snow day baking: banana chocolate oat muffins with almond meal

On a recent snow day,

when the playroom looked like this {by 7am},

I'd made my coconut oil coffee and

snuck into the living room to quietly read. Dinner was made, thanks to a well-stocked freezer. But something nagged at me. I couldn't go a whole day without cooking something…. and, truth be told, I wanted chocolate.

I'm not a big baker, but three ripe bananas winked at me from the kitchen counter. I had some cashew meal in the fridge, along with a few eggs and oats... Perfect, banana-chocolate chip muffins it would be. I improvised a recipe, adding a little of this, a little of that, while asking myself whether baking soda was really necessary? But imagine my dismay when I realize the bag of chocolate chips I thought I saw in the pantry was actually black beans. Dismay doesn't adequately describe my emotions at that moment. 

I blame Captain Holly Short for distracting me. {Artemis Foul reference, for those who aren't listening to the book on CD during drives to and from skiing this winter…} But the bananas were mashed, and the nut-based batter was ready to go. All I needed was chocolate.

I had some high quality, unsweetened cocoa on hand and, after a little more scrounging, I sprinkled the last of my foodie crush Cacao Prieto hot cocoa into the bowl.

And then I popped those bad boys into the oven and 

went back to my fire, as the smell of molten chocolate and baking bananas filled our house.

Oh my.

I ate more than my fair share. I gave some warm muffins to the snow plow guys. I had the kids walk some to a neighbor.

And continued to enjoy them for snacks the next few days.

They were so good that I was a little miffed that I hadn't jotted the recipe down. Who knew if I could recreate them?…

As a ate the last muffin, I decided this recipe was worth figuring out and saving.

The second go round, I made sure to have chocolate, not black beans.

I recreated the batter, while jotting down notes.

Then held my breath...

Actually, I didn't hold my breath. I took deep inhales of sweet goodness

and went back to recipe testing for the Second Edition of Stock Your Freezer in a Snap.

Batch two lacked eggs. Because I forgot to put them in. Apparently this recipe doesn't need egg(s). And now I knew how to make them again. And again. To rave reviews.

Banana-Chocolate-Oat Muffins with Almond Meal
(makes 24 muffins)

3 or 4 large, ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups almond flour or cashew meal
1 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour)
2 cups oats (or gluten-free oats)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup honey
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons dark cocoa
1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin tin with muffin cups. Add all ingredients to mixing bowl and blend using a hand mixer. Divide evenly among muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes, or until muffins sprain back when touched. 

This post contains affiliate links, meaning same price of goods to you, but the small commission I earn keeps the blog from turning into "hobby" status.

simple homemade gift + rainy day activity: lemon sugar scrub

School's out for us... and last week was a very rainy week. Normally I would just have my kids bundle up and go play in the rain, but my older son is in South America on an adventure with my parents for 10 days, and, well, call me a scrooge, but I'm not a huge fan of playing in the rain. Two days into summer break, I'd had my fill of Sorry and Totally Gross board games, and was feeling pangs of guilt that the last weeks of school had seemed so busy, and we hadn't done an end of year gift for all of the 'extra' (non-lead) teachers that play such an amazing role in my children's school lives. My 6-year-old overheard me mention this to a friend and excitedly announced that we should "make something!" So, we spent Friday morning making enough Lemon Sugar Scrub to pop in the school mailboxes of his Extended Day teachers, the Head of Early Childhood, her right-hand-gal assistant, his science, art, Spanish, and music teachers, the Head of School and his speech therapist (my child's... not the Head of School's). Because we now have our go-to Lemon Sugar Scrub down to a science, I am jotting the latest and greatest recipe down (with exactly what to buy, using brands and sizes readily available at your local market) here for you all looking for  a simple rainy day activity, or easy teacher/hostess gift, that your children can help make. Order the jars now (while you're thinking of it), and have the other ingredients in your pantry, and you too can the win mom-of-the-day award...

Lemon Sugar Scrub

(makes a dozen 8.5 oz jars)

twelve 8.5 oz jars (I get them at Container Store)

two 2lb boxes Sugar in the Raw

25.3 oz bottle olive oil (we used Filippo Berio Extra Light)

15 oz bottle pure lemon juice

zest of 3-4 lemons

{If you are making this with little ones, I highly recommend putting a towel down.} Combine all ingredients in a large bowl or pot. Divide evenly among jars and seal tightly. Let gift recipients know it's a beauty products, not an ice cream topping...

Here are action photos, since I know some of you like to follow along this way:

measuring sugar

now we know a box is 4 cups, so dumping sugar...

olive oil (yes, this makes me nervous on our brand new kitchen floors...)

lemon juice (yep, even more nervous about those kitchen floors...)

zesting lemons (I let him do one side of each lemon, then I did the other sides since they get slippery)

mixing

scooping (and I'm not going to lie: I was thrilled when he tired of scooping... at that point I had the remains of several jars worth of lemon sugar scrub running down my arm)

this photo's a little out of order, but I'm going to keep it here just to remind you to put a towel down... you can thank me later

voila! i wish i'd thought to take a photo with the ribbons and tags, but I didn't. you get the gist though!

post-Nemo snow day activities

School delay... or another closure? Here are two ways to make the most of the white stuff.

Build an igloo! 
My (Supermom) friend hauled out plastic storage bins (the kind I use to organize our playroom) and had the kids packing them with snow to build an incredible igloo. How cool is this finished product going to be?!!

Make snow candy

Fill a cup with snow, top with a drizzle of maple syrup....

Voila! A delicious treat for your igloo makers.

What are your favorite snow day activities?

snow day inspiration

I know a bunch of my Northeastern friends are snowed in today. I hope you are all cozy and still in your PJs? If not, then go put them back on. If you're like me (relaxing by the fire... it's a rough life, but someone has to make the most of this snow day, right?) you're ok now at the half-way mark, but you may be looking for some diversions by tomorrow. Good news: I've got you covered with some fun snow-day ideas + I've got another board of Valentine's day snack/craft/meal ideas so you can start thinking of how to win mom-of-the-week next Thursday...

rainy day fun

I know I heard a collective groan from my local friends when we all woke up today... so much for the beach/park/playground/hikes we had planned.  Here's how we I stayed sane this (latest) rainy summer day...

A morning "tea party". (We ate the treats before I got a photo. Sorry. You'll have to go get your own, or use your imagination.) Then a trip to the library to stock up for the week.

A towel picnic.

And, a scavenger hunt. I learned my lesson last time. This list had 30 items that are way more creative (and time-consuming). And, while they excitedly hunted, I curled up with some tea and relished my new book, Every Bite is Divine.

How do you fellow moms stay sane create fun on rainy summer days?

snow day cooking: homemade marshmallows!

Had I known my little one would be home sick from school today, I might have saved one of our snow day activities for a gray Monday. Thankfully, we still had a few decadent marshmallows leftover, so we could enjoy some hot cocoa... loaded up. Over the weekend, I made my first batch of homemade marshmallows, which I found on Real Mom Nutrition. Now, I am a fabulous cook, not a baker. Baking requires precise measurements and following directions, two things that are not my forte. But these were fun. Kind of a make-them-once sort of recipe, perfect for a snow day. I'm going to let Sally's recipe be your go-to, but I do have a few pictures I'll share with you all to clarify a few parts (if you're anything like me and would like to see a recipe in action, before you try it)!

The recipe says to beat on high for about 12-15 minutes.... the batter went from very watery brown (from the addition of vanilla, probably more than was supposed to go in--see above about not being very good at following precise instructions)...

gradually got thicker...

until it was a very white, thick batter.

Thick enough that, as you can see, it sticks to the beaters.

Since we were already cooking with corn syrup, I thought what the heck, we can also add the food coloring we use for science experiments. I mean really, why let the excitement end with white sugar and corn syrup?!

You could beat the coloring in, or stir it to make a swirly patter, as we did. Be forewarned that once you cut the marshmallows and roll them in powdered sugar, the color will be kind of hidden though...so in hindsight, coloring them wasn't really worth it...

OK, folks, here's the really important part though: I didn't have a 9x9 pan, so I used a 9x13 pan. That worked fine, as long as you don't mind you marshmallows being a little thinner. BUT, make sure you use enough cooking spray. This is key.

Here's where I made my big mistake... the sprayed parchment paper peeled off easily. (Parchment was fine in lieu of plastic wrap). But I turned the marshmallows onto a cutting board, which was not sprayed. And they stuck. Understatement. Like glue. So, I sat there struggling to cut the marshmallows off the cutting board, swearing I would never make these again. Had I simply dusted the cutting board with confectioner's sugar or placed the marshmallow sheet onto a sprayed piece of parchment paper, things would have gone MUCH more smoothly! I also hadn't tried these babies yet. Whoa, they are good. Really good. Perhaps even worth my crazy knife wielding trying to cut them before fluffing them in confectioner's sugar?!