2.07.2012

Streusel Topped Maple Walnut Banana Bread

This past week I had a few over-ripe bananas on my hands, and I'm ashamed to say that they usually go into the trash. Not this time! Oh no. This time I decided that I'd finally try my hand at making a loaf of banana bread. Steusel topped maple walnut banana bread, to be exact. It sounds much more complicated than it is.
 {click to enlarge}

Round up your ingredients. I used Splenda sugar blend in an attempt to make it a little healthier. It was my first time baking with Splenda, and I was really pleased with how it turned out!



  Peel and mash your bananas. Set banana carnage aside.

 Mix together everything except your flour, baking soda, and rolled oats.

 Add the flour, rolled oats and baking soda- mix until just combined. Pour into a greased 9x5 loaf pan and set aside to make your streusel
{click to enlarge}

Throw everything into a bowl and squish, then sprinkle it on top of your batter in a haphazard fashion. Pretty simple.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and voila!

Slather in ungodly amounts of butter (who am I, Paula Deen?) and enjoy!

2.03.2012

Five For Friday

This week I'm grateful because:

{personal photo, source, source, source, source}

1. You never get annoyed when I buy something new for our (already over-filled) apartment, like the 5' zebra painting I just purchased. I'm constantly redecorating, and you accept that it's just one of my "things".

2. You can usually differentiate my different perfumes with just one sniff. It's pretty impressive.

3. You just introduced me to Workaholics and you are so much like Ders that it's hilarious... and a little bit scary. But mostly hilarious.

4. We're both uncontrollably excited about the prospect of getting a house this year. We drool over real estate listings together and wax poetic about all the things we could do with a house.

5. You hate new gadgets, until you see it, and then you desperately want one. Case in point: The iPad and our new Keurig. You thought they were the most pointless devices ever until you played with them, and then you just had to have it.