Banana Nut Muffins Recipe

UPDATE: I brought these into work today and everyone loved them!! 

One thing I have learned this past week is that if I want to accomplish something I should NOT make it into a new year resolution. Every year for the last several, my resolution has always been to cook at home more.  We eat out every day that I do not work. At the moment that breaks down to about 3 days a week. This year I choose not to make it a resolution because I knew my work schedule (getting off at midnight) didn't really allow for cooking within normal hours. Well for some reason I have really been in a cooking mood these last few days. *crosses fingers* I hope it last! Anyway, onto the good stuff. Here are some Banana Nut muffins I made and some Chocolate Chip Banana Nut bread. YUM!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cup of All Purpose Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Butter (softened)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
4 Bananas (better if they are on the riper side)
1 cup Walnuts
1 cup Chocolate Chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 375* and grease your baking pan.
2. I mixed the first 7 ingredients in that order and then added the bananas 1 at a time.
3. Keep mixing... I mixed for a little while, the original recipe says for 3 min.
4. Fold in the walnuts and the Chocolate Chips if needed.
5. Spoon into your cooking pan of choice. Cook for about 18 minutes.
6. Gobble it up or save some for breakfast!

I forgot to add some walnuts to the top of mine. :( I made 12 muffins and an 8x8 loaf of bread. (you know, standard bread size...lol)

Here is the original Banana Nut Bread recipe.

Weird Wednesday

This is a tattoo from my left arm. I found this site The Creatures in my Head several years ago and new instantly that I wanted one of these characters as a tattoo. If you are not familiar with this site you should really check it out. Basically every day for several years now this guy draws a different character and puts the picture online. I just think it is super cool and cute and of course the characters are weird so they fit right in.

Thomas the Train and Woot.com Sale

If you have a Thomas the Train fan in your house you will want to check out the sale going on over at Woot.com. Right now they have these 2 piece train sets for only $9.99 + $5 shipping. If you order at least 2 it is definitely worth the price and for most of them just buying one is better than any online price I could find. We all know how expensive Thomas the Trains stuff is. Lucky for me, I picked up a few items from the Target toy clearance that should get me through until Christmas.

Have you found any other good Thomas the Train deals recently?

Homemade Granola

So, my work schedule is changing and I will not be working 1 to midnight anymore. Instead I will be getting off of work at 6! I am going to use this change to improve my cooking skills actually cook something and maybe break this horrible eating out habit. Today I went to the grocery store and picked up all sorts of ingredients. I will be making chicken parmesan, tortilla soup, dorito pie, chocolate chip cookies, banana nut muffins and this homemade granola.

INGREDIENTS
1 Tbs Olive Oil
2 cups rolled/old fashioned oats
1/4 cup of butter
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 pinch of salt (optional)
1 handful or so of almonds, walnuts, raisins, dried fruit, etc.

DIRECTIONS
1. Put the olive oil and the oats into the pan and cook until some of them look brownish

2. Pour the oats into something else and then cook the butter, honey, and brown sugar in the pan until bubbly.

3. Add the oats and mix it all up. Cook for a bit longer. Don't wait until you smell them burning like I did. Take them out after they are all coated and well heated. I sprinkled the salt on some where around here. I think. :)

4. Add in the nuts and dried fruit or whatever else you want.

Ahh the finished product! These are super yummy even being a little burnt. I can't wait to make them again! I plan to use this granola for a yogurt topping or just as a snack.

I found the homemade granola recipe here but as you can see I did make a few of my own changes.