Banana & Pumpkin Crumble Top Muffins

When my day at work is completed I get super excited to go pick up my kids from kindergarten and daycare.  I can’t wait to hug them, ask how their day went, and cook a kick-butt dinner for them like the top notch mom I am, in my head.

So I enter the classroom to pick each kid up and I find I instantly get all crabby and flustered.  First I find out that “Indigo had a difficult time today listening” from her teacher, leading to getting the dreaded yellow on the behavior chart (this means no candy even though she will most definitely beg for it 75 times).  Then I go to pick up Desmond and find out that even though I stopped at Target already today, I need to go back there, since he’s out of diapers, booty cream, and wipes.  It’s really fun going to target with 2 kids, said no mom ever.

So after all of that we normally pack in up in the car and get ready to sit in traffic.  We pass a giant blow up gorilla, which Indigo always insists is chasing us all the way home.  Desmond begins blowing bubbles and spitting all over the car and Indigo thinks this is hilarious and joins in.  So basically my kids are spitting all over the car with a freaking blow up gorilla chasing us.  This is our normal drive home.  Very relaxing, my kids are guaranteed to move my mood meter down 50 points on the drive home…except for one day.

Have you ever been driving along, not thinking too much and realized you have gone like 5 miles without really noticing things?  Like how the hell did I space cadet drive 5 miles without really trying, and thank god I did not crash in to some ditch?  Normally I’m kept alert with that giant gorilla chasing our car and the constant spitting and bubble blowing, but today was different.

Kids feel asleep on the drive home that day, I did not notice – Had I noticed I would not have listened to kid bop radio the whole way home.

Lesson Learned, if it’s quiet in my car I either forgot to pick the kids up or they want to take a nap 2 hours before bed time and that my friends opens up a whole new can of worms

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Speaking of worms, you don’t need any for this recipe.

Ingredients/Muffins

Delightfully borrowed from DOLE

• 2 ripe, large DOLE® Bananas
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1  ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Ingredients/Crumble top

• 2 tbs flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• ¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1-2 tbs butter

Directions

Puree bananas in blender. Mix bananas, pumpkin, granulated sugar, milk, oil and egg in medium bowl until well blended.

Combine flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and salt in large bowl. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin tins sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Or line with liners.

Stir together brown sugar, flour, and pumpkin pie spice for crumble top.  Mash in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Top each muffin generously.

Bake at 375º F 20 to 22 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with more butter if like…I like.

Chocolate Curls

It was almost 90 degrees at my house yesterday, I’m pretty sure that’s earth’s party foul!  I know some of you will be jealous and tell me that it was negative 90 degrees at your house…but I’m sad.  It’s November, like mid freaking November and I’m in tank tops.  I guess I just can’t go running, because one of my hard and fast rules is not running when it’s over 70 degrees outside.  So basically I think mother earth is preventing me from reaching my true athletic ability.

Speaking of athletic ability, have you ever been playing rough with your kids like flipping them all around high in the air and then accidentally letting go of the 19 month old who then plummets to the ground landing on his face?

No??  Me neither.  I was just checking.

Oh, I have another question for you. Have you ever went to the same fast food restaurant for like 3 or 4 days in a row ordering the same thing at the same time and the person in the drive-thru who works at the same time every day starts to recognize you and point out to you that you have now been there for 3 or 4 days in a row and that you should probably be ashamed of yourself for coming back over and over because it’s like 90 degrees out and you know you’re not going for a run after this to burn off the 1,000 calories your consuming after every trip to her store and probably your kid would not have face planted last night if you could have just gone for a run and burnt of those 4 chicken mini’s that you had for 3 or 4 days in a row?

No?? Me neither I was just checking.

Ingredients

Delightfully borrowed from Pioneer Woman

3oz Semi-Sweet Bakers Chocolate

1tbs of Crisco Vegetable Shortening

Stuff you need : large metal baking pan/cookie sheet, metal spatula

Directions

Place the 3 ounces of chocolate and 1 tbs of shortening in a microwave safe bowl.  Nuke it for 45 seconds, take it out and stir - If not fully melted nuke for 10-20 seconds at a time, keep stirring until fully incorporated.

Pour the mixture on to the cookie sheet, the back side.  Spread the mixture very thin over the entire back of the sheet with a knife or spatula.  At first thea mount might look like it could never cover the entire back, but it will!

Place the pan in your freezer for 3-4 minutes.  Take out the pan and place it on the counter, using your metal spatula edge slowly start scraping the chocolate off the pan, get your back into it!  If it breaks or doesn’t curl that means it’s too cold.  Simply wait 30-60 seconds and try again.  I linked to Pioneer woman above - she has step by step photos.