed the price has gone up!) You can buy it from The Oriental Trading Company for $5.00 but you have to pay shipping and handling.

www.amazon.com/Ariel wall mural

Next I bought two colors of blue streamer and a table cover. I tasked my husband with setting up the decorations. I think he did a pretty awesome job!

These items plus the red tissue paper medallions (on clearance from Wal Mart for $0.19 each!) and the entire decoration budget was less than $13! 

Me and my big 3 year old!

One activity we had was to make necklaces with salt dough stars. The girls first painted them "Ariel colors" and then let them dry. Later we came back to string them and add their names.

Picking letters for our names!

While their starfish dried-each girl put on their very own Mermaid tail.  My WONDERFUL friend, Debra Johnson made these for the girls!  How fun! They crossed under the arms and then criss cross over and tied behind their head.  

The girls had a ball doing a "Mermaid Parade"  Around and around they went in their swishy tails!

Amid some amazing new toys, Lily got this handmade gift from my dear friend, Debra. At night, Lily tries to figure out how to hug all 5 pillows at once.  Ultimately, I think it will help her to learn how to spell her name more efficiently!

Each girl got an amazing Ariel balloon animal AND a balloon Princess Wand!  

Hello Kitty waffles!

Isn't this the cutest thing? My daughter, Lily likes Hello Kitty. My husband found this waffle maker at the thrift store. It was so super clean and spotless I'm not sure it has ever been used. I just had to whip up some waffle batter and test it out!

Here is the waffle recipe I used: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/waffles-i/

The waffles come out as these adorable characters! The only problem is they are SO cute my daughter didn't want to play with them at first. She thought they were toys. lol

I had to turn them over and show her the "waffle" side. We put butter and syrup in the little sections. THEN, she was more willing to eat! These are adorable and I made a extra so I could set some back. If you're going to go through the trouble of making pancakes, you might as well double the recipe and save some! Waffles are great heated up in the toaster or toaster over the next day so why not make extra!

Pancakes for beginners!

I thought you had to buy pancake MIX in order to make pancakes! 

Well I am Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

This tasty little recipe is ALL you need.

I used only one ripe banana (because that's all I had!) and I think that it was perfect!  For sure it has a banana flavor but it's not too much. You can add two if you want more!

I also added broken up pecans. 

It was like 3 minutes to mix the ingredients, (well prolly five since I had to smash a banana too)

and then pancakes VOILA!

Save this recipe for when you have company. You'll delight and please them 10 minutes or less!!!

Banana Pancake Recipe