Banana Walnut Mini-Muffin Loaves

Banana nut bread is near the very top of my list of favorite baked goods. So moist and soo easy to make from scratch. For years now, I've used the recipe provided on Joy of Baking, and it is unbeatable.

I've also been making a lot of muffins lately, making them with applesauce. No eggs, oil, butter or dairy of any kind. They're also made with a mix of whole wheat and white flour, and also some ground flax seed as well. They are delish! My mom made them for years, and I just recently started keeping that tradition going. So far I've mastered the chocolate chip and orange (I'm calling them Oh No, Orange! They are so yummy!) and also an apple spice muffin. I tried my hand at a lemon poppyseed, but it just didn't come out ... but I'll keep trying on that one.

So I decided one day that I wanted to try to make banana nut applesauce muffins. My recipe calls for about 2 cups of applesauce, but I had only one. Remember, I've got a toddler who loves applesauce, so it usually goes fast in our household!

I ended up making yummy banana nut mini-loaves based on half the applesauce recipe and half the one from Joy of Baking. They turned out so good! I should have made a double batch!

I think I'll have to make the combo-recipe one more time to write down exactly how I did it, because I really just kind of threw ingredients in the bowl, hoping it would work. I'm just glad it did  =)

 These little muffin loaves were with my chocolate chip muffin recipe, but I just love these labels! So fun.

Here's the Joy of Baking link for Banana Bread. I love everything on that website, and I want to try it all.

Happy baking, everyone!

Pretty Presents

I really enjoy scrapbooking, but I hardly have time for it anymore. But even though I'm not creating any pages to add to my books, I'm still using my mini cropping tool for so many things around the house. 

I used it last weekend to make present tags for two lovely ladies ... one was my soon-to-be sister-in-law and the other was for my 2-year-old niece =)

Loved this pink and black combo for Jewel's wedding shower. (Those colors also will be used in her wedding, along with others.)

What little girl doesn't like Tinkerbell and her fairy friends? (My little girl, Avery, just adores Tink.) This one was made for Miss Brylee, the birthday girl last weekend.

Scrapbook tools and stickers are great to have on hand for any type of crafty project. I used a heart hole-punch and some curling ribbon to attach the tags to the gift bags.

"WILD" Birthday Party

Brylee's 2nd birthday party was one "wild" party! What started as a stormy Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for a outdoor party. All decorations are handmade by Mikaelah ... she did a fantastic job!

Wild decorations for our wild little 2-year-old.

So cute! Little packages of "Thanks A Lot" cookies as thank yous for Brylee's guests.

For the birthday princess ...

Yummy treats from Ba's Kitchen Connection.

Too cute to eat ... almost!

 Cupcakes also came from Ba's Kitchen Connection. So cute how she made the icing look like grass.

Our brother, Jonah, made this cupcake stand. And Mikaelah decorated it. It's nice because the removable decorations can be customized for any theme.

Even the utensils were a little wild!

Handmade birthday sign.

Fun and funky picture frame.

My personal favorite setup from the whole party. LOVE this "TWO" sign that she made!

Did you notice that even the picture of Brylee is of her sitting on a zebra-print couch!

Another handmade wild sign.

Cute handmade animal sign. My favorite is the tiger ...

Individual photo clips were used to create this Happy Birthday display. (The angle makes it look like we left out the other "P" in happy, but it's there, I promise! As a copy editor, I would never live it down if we spelled a sign incorrectly!)

 

 A special little cake, just for Brylee.

Happy Birthday Sweetie! We had a blast at your party, and we hope you did too!

Candyland Birthday Party

My daughter Avery recently turned 2, so she needed an extra special party for her big day. This Candyland party was done completely by my sister, Mikaelah. It was her planning from start to finish that made this party the success it was!

What a great way to welcome our party guests! 

The sign at the bottom says, "We hope you brought your sweet tooth."

 

... and there were plenty of sweets available to satisfy that sweet tooth!

Amazing Candyland cake created by Ba's Kitchen Connection.

A very sweet idea! These little boxes were party favors for the kids (and older kids at heart!) Mikaelah set up a candy bar complete with chocolates and other candies, both sweet and sour.

"Avery's Candy Buffet"

The Candy Buffet was complete with toothbrushes,
so that all of Avery's party guests could "brush the sugar bugs away."

It certainly was a very happy birthday party for Avery. Thank you, Aunt Lala!