Banana pudding poke cake!

Ingredients

• 1 box yellow cake mix (& ingredients to make cake)
• 2 box (small) instant banana pudding
• 4 c milk
• 8 oz whipped topping
• 20 vanilla wafers, crushed
• sliced bananas - use your own judgment

Directions

• 1. Prepare cake in 9 x 13 pan according to directions on box. When golden, remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.
• 2. When just slightly cooled, use the handle end of a wooden spoon to poke holes into the baked cake. Don't be shy; make the holes big enough for the pudding to seep into and go deep enough with the spoon that you hit the bottom of the pan.
• 3. Next, prepare pudding mixture. Combine 4 cups of milk and pudding mix; whisk until fully combined and there are no lumps.
• 4. Pour pudding mixture over entire cake. Spread evenly, filling all holes.
• 5. Refrigerate for two hours or until set.
• 6. Top with sliced banana, whipped topping, and crushed vanilla wafers! Serve and enjoy. (Refrigerate any leftovers.)

Pear spice upside down cake

I love pear! I am obsessed with pears. They've been my favorite fruit since I was a child. I also love upside down cakes. I love how moist they are and the brown sugar and butter topping is always amazing. I tend to make apple spice upside down cakes fairly often. Especially in the fall. They're tasty, everyone enjoys them, they go great with a cup of coffee, and when made in a bundt pan, they look pretty. :) what's not to like, right? Well, the other night I wanted a slice of apple spice upside down cake with a nice cup of coffee, but I had no apples on hand. I did, however, have pears. Hence this delicious creation. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. 

Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake

• 1/4 cup butter 
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 pears, peeled
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 package (15.25 ounces) yellow cake mix
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup softened butter
• 3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter in a 9" round cake pan or bundt pan and heat in oven until butter is melted. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over butter. Cut peeled pears in half lengthwise and remove cores. Cut pears again lengthwise in 1/4" thick slices and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle pears with pumpkin pie spice and gently toss to coat. Arrange pear slices over the butter mixture in pan, slightly overlapping. Prepare cake batter as directed on package using water, butter, and eggs. Carefully spoon cake batter over the pears. Bake cake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake for 5 minutes on a wire rack, then carefully invert cake onto a serving plate. 

Healthy apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins

The time has come again for another low calorie, healthy baked good. :) One thing I do love about fall is the food. I love apples, spices and most of all, pumpkin. I've really been in the mood for some sort of fall inspired flavorful breakfast item. I ended up deciding on apple cinnamon and oatmeal muffins. These muffins are very moist, low calorie, and hearty. They go great with a cup of coffee or maybe even a pumpkin spice latte. :) These muffins clock in at about 170 calories per muffin. 

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 6 oz. container light vanilla yogurt. (i used tillamook light/non fat in vanilla bean.)
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp Kosher salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar or 1/2 cup splenda brown sugar blend for baking. you choice. (splenda has fewer calories, obviously.)
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup peeled and diced Granny Smith apple (roughly 1 large apple)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk, melted butter, vanilla, salt and sugar.
3. Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.
4. Add the oats and apples, mix until evenly distributed. Allow to rest a couple minutes, then spoon into muffin cups. Fill almost full.
5. Bake for 20-22 minutes until top is golden brown.

healthy, whole wheat, blackberry, yogurt bread!

Here's another really simple and healthy quick bread recipe for you! As you can see i'm on a blackberry kick right now. I am fortunate enough to have wild blackberry bushes on my property, so free blackberries all summer! I love picking my own fresh fruit, and experimenting with different, fresh recipes. Not only are these berries delicious, but also really good for you. Low calorie and packed with antioxidants. :) This bread is very dense and moist. I really enjoy this one. Perfect for summer.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan (or 1/2 cup neutral oil, like canola)
• 2 cups blackberries 
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar (or use a no calorie sugar subsitute like splenda or truvia. i used truvia.)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, room temperature

                                                                  Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; butter parchment. 
• puree blackberries with 1 tablespoon sugar. (Use a fork to gently mash them down. Leave a couple of bigger pieces/chunks of berries. They taste great to bite into.) 
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.
•  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter (or oil) and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with Greek yogurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
•  Pour the blackberry/sugar mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX.
• Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for about an hour. You want the top to be golden brown. Insert and tooth pick and it should come out clean. Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then move to cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.

Healthy, low calorie oatmeal, banana, blackberry bake.

I decided to try the new oatmeal bake craze. They always look really good and simple to make. Of course, I decided to come up with a lighter/healthy version of one. This is a really simple and delicious. hearty breakfast that would be great for a brunch or a holiday. It takes about 10 minutes to throw together. Another 35 to bake. The ingredients are all very affordable. I'd say under $5 for an entire pan, that could easily feed 5 people. Under an hour for a delicious, healthy breakfast and very little prep work!

Blackberry banana oatmeal bake:
                   
 ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups blackberries {any berries work}
• 2 cups non fat milk
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract2 ripe bananas, peeled, sliced.

directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F and generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.
• In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt,  2 cups of the berries. (Save the other 1/2 cup of berries,  for the top of the oatmeal).
• In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract.
• Add the oat mixture to prepared baking dish. Arrange the remaining berries on top,  Add the banana slices to the top then pour the milk mixture over everything. Gently shake the baking dish to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.
• Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown and the milk mixture has set. For an extra tasty top, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of extra brown sugar. (i used a combination of splenda/cinnamon to sprinkle over the top.  it tasted great. your choice. 

Super quick, easy, moist, low calorie/healthy, whole wheat banana muffins!

Banana muffins and bread are among some of my favorite comfort foods. Sadly, they've also been among my list of foods I can no longer eat because of the high calorie/low nutrition value. I've been adapting a lot of muffin recipes lately, making healthier versions, so it seemed only natural to try it with my favorite.

I'm also a pretty lazy baker/cook. If there are too many ingredients or it seems too time consuming, I will pass up the recipe for something easier. (No shame.) So quick breads/muffins are a staple in my house. Nothing gets much simpler, so I stuck to a very basic recipe when coming up with these.

I'm also VERY picky about the consistency of my breads, cakes, and muffins. I can not stand DRY baked goods. It completely ruins it for me. I pretty much never touch store bought muffins, cupcakes, cakes, etc. for this reason. I spent a lot of time adding various ingredients trying to achieve moister baked goods and the only thing i've found that works consistently is yogurt (greek, or regular) and mayonnaise. I added both of those ingredients in this recipe and they turned out perfectly moist.

Whole wheat banana muffins or bread.

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup Splenda no calorie sugar substitute
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 large (or 4 medium), ripe bananas, mashed (I use bananas that are basically black, or very dark brown with only a few yellow spots. They are the sweetest for baking, by far.
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) light plain, vanilla, or banana flavored yogurt (i used activia light vanilla they come in a 4 ounce container, so no need to measure. just dumped the whole thing in.)
• 1 tablespoon regular mayonnaise.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Mix in the slightly beaten eggs, yogurt, mayonnaise, and mashed bananas. Slowly stir in the melted butter just until incorporated. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes for bread or about 18-20 minutes for banana muffins or until the center is set and springs back when touched.  Let cool in pans for 5 minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Additional Banana Bread Tips:
- Banana size varies drastically. I use very large bananas. If you have really small bananas, add an extra half.
- What is a ripe banana? Well, I like mine almost all brown with some specs of yellow. Once I used all brown and it smelled a bit like alcohol. I think they were fermenting and on their way to banana liqueur :)
- Mash bananas well with a potato masher or fork but leave some small chunks. Don’t go all the way to baby food consistency.
- Do NOT over mix this batter. I would not use an electric mixer – just a few circles of the wrist while incorporating the ingredients.
- Do NOT overbake. The moist, banana-y center should be soft and crumbly.

- Let the bread cool completely before storing. The edges and outside will get sticky and icky if you wrap it or put it in a ziploc too soon.

My Summer scent

I figure what better way to start off the first day of Summer, than to share my Summer scent of choice. This year, it's definitely the VS pink sunkissed. It's a mixture of vanilla and coconut water. It's a nice, light scent, that isn't too heavy, yet the scent stays with you all day. It gives you that tropical scent of coconut, mixed with a light vanilla, that reminds me of being at the beach. As an added bonus, it also has tiny flecks of glitter in the body lotion, so it makes your skin glow and look a little sparkly, but it's very subtle, so it doesn't look like you've doused yourself with glitter. It looks especially great on tanned skin. Giving you that golden summer glow. I got these on sale 2 for $25 last month, and instantly decided this would be the perfect Summer scent. My former favorite was bath & body works coconut mango, but sadly it was discontinued. This however, is a great replacement!