banana crumble muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
3 bananas, mashed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup canola oil

Crumble
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line muffin pan with papers. 2. Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in one bowl. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, eggs, vanilla and canola oil. Bring the two mixtures together and stir. Spoon batter into muffin cups. 3. To make the crumble, mix together the ingredients. Sprinkle over muffins. 4. Bake 18-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

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these muffins were perfect for browning bananas. i think ive eaten two a day. (how else are two people going to get through twelve muffins)

adapted from here

thanksgiving weekend, according to my iphone

1. the morning of black friday means coffee & doughnuts: boyfriend and i did our first black friday EVER and snatched up an entertainment system for our living room. we stayed up late putting it together so of course c&d; was a necessity. 2. this holiday candle makes our apartment smell like caramel rolls & cookies. be sure that it will be burning all season long. 3. baby tree is up. blue, silver & sparkles. 4. wiz has found quite a liking to our holiday decorations. 5. but not so much the santacat hat. 6. at 11:30 pm i noticed our bananas were browning. at 11:45 pm these banana crumb muffins came out of the oven.

thanksgiving was wonderful this year. it was great to spend it with family & friends. and now, it is officially the holiday season. and almost december. wow, time flies.

giving thanks

im up early baking & chopping away in the kitchen all in preparation for our family's thanksgiving. it'll be nice this year only having one thanksgiving (boyfriend & his dad are attending ours) and that we can celebrate all together. Mom and I are going a little overboard but what's thanksgiving without the leftovers (smile).

today, I am especially thankful for (in no particular order)

• us + wizzy


• my wonderful family


• warm laundry & fresh bedsheets


• cameras & photographs


• couch covers


• holiday candles


• my des moines lovelies, my best friends


• late night happy hours & 2 hour phone convos


• snow


• our little apartment


• education


• a capella music, christmas music, all music


• football


• pie, cake & cupcakes


• networking & meeting so many intelligent, hard-working & forward thinking people


• cuddling, real kisses & wiz-kisses


• the beautiful city we get to live in (mpls love)


• good health, no cavities & contact lenses


• thunderstorms & pretty clouds


• tall boots & cute flats


• a clean kitchen


• Target


• hairties for wiz to play with


• crab rangoons & pho


• sprawling on the bed (starfish!)


• love, the start of my career & our future

so happy thanksgiving to you & your loved ones.

image via

holiday crafting

Wiz and I got into some holiday crafting on Sunday. She picked apart the holiday spruce, chased after berries and kept dipping her paws in the epsom salt. But after an hour of holiday music & wire cutting, we made some pretty cute (and easy) holiday decorations!

All you need: 

 glass jars (mason jars will do)
votive candles
fake berries (i bought a string of berries)
fake spruce (cut up some holiday garland)
epsom salt

1. fill the bottom the glass jar with epsom salt 2. place the candle inside 3. decorate with fake berries & spruce. I even threw in a fake poinsettia for our centerpiece for the island.

Easy peasy.