Friday, August 30, 2013

Fun Food Friday- Banana Nut Muffins

The boys in this household (minus the twins, they haven't gotten to try yet) are fans of muffins for breakfast.  We also seem to end up with quite a few rotten bananas because Micah goes on kicks where he eats them and then doesn't want them, so it works out well for making Banana Muffins. :)  And to add a nice crunch to it I decided to add some crushed peanuts on top which Micah was a very big fan of.  So if you have some bananas lying around that don't look very appetizing, here's a great way to use them. :)

Ingredients: Flour, Sugar, Bananas, Buttermilk, Salt, Baking Soda, Butter, Eggs, Peanuts
 
To a mixer bowl add softened butter...

And sugar

Cream together

Add eggs

And mix (it is not necessary to watch it as closely as Micah, but it does help :))

Add baking soda...

and salt

And mix

Now you're going to alternate between flour and buttermilk.  First add 1/3 of flour...

Then 1/3 of buttermilk.  Repeat 2 more times
(If you don't have buttermilk you can just add 1Tablespoon of Lemon Juice to 1 cup of milk and let it set for 10 minutes)
 
Mash up bananas

And add to mixture

And mix until all combined

For the topping just crush up some peanuts
(notice Micah doesn't dare let go of his spatula for fear Mommy might take it away:))
 
Scoop the batter into muffin tins

And top with crushed peanuts

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until muffins are slightly browned.

They make a great breakfast!  Micah is a big fan of the nuts on top :) 

Muffins are a great gift to give someone.  Here I made a batch of banana nut muffins and blueberry muffins.  Then I just wrapped the bottom of a shoe box with wrapping paper, lined it with some blue napkins (you could also use tissue paper if you don't have colored napkins) and filled it with a dozen muffins.  I thought it turned out pretty cute and made a great gift for someone who had watched the boys for me.  I mean, who wouldn't love a box of homemade muffins? :)
 
Banana Nut Muffins
1/ 2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas (3 large)
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup crushed peanuts

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add salt and baking soda, mix.  Add flour alternately with buttermilk.  Add mashed bananas and mix until all combined and smooth.  Pour into muffin tins.  Top with crushed peanuts.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until slightly browned

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Week 45

  




And the sign is done

But who's going to get it?

Looks like David

And he's off with it

Jonathan does not give up easily


And he ends up with it, only to have Mommy take it before he eats it :)

Jonathan (right)- 22.0 pounds
David (left)- 20.7 pounds

Two big things happened this week.  First off, David got another tooth.  He was sitting on my lap this morning and I looked down at him and noticed that he had another tooth in there. :)  So he now has 4 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth.  And secondly, both boys got their first hair cut.  Their hair was starting to get really thick on top and was kind of driving me nuts, so I decided to just sit them on my lap outside and give it a cut.
Jonathan go to go first while David watched


All done

David's turn


And all done

Look at those handsome little fellas!
We went to a couple of playgrounds this week.  First we rode our bikes to the playgound at the public school.  It has a super big sandbox.  David had no problem crawling around in the sand:
 
 Jonathan preferred to just stay on the sheet

Then on Friday we went to a big park with Steve's parents and sister and her family.  More fun on the playground!

 I pulled out our bean plants and Micah has been loving playing in the dirt with his cars 

The twins aren't always such a fan of just looking on

All the toys around them and they fight over a water bottle :)
 
Micah helped me make Death By Chocolate for my Norwex party on Monday night.  He is very good at whisking the pudding

Micah all proud of the finished product

He told me he wanted to eat it right away and I told him we had to wait until at night and then we were going to share it.  He didn't agree :)

The twins continue to climb on EVERYTHING.  Unfortunately that means they also fall on a lot of things and end up with a few marks on their heads. :)  One of my favorite things they do is if you sit on the floor they usually crawl over to you and try to climb on you.  
 
Micah's night time diapers have Buzz Lightyear on them.  Steve taught him that Buzz says "to infinity and beyond!" and that his friend is Woody the cowboy and he says "YeHaa"  This is Micah's interpretation of that: :)
 
And finally, here are some of the twin's 9 month pictures, Enjoy!

David



















 Jonathan