Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are easy to make and taste great. I adapted the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
4 ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup nondairy semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray or line a muffin tin.
2. Mash 4 ripe bananas and set aside.
3. Mix all of the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips
4. Add in the wet ingredients and stir.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Fill each muffin spot about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
8. Cool & Enjoy!

We are not big egg eaters, so I do not often have eggs in the house. I love baking with bananas since they are a binder and taste great. I got 16 muffins from this recipe, which was enough to share with friends. What have you baked recently?

Spring Cleaning

I spent some time decluttering this week and am happy with the results. My latest efforts were inspired by this book (borrowed from the library).

One of "Konmari's" central ideas is to only keep the items that spark joy. I said this in a tongue-and-cheek way to John when I started reading the book. It sparked his curiosity, so he also read the book. She recommends that you start by decluttering your closet, and John donated many extra clothing items.

While Alex was a day camp during his spring break, I found the time to tackle my clothes. I have been decluttering my closet as we've moved, but this was my easiest session. The ideas in the book really helped me let go of items that no longer fit, items that are worn out, and items that just did not spark joy. My side of the closet is pictured below (for now my swimsuit is hanging.) I also have 3 drawers in our dresser. I currently like all of the clothes in my closet, which was not the case in the past. My shoes are on a hanging divider and my bags are nested in the bottom of the closet.

A lesson from The Minimalists also helped me purge my closet. They write about how many items that we own can be replaced for under $20 and in less that 20 minutes. I confirmed this with a pair of jeans. I donated a pair of jeans last fall before we moved because they were too small. After changing my eating habits this winter, I bet they would finally fit again. I was able to find a similar pair of Levi's jeans in a lighter color at Goodwill for $8. Now I don't regret giving away my smaller jeans, and I donated my jeans that are too big. There are also online sources for used, name-brand clothes such as thredUp and Twice. My first order is on it's way from thredUp with a shirt for me and shorts for Alex.

I am going slightly out of order from Marie's recommendation in the book, but I wanted to declutter my craft supplies this week. I was able to sell some stamp sets online, recycle some scraps, and start my donation pile. Here are items ready to ship out to new homes. My pattern paper and card stock stash are finally contained.

It has been both a productive and relaxing week. How is your spring going?

New Card: Tic Tac Toe & Birthday Challenges

At the beginning of this week, I received my order from Simon Says Stamp and found this challenge from The Paper Players.

I chose the three items across the middle and really wanted to use the Lawn Fawn Year Five stamp and matching die. I have done more coloring in the past month inspired by Kathy's 30 Day Coloring Challenge.

Here is how my card came together:

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Happy Birthday Challenge. Thank you for visiting my blog!