This was a great Mexican dish that we were able to make using many nonfat ingredients.

My family enjoys eating Mexican foods. I make a good Taco Bake, we eat quesadillas, tacos and a yummy nacho bake. We’ve had to tone down our menu to make it more fat-free or at least low fat, but it’s easy to do with most of those items by changing just a few key ingredients.

Today’s recipe is one that was sent to me by my father-in-law a couple of weeks back. The title of the email said, “Looks good.”  And indeed, it did look good.

I was able to use the recipe by making the following substitutions:

Ground turkey instead of ground beef

Nonfat sour cream instead of regular

Nonfat cheddar cheese instead of regular

Light mayo made with olive oil instead of regular

I also had to cheat a bit and use salsa instead of the fresh onion, tomato and pepper, because I thought I had a pepper here and when it came time to make dinner, I did not.  If I make this again I’d do the fresh veggies instead, but the salsa did work fine.

Of all people, Alexandra was the kid who loved this the most. She’s by far the pickiest eater. Caroline liked all but the top and Liz liked it well enough. Don and I loved it. I even ate it leftover and it was just as good.

It did make a lot, and I think the next time I’d cut it in half, and use an 11×7 dish rather than a 9×13 dish.

Don even said he’d throw the corn right in the layer with the meat. It was definitely a hearty dish and a tasty one! If your family enjoys Mexican meals too, I’d recommend this!

The recipe as my father-in-law sent it, is below.

JOHN WAYNE CASSEROLE

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef, cooked and drained
1 (1.25-ounce) packet taco seasoning
4 ounces sour cream
4 ounces mayonnaise
8 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 cups biscuit mix
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 (4-ounce) can sliced jalapeno peppers

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325. Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning and water, according to packet instructions; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, mayonnaise, 4 ounces of cheddar cheese, and half of the onions; set aside.

3. Stir biscuit mix and water (directions on box) **our box said to use milk so I did and it was skim**to form soft dough. Pat dough on the bottom and one-half-inch up the sides of an 9 x 13 in. greased casserole dish.

4. Saute remaining onions and bell peppers until slightly tender.

5. On top of biscuit mix, evenly distribute ingredients in the following order: ground beef, tomato slices, green peppers, onions, jalapeno peppers, sour cream mixture and end with remaining shredded cheese.

6. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until edges of dough are lightly browned.

Alex’s project had gone viral.

Last April we began renovations on our house that would allow each daughter to have their own bedroom for the first time ever. Choosing colors and themes and decor became the topic of many a conversation.

So the day Alexandra came out of her room and announced that when it was her turn for a new room, she wanted a 50 States Bedroom you might think we wouldn’t be shocked, but we were. For months she’d been saying she wanted purple walls and a horse-themed room. Now, she wanted ocean-blue walls and a cross-country theme. According to my mother-in-law, the two had concocted the new theme for her room over the phone one day and Alex was sold on the idea.

Once we knew this new room theme was a keeper, I told Alex I would put a request for postcards from all of the states out to my friends and family on Facebook and see what we could collect that way first. Whatever we couldn’t get, we’d find another way of getting them. The postcards would later be used as a border around her room after the blue paint went on the walls.

I put the request out in mid-March, right around her birthday, explaining the 50 States Bedroom idea. Once I did, the postcards started rolling in. The first week or so she was receiving handfuls a day. My father-in-law, on his end, put out a request to all of his friends and family around the country as well, and stated that her birthday was coming up, too. It was so much fun receiving postcards that said, “Your grandpa wanted us to wish you a Happy Birthday from North Carolina,” or whatever state the cards were coming from. In years to come, when Alex looks at the messages on the cards, she’ll read things like, “I went to high school with your daddy,” “I went to the White House with your sister,” or “Vermont has great maple syrup,” and many other fun and exciting messages from all over the country. One cousin sent us 27 postcards from a cross-country trip she’d taken years ago. Her personal collection was now Alex’s. That gesture from a cousin we had never met, meant so much to us.

We received over 14 feet of postcards from all over the world to be used in Alex’s new room.

Before we knew it, we had received over 150 postcards literally from all over the world. Postcards came in from the east coast, west coast, London, Canada, St. Maarten and Alaska. It was amazing. We all looked forward to the arrival of the mail each and every day. I did my best to go on Facebook often and thank those who sent or requested postcards, and I’d give an update of what we had gotten so far and what we were still missing. By April vacation week we were down to just nine states left and we were ready to empty out, clean out and paint the room over the week. Alex and her daddy went to the store and she picked out the color of paint that she wanted, and the process began.

I had forgotten that underneath the “little kid” border was the baby border we’d hand stamped on the walls before Caroline was born.

It was a little sad, I must say, when Don began scraping away at the border we put up in 2005, only to discover the border of Snoopy and Woodstock that we had hand-stamped in 1999 as we prepared for the birth of our first baby. When all of the wallpaper border was down, and the stamped art remained, there was a small lump in my throat, and a part of me wanted to say, “No! Let’s just keep this! Let’s go back.”

But I know, you can’t ever go back.

So the new paint color went on the walls over the nursery yellow and the pink and blue border, over years of picture holes and sticky tape marks, making the room look fresh and new with the great color that Alex had picked out. In two days’ time Don had transformed the room to a big girl room, and we moved the furniture back in, setting it up in a new layout.

As the postcard mail began to trickle down and we had just a few states left, I took the whole lot of them to our local learning store, Lakeshore Learning Store, to be laminated. We also laminated some maps that she wanted in her room as well. We had a Rhode Island map which has hung in our basement for years, that she wanted on her wall. She particularly likes the fact that it has the dates 2006-2007 on it and she points it out to whoever comes into the room. We had a world map in one of the kids’ rooms that was not being used, and I ordered a special US map from the Highlights Magazine “Which Way USA” club, that we had now enrolled her in. The laminated postcards stretched from our sliding glass door in our dining room to the coffee table in our living room, about 14 feet in length and about two feet across.

I found this cool project in FamilyFun magazine, that I just had to replicate for Alex’s walls.

I went to Hobby Lobby one afternoon and found huge letters that were on sale for half off: N, S, E, W in pink and blue sparkly colors and Don put them up on her walls, using a compass so that they were really placed accurately pointing North, South, East and West. I found a cool project in FamilyFun Magazine while sitting in the doctor’s waiting room one day, and I had to replicate it on her wall. I knew the perfect spot. Alex noticed a blanket in the trunk my car that I’d made for the kids years ago, a 50 States blanket with a map of the country on it. We washed it and brought it up to her room and placed it at the bottom of her bed, which was still awaiting a back-ordered, horse-themed “bed in a bag” set. She found a globe at the book store, and used some gift money to purchase it. The room was coming together in our minds, and on the walls, piece by piece.

Finally, it was time. I took the huge roll of postcards and began cutting them apart. I filled an entire wicker basket with them. I found some double sided foam tape at Walmart, specifically designed to keep the paint on the walls in tact, and Caroline and I placed little pieces in the center of each laminated card, being careful not to cover the messages on the cards if at all possible. And then, on Mother’s Day afternoon, I began placing each one on the wall.

As I did this, I was struck by the awesomeness of this whole project, from the idea itself to the connections it has given Alex to our family, our friends, our past and our present. The postcards have special stamps on them, special postmarks, and special messages. They are priceless and yet the cost of them was so minimal.

Adjacent to the North Wall is my version of the FamilyFun project, with postcards to match.

Alex has decided that the South Wall over her bed will show maps of two “featured states” as she receives them from the “Which Way USA” program through Highlights Magazine.

And so, as I finish up this blog post and I show you the photos of the finished walls, I want to say thank you to everyone. Thanks for sending Alex her postcards, for spreading the word to your families and friends all over the country and the world, and thank you for taking the time to make a little girl’s day, every day. On the night that the walls were finished, she walked into her room, looked up at the walls, and she slowly turned around and around. The look of amazement on her face was one I will never forget.

And I more than appreciate it.

Thank You.

The East Wall houses her Rhode Island map and its coordinating RI postcards.

The West Wall is over the back of her door and over her closet. The wall over the door houses her Texas postcards and her Cowgirl sign.

These were so much fun I just had to feature them for a Fun Friday post!

A few weeks ago we hosted our daughter’s First Communion at our house. Besides cake, we had several other desserts and today I wanted to feature one of them.

My friend Paula had sent me this cute little 48 piece mini dessert set in the mail,  a set from Mozaik. When she saw it in a store near her, she said she thought it would be perfect for First Communion, and she was right.

Around the same time, the girls and I had attended an event at our local library that I covered for the newspaper. Advertised as a Teen Cooking Challenge, the kids had to each create their own healthy trifles, using pudding, whipped cream, and fresh fruit.

I never imagined that I’d find my First Communion dessert at a kids’ cooking event at our local library!

When I saw the kids’ trifles, I knew I’d found my dessert, simple as it was, for First Communion.

And when I say simple, I mean really.simple.

The desserts I made were in two variations: Jello Sugar Free, Fat Free instant cheesecake flavored pudding or chocolate flavored pudding, prepared using skim milk, and topped with a low fat topping from Aldi’s that’s like Cool Whip. I topped the cheesecake desserts with fresh strawberries and the chocolate desserts with fresh blackberries.

Yup. That’s it!

Each little cup has a matching little spoon, which made for a really cute, yet seemingly elegant, healthy dessert! They were such a hit, there were just a couple of them left over at the end of the day.

There are so many cute ideas that you could use this set for, both desserts and appetizers. Picture a healthy veggie dip in the bottom with a few celery, zucchini and carrot sticks sticking out, or picture individual shrimp cocktail sauces with a few shrimp. Perfect, right?

Right.

And that, my friends, is my Fun Friday post for today!

Enjoy your weekend!

This was a great crock pot recipe, and I’d definitely make it again!

I will apologize in advance that I do not know where this recipe originated. Don saw it online and sent it to me in an email. I later also saw it online on a friend’s page, she was sharing it from a recipe exchange page called Renee’s Exchange.

What I do know is that we tried the recipe and liked the recipe and I’d make it again. I had to do mine on high for less time because I got a late start, but it still came out great. We had enough leftover to serve a second night and it was just as good the second time around.

We served ours with couscous and sauteed zucchini the first time and over brown rice with a side of green beans the second time.

The only thing I cannot figure out is that the original picture that I saw showed the chicken very glazed and crispy, with the glaze sticking to the chicken. Ours was very juicy rather than a glaze. Still very tasty, but different than what I expected.

The ingredients are simple and the directions…even more simple! Give it a try on your next crock pot night!

Sweet Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken:
Ingredients:
1 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup light soy sauce
2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins  (**I used an entire 2.5 pound bag of frozen tenderloins.)

Directions:
Add all ingredients to the crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hrs and they should just fall apart. Enjoy!

Tuesday is Apraxia Awareness Day

Tomorrow is Apraxia Awareness Day.

I thought I’d use my post today to do just that: make you aware of Apraxia of Speech, because this cause is something that means a lot to me.

If you have not heard of Apraxia of Speech before, it is defined on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s website as:

“a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.”

Although my daughters do not have Apraxia themselves, we have two members of our extended family-one on each side- who do. Therefore, we do have some experience with the disorder. Additionally, two out of three of my girls needed speech and language therapy from age three through early elementary school age. And so, the speech and language disorder arena is one which we are pretty familiar with.

As a parent, I remember the frustration both of my daughters would experience as they tried to communicate their thoughts to us, with speech that couldn’t do the job they wanted it to do. I can clearly see the look on people’s faces when they’d ask one of them a question but not understand the answer that came out. I can remember trying to “translate” for them and not always being correct in guessing what it was they were trying to say. I remember the many weeks, days and hours spent bringing them to speech therapy twice a week and working with them at home on their “homework,” working in front of a mirror, playing “games,” listening to them practice their sounds, helping them to reinforce what they were learning in therapy, for years and years.It was a long road for them, but I am happy now when I hear them chattering away.

Apraxia kids experience frustration as well, as they try to get what they want to say, from their brain and out. They too, have hours and hours of therapy to help them.  For many Apraxia kids, the disorder is a life-long struggle. For others, they may see better success with treatment. Every child is different.

Awareness of Apraxia helps you to understand children who may have the disorder, but it may also help you identify it in someone you know, whether you are a parent, a teacher, or a relative. Early intervention is critical and evaluation followed by treatment is essential to helping these children find their speech.

If you are wondering what some of the signs and symptoms of Apraxia of Speech are, here’s the list I’ve copied and pasted from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s website, but keep in mind that every child is an individual and no two children’s cases of Apraxia are exactly the same:

A Very Young Child

• Does not coo or babble as an infant
• First words are late, and they may be missing sounds
• Only a few different consonant and vowel sounds
• Problems combining sounds; may show long pauses between sounds
• Simplifies words by replacing difficult sounds with easier ones or by deleting difficult sounds (although all children do this, the child with apraxia of speech does so more often)
• May have problems eating

An Older Child

• Makes inconsistent sound errors that are not the result of immaturity
• Can understand language much better than he or she can talk
• Has difficulty imitating speech, but imitated speech is more clear than spontaneous speech
• May appear to be groping when attempting to produce sounds or to coordinate the lips, tongue, and jaw for purposeful movement
• Has more difficulty saying longer words or phrases clearly than shorter ones
• Appears to have more difficulty when he or she is anxious
• Is hard to understand, especially for an unfamiliar listener
• Sounds choppy, monotonous, or stresses the wrong syllable or word

Potential Other Problems

• Delayed language development
• Other expressive language problems like word order confusions and word recall
• Difficulties with fine motor movement/coordination
• Over sensitive (hypersensitive) or under sensitive (hyposensitive) in their mouths (e.g., may not like toothbrushing or crunchy foods, may not be able to identify an object in their mouth through touch)
• Children with CAS or other speech problems may have problems when learning to read, spell, and write

For more information on Apraxia, visit:

American Speech-Language Hearing Association

CASANA The Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America

You can also find information on Pinterest

Follow CASANA on Facebook

We will never forget.

As we celebrate this Mother’s Day, let’s take a moment to remember those who are grieving on this day. Specifically, let’s take a moment today to send strength to those mothers in Newtown, Connecticut who are facing their first of a lifetime of Mother’s Day without their babies, those taken so tragically out of their lives this past December.

While we hug our children and spend the day with our loved ones, let’s remember how lucky we are,  never forget the victims of Newtown, and those that were left behind.

I’d eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

The other day I came across a great new recipe for baked oatmeal. It was on Skinnytaste.com, a blog I follow on Facebook. I love all kinds of oatmeal from steel cut to overnight to baked.

This recipe also had a fruity combination that I love: strawberry and rhubarb. I didn’t have rhubarb, but I noticed that it had bananas in it, and strawberry and banana is another top favorite combination of mine so I decided to make it without the rhubarb.

Besides the fact that I skipped the rhubarb, the other thing about this recipe is that I made it as an after school snack, not for breakfast! It was so good, and everyone had seconds, everyone loved it and there was very little left over.

I would definitely make this recipe again and if I had rhubarb, I’d throw it in there, but it was also fine without!

Without further ado, here, from the Skinnytaste Blog
For the fruit filling:

• 2 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 3/4 cup rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium ripe banana, sliced thin
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/3 cup honey

This snack was quick to put together with simple ingredients.

For the Oats:

• 1 cup uncooked quick oats (use GF oats if Gluten Free)
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp honey
• 3/4 cup fat free milk (or any milk you desire)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Lightly spray a 9 x 9″ ceramic baking dish with cooking spray; place banana slices on the bottom of the baking dish and set aside.

Combine the strawberries and rhubarb in a large bowl. Add honey, sprinkle with cornstarch and toss until fruit is well coated and place in prepared baking dish over the bananas.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, half of almonds, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; stir together.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining honey, milk, egg, and vanilla extract, then add to the oats.

Pour the oat mixture over the strawberries and rhubarb, making sure to distribute the mixture evenly.  Sprinkle the remaining almonds over the the top.

Bake the oatmeal for about 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set. Serve warm from the oven.

Looking for something a little different to go with your pasta? Try this easy recipe!

I love pasta, but I get tired of “plain old” pasta and sauce, especially when I’m out of homemade sauce. I recently came across this recipe in the May 2013 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, and I happened to have artichokes on hand, so I gave it a try.

Artichokes are the kind of thing you either love them or hate them. I love them. A few of us here actually love them, and they’re easy enough to remove from your plate if you hate them, so this recipe was great for our family.

If you’re looking for something a little bit different, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s quick and easy and just different enough to spice things up a bit on your dinner table. Serve it with a side salad and you’re good to go.

ARTICHOKE AND TOMATO PASTA
Better Homes and Gardens May 2013

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. dried buactini, fettuccine, or whole grain spaghetti (We went with the whole grain spaghetti.)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup sweet onion

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes

1 six ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Fresh basil leaves

Grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS

1) In a Dutch oven cook pasta according to package directions. (We cooked the spaghetti in a pan on top of the stove, the way we normally do.)

Drain; reserve 1/4 cup of pasta water. Return pasta to pot. Add Parmesan cheese; toss to combine. Add enough of the reserved pasta water that pasta is evenly coated with cheese.

2) Meanwhile, in a large saucepan cook onion in hot oil over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds more. Add undrained tomatoes, artichoke hearts, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until slightly thickened. Mash slightly with a wooden spoon.

3) To serve, top pasta with tomato mixture and basil leaves. Sprinkle with additional grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Makes 4 servings

Alexandra had a perfect day for her First Communion on Saturday.

Saturday was our last First Communion. It was a special day for Alexandra, our youngest daughter, the baby of our family.

First Communion is a special day, a rite of passage for those who are Catholic and it’s always an exciting occasion. This time though, knowing it was our last one, it made it seem all the more special, all the more exciting, and for me, a little bit sad that it was our last.

Having three daughters, we do a lot of handing down of items from clothes to shoes to backpacks, from sisters and cousins, but we opted not to hand down First Communion dresses.

After shopping with Caroline for her dress six years ago, I realized it was equivalent to shopping for a prom dress or a wedding gown, in that everyone has their own personalities, likes and tastes, and their dresses reflect those things. Caroline’s dress was so pretty and very “her.”

When it came time for Elizabeth to get her dress, it was so polar opposite of what Caroline had chosen, and it was clearly very much reflective of her personality and style. Gorgeous, and so very “her.”

This time around, shopping for Alexandra’s dress was the same experience. The dress she ultimately chose was so her, even the photographer who did her pictures prior to the event remarked that the dress suited her sweet personality perfectly.

We did our best to keep the experience equal for all three. They all got to go shopping with myself and my mom for their dresses, going out to breakfast first. Having that one-on-one time was an exciting thing that they all looked forward to as their shopping day arrived.

Giving Alexandra her special First Communion bracelet, a tradition we started with Caroline.

We also tried to create some special traditions that would go for each of them: they each wore the same head piece, a gift from their godmother. They wore the same shoes, a pair of “high heels” that clicked on the floor when they walked, which is a special sound when you’re in second grade. They each wore a necklace from their great-grandmother, picked out by her for each of them, many years ago, before she died and long before they’d be making their First Communions, and we got them each a special bracelet from us to wear that day as well that had beads of their own favorite color mixed in with the pearls.

So when I came across a unique idea for a cake, I thought right away that Alexandra would love it. It was made out of chocolate cupcakes frosted in white, and it formed the shape of a dress. I think in the photo it might’ve been designed as a wedding dress, but to me it screamed First Communion and it was *so* very Alexandra.

It was perfect.

And yet, I almost didn’t do it.

Not because I’d have to cancel the bakery cake I’d already ordered and paid for, not because I’d have to add in baking a double batch of cupcakes and a double batch of frosting to my already hectic list of things to do for the event, and not even because I didn’t think I was capable of making it look like the picture, although I had my doubts there.

I almost didn’t do it because I didn’t do it for the other two. I instantly felt guilty for doing something so unique and special for her that I had not done for them.

But, I couldn’t get the dress cupcake cake out of my head. She’d love it. I knew she would. She loves chocolate and she loves buttercream frosting, which the bakery cake would not have. In fact, the bakery cake would have the kind of frosting that no one in our house likes. But overall, she’d love that the cake was shaped like her dress.

It took me up until the week before the event to decide that I was going to do something for her that I hadn’t done for them. I let them in on my secret, making it a surprise from all of us, not to be told to her or shown to her until that very moment that we took the lid off the box.

The surprise cupcake cake, shaped like a First Communion dress.

I instantly felt better. I was excited, they were excited and the guilt was gone. I canceled the bakery cake. I planned out how and when I’d bake the cupcakes (day before) and frost them (fifteen minutes before serving them, since I had no place to store that many frosted cupcakes).

And I have to say, I’m so glad I did it.

Alexandra loved the surprise, and she loved her cake. It wasn’t perfectly like the photo I’d seen, but it was perfect to her, and to me.

At the end of the day, my mother-in-law asked her if she had a good day (she did) and what her favorite part of the day was.

I waited, hiding off to one side in the kitchen, to see what her answer would be.

A list of possible answers ran through my head, thinking like a second grader: the dress, the gifts, the party, the ceremony….what would it be?

Her answer: The Cake.

I almost cried. I literally ran out of the kitchen and hugged her, I was so happy. I think I actually startled her.

As parents of multiple children we work SO hard to keep everything as equal as we can. To them, they may think one gets more than another somehow, or one never gets anything, but we know in our hearts and minds that we work very, very hard to try to offer the same opportunities and traditions and memories to each of them. I never wanted to be the kind of parent who gave their all to their first and nothing to their last. I work sometimes to exhaustion to make that not happen here. It keeps me up some nights.

But this one time, I took a risk and did something for one that I hadn’t done for the others. I knew that had I found a cake that one of them would just love, at the time of their Communions that I would have done it for them. And I know now, that I have “one in the bank,” if I find something unique in the future that is perfect for them, I can do it guilt free, knowing I already did this for Alexandra.

It’s not about keeping score, and I know that, but it was a big deal for me to do this, and not do *exactly* what I did for them.

Instead, it’s about creating traditions and making memories, and making things special for each of them, just as their dresses are special for each of them. There’s something to be said for being sure that their events are not cookie-cutter copies of their sisters’ events also, that we take the time to make sure their memories are theirs alone as well as being full of shared traditions.

It’s a fine line, but this weekend, I think it we hit a home run.

Celebrating Alexandra’s First Communion, our last celebration of this kind.

These made a great , healthy after school snack!

I love it when I find new recipes to try out. I follow so many foodie pages on Facebook that I’m always getting great ideas for new things to try.

A few weeks back, I came across a post from The New Modern Mama blog where she talked about trying some new muffins at her house. They sounded good to me and I had everything for them so the next day I tried them at my house. They were great!

I made them for an after school snack and then there were leftovers for the next morning as well. I made a few changes:

*I used nonfat vanilla yogurt, not greek yogurt.

*I used Truvia rather than Stevia and followed the measurement guidelines on the Truvia package.

*I had both “quick” Steel Cut Oats and the regular kind. The quick kind are softer and I thought they’d blend easier, so I used those.

*Although I used my blender, if I made them again, which I hope to, I’d use a food processor. My blender had a hard time.

They were good, they were something new and different and everyone loved them. This recipe is a keeper for us, for sure. I hope you’ll try it too! I know that you can try other fruits in the recipe besides blueberries, so next time I just might do that!

Thanks to the New Modern Mama for sharing!

Next time I’d try these in the food processor instead of the blender.

Blueberry Banana No Flour Muffins
From The New Modern Mama

Ingredients:

• 2 overly ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups steel cut oats
• 1 single serving cup, low fat, greek yogurt {I used vanilla}
• 1 cup of blueberries
• 3/4 cups of sugar or stevia
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Put all of the above ingredients into a blender except for the fruit.
3. Blend ingredients until smooth {you may have to scrape down the sides and do this several times}.
4. Pour blended ingredients into a bowl and stir in blueberries.
5. Pour muffin mix into greased tin.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.

This made exactly 12 muffins.