Outtakes

Matt has been traveling a lot lately so needless to say I am lonely and bored. And oftentimes when I am lonely and bored, I spend way too much time on the computer. Luckily a lot of that time is spent looking at old pictures, which is one of my favorite things to do. Hey, I've got the cutest kids in the world and it makes me happy looking at them constantly :) This past Christmas we made an attempt to take some pictures of our girls and my nephew for my parent's Christmas card. Let me tell you, taking pictures of three kids, ages three and under, is not an easy feat! I just about cracked up at every one of them, these are my favorite 'outtakes'...

Finger up the nose...

Pulling hair...

Sienna is out...

Perfect posture...

Mr. T is DONE!...

Sienna trying to cheer Mr. T up with downward dog (I love Allie's concerned face)...

Luckily third time's the charm, aren't they adorable?!

Happy St. Patty's Day...

from my little leprechauns :)

Banana Coconut Streusel Muffins

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love coconut. I'll eat pretty much anything with coconut. A while ago I posted this yummy recipe for Coconut Lime Banana Bread which is A-mazing. Last week on my beloved Pinterest, I found another coconut recipe for muffins this time. I tried them out last week and once again, A-mazing. I dare you not to make them.



BANANA COCONUT STREUSEL MUFFINS

Makes 9 standard size muffins

•1/2 cup shredded or flake coconut
•2 packed tablespoons light brown sugar
•1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
•1/8 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch for the streusel
•2 tablespoons cold butter, sliced
•6 tablespoons granulated sugar
•2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/4 cup neutral oil, safflower or grapeseed (I used Canola Oil)
•3/4 cup mashed overripe bananas (2 bananas)
•1/4 cup whole milk (I used buttermilk instead)
•1 large egg, at room temperature, lightly beaten
•1 cup chopped walnuts or other nut (optional)
1.Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease nine cups of a standard muffin tin with oil or nonstick spray, then dust them with flour, or use ungreased paper muffin cups.
2.To make the streusel, in a bowl stir together the coconut, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of the flour, and a pinch of salt. Add the butter and rub the mixture together with your fingers or a pastry cutter until you have large crumbles about the size of a pea. Set aside.
3.In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining cup of flour, the granulated sugar, baking powder, and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt.
4.In a small bowl, stir together the 1/4 cup of oil with the mashed bananas, milk, and egg until they are well combined. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add chopped nuts if desired.
5.Using an ice cream scoop, fill the prepared muffin cups halfway. Top the muffins with streusel, dividing the streusel evenly among the muffins. Fill the three empty cups halfway with tap water to prevent the muffin tin from warping.
6.Bake the muffins on the center rack until they rise and are golden and bounce back when pressed, about 30 minutes. Let cool in the tin for a minute or two and serve warm. Leftovers can be wrapped in foil and stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, then rewarmed in a 350 oven for 10 min. before serving.

From Get Off Your Butt and Bake!

Ouch #1 & #2

Our littlest girl has had a rough couple of weeks. Sienna has had her fair share of skinned knees and bloody lips but two times over the last two weeks, she's gotten hurt pretty good...

Incident #1 - fell off a chair (a small kid sized chair) and went face first into a metal bench = big bruise on her cheek (this picture was taken about 5 days after it happened so it was way worse before:(


Incident #2 - doing downward dog on a jute rug and Allie grabbed her hand out from under her causing her to do a faceplant on the rough rug = skinned nose


Poor girl but she's a trooper (and I think she looks pretty tough:)