Yummy bread

When I get home from work, I try to find something quick to fix for dinner. But I resist the temptation to heat up another Bertolli (which are AWESOME by the way) and cook something with at least a couple of the food groups. Anyway, tonight I had 3 bananas that were looking a little black so I found this easy banana bread recipe on Simply Recipes:

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.



Even though she says there's no need for a mixer, I used my KitchenAid mixer. It was very easy to throw all the ingredients in the mixer, pour it in a pan & stick it in the oven. Yummy to the tummy.

Mom Guilt

I'm sure most of you moms out there have this...the guilt of working and possibly missing out on those "mom moments." I work part-time, but I still have the occasional feelings of oh-crap-i'm-a-horrible-mom-'cause-i-work-outside-the-home. A few weeks ago, my son was really close to walking by himself. I was determined for him not to walk for the first time at day care and thus bring upon some of this guilt. So one of the days I stay home with the kiddos, we practiced until he walked. And it worked. I know it was really selfish, but I wanted to see the first walk. I love to watch him walk around the house looking like a drunk sailor, giggling because he's walking by himself.

Baseball Themed Party

I'm all about kids' themed birthday parties. I've done Dora, carnival, The Backyardigans, monkey, Aerial and Nemo. For my son's first birthday, we had a baseball party. It was very low-key, but I had a lot of fun decorating the food table.

We had soft pretzels, hot dogs, Cracker Jacks, peanuts and popcorn and the table was decorated with Big League Chew, baseball cards, baseballs, a bat, a glove and baseball lollipops. I got all the decorations, plates, etc. at Oriental Trading, one of my favorite online stores. And I made a baseball cake that was super-easy. If you're doing a baseball party & need help, email me for ALL the details.

Homemade Gifts for old & new

My family had a big group birthday party for the February birthdays with people ranging from 1 year to 85 years old. So I did small homemade gifts for everyone. For my grandfather and husband, I did caramel popcorn in cute tins from Michael's.

Also for my grandparents was a photo book of their grandchildren. The cardboard book, paper & stickers were all from Michael's and cost $1 each. They have a great new $1 aisle now!

The 7-year-old girls got ribbon belts and ceramic letters with ribbon for ytheir room. The letters and ribbon also came from Michael's.


My grandmother also got monogrammed hand towels.

Everybody really liked their gifts. I was glad to give something different.

Product of the Day

I love this one. My three year old has a KidSwitch ($9) in her room and uses it every day. I wish I had one in her bathroom and the playroom too.