Becoming a Banana Minimalist

Hi my name is Stacey and I'm a banana hoarder!  Whew!  That feels better!  I have been a banana hoarder for over a year now and I feel like the first step to getting through this is just admitting it.  The funny thing is that I pride myself on not keeping things I don't need, not buying a lot of stuff/ things/ possessions, and living a life not full of "stuff."  Last week I watched a movie on Netflix called "The Minimalist."  It was so good, and even though I don't buy a lot of possessions it still made me think of all the stuff we have in our house that doesn't bring any extra joy to our lives but sometimes more stress.  Anyways it was probably that movie that opened my eyes even more when I opened up my freezer to realize that I was hoarding bananas.  I don't like to waste food so whenever the bananas start to get to the point where no one will eat them we just throw them in the freezer door.  I always say I'm going to get around to making banana bread or Carl will make smoothies with them but I guess we weren't doing what we said we were going to do!  Hence the Crazy Wertzberger Banana Hoarding of 2016/2017.  

It was then that I knew I need to take actions fast and become a banana minimalist!  I thawed out the bananas of one shelf and made a couple new recipes that turned out okay, and then decided to wipe out the second shelf of bananas for some good ole banana muffins and bread.

Lucky for you these turned out great and I am ready to give you my recipe!  You can take this recipe and cut it into half if you don't want so much, but as you can see I had a lot of bananas to use up.

Okay so first preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Then in a large bowl add in the mashed bananas, egg, sugar, melted butter,  and vanilla and mix until all incorporated.  Set aside.  

*Just a little hint that my wise cousin gave me was to peel your bananas before freezing and then put them in little baggies in the freezer.  Just label how many bananas you put in there if you are using for recipes.*

I recruited my little helper since she likes when she can be the mixer!

In another medium bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon and mix until all incorporated.

I just love my little helper hands!

Add the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix until all incorporated.

*Don't over mix as it will result in tough muffins.  This is where if you have little hands helping that supervision is needed!  Then just pour your banana bread/ muffin mixture into greased muffin/ cupcake tins or bread pans.  

To make streusel mixture put all ingredients (flour, brown sugar, cold butter and cinnamon) in a small bowl and mix by hand or fork until the butter is broken down really small and the streusel is crumbly.

Top each muffin with streusel mixture, a little under a tbsp. each muffin.  Bake for about 15-19 minutes until toothpick comes out clean, or you touch the top and the muffin springs back.

Let them cool and devour!

Banana Muffins

made 24 muffins, + 1 (9x5) banana bread

8 large, ripe bananas mashed

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. melted butter

1 tsp. imitation vanilla

3 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Streusel topping

1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 tbsp. butter, cold 

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees  In a large bowl add in the mashed bananas, egg, sugar, melted butter,  and vanilla and mix until all incorporated.  Set aside.  In another medium bowl add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon and mix until all incorporated.  Add the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix until all incorporated.  Don't over mix as it will result in tough muffins.  Pour mixture into greased muffin/ cupcake tins.  To make streusel mixture put all ingredients in a small bowl and mix by hand or fork until the butter is broken down really small and the streusel is crumbly.  Top each muffin with streusel mixture, a little under a tbsp. each muffin.  Bake for about 15-19 minutes until toothpick comes out clean, or you touch the top and the muffin springs back.  Enjoy! 

S'mores Bars

Not very often do we have s'mores in the winter time unless we use the microwave but when Piper asked me this weekend for s'mores we decided to get some ingredients to make our delicious S'mores bars.  

The best part is that they are super simple to make and are tasty and delicious, and since they have cereal in them isn't it okay to eat them for breakfast?  I say yes, because I'm an adult and that's what adulting is all about!

We had a crazy ice storm warning this weekend that we were going to have where everyone would be stuck inside from Sunday night to Monday. Just like all the other crazy people in the city I went to the grocery store Sunday night before the storm to get all my essentials to be stuck inside for a good 12 hours.  

I mean what else do you need except some cereal, chocolate chips and stuff to make chocolate shakes?? 

I started with just a box of Golden Graham cereal, butter, and marshmallows*. 

*I used the big marshmallows this time just because I had 2 bags left in the cupboard, but normally I use the mini marshmallows and would recommend using the mini's as well.  They just melt more evenly.

Just like Rice Krispie bars, you start the same way so melt the butter and marshmallows in a large pot over medium low heat until all smooth.

Once the marshmallows are all incorporated with the butter and all smooth and melty, take off the heat and add in the cereal.

Stir until all incorporated and dump out onto a greased 9x13 pan.  Once I have spread it out with a spatula and the mixture has cooled a little, I tend to spray my hands with cooking oil and just use my hands to pack the mixture evenly in the pan.  It's just so much easier to use your hands sometimes.

When the ooey gooey cereal mixture has cooled a little, sprinkle the mini chocolate chips on top and set it in the fridge to cool down completely. 

S'mores Bars
1/3 c. Butter
1 (16 oz.) bag Mini Marshmallows
1 (16 oz.) box Honey Graham Cereal
1/2 c. mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.  In a large soup/ stock pot add in the butter and mini marshmallows and cook on medium low heat until the marshmallows have melted. Make sure you are stirring constantly so it doesn't burn or brown.  Remove the marshmallow goodness from the heat and add in the box of Honey Graham cereal and stir together until all incorporated.  Pour cereal and marshmallow mixture out onto the 9x13 pan.  Using hands sprayed with cooking oil, spread out the mixture evenly in the pan.  When the mixture has cooled a little, add the mini chocolate chips and cool completely in the fridge.  Cut into squares and serve.  Enjoy!

Friday Night Movie Night!

What I love best about having a family is making mamories and making traditions.  Carl usually works every Friday night so since this summer the kids and I have started a tradition of making every Friday night movie night.  It's great because the kids get excited every Friday morning to have movie night later that evening and hang out with Mom.  Yes, it might not seem like "movie night" would be that exciting or much or a bonding experience since we are gathered around a TV not talking but it's more of what it entails.

Usually we have a food theme  to go with movie night and a lot of times we like to just have appetizers and snacks for our meal.  I usually start early on in the night with making a couple fun finger food ideas that we munch on, hang out, and sing and dance in the kitchen while everything is baking.  It might be that I am a little more relaxed since bed time is more fluid as well.

 This week we decided that a good ole home cooked cheeseburger would satisfy our hunger.  Look how delicious it looks!  It really did hit the spot!  This is what happens when I have a 1/4 bag of tator tots left and a little bit of a bag of French fries left in a bag.

After everyone is full we all get comfortable in our pajamas, usually make popcorn with m&m's, and the kids bring out all their blankets, pillows, and all their stuffed animals they can find and set up for movie night!

Friday night movie night usually consists of me picking out the movie and introducing the kids to movies that I watched when I was a kid.  We have watched everything from "The Sandlot," to "E.T," "Harry and the Henderson's," and "Mary Poppins," to "Sister Act" and many many more.  I mean they aren't all oldie movies occasionally when there is a new release of kids movie out than we watch that or in November and December we watched all the favorite Christmas movies.  The fun part is that it's always a new movie that the kids haven't seen.  My challenge comes from finding a new movie each week and my joy comes from seeing my children enjoy something that I used to when I was a kid.

We then finish up the movie and have a big sleepover in our guest bedroom and get to tell stories until we all fall asleep.  I know that the kids will grow up and mom won't be as "cool" as I used to be.  Friends will take my place and I will be left at home watching movies by myself.  But for right now I will just cherish the time I have with them, continue our tradition and hopefully make great memories!

What traditions do you make with your family?  What memories do you have when you were growing up??

Ham and Bean Soup

I don't know about you but my family does leftovers usually about once and then I have to get creative to make it over to another dish.  For Christmas this year we did a big spiral ham and roast beef so we had already done our one leftover night of ham and still had plenty leftover.  I didn't know exactly what to do with it so I went through my cupboards and fridge and decided I was going to make some ham and bean soup.  This winter I feel like we have soup at least once or twice a week for dinner but it's easy and my kids and family love it so I'm not complaining.

This soup was so super simple because I didn't really have a plan and then just used the ingredients in my house so please if you want to add or subtract some stuff, feel free!  It's your stomach, it's your family, it's your recipe.

First we started with thawing out the ham broth that I had made a couple days ago with the ham bone.  Then I started dicing up all the ingredients.  Luckily my helper came out and wanted to work on his knife skills!


As you will see I used red onions, I usually wouldn't use those in this soup but again it was what I had and it was cold and didn't want to go to the store with 3 kids just for a sweet onion so we made do.  It actually worked out well.



As we got all the vegetables diced up I took my large soup pot, added some olive oil and threw in all the veggies and ham and cooked for about 5-7 minutes.  I just love the smell of celery, carrots, and onions cooking!!



I then threw in the minced garlic and cooked for a minute before adding in the beans and broth.   We let that cook for about 10-15 minutes before the veggies were tender.  I used 1 can of cannellini beans and 1 can of garbanzo beans since that's all I had, but pick what kind of beans your family will eat.

If you like your ham and bean soup more thick, try the navy beans, since they get creamy when cooked and don't hold their shape as well.



My kids like soup more brothy and where they can see all the ingredients, so they can pick out what they don't like that day.



Hope you all enjoy this easy recipe on such a cold cold day!!

Easy Ham and Bean Soup

1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1c. Diced carrots
1c. Diced celery
1c. Diced onions (I usually use white but red worked fine this time)
2c. Diced ham
2 cloves of garlic,, minced
2 (15oz.) cans, white beans, drained (cannelloni, navy, great northern, garbanzo)
8-10c. Ham or chicken broth
Pepper to taste

In a large stock pot add the olive oil, carrots, celery, onions, and ham and let it cook on high for 5-7 minutes until the onions start to be translucent and the aromatics of the pot start filling up the air.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute, then add in the two cans of beans, and ham or chicken broth.  Turn to medium low heat and let it cook for 10-15 minutes until vegetables are fork tender.  Season with pepper for taste and serve!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  Yes I know that I am a day off but it's still fairly new so I feel like I'm on top of it.

Almost every year I make a couple resolutions around this time because with a new year starting and the holidays behind me, it just makes sense.  I am that person that at least once a month likes to look at my life and reevaluate what's going on.  What's going wrong, what needs to be changed, what am I happy with and is working well?  So even with this going on monthly I  feel like resolutions are new goals for me to work on to make my year what I want it!  I look at resolutions as goals not something that if I don't do it one day I have failed!

Remember in college or interviews when they ask where you want to be in 5 years, 10 years, 15 years?  Sometimes I think those goals get shadowed by your daily lives if you don't have daily goals or even yearly goals.  I mean when I don't write my goals down in front of me where I can see them each day, I often find myself dreaming less and less focused.



Being pregnant around the first of the year has switched my focus of my resolutions to be more family oriented and life focused as opposed to recent  years when they are more health and career oriented.

My years resolutions/goals:
#1 Start a grateful journal to have the kids participate in.
#2 Put my phone down more and be aware of everything around me
#3 Play more
#4 Write 1 blog a week

I am being easy and realistic on myself this year since we are soon to be a family of six with a husband running a restaurant.   But again if I don't have these little focused goals in front of me it's pretty easy to let the daily grind get the best of me.

Do you make resolutions? What are your yearly goals/ resolutions?