a busy mama's diary to inspire

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Advent "calendar"

 

 
Last year our beloved little slippers-on- a-string Christmas countdown broke. I was on the hunt for just the right thing this year. At Sweet Home (where I sell my creations) one of the gals was selling this old 7up crate, and I thought it would make the sweetest little countdown, and also not take up a lot of wall space! You can find these crates at my shop or also antique stores. The other materials were all purchased at Target. I bought these little drawstring bags for each day of the month and filled them with things like: candy canes, Christmas chocolates, love notes, coins, gum and stickers etc. I rolled them up as small as I could and shoved them in the boxes ;) The number stickers were in the dollar section and I just put them on a gift tag and taped them to the box with washi tape. Easy peasy! (I've also seen cute countdown stickers at Hobby Lobby!) I decided that the 25th bag will be hiding in the tree on Christmas morning :) Hope this inspires you to start a new tradition as well. Merriest Christmas, friends. Enjoy this most wonderful time of the year ♥

Banana bread

 
BANANA BREAD!
 
Another family favorite. My kids squeal when I have fresh, warm banana bread just waiting to be buttered and set before their hungry little faces!
 
Here's my recipe:
(*I double this to make 2 loaves)
 
1.5 cups gluten free (or all purpose) flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil
 
Grease 2 loaf pans. In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and 1/8 tsp salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. Set aside.
 
In another bowl combine the egg, bananas, sugar and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just till moistened.
 
Spoon batter into pan(s) I like to sprinkle the top with a cinnamon & sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and cool on rack.
 
Enjoy!