‘Brunching’ It

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Happy Mother’s Day Mom, I love you! Not just for what you have done for me, but for loving my daughter just as much…if not more than you love me. 😉 I wish we could spend the day together, but we will as soon as you get back in town. ❤

Hope you are off to a good start. It’s a girls kind of morning!! Best way to spend Mother’s day is with my little lady!

Gabriella is like her Momma, we have to star the day with our coffee!!

We read some books (not this book, I figure it’s best not to start the day off sobbing 😉 ), bounced in her jump a roo, and she’s now crawling around…

but all of her crawling is tiring her out! ^notice that big yawn!

Shortly it will be nap time for G, and while she naps I am going to get everything ready for brunch! My sister, brother in law, nephew & niece are coming over later this morning to celebrate Mother’s day together!! I’m SO excited because we haven’t seen them in what feels like FOREVER!

On the menu (so far) is Sally’s Super Crumb Coffee Cake, (<—Sally NEVER disappoints, so I know we are in for a treat!), Mini blueberry scones, cinnamon twists & fruit with Chobani fruit dip!

I also made a banana bread, which is a recipe that I got off of Courtney’s blog. It happens to be her favorite banana bread recipe. I saw it on one of her posts earlier this week & I couldn’t get it out of my head.

It was funny she happened to write about it, because I had a bunch of browned bananas just sitting on the counter. I ALWAYS have a problem with having way too many bananas.

I am picky about banana and really don’t like when they even have one brown spot on them, believe it or not, I prefer them with a hint of green. Call me crazy..?

Without further ado, here is the recipe- I changed very few things from her original recipe.

Courtney’s Banana Bread

(adapted from Courtney at Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life)

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 45- 50 minutes
• Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup Truvia baking blend
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars until crumbly, 1-2 minutes. Add egg, then egg white, beating well after each. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Stir in mashed bananas, applesauce, honey, and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon & ground flax seed; stir into wet ingredients until just moistened (do not over mix).

Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45- 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!

I think this may be my new go-to banana bread recipe! The reason that I enjoyed it so much was that you don’t need any oil, and the sweetners are all natural. I swear you can actually taste the honey in each bite- delicious!

I also had a little helper in the kitchen.

^THIS little lady loves to be in the kitchen whenever I’m cooking. I just put her in her little bumbo seat & she just watches. Let me tell ya, one of the BEST tips I ever got regarding teething was from my sister in law- Stephanie. She told me how much my nephew just loved chewing on a cold spatula. Just put one in the freezer for a bit & then let them bite away!

She pretty much attacks it the minute I hand it to her. It is quite funny. 🙂

Enjoy your Sunday, I hope you get to spend it with loved ones. ❤