Traditional Holiday Reads

The holidays.. it's my favorite time of the year.  It gives me the warm and fuzzies.  And now that I have a child, I think it's so fun to start up new traditions as a family, in addition to adding those from when my husband and I were a kid.  One thing we started doing was getting Clara a new book to read together every year as one of her gifts.  She loves to read, and we read to her every night before she goes to bed... she must take after me.. I'm a total book worm. 

Here's a photo from last year... her and her daddy, and the new books she received..

This year, I plan on getting her a personalized "The Night Before Christmas" storybook by MyChronicleBooks.  Of course, I'll be giving her this book before Christmas, so we can read it together before then.  This book is so much fun.. I love personalized things.  You can add your child's name, hometown, even photo to the book.. to make it seem like you're reading about them. 

I think she'll really enjoy this book, and I'm excited to give it to her this year!  The look on her face when she receives a new book is priceless.  :)

Also, MyChronicleBooks is currently offering 30% off of your next order, check it out here.  It's a really good deal!  Why not start a new tradition (or continue an old one) with your family?

What are your family's favorite Christmas traditions?

This post is sponsored by MyChronicleBooks, all opinions are my own.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins {recipe}

Are any one of you morning people?  Because I'm definitely not... though I always wished I were.. it would make my life easier.  But I'm not.  And while I absolutely love my job, being to work at 6:15am is difficult for me.. but it is getting easier.  Kind of.  Coffee makes waking up early bearable at least.  Coffee lover right here!  So I'm always excited for the holiday seasons because of the fun coffee creamer flavors.  Coffee-Mate now has their Peppermint Mocha, Dark Chocolate Fudge, and Eggnog Latte creamers out.  I'm a chocolate lover, so of course the first one I went for was the dark chocolate fudge... but I'm definitely going back for the eggnog latte next!  There's truly nothing like curling up with huge mug of hot coffee.. makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  ;)

Then, the other day.. I decided to make some muffins.  Because muffins and coffee go so well together (also, I had old bananas to use up).  And then I was like..... why not use the creamer IN the muffins?  Genius.  These muffins really are delicious and the creamer helps make them moist and more flavorful!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium bananas)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup Coffee-Mate Dark Chocolate Fudge creamer
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1. In a small bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, bananas, vanilla, and creamer. Combine the flours, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture until just moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. 
2. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 6-8 muffins.  Also, if you have 3 bananas, this recipe is easily doubled!
3. If you want to make a fun glaze for the muffins (who doesn't love that?), then mix together 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to 1-2 tbsp of creamer.  Adjust to your preferred consistency and drizzle over the cooled muffins!

 Enjoy them warm, with a big mug of hot coffee..topped with whipped cream of course.. go big or go home!  Coffee-Mate's delicious seasonal flavors are only available through December so get them while you can!

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, however all content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Swedish Pancakes {recipe + giveaway}

Anyone else love to make a big breakfast on the weekends?  I always do - breakfast is actually my favorite meal of the day.. heck, some days we also have it for dinner.  Why not?  Hash browns, sausage, bacons, eggs, waffles/pancakes.. though instead of the classic pancake, I decided to try out some Swedish pancakes this past weekend. 

These pancakes are so good.  They're much thinner than a traditional pancake, so I can stuff my face with more.  Always a plus.  A neat thing about the "Recipes Across America" cookbook (which is where I found this recipe) is that it tells you a little bit about the recipe itself, or fun facts about ingredients in the recipe.  A few things I learned.. these are not the same as crepes (when I saw the recipe, I thought they were).  They are much thinner.  And in Sweden they are traditionally served with lingonberries, or sometimes.. ice cream!  Hey, I'd be willing to try that.  #icecreamaddict

Swedish Pancakes
recipe from "Recipes Across America" by Taste of Home

• 2 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Frozen blueberries (or some sort of jam/fruit spread)
• whipped topping

In a blender or stand mixer, combine first six ingredients.  Blend well.  Heat a lightly greased 8-in nonstick skillet, pour 1/4 cup batter into center of pan and quickly lift and tilt pan to evenly coat the bottom.  Cook until top appears dry.  Flip and cook 15-20 seconds longer.

Repeat with remaining batter, greasing skillet as needed.  Stack pancakes with waxed paper or paper towels in between.  Reheat in the microwave if desired.

Heat frozen blueberries in a small pot until juicy and warm (or you could use jam or fruit spread warmed up).  Fold pancakes into quarters and serve with berries or jam, and whipped topping.

Taste of Home gifted me their "Recipes Across America" cookbook, which is where I found this recipe.  I'm an a huge fan of Taste of Home.  I have a couple other cookbooks from them, and I also get their magazine in the mail.  When I meal plan I just spread all my magazine and cookbooks (along with Pinterest of course) out on the table and go to town.

This cookbook is divided into five "regions".  More than 735 recipes from each part of the nation... northeast, south, midwest, southwest, and west.  And these recipes are from real home cooks, that may have been passed down in their families.  There are hundreds of striking color photos (which is a huge plus for me.. I love seeing what the end product looks like), the cookbook’s pages are sprinkled with food folklore, recipe histories, fun facts and culinary trivia.

And great news!!  I've teamed up with Taste of Home to give one of you lucky ducks the new cookbook!  Just enter using the rafflecopter form below.  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Butterfly Princess Costume {diy}

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Cottonelle, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #CottonelleTarget  http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”

If any of your are like me.. I tend to look over Halloween a little bit.  I get so busy around this time of the year that it just completely evades me.  Until my daughter starts getting excited over it, that is.  But she's not quite there yet.. and here I was last week.. twiddling my thumbs over what to do for her costume.  What I did know was that I didn't want to spend a lot of money and I wanted to keep it simple.

My daughter already had a pair of butterfly wings in her closet (a couple, actually), I found a wand in her toy box, I used one of my sparkly headbands, and then I made a simple fabric circle skirt.... and.. glued some Cottonelle onto the skirt for a fluffy, princess-y effect.

We dubbed it "Butterfly Princess".

If you have a daughter, then more than likely you have something in your house that can be transformed into some sort of princess/queen/angel/butterfly/something-else-girly for a costume.  And I'm sure you all have toilet paper in your house - at least I hope you do.  If not, just head to Target and get yourself a 12 pack of the Cottonelle Triple Roll (your behind will also thank you for this).  The key is to find stuff that you already have laying around the house... I invested hardly any time or money into this.  And this girl just had a ball in it.

  

Even daddy had fun playing "Butterfly Princess"... he had his own set of wings and everything.  ;)  Precious, right?  He was definitely mean to be a daddy to a little girl.  Can't wait to stick this photo in a scrapbook!  

Do you want to try the super soft Cottonelle Triple Roll?  Whether for a fun getup... or...... your bottom.  Yes, I said it.  ...Well if you do, grab this coupon and you'll get a free box of Kleenex when you pick up a 12 or 20 roll package, while supplies last.

Ghostly JELL-O JIGGLERS

This past week Clara helped me make some fun JELL-O JIGGLERS... she always wants to be on the counter while I'm cooking.. my little assistant.  I let her pick out the flavors to use, and as you can see in the photo below.. she was very excited about her Orange and Grape JELL-O.  ;)



These treats were simple enough for her to help with, and the prep took hardly any time at all.  The hard part was, of course, having to wait for them to set.. so we could decorate and eat them!  I decided to make little ghosts up top of our JIGGLERS!

I just used muffins tins for the molds.  And after setting them in warm water for about 15-20 seconds, it was really easy to remove the JIGGLERS from the tins!  Clara loved helping me put the "ghost" on top too.. I used COOL WHIP whipped topping for the ghost, and mini chocolate chips for the eyes!

As you can see above.. she was really impatient to try out her creation.  Can you blame her?  It didn't take her long to scarf it down, that's for sure.  Or my husband, for that matter.  There's nothing like spending some quality family time in the kitchen.. and then getting to devour all the deliciousness afterwards!  ;)

Jello.com has some fun ideas for Halloween treats.. I'm really loving the MMMMonster JIGGLERS and the Creepy Crawly JIGGLERS (that you can make from an ice cube tray!).  Have you  made any fun Halloween treats yet??

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Erin Condren Life Planner {review & giveaway}

I've had my eye on these Erin Condren Life Planners for a long, l o n g  time.  I finally sucked it up and bought one.. and I must say that I love it.  It's every crazy-organizer-list-makers dream.  I bought the 18-month classic life planner in "viva espana watercolor".  The planner is so sturdy and well made... I have no doubts that it will last.

I like the fact that they're so colorful and bright.  And the fun quotes they throw in there are definitely mood-boosting!  It has a whole section for "special dates" such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  And then there's space for important numbers and contacts.  I like having everything all in one place!

I just love that there's so much space in these!  They have a monthly view of each month, as well as a daily view.  With tons of room to right what you need.  I use my binder for practically everything... my blog (scheduling posts and keeping track of deadlines), meal planning, weekly to-do lists, exercise, appointments, and just to jot down things I want to remember!  These planners are so worth it.

This neat little video kind of takes you through and gives you a closer look at it.



 And now, the exciting part!  Erin Condren is offering a $25 gift code for one lucky winner!  Say whaa!  That's right.. just enter below using the rafflecopter form for your chance to win!  You can put it towards a Life Planner or one of their other fun products from the website!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Didn't win or just can't wait?  You can sign up and order your Life Planner here!