Today I’m sharing a special Connect Through Reading post – it includes a really fabulous Banana Beignet recipe – but it’s special for other reasons! I have to give you some backstory first, though.

About 9 years ago I was working from home doing a job I hated. I was working as a recruiter for a 1 man company. Recruiting was my background and the pay was good, but the type of recruiting I was doing required me to be on the phone a lot throughout the day cold calling. Cold calling is something I detest, but the job paid well and I really liked the guy I was working for. Now, mind you, I had a 2 year old and an infant at the time. I was really trying to balance it all, and was stressed out to the max. I thought I should have been grateful to have a job from home that was flexible so I could be at home with my kids, but again… every time I would pick up the phone to make a call, I wanted to throw up and cry.

I was part of a book club and along came our month to read the book Tending Roses by Lisa Winegate. This book, with the quote to describe it being “The lessons that most enrich our lives often come at unexpected moments and from unlikely places. ” absolutely changed my life. This one story, so tender and achingly real, touched my heart in so many ways and taught me an important lesson about recognizing what the priorities in our life should be… and how quickly life can pass us by. I quit that recruiting job the day after I finished the book and decided to find something more rewarding (hello Dine & Dish!). It was one of the best moves I’ve ever made and I owe it all to a book.

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I know, I know… here it is still August and I’m already sharing something pumpkin with you. I promise this isn’t the start of shoving pre-season pumpkin down your throat (there will be plenty of that to come). This Banana Pumpkin Breakfast Shake is, instead, a result of the fact that I still have a zillion and ten cans of pumpkin in my pantry leftover from last year.

So, can we talk breakfast for a moment? Out of my 4 kids, I have one who does not like to eat breakfast. Leah (4) will eat raw bell peppers, tomatoes, goat cheese, salsa verde… just about anything, but she is never hungry at breakfast and doesn’t want breakfast. It’s a challenge because I know, thanks to info from Midwest Dairy, that eating a nutrient-rich breakfast at home or at school boosts brain power and fuels learning. …

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Mornings around our house are usually mass chaos. No matter what I do to try to be organized the night before, mornings don’t seem to change.

In fact, we have a little celebration in the car on the way to school on those rare days where I didn’t have to turn into “raging maniac mom” to get everyone in gear. I’ll say, those little celebrations don’t happen too often. That’s not something I’m necessarily proud of. …

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I’ve discovered that with four kids, there is a lot of comprising that goes on during the day. It’d be too easy if all four of them would agree on something. Instead, it is always three wanting one thing while one wants something else. Even if it is just to annoy the others, there is always one kid who makes the decision of what they want just to be different.

The other day I was going to make muffins and asked my kids, “Banana or blueberry?” As I anticipated, the girls wanted blueberry and Jacob wanted banana. Instead of having to choose who I liked best and basing my decision on that, I decided we would compromise. I would make a banana blueberry muffins.

These banana blueberry muffins were the perfect combination of both fruit flavors, and made everyone happy. It’s never fun when I have to base my decisions on who I love best 😉

Speaking of compromises… the folks at Coffee-Mate realized how much I seem to be enjoying my coffee lately – both hot and iced coffee. They were kind enough to send me some coupons for their Natural Bliss Coffee Creamer. Now, as a blogger, I get coupons and products to try all the time, and when I find something I really enjoy, I want to make sure to share it with you.

Coffee-Mate Natural Bliss Coffee Creamer is made from all natural ingredients and comes in three flavors – Sweet Cream, Vanilla and Caramel. I especially enjoyed adding the sweet cream flavor to my favorite Iced Coffee. It made for an indulgent, mid-afternoon, treat. I felt good knowing that I didn’t have to compromise on flavor to enjoy something made from all natural ingredients. If you give it a try, you’ll have to report back and let me know which flavor is your favorite!

Now, on to the Banana Blueberry Muffins recipe!

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Banana Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Banana Muffins are the perfect combination of flavors. You don't have to compromise and make just one flavor of muffin. Have them both!

Course Breakfast

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 1 dozen

Author Dine & Dish

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups ripe bananas mashed
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup melted butter cooled
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions

• Combine mashed bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter in a mixing bowl
• Add dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
• Fold in fresh blueberries.
• Pour into 12 muffin cups, sprayed with Pam cooking spray.
• Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clear.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Coffee-mate and received coupons and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

The post Compromises {Recipe: Banana Blueberry Muffins} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

You know those mornings where you wake up and by 8am, life just seems a bit too overwhelming? Yeah… I’m having one of those days today. I’ll explain more when I know more, but for now if you could please just send good thoughts out to the universe for my brother, we would greatly appreciate it.

Sitting down this morning to a plate of warm, fragrant, Sour Cream Banana Pancakes helped. There is something about starting your day off with food that fills your house with the aroma of fresh baked goods that just makes you feel good. As I was cooking this morning, stirring the batter, pouring out the pancakes onto the hot skillet, my mind escaped to mornings growing up. A smile crossed my face as I shared with my kids how when I was little, the first “sacrificial” pancake of the batch was always given to our collie dog.

Pancakes are emotional for me and evoke childhood memories like no other food can. Today, I really needed the comfort of childhood and I found it sitting at our breakfast table, eating pancakes.

Recipe: Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream (I used Green Valley Organics)
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 large, ripe banana, mashed

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, mashed bananas and orange zest.
3. Slowly combine the wet and dry ingredients, stirring until a moist batter forms (batter will be slightly lumpy).
4. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter into a large skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 pancakes.
6. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned
7. Flip and cook for another minute until pancake is golden brown. Remove from skillet and serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

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