Happiness is Banana Nut Bread. No questions asked!

I found this recipe on www.cooks.com, and it worked out perfectly; perfection

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup nuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

First you beat the sugar and the oil, then add the eggs and cut up bananas. Mix together all the dry ingredients then add to the wet ingredients and mix well; stir in milk-vanilla-nuts-and chocolate chips if desired, put it in a greased and floured pan= cook at 350 degrees for an hour, let cool and perfection!

One, it smells freakin' delicious, but after I cut it...

Simple recipe, BEST results! I'm in love <3

So out of complete boredom, I decided I needed a new project. Something on pinterest.com caught my eye- and since I already had plenty of scrapbook paper I decided to make paper flowers, with my own little spin on it. The tutorial I made is posted below:

1) Take a piece of scrapbook paper and cut it into either a 2"x2", 3"x3", or 4"x4" square- depending on what size flower you would like, and fold it from one corner to another corner
2) Then take the bottom edges and fold them up to make another square
3) Third, take the flaps you just folded and flap them outwards
4) Then take those flaps, and flip them out as seen in the picture
5) Fold the top parts of the flaps down to align
6) Then fold the flaps back together after step 5, and press down on paper hard
7) Fold together as seen in the picture, and (the way I do it) superglue the edges together and clamp together with a paperclip until dry. *This is one flower petal*

Complete all steps 6-9 times depending on how many petals you want the flower to have, the one I made has 8 petals..

Glue all the petals together,

I decided to top it off by adding a button to the center (not needed) but I thought it would be cute, I've also used colored buttons, and scrapbooking rhinestones that add a little bit to the asthetic!-

Then I also bought floral wire from the dollar store for $1, and glued it into the bottom of the flower.

I have made about 10 of these for a floral arrangement for my sister's office, pictures will come soon when I finish! Looks like I'll be making about 10-15 more :)

After taking a little break from baking, I eventually got bored again today and made 2 different kinds of pops! The first one is this:

I got the inspiration from toocutetocutbakery.com from Melinda Plunk who is an amazing baker, and I put my own twist on it- I just put popsicle sticks in large marshmallows, dipped them in chocolate and then dipped them in a bowl with crushed up "butterfinger cookies" I found at the dollar store! I wish I could've used grahm crackers, and a littler more chocolate~ then they would be s'mores pops!

I also tried to make cake pops again, but this time I just placed them down instead of up (because of my difficulty to find something that would keep them straight up in the freezer; the styrofoam I bought wasn't nearly thick enough :[ )

These are wayyyy bigger than the ones I originally made (left side isn't done because I wanted to use white chocolate) and they stay together alot better!

All in all, a pretty good treat day <3

Since my sister is completely obsessed with shoes I was "commissioned" to make this 'sign' of sorts which completely agrees with her passion for shoes :) This one's for you Meg!

I can't stress how much better it looks in person, but plywood from Lowe's, cardboard letters, a little paint and a little bling can go a long way!~

So, recently searching around on the web trying to find recipes for sweets (which are the most fun to make) I found this really fun recipe on www.bakerella.com from which I altered the design for the jars because I'm not nearly that creative and my printer wouldn't pull the sticker paper through the printer! This is the original design:

My design, (as an ametuer) doesn't look near as crafty, but I wanted a Valentine's Day gift:

The recipe is the same, and I will share it with y'all, you can also find it on the Bakerella Website!

Ingredients:

1 Quart Ball smooth jar (found at Hobby Lobby)

(1st Layer) 1 1/3 cup flour, 1 tsp Baking Powder, 1 tsp Baking Soda, 1/4 tsp Salt

(2nd Layer) 1 cup Cooking Oats, -- you can use regular oatmeal

(3rd Layer) 3/4-1 cup M&M's, any color depending on what occasion

(4th Layer) 3/4-1 cup Chocolate chips, any size you prefer

(5th Layer) 1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar -- press all ingredients down tightly

(6th Layer) 1/2-2/3 cup Sugar -- fill all the way to the top

*Baking Instructions*

(Can be posted ont the back of the jars)

Stir all the dry ingredients together,

Add 1 slightly beaten egg, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake 9-11 minutes, let cool. 

This is a great gift for any occasion, I'm doing them for Valentines Day, then planning on making a few of them for my friends that are expecting boys (And I plan on using only blue and white M&Ms)

You can also use whatever cloth you prefer to cover the lids:

(I cut cloth and put a rubber band around the lid before I tied the ribbon so it wouldn't be as difficult!)

While I'm on the subject of baking, tonight I made "peanut butter kisses", as there are various recipes around the internet for these cookies and I don't remember where I found this one, but it is incredibly simple! These are ones on the internet (or alot more professional look like):

I obviously don't have a great camera, just a regular digital one, but I know I made my cookies a little larger than I would've liked-- this is what they look like:

The recipe is probably one of the easiest cookies I've made and the batter is really easy to work with!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

3/4 teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 cup Butter, softened

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 cup Sugar

1 Egg

2 teaspoons Vanilla

(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

(2) Sift Flour, Baking Soda, and Salt into a bowl and set aside

(3) Beat Butter and Peanut Butter into another bowl..

(4) Add Sugar and beat until 'fluffy'

(5) Add Egg and Vanilla

(6) Add flour mixture and combine until fully integrated

(7) Roll the dough into 1 inch balls or smaller, then roll in sugar to coat

(8) Bake 8-10 minutes, then press Hershey Kisses into the top of each cookie

Not only can I still smell the cookies from my downstairs kitchen, but I am about to run down there and eat one of those cooled cookies !! ta ta

 

This is my first post as a blogger! The reason I started this was because I was mainly bored, when I have mostly spare time I enjoy baking, cooking, organizing, and of course searching around on pinterest. I find joy in the little things in life; fun, photography, crafting, spending time with the family, and my babies (dogs). After spending 4 years at a college I wouldn't recommend to anyone (Stephen F. Austin) studying Psychology/Sociology and going through my own problems, it puts life in a different perspective for me. I plan to live my life completely different than I ever thought I would even a year ago. I'm not particulary spiritual, but recently with my medical condition, this exerpt seems fairly profitable to me, Proverbs 17:22 "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones"

With that said, I look at life with an open heart and an open mind and take joy in the little things. and if anyone's wondering 'L'amour est tout ce qu'il faut' means 'All you need is love' in French. That's what life is all about people! <3