Delicious (and Healthy!!) Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I love baking.  I especially love baking when Mr. MacGruber hops up on the big dining room chair and helps me.  Mostly, he wants to stick his little fingers in everything and sample.  He sampled a big gob of baking soda once..poor guy!  That's what you get for not letting mama mix it all together first!!

My mom (and her mama too) have always been bakers.  There's something about making goods that you grew up with.  It takes you back.  It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside! 
My mama always made banana bread when were little.  And her banana bread is the BEST!  It's so moist and delicious and I love it all warm and schmeared with butter.  C'mon...who doesn't? 

I stumbled across a recipe a while back and wanted to share it with you.  I seemingly always have bananas stashed in the freezer and this is a great way to use them.  It's delicious, it has no refined sugar, and it's the healthier version of  my mama's.  In my mind anyway...

Here we go...

Not Your Mama's Banana Bread

2 cups whole wheat flour (if whole wheat is too "wheaty" for you..do half white/half whole wheat!)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 egg whites
1/2 cup honey or agave
2 tbsp. canola oil
1/4 cup milk (non-fat) or almond milk,
1/4 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
3 ripe smooshed bananas
3/4 c. of pecans, or walnuts (I'm a nutty girl, so I like nuts..you can reduce the amount!)

1.)Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.  Spray 5 mini loaf pans with Pam. 
On a side note-I buy the disposable aluminum loaf pans and reuse them FOREVER!!  I even throw them in the dishwasher to wash.  That's totally the frugal side of me!

2.)Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using an electric mixer.

3.) Scoop the batter into each pan using a measuring cup.  I do this so I can divide it evenly amongst the pans.  Make sure each pan is approx. 1/2-3/4 of the way full. 

4.) Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until your toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Disclaimer- At first taste, this bread has that "good for you" taste.  But with no butter, no refined sugar or flour, and packed with potassium, it's a "no guilty Mama" treat for MacGruber.  On his super picky food days, he will still eat this bread.  To make it extra special and yummy, I sometimes schmear it with peanut butter!  YUM!



**This recipe was adapted from The Gracious Pantry's Clean Eating Muffins.  To check it out please click here.

Some "double talkin" up in here!

Sometimes when I talk, I listen to myself. (Do you like how I said "sometimes!") When I really listen to myself I am a-mazed at the words that actually come spilling out of my mouth. Perhaps it's because I spend ALL day talking to MacGruber and my adult interaction is somewhat limited. Let me just clarify one point here for a moment. In my bias-I think my child is the cutest, smartest, etc. in the whole world-opinion, MacGruber speaks pretty darn well. I like to believe that's because the hubs and I are NOT, let me repeat, ARE NOT baby talkers. Maybe it's the kindergarten teacher in me or maybe it's because MacGruber's a boy. I feel like it to would soooo easy to talk baby to a "schweetie peetie squishy wishy face little girl!" See...it IS easier. Little girls and cutesy talk just go together. Oh boy..I just got so sidetracked thinking of squishy face baby girls...sigh...maybe someday. Although I feel like I am destined to be the "mom of boys!"

Anywho, back to my original point here:) We are not baby talkers. But, guess what?? After listening carefully, I realized we are DOUBLE TALKERS! Yep, everything around here is double double the pleasure and the fun. Do you remember those Doublemint commercials from back in the day?? Just had a flashback! Geez...I am super drifty tonight. So..being the double talkers that we are..is kinda cracking me up. Here are some examples of words we always "double talk." Food is not food. It's food food as in "MacGruber eat your food food." Or "MacGruber put on your shoe shoes." I've heard, " Drink your juice juice" and "Eat your egg eggs!" Seriously, we have a double talkin' epidemic around here! When I think of what this could have stemmed from...there are so many sources. We have Momo (the beloved lovey!), Mama, Dada, Boo-boo (the doggy next door) pee-pee, poo-poo,...the list goes on and on! Each of those words is a double talkin' word! Everyday is a double talkin' party up in this House of MacGruber! How many times can I say double talkin' in this post? How about some double talkin', double talkin'? See...it's sooo addicting?! And..it's so our little family! This may be a strict no baby talk zone, but apparently we are all over the double talkin' here. Oh well...food food just doesn't sound as tasty as just food. And really, you can't wear just one shoe..you totally need your shoe shoes!!

Spill the beans...does your family double talk? Or even baby talk? (It's ok..you can still hang out with us!!)

Wordless Wednesdays-Beach Bums!

On Wednesday's, I will attempt to be wordless.  This has never been easy for me, friends.  I am definitely not a wordless kind of girl.  If you know me, you know I am a Chatty Cathy Cassie.  We had a GORGEOUS day last week (Has spring finally arrived?  Hallelujah!) so MacGruber  and I headed to our favorite summer stompin' grounds!  He adores the beach.  Needless to say, I had to do A LOT of bribing to actually get him in the car to head on home.  Enjoy!

A meatball-y kind of day...

                           Photo Courtesy

Today was one of those days.  You know those days fellow stay-at-home mamas.  The kind where you want to wave the white flag at approximately 4 pm.  Because you seriously cannot.go.on.  MacGruber wore me down today.  He is 2 1/2. He is full of it.  AND, he has been quite sick lately.  Sick with the "I WANT IT NOW" bug and the"It's MINE" virus.  At one point, he grabbed the dogs paw, pulled on it and yelled, "It's mine...I want it!"  Seriously, MacGruber!?!
Oh boy. I knew this day would come.  I secretly giggled when my friends children didn't want to share and I told myself that silly little thing mamas so often do.  I thought to myself, "my sweet boy will NEVER do that."  Doh!  Why dooo weee dooo thaaattt??  (In my most whiny voice..)  C'mon, do we really believe our child will not be like ALL the other 2 1/2 year olds in the world? 
Well, just like all the other amazing, wonderful, loveable kiddos in the world, MacGruber completely redeemed himself today with his awesome little being.  Thinking back on our days adventures, I don't really recall all the yucky moments like the numerous time-outs, the taking of toys from friends, the screaming or the gazillion potty accidents.  (Okay..maybe I recall them, but I am choosing not to focus on them!) I see the face of my squishy little MacGruber and think of all those moments that made me smile.
While on Poop Patrol, as we call picking up the doggy business around here, MacGruber, aka the doo-doo detective was taking his work quite seriously.  He pointed to a pile and yelled, "Mama...look at this BIG, FAT, MEATBALL!"  As I leaned down to pick up the doo, I couldn't stop laughing.  Really, a dog turd, as a meatball??  Hilarious, you 2-year old boy, you!!  At another point, he pulled the big dining room chair over to the counter to "help" with lunch.  As he was pulling the chair, he grunted and groaned, and said, "Mama, I soooo strong."  Yep buddy, the strongest. 
I have no idea what adventures tomorrow may hold in the life as Macgruber's Mama.  For goodness sake, it could be WORSE!  So, tomorrow at 10 am when I am ready to surrender and furiously wave that flag I need to remember that I am so so blessed to be able to stay home and enjoy all these moments with my boy!  Before I know it, he will be "so so big" and grown-up and maybe a real-life doo-doo detective. Or not.

Blowing DQ out of the water....

I invented my own ice cream cake recipe. And, yes, it blows Dairy Queens out of the water!  Today was the Hub's 31st birthday!!  This is the ninth birthday we have celebrated together.  I'll tell you a little story filled with romance and ice cream of the first birthday we celebrated together in just a bit.
Anywho, the hubs, isn't the biggest cake guy but does enjoy other tasty treats like pink frosted donuts with sprinkles from Dunkin Donuts.  He says he likes the strawberry flavor, I say he likes the sprinkles! SO...I created a mish mosh of tastiness to celebrate this birthday that will officially push him into his thirties.  (I like to tease him about this for the time being.  Give me another 6 months and I might have a breakdown at the mere mention of the word thirty!)
Let me just clarify, as much as I love love love to bake, I am no creator of recipes.  More like the opposite.  I follow recipes to a tee.  But what the heck, friends?  Can you really go wrong with gooey brownies, hot fudge, crushed oreos and strawberry ice cream??? I think not.  Especially when you have a tiny sous chef named MacGruber. 

Ingredients...

brownies (totally used a box, folks!)
hot fudge
crushed oreos
strawberry ice cream
cool whip
fresh strawberries on top for some pretties (and fruit=healthy!)

First, bake your brownies according to the directions on the box.  Be sure to lick the bowl!

So, while you're brownies are a bakin'...here's a little story.  The hubs and I were barely dating... and I mean barely.  It was his senior year of college and just a couple days before he was to graduate.  We had plans to meet at the campus union to make-out  hang out.  I knew he liked ice cream so I had quite the grand plan up my sleeve.  Ok...looking back, this is super lame.  But at the time, I apparently thought this was cool and sweet.  I bought the hubs a mint oreo blizzard from DQ which was a really long way from the union.  It was May, it was warm, and my sweet blizzardy treat was mellttinngg!!  So, I pushed it hard and started running this hugely long stretch of Green Street.  Picture a frazzled, sweaty girl running down a heavily populated college street carrying a dripping blizzard!  Eeek...it's still a scary picture.  Finally, I arrived at the Union and saw the Hubs standing there.  Bestill my heart!  I put a birthday candle in that mess of an ice cream treat and proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to him!!  How could a guy resist a girl like that? 

Back to this gooey deliciousness-once brownies are cooled, start putting the cake together.  I used an angel food cake pan, took out the middle insert, and put a round cake pan under the angel food pan as sort of a bottom.  I knew I would want to flip this bad boy upside down once I took it out of the pan, so I started on the "top" layers first.  Spread the slightly frozen cool whip on the bottom, then the strawberry ice cream on top of that.  I wetted my hands with water to help melt and spread out the ice cream a bit.  Pop that baby in the freezer for a bit to get that ice cream solid again.  Next, schmear on that hot fudge, take a big ol' spoonful for yourself, then throw on the crushed oreos.  P.S. My oreos were totally double-stuffed!!  Then, I cut out big chunks of the brownies and kinda mushed them together as the final layer.  I covered that sweetness and threw it in the freezer for a couple of hours.  Preparing the grand masterpiece-I quickly ran the pan under some warm water just to loosen the sides.  I flipped it onto a plate, gave it a few smacks, and wha-la...it actually came out in one piece!!  I'm pretty sure I shouted "Hallelujah" at this point.  I decorated the top with some fresh berries and friends, let me tell ya...it is good!  Ice cream cake might just become a birthday tradition in the house of MacGruber! (I whipped up some of hubby's fav rice krispies treats too!)
 Tell me..what birthday traditions do you have in your home?

I added one more tradition this year in  honor of this post from one of my fav. family's, Young House Love.  Check out the photo below.  Not sure if we will continue the signage for the grown-ups.  Can you imagine me standing in front of my sign that will someday say "50?"  However, I LOVE the idea for MacGruber and his future siblings.

I would also like to clarify that I am in no way a food stylist.  I am also no Cake Boss, kids!  I love that I "tried" to take a side profile pic of my beautiful cake to show you the layers.  Wait..what?  You don't see layers...yeah, me neither.  Must.work.on.that.  Enjoy!!

MacGruber is sooo excited to rock his new Lightning McQueen water shoes! Beach weather...where are yoouuuu??

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The bacon has officially been brought home..

My Dad has retired...and I couldn't be more proud of him and excited for the adventures that lie ahead.  My Dad, aka Baba to a little MacGruber in this house, is pretty much a superhero.  Did I mention I have no problem confessing that I, MacGruber's Mama, am a Daddy's girl?  I still snuggle up to my Daddy-O and beg for back rubs every time we visit. 
My Dad was born in the mid-50's.  He is truly an All-American classic kind of guy.  The kind of guy who likes cherry pie,  hamburgers with a milkshake.  He can fix ANYTHING, he can sew on a button, he can build a car.  Literally..build. a. car.  He enjoys a John Wayne movie once in a while and introduced me to Shirley Temple as a child.  He is incredibly patient with MacGruber and quite impatient with technology.  Although he is getting a big ol' kick out of his new I-Pad.  My Dad is awesome.  He believes in traditions and taking vacations each summer to rekindle the family bond and create memories.  He is sensitive and never fails to get a bit teary-eyed over a Hallmark movie. (Sorry Dad, you know it's true!)  My Dad is truly such a good man and I am so proud to have had him as my role model for nearly 30 years.  I have never known him as anything but a hard-working guy.  And now, he gets to take it easy.  I have a feeling it won't be too long before a new project sparks his interest but for now he can just...be.  That is, until he comes to visit me, because I have quite the "daddy-do" list waiting for him, hint..hint.  Congratulations Dad for working so hard for so many years.  Enjoy your retirement!

 
My Dad with his 1968 Camaro. 


Baba and MacGruber meeting each other for the first time.