Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread

 

 

This recipe is from the Pillsbury Complete Cookbook. (I love this cookbook btw, it's one of my favorites!)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, soften
2 eggs
1 cup (2 medium) mashed ripe bananas ( I added 3 when I made mine, I just love bananas)
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts ( I substituted this with the chocolate chips, I used semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease bottom only of 9x5 or 8x4 inch loaf pan. In large bowl, combine sugar and butter; beat util light and fluffy. Add eggs, beat well. Add bananas, milk and vanilla, blend well.

2. In small bowl, combine flour, nuts(if you want it like my bread, chocolate chips then), baking soda, and salt, mix well. Add to banana mixture; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into greased pan.

3.Bake at 350 F for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minitues; remove from pan. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator.

 

Bon Appetite!

 

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-on Manicure Review

Hello Everyone!

Here is my review of Broadway Nails impress Press-on Manicure that I received in my Spring Fever VoxBox from Influenster.


Product Information (taken from www.influenster.com)

Introducing imPRESS Press-On Manicure by Broadway Nails, the revolutionary way to apply polish! Featuring advanced nail technology, you can get a salon-perfect manicure in seconds – simply peel off, press on, and you're done. There's no drying, a killer shine and a manicure that lasts up to a week! And, imPRESS is so easy to remove, you can change it up to match your mood as often as you want.

 

My Opinions

Color:
The pattern that I received was Over the Moon. I thought this pattern was gorgeous and had a very sophisticated look. It was a plumish-maroon background color with gold designs. Very pretty!

Application:
The application was super easy. In the packaging, it comes with a little towelette to clean your nails with before applying the press-on nails. After cleaning your nails with the towelette, then it is time to apply your press-on nails. All you have to do is look at the nail sizes that is provided in the package and match up to your nails as best as you can. After you find which nails will work for you, it is application time. The nails have a little cover that protects the glue that is on the nail. You just take the cover off then press it on to your real nails and hold for about 20-30 seconds and voila you have an instant manicure. I thought this was going to be really hard to do because when it comes to manicure stuff, I am not the best, but I found this process very easy. It doesn't take much time at all. I was very impressed at how easy it was for me to apply these nails. After I applied my nails, I cut them down to a length I felt comfortable with as the length was a little too long for my liking. It is really easy to cut the nails and file them to your perfect length.

Durability:
I left my  nails on for five days before I took them off. One of my nails was getting close to falling off, so there I figured it was about time to take them off. I was pretty impressed at how sturdy the nails were as they felt like they had a lot of give with out them popping off. I don't know if I would keep them on longer for a week, but I think they are strong/durable enough to hold for a week. I think one of the reasons one of my nails start coming undone from my finger was because I have a bad habit of playing with my nails, so if you don't mess with them too much, they should last for a week.


Overall Impressions:
Overall, I really like this product and I am not a huge fan of artificial nails, but I think this an inexpensive alternative to going to the salon to get your nails done. I am planning to buy this product in the future when I have a special event to attend or when I am just in the mood for a professional looking manicure. I was impressed with the ease of the application and the durability of how the nails held up. I think it is a product worth trying. Comment below and let me know if you have tried these or if you have any questions about the product. Thanks!

Check out Broadway Nail's website here: http://impressmanicure.com/

Disclosure: I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Influenster.

Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox

Hello Everyone,
I know it has been a while since I have added a post, but don't fret there will be more posts soon. Today, I would like to share with you what I received in my Spring Fever VoxBox from Influenster. I received my voxbox probably a few weeks ago and have been testing out the products they have sent. I hope to have full reviews on each of the products in the future on my blog.

 I will tell you a little bit about the Influenster program. According to Influenster's website (http://www.influenster.com/), Influenster is a free -to-join community of invited trendsetters who live to give opinions of products and experiences. Influenster creates links between brands and members to reward participation and influence future products.
As part of the program, you can receive voxboxes which provide you with most of the time full-size products for you to test out and review with social media sites. To qualify on a box will depend on many variables which can be explained at Influenster's website. I think this is a great program if you like receiving free products to try out and review. I hope you will check it out and see if it is something that you would like to participate in doing.

The products I received in my Spring Fever VoxBox were: Secret Outlast Clear Gel Antiperspirant/Deodorant, NYC New York Color Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm in the shade Big Apple Red, Broadway Nails impress Press-on Manicure in the pattern Over the Moon, Schwarzkopf Professional OSiS Dust It (this is a multi-purpose mattifying powder that adds root lift, texture and control), and Tastykake Kandy Bar Kakes in the flavor S'mores.

I will give a review of each product in future posts. Make sure to check out Influenster and you too can receive some cool products in the mail!

A Valentine's Day Filled with Fun and Surprises!

I know this is a little late as Valentine's Day was over a week ago, but I still wanted to give you the scoop on my Valentine's Day! My husband was very thoughtful this year and he gave me a Valentine's Day card each day leading up to Valentine's Day and then he gave me an extra bonus card the day after Valentine's Day. On top of that, he gave me two bouquets of hand-picked flowers from the florist he went to and took me to a wonderful romantic restaurant. We dined at Sidney Street Cafe in St. Louis. What a cute, romantic restaurant, it had the mood lighting as well as a wonderfully, delicious cuisine. It was even more amazing that my husband stopped in at the restaurant a few hours before our reservation where he gave them rose petals and a bouquet of flowers to decorate our table. It looked gorgeous when we sat down, I was very much impressed. He did a terrific job of surprising me this year.  Below are some pictures of my fabulous Valentine's Day surprises and fun!

                                                  February 1, 2013: First Valentine Card

 

February 2, 2013: Second Valentine Card

 

                                                   February 3, 2013: Third Valentine Card

                                                                  Front of the card

Inside of the card

 

 

February 4,2013: Fourth Valentine Card

 

 

February 5, 2013: Fifth Valentine Card

 

Front of card

 

 

Inside of card

 

February 6,2013: Sixth Valentine Card

 

My husband didn't give me an actual physical card for this day. He sent me an ecard instead, here is the link to see the card he sent me: http://www.123greetings.com/send/view/02406013618741037426

 

February 7, 2013: Seventh Valentine Card

 

February 8, 2013: Eighth Valentine Card

 

 

My husband also gave me some artificial roses with this card! They are lovely and now I can have roses year around!

 

February 9, 2013: Ninth Valentine Card

 

Front of card

 

 

Inside of card

 

February 10, 2013: Tenth Valentine Card

 

February 11, 2013: Eleventh Valentine Card

 

February 12, 2013: Twelfth Valentine Card

 

February 13, 2013: Thirteenth Valentine Card

 

Front of card

 

Inside of card

 

Valentine's Day

 

Here is my 14th Valentine Card

 

Front of card

 

Inside of the card

 

Here is the first bouquet of flowers I received from my husband when I got home from work

 

Here is a close up picture of the flowers

 

 

 

Pictures from Sidney Street Cafe

 

My husband's meal: He had some type of delicious steak.

 

My meal: I had delicious pheasant!

 

 

 

More flowers: My husband left more flowers on the table at the restaurant which I added to the first bouquet he gave me earlier that evening.

 

 

 

February 15, 2013: My husband surprised me with an extra Valentine's Day card. This card was huge.

 

Front of card

 

 

 

Inside of card

 

 

 

All cards

 

Needless to say, I had an amazing Valentine's Day. I am so thankful for such a thoughtful and loving husband. I couldn't ask for a better person to spend the rest of my life and beyond with. Thanks Brandon for making my Valentine's Day extra special. I love you!
I hope everyone had an amazing Valentine's Day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Super Hero #3 Letterbox Clues

This is the third super hero in the series. This is one of Loverboy’s favorite super heroes. This super hero does not feel like a super hero, but sees him/herself as something else. This super hero can be moody, but overall is a great person! You may have seen this super hero in some major motion pictures over the last couple years.  Can you guess who it is?

Starting point: Park in the parking lot near a worldly structure in Forest Park.

Clue Directions:

The Symbol (Box #1)

Look for the Concourse Dr. sign. At this sign, you will see white concrete path going towards the worldly structure, start walking on this path. Continue walking on this path until you reach some straw-like grassy plants. At this point, turn right onto the grass and walk along the grassy-straw plant line until it ends. Travel downhill to the pictured tree.

At the pictured tree, look with the base of the trunk deformity and you shall find the symbol.

The Experiment (Box #2)

From the pictured tree, travel downhill to the asphalt pedestrian path where it runs along a wooden area.  Walk into the wooded area to the following pictured tree.

Facing the pictured tree, take a compass reading of 340 degrees. Walk about 40 steps in that direction to an uprooted tree.  Search around the root-end of the fallen tree. Under bark, sticks, and leaves, you will understand the experiment of this super hero. 

NOTE: Please be extremely stealthy when retrieving boxes in this park as it is very busy. Please re-hide better than found! Thank you and let me know how our super hero is doing!

 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake Cookies

Are you in the mood for something chocolatey, well I have just the recipe for you; chocolate chocolate chip cake cookies. Better have a glass of milk ready when you pop these yummy delights into your mouth. Now let's get baking!

First, you need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

You will need:

1 box chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup of  vegetable/canola oil (I used canola oil)
2 eggs
6 oz chocolate chips (half a bag of chocolate chips) (You can add less or more if you like)

Whisk together the eggs and the oil until fully mixed.

Add cake mix and chocolate chips. Mix well. You may have to use your hands at some point to mix everything together as it gets really hard to stir with spoon.

Scoop cookie dough into balls using a cookie scoop or a spoon and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Place in your preheated oven of 350 degrees and set the timer for ten minutes.

Bake for ten minutes.

Cookies will be soft and gooey when you take them out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer cookies to a cooling rack for final cooling.

 Once cooled cookies are ready to eat. Grab a cold glass of milk and you are ready to relax and eat your yummy cookies! Bon appetite!

Gooey Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies

These are regular gooey butter cookies with a twist; adding yummy chocolate chips.

Ingredients needed:

1 Egg

1 package of cream cheese

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

6 oz of chocolate chips (half a bag of chocolate chips) (Add more or less if you like)

1/2 cup of butter/margarine

1 box yellow cake mix

Before you mix together your ingredients, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine together egg, vanilla, butter, cream cheese, and cake mix. Blend well.

Add chocolate chips.

Scoop into balls using a cookie scoop or spoon and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

 

Place cookies in the oven. The oven should have been preheated to 350 degrees.

Bake for ten minutes in oven.

Take cookies out the oven and let them cool on baking sheet for a few minutes then transfer cookies to a cooling rack for final cooling.

I hope you enjoy these gooey butter cookies with a chocolate chip twist, a new take on the famous chocolate chip cookie! Bon appetite!