Lemon Banana Blueberry Muffins

Muffins are always a big hit in our house. Rini loves to eat them for breakfast, snacks, lunch or pretty much anytime I will let her. They are an easy grab and go snack for Charlie to take to work. I'm constantly on the hunt for new muffin recipes to try and when I saw this post on Dragon's Kitchen I knew I had to make them. I switched out a few ingredients to make them a little healthier and the end result was delicious!

Lemon Banana Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Dragon's Kitchen
Yield - 12 large muffins

Ingredients 

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose (unbleached) flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
• 2 large bananas, mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F and place paper liners in muffin tins

2. In a bowl combine flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and grated lemon peel. Set aside.

3. Beat together bananas, eggs, brown sugar, honey, coconut oil, vanilla extract and lemon juice until combined.

4. Stir dry ingredients into wet just until combined. Fold in blueberries. 

5. Spoon into prepared muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Our House - The Living Room

In December we bought out first home, a 1950's Ranch in desperate need of TLC. The previous owner was a 90 year old lady who had not updated anything since the 70's. There was dark paneling, wallpaper, harvest gold appliances, nasty carpet and the list of offenses goes on and on. While the interior of our house was far from our "dream house" we love our neighborhood and the location we are in. You can change ugly but you can't change your lot. We are slowly but surely putting our own stamp on the house on a extremely small budget.

Living Room

This picture portrays the 70's-tastic decor that was going on when we first toured the house. Nasty yellow/pea green carpet, dark paneling and brick on the back wall, white washed paneling on the remaining walls, wooden couches with floral upholstery and frilly lacy old lady curains. Pure awesomeness.

This picture was taken on the day we closed. It gives you a better idea of the space we were working with. 

Here is the living room as it looks today. It is still a work in progress but we are getting there. So far we've removed the inoperable wood stove, ripped up the nasty carpet, painted the paneling, painted the brick hearth and started patching the ceiling. 

To Do

• Finish patching the ceiling and repaint
• Paint all the trim white
• New window treatments (roman shades possibly?)
• Find end tables for the couch
• Make throw pillows
• Artwork
• Get a bigger TV and mount it on the wall
• Replace front door

The BEST Whole Wheat Pancakes EVER

Our family loves pancakes, A LOT. We have them at least once a week sometimes more. In my quest to cut processed foods from our diet I started searching for a whole wheat pancake recipe that actually tasted good. After much trial and error I found this recipe on Food.com and I was instantly hooked. These are wicked good. We love to switch up the mix-ins. Some of our favorites are raspberries and chocolate chips, coconut and chocolate chips, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, apples and cinnamon. The possibilities are endless. Try these, you won't regret it!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

From Food.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour (I love Bob's Red Mill)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup buttermilk**
• 2 large eggs
• Directions
• 1. Stir Honey and Oil together in bowl
• 2. Add milk and eggs, beat well
• 3. Mix dry ingredients into the liquids until flour is moistened (do not overmix)
• **I am too cheap and lazy to buy buttermilk. I add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then use it in place of the buttermilk