Cooking Thursday: An Easy Banana Recipe & Summery Goodness

 Hey Friends!

How are you this lovely Thursday? 

It's a lovely day in the northwoods - sunny and breezy and mild. 

We had some recent summer fun with Annie's bf, Kris ... we went on a pontoon ride, played cornhole ("bags"), played board games, had treats and just soaked up the time with him. He had to head back to FL early this morning. And my Annie heads back there to college next week (hold me please 😢) 

But on a happier note, I thought I'd share a few cooking related things with you. 

First of all, here is some summery goodness for you. 

We have been able to pick some cukes and lettuce from our garden. We grilled burgers the other night along with some veggies skewers.  I made a big salad with some of our garden veggies. And we had also picked up some fresh sweet corn and grilled that up too. We also had some summer melon and cherries, and some fun chips. It sure was a yummy dinner!  

But what I really wanted to share with you today is the brand for these mixes I found when I did my monthly order through Thrive Market. If you are not familiar with Thrive - it's an app/subscription I have been using for years. It's a yearly fee and then you have access to tons of products that need to fit Thrive Market's standards (organic, healthier, etc) They have everything from frozen food, pantry things and snacks...to beverages, makeup and cleaning products. I find some of the best goodies on there and it all gets shipped to my door. I don't have to order every month - just when I want to. 

I found these mixes that are a wonderful solution for using up your bananas that are going bad. You add mashed banana and a few other ingredients and you can make a quick bread or muffins. The base is gluten-free oat flour. I had gotten the cinnamon roll one and the fudge brownie one. The other day I made the cinnamon roll one and you can have the option of what ingredients you want to add (see the pic with the back of the package below). I used healthier ingredients and made mine with mashed banana, coconut oil, and protein milk. Also just a tbsp of maple syrup (there is a tiny bit of brown sugar in the mix). They turned out SO good!! They truly tasted so much like cinnamon roll and they weren't too dense - just moist and fluffy. I think the little white chips in them gave them the cinnamon roll flavor. The kids loved them! I think Matt & I each only had one and there's only 2 left. Lol 

They are only about 100 calories per muffin or slice of bread. I think next time I'll make the fudge brownie one in a loaf pan. I highly recommend this mix - great to keep on hand for when you want to use up bananas. 

*And I am not affiliated with Thrive Market or the Go Nanas mixes or receive anything from them. Just sharing something we found and loved.

I feel like this is me. I am making out my grocery list and there are things I want to grill and summer fruit I want to get etc. But it's also been cooler here at night (50's and 60's) and Annie is talking back to school things - and I did pick up a few fun Autumn things recently. So basically my mood keeps switching 😂:

Blessings to you 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy 1st Monday in August my Peeps!

August is here, and you know what that means? We are only 1 month away from the "ber" months. Yay!! 

For the moment we are still soaking up all things summer though. We have been busy bees over here. We visited with family in cute Bayfield WI (which I shared in my last post). Then this weekend we went to Brennah & Isaac's wedding. Brennah is the oldest daughter of our besties (the C's) It was so much fun to see the C's and their families. I have known the C's since we were all in high school together. My closest girlfriends (also since high school) were there with their hubby's too. We were missing one of our bestie group because she lives out in California now. We had such a blast and I was so happy for the lovely couple! They got a gorgeous day and everything went beautifully. 

Then yesterday we met up with my Bro & SIL for some lunch and mini golf. It's been busy days with my Annie, but we know she heads back to FL for college soon - so we're enjoying every minute!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

a small 100 calorie hashbrown patty that I air fried and put a little put of salted mashed avocado on top and a drizzle of hot honey. So good! And my iced protein coffee of course 😋

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, cleaning folks I hired for my Mom's place, bring things for my Mom, we meet with the company that is doing a bathroom renovation for us soon (they came to do final measuring and the design team is going to show us the full rendering of their plans), a lab appt for me, a virtual MD appt for me, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

I was just looking at the cute jacket that my step Mom gave me when we spent the Bayfield day with them. She found this seamstress that makes beautiful creations and she got it as a bday gift for me from her and my Dad - even thought it isn't currently my birthday. Lol  But she said she couldn't wait to give it to me because she thought I'd love it so much and would want to wear it as soon as Fall weather begins. (my birthday is really in October) It is the sweetest jean jacket and a true original creation. I love it! The details are so cute. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

grilling while we sit out on the deck and listen to the bird song and watch the sunset 

CURRENTLY READING

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower volumes 1&2

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Jeopardy, Big Brother (some old seasons and the current one), AGT, taped, we need to get back to House of Dragon and finish this new season

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY -grilling burgers and teriyaki veggie & pineapple skewers (for Annie my non-meat eater), salad, corn on the cob, melon and lemon meringue s'mores for dessert  *this was meal we were going to do last week but Annie wanted pizza instead

TUESDAY - maybe leftovers (Annie & Kris may be out with friends)

WEDNESDAY - breakfast for dinner: french toast, bacon, eggs or omelets (Kris loves ham & cheese ones and I've made him one already for lunch one day he said was "awesome"), fruit

THURSDAY -  ?

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner

*I have so many fun recipes I have saved on different social media sites. Right now I'm catering to a lot of Annie's requests while she's home. But once she heads back to school I hope to make at least one new recipe a week I can try... and then share with you to share it with you and if we liked it our not.

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, watch shows, play ladderball or "bags" with the kids

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

the blushing bride (my honorary niece)

the bride's sister (my other honorary niece)

the bride & groom's daughter Thea

the C's (our besties)

the venue was so perfectly "them" (they each have a horse and they met at a stables - and the bride has a degree in equine management)

my other besties and their hubbys

they said do something goofy and I was jokingly going to kick my leg up and my friends started to grab it (there may have already been some alcohol involved. Lol 🙈)

the husbands

It cooled off a bit lately, so Matt & I also got a couple miles of walking in:

some lemon balm and hydrangea

dreaming of Fall but still dressing for summer

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For the newlyweds and their beautiful future together.

For the Lord's love and peace to fill all ❤️'s.

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Love to you all dear Friends and have a great week! 

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Christmas in July 🎄🌟

Hello Friends

Happy Fri-yay to you...the weekend is here! 💗

It's been a busy week with my Annie and her bf, Kristopher, here. Yesterday we spent the day in a quaint town about an hour &1/2 from us. It's a charming town on Lake Superior. It's got marinas filled with sailboats & fishing boats and cute homes on a hill that have sweet shutters, window boxes of flowers & charming little gardens. My Dad and step Mom rent a place there for some of the summer every year. So we got to catch up with them. And an Uncle that lives about an hour away from there came to meet us all for dinner too. 

We spent the day visiting and catching up, walking around the town, shopping the cute artsy shops, and eating fun food. You can see photos of our adventures at the end of this post.

But earlier in the week when Kris first got here, we did our Christmas in July time. To get in the spirit click below to listen

We listened to music like this all evening. I made a holiday-like meal. And we enjoyed that along with some Christmas sugar cookies. We exchanged some little gifts after dinner and then played fun board games. I loved every minute! :) I think the kids & Matt got a kick out of it too.

                                                

this photo looks like how it felt around here ❤️💚

We enjoyed a meal that consisted of roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac & cheese, cranberries, vegetable medley, dinner rolls, and sugar cookies with cream cheese icing & holiday sprinkles. 😋

Followed by a few fun little gifts to open:

Here are some photos from our fun excursion and family time yesterday: