kickass banana muffins/bread

i started with a basic recipe a long, long time ago but wasn't really happy with the result. it was "ok" (as in "a good way to use over-ripe bananas") but didn't have that "mmm-mmmmmm oh yeah baby", y'know??

over the years, i've tried every possible ingredient combination imaginable (different kinds of flour in varying quantities, sweeteners, etc). well, i'm done: i found the BEST banana bread/muffins recipe EVER. honest. it's got just the right amount of crunch on top and spongy/chewy inside with the perfect balance of tasty/sweet while staying totally healthy. go ahead, try it and tell me if i'm wrong.  :)

4 ripe bananas (and i mean RIPE)
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1 tbsp oil (of your choice, i use olive)
1 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
± 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips

crush bananas to a gooey pulp (not too lumpy). add maple syrup, eggs and oil. mix well. in a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients together, then incorporate into the wet mix. don't over stir, just enough to blend it all together. add chocolate chips and pour into buttered muffin pan. makes 12 x-large muffins [i like to use paper liners instead of butter, less clean-up + prettier]
bake @ 350 for 35-40 minutes
bread: 50-60 minutes depending on the depth of your pan. old coffee tins work really well  :D 

*i'm not going to say this for every recipe i post but i use organic ingredients... most of the time. they taste better!

no-bake energy bites

i found this great little recipe and had to try it with the kids. we made them this weekend. omg, sooooo good!  <:)

we changed the original recipe a tiny bit (someone in the house can't eat p-butter or coconut). since they were advertised as not being the prettiest bites, we used fun shaped ice trays to mold them (from ikea).

1 cup oatmeal 
1/2 cup almond butter 
1/3 cup brown rice syrup 
1/2 cup cranberries (chopped-up)
1/2 cup sliced almonds (ditto)
1/2 cup ground flaxseed 
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips 
1 tsp vanilla 

mix and mold! voilà! store in an airtight container for up to a week (if they last that long... we had approx 30 bites. pictured here is all that was left... 24 hours later!)

testing one, two... is this thing on?

lookit me! ima bloggin'!

people have been bugging me to start a blog for a while. huh?... but why?? i was all over facebook already, why bother? my "friends" already had their fill of my kind o'whacky, no need to force feed them *more*. and then i discovered pinterest (ok no, my mom sent me, lol)... ouuuuuuuu nifty! basic, simple, i likey! not only did i realize i wasn't the only wacko out there, but it helped me limit how i was using facebook altogether (a good thing, really)... and it got me thinking that a blog would probably be better suited for my general madness.

so here i am... yyyyyep. *a-hem*
now what?....


*be warned: i like bugs. and i like taking macro photos of bugs. and i enjoy posting them in all their creepy crawly beauty. not for the squeamish  ;)