So every once in a while I like to make really big batches of muffins with my kids, usually a few different varieties, and whatever we don't eat in the first day or two gets individually wrapped in plastic wrap and put into the freezer. In the morning for breakfast the kids just take a muffin out of the freezer and pop it into the microwave for 30 seconds and there's a yummy breakfast! They taste awesome! So this time I used a new recipe. I got my inspiration from a recipe at allrecipes.com and I switched it up a bit. Here is their link:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-zucchini-bread/detail.aspx.
I used most of the structure of their recipe and changed it a bit. I also doubled the recipe, then split it in half and made one half with blueberries and the other with chocolate chips! YUMMMY! Don't these just look delish? If you have trouble keeping both bananas and zucchini on hand at the same time do this... when your fresh bananas become browned, put them in the freezer, peels and all, and when you're ready to use them just thaw them on the counter or run warm water over them until easy to peel. For the zucchini, you can pre-shred your zucchini and store in freezer bags. Store 2 cups in each bag and pull it out when you're ready to use it. This way you make muffins when your freezer is bursting with bananas and zucchini!
Here's what you'll need if you double the recipe and do it my way:
5 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups zucchini, shredded
5 bananas, mashed
7 cups flour
2 TBSP ground cinnamon
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
*This can make 4 loaves or I ended up with 53 muffins!
To make muffins: First preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare muffin pans with paper liners or grease the pan. Then get all your ingredients ready.
Pour eggs into a large mixing bowl.
Mix well until frothy. I used an electric mixer.
Now add the oil, apple sauce, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.
Mix until well combined.
Now add the mashed banana and shredded zucchini and mix it up. In a separate bowl mix the flour with the cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture until all is added and blended. This is where I had to switch to a bigger bowl.
Now separate the mixture into two bowls. This is also a good time to take a break to throw your 4 year old in the bath who fell asleep an hour ago but you didn't bother to put a diaper on him so he had an accident and you need to clean him up and throw his sheets and clothes in the wash. If this didn't happen to you then just skip that step and move on!
To one of the bowls add 1 cup of chocolate chips. Fold them in.
And to the other bowl add the blueberries. Fold them in.
Now fill your muffin tins with the mixtures and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Mine took 23 minutes but keep in mind that I live at a high elevation. Mine turned out perfect. Golden brown on top and moist and fluffy inside. I counted before bed and 12 of these were devoured before I started wrapping the rest to freeze.
Today I had some zucchini to use up, so I decided to make this blueberry zucchini bread. The recipe I used is from allrecipes.com. Here is the link, http://allrecipes.com/recipe/blueberry-zucchini-bread/detail.aspx . I thought this was a very tasty recipe, but I would use a little less vanilla extract next time, I thought it was a little strong. I also altered the recipe slightly, I used 1/2 C apple sauce and 1/2 C oil, instead of the full amount of oil, and I also used 2 C whole wheat flour and 1 C white flour, which probably made it a bit more dense, but much more healthy! 
My son's 4th birthday was just weeks after the new Cars 2 movie came out, so he decided he wanted a Cars cake! This one took many hours of work and a few pound of fondant, plus the cars purchased at Walmart, but I got it done and was pretty happy with the result :)
This one was done last minute. I was in a baking mood the night before I had a game night with some friends. I love the game Qwirkle.
I get inspired during the holidays to create something festive! This is what I came up with. I made the pumpkins and vines out of fondant and piped the spider web with chocolate frosting.
This was for my daughter's 7th birthday. I loved doing this many colors on the cake and it wasn't hard to decorate with Wilton cookie cutters and a fondant ribbon cutter.
This cake was based on the cartoon "Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks" which was my son's favorite show at the time. I sculpted the cars out of fondant, which took some time, but they turned out cute! The cake... was a bit big, but was a big hit!
Yes, this is "supposed" to be Lightning McQueen. He still turned out cute, but was not thoroughly planned out. The house was very warm and the frosting started to slide, plus I pieced the car together and a few pieces started to separate. It still tasted great though!
My son's first birthday cake was this cute bear! I carved him out of "I think" three 9 inch round cakes, and I baked some cake into the ice cream cone in his hand. This one called for a lot of piping, but it turned out so cute!
For my daughter's 6th birthday she wanted a Hannah Montana cake, so this is what I did. I actually made two 9x13 cakes and sculpted the guitar. The hard part was the piping! Boy did my hand hurt after this one, but totally worth it.
I found this idea in a cupcake cookbook I have. It might look pretty fancy, but it's not too tough. You just draw the outline of a left and right butterfly wing on a piece of paper, draw a few of different sizes, and put a piece of wax paper over it. Then melt the colors of chocolate you want to use in a zip lock back, and cut a small hole in one corner. Squeeze the first color around to outline the butterfly wing, and use the second color to fill it in. Only do one or two wings at a time since they dry fast. Immediately after filling with second color, use a tooth pick to drag the outlining color into the center, then top with sprinkles. Make sure you also pipe out plenty of antennae separately. When the wings are cooled and hard, put two wings together on a frosted cupcake, add your antennae, and pipe center of butterfly with chocolate frosting. My daughter had fun helping me with this one.
