Tuesday's Storms

Here are photos I took on my phone of Tuesday's storm as it passed through our area. There were two tornadoes in our area and some damage done by hail and winds. My car got some hail dents unfortunately, but with deadly storms all over lately, we were thankful to be safe.

We had marble to golf ball size hail

Our hail covered grass

Here are two photos from our local WFAA news site:

Img source

Img Source

There were 9 tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service in North Texas's storm last night. An article detailing each one here. Some weren't too far from us! Many other states were hit much harder and our prayers go to those families and states affected.

Stay safe out there!

Moist Banana Muffins

(Re-posted after Blogger went hay-wire and deleted many posts from last Wednesday!)

A few months ago, I was looking for a new recipe to use up some old bananas and found this recipe. We love it and have made it a few times now! Always keep your bad bananas and find a use for them, the more ripe the banana is (mostly black) the better they are for baking. Banana bread, muffins, cupcakes, etc, YUM! I never toss a bad banana :)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't have any this time, but these are a great, highly recommended addition)

1 - 2 bananas (1 cup)

1 container yogurt (mine is 6 oz)

1 large egg

4 tbsp melted butter

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon (or use a pre-made cinnamon sugar mix), set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, remaining 1/2 tsp cinnamon and walnuts.

In a small bowl, beat together the banana, yogurt, and egg with a fork. Stir in the butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until combined.

Like a 12-cup muffin tin with baking liners and fill them with the batter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Bake at 375 degrees until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out dry, about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

 I found this recipe on www.rachaelraymag.com and it's one to try. The yogurt makes the muffins so moist and you can even have fun with the yogurt flavor. I used strawberry banana this time, but you could try some fun flavors to change it up!

Tour De Dallas

 My parents came to visit this week and we had a blast! It's always great having them and spending time together.

I had help in the kitchen! Here we're making up a batch of caramel filled chocolate cookies (click HERE for the recipe) - mom helped too :) I told them I could get used to having a few extra hands in the kitchen!

We also toured over to Billy Bob's in Fort Worth, "the world's largest honky tonk",  for dinner, a rodeo and a concert

Enjoying the the Bellamy Brothers

We also checked out Mayfest in Fort Worth - a fun outdoor fair type event. We had to shuttle over to the event and waited in line (in 90 degrees) for a looong time but we all enjoyed it and got some sun.

I had heard about this duck race on the event's website and was hoping we could see it so I was excited when it was starting when we walked by. Apparently this guy and his ducks have been on many national interviews (Johnny Carson was one) so it was pretty cool to check out!

... and they're off!

The sun took a liking to Nick's face.. can't blame it :) I got a bit of sun too, as you can see, I could use a little bit! Despite being over 90 degrees, it was a great day and fun to enjoy the outdoors and take in the sights.

Mom and Dad also picked up a watermelon since they were on sale at the grocery store and it is so wonderfully juicy and sweet. A perfect end to a hot summery day!

I also whipped up these banana muffins before my parents hit the road - so tasty and moist. Check back for the recipe coming soon.

Happy Mothers Day to our wonderful mothers and all you moms out there - you deserve to be appreciated every day for the things you do for your families and kiddos.

Fresh Greek Salad

Here's a peak into the kitchen messes my hubby puts up with on a regular basis. It's probably painful for him, a "neat" guy, but over the course of the past year and a half, he's learned to let me make messes and life will go on. In most cases ;)

 My cupcake mess a few weeks ago. Nick's birthday batch! Not the first unsuccessful batch I told you about here, but the second one that came out better. Notice I tape my recipes to my cupboards so they're easy to refer to and not on the messy counter. We all have our quirks. I have good reasons for mine though.

 Ahhhh, good as new. Pretty close at least. I love that light under the cupboards by the way - it's perfect for cooking and baking at night.

 Now I have to tell you about a great salad we had this week. So fresh and summery. Definitely a keeper recipe. 

Greek Salad

Organic romaine lettuce was our base. It was great and much less work - lasted really well too.

Add in fresh veggies, feta cheese and a homemade dressing. A vivacious and extremely tasty (and easy to whip together!) salad. Feta is the key ingredient by the way - it takes the salad to another level.

I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman's blog - here is her version of the recipe. Mine is adapted for two people and I tweaked the ingredients to our liking.

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce

2 ripe tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges each and cut each wedge into 3's

1 large cucumber, peeled, cut into fourths lengthwise and diced into large chunks

1/4 red onion, sliced very thin

Crumbled feta cheese (to your liking)

1 tsp parsley

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp sugar (more to taste)

1/2 clove garlic, minced

Dash of salt

Pepper to taste

Lemon juice (I used about 1/2 tsp)

Directions:

Add lettuce, tomato wedges, cucumber chunks, onion slices, half the feta and parsley into a large bowl.

Combine olive oil, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper into a bowl and whisk. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Pour dressing over salad ingredients, then add salt and pepper. Toss with tongs or clean hands (my preference). Before serving, top with remaining feta and lemon juice.

Way better than Olive Garden's... in my opinion. Enjoy!