I tend to go a little overboard-–a little over the top—with most things in life. This can be very, very good or very, very bad, depending on the situation.
Depending on what we’re talking about.
The perk of this characteristic is that when I focus on doing something—for work, school, play, etc—I do it really, really well. There’s no wishy-washing around or getting side tracked with something else.
I stay focused. Mentally. Physically. Focused. .
The other side of this characteristic, however, is that I’m constantly overbooking myself. Going overboard with things that “need to get done.” Never giving myself enough time or energy to fit it all in. In fact, to be quite honest, my calendar just isn’t quite big enough to hold all of my scribble, to-do’s, and reminders.
By the way—since we’re on this topic—have you ever noticed that “me time” is the last thing to be penciled into the calendar, if ever at all? It makes you wonder…why??? We all need some well-deserved “me time.” Saying that there’s just not enough time in the day is like saying there’s just not enough time to ever be with a best friend. If that’s the case, something needs adjusting. You deserve (and need!) the time to catch up, rewind, unfold, and breathe.
Anyways.
This week I went overboard on the bananas.
Don’t laugh. This is totally serious stuff. I’ve decided that the only thing worse than the thought of eating three bananas every single day—every day—is the idea of having to throw them out. So I squeezed some “me time” into the calendar, snatched that overabundance of bananas, and baked myself a batch of muffins for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Because sometimes going overboard is a very, very good thing.
Banana-Blueberry Muffins
This is a standard old favorite muffin recipe with a few changes, here and there. I’ve been experimenting with using honey as my sweetener of choice lately, and these muffins were practically made for such an ingredient. So this was the first thing that I changed from the original version. I also added in some cinnamon, doubled the vanilla, and reduced the sodium content by nixing the salt altogether. The baking powder has plenty of sodium and I found the extra addition of salt completely unnecessary, which is oftentimes true for many muffin recipes.
I recommend making these whenever you have a big ol’ batch of overripe bananas. They are best served warm, straight from the oven. But, of course, they freeze well too. Enjoy! 😀
- 2 c. whole wheat flour
- 1 T. baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 large egg
- 2 egg whites
- 1 c. milk
- 1/4 c. honey (or sugar)
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 c. mashed, very ripe banana (about 1-1/2 to 2 bananas)
- 1-1/2 c. frozen blueberries
- Whisk together first 4 ingredients up to nutmeg.
- Whisk together next 7 ingredients up to banana in a separate bowl.
- Add blueberries to dry mix; stir until blueberries are coated with the flour.
- Add wet mix to dry mix. Stir just until moistened (do not overmix…this toughens the final product!)
- Pour batter into 12-muffin pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 17-20 minutes at 400 degrees F.
QUESTION: Do you tend to overbook your calendar with to-do’s and appointments? How do you make sure that you still get some “me time”?
I now need a muffin. These would make a great breakfast!
Yeah, I’m a classic over-booker, too. I always think “why did I sign up for this??!” when the actual event/task arrives.
Also, I JUST ran out of brown, frozen bananas today when I was making a smoothie, and I decided to go a little overboard on bananas next time I’m at the store. 🙂
Those muffins look great! I am notorious for over-booking but in the last months I have been trying to make sure I always have at least one night during the work week free and for myself. I block it off on my calendar just as I would if I had “real” plans to remind myself that the night is spoken for!
Good for you! That’s a great idea. 😀
I tend to be an extremist too–go big or go home, right? I think your “overdoing it” with these muffins is a very good thing, however:)
There happen to be three overripe bananas in my kitchen right now!
These sound great! Sometimes I go overboard on the bananas too and I don’t want to eat them all immediately, so I peel the ripe ones and freeze them for smoothies.
These look great! I love bananas’ sweetness.
I’m ALWAYS over-booked! Every month, I try to schedule a me-day, but that always gets crossed out time and time again. Ha, ha.
Um…first, I’m terrible about finding balance and not being over the top in every way so I cannot offer any words of wisdom 🙂
Second, the blueberry muffins look so moist and tender..I’ll take two!
I overbook all the time. In fact, this past month has been one big gigantic rush…all leading up to tomorrow. then after that I can FINALLY relax a bit!
Those muffins are the perfect reason to stock up on tons of bananas too! I’ve been wanting to make banana bread/muffins for the longest time but can never keep a bushel long enough for them to overripen. I should probably try your method and just buy a ton. 😛
Don’t forget you can freeze them to make banana soft serve or smoothies! Or just to munch on. Frozen banana slices and frozen grapes are two of my favorite snacks. 🙂
I *love* frozen banana slices as snacks too! They take on an entirely new, sweet, creamy characteristic. 😀