Nom :: Skinny Chocolate Chip Banaynay Bread

So, I lied when I recapped my weekend. 

I also made this perfect chocolate chip banana (banaynay) bread.  

And yes, banaynay is real thing--in college, a few of us were extras in a commercial at Wrigley Field.  And one of the guys took a banana from the kraft table at lunch and carried it around all. day. and it got so disgusting.  And somewhere in there, "the naynay" began.  We all took pics with it, etc.  Ok, anyways, the recipe.

The recipe comes from Skinny Mom, and of course, I found it on Pinterest:

a lot of times, i screenshot pins i want to try so they're in my album and stay fresh on my mind! try it!

I followed the recipe exactly, with one change-up.  The recipe calls to make it in two loaf pans.  I had every intention of doing this, but when I poured the batter in, it wasn't very high-and maybe that's part of what keeps it low-cal.  Because the slices don't look very high in the photo.....?? Mystery to be solved.

But anyways, I put it all in one, and baked it at 330 (which is the recommended temp.) for about 50 minutes.  For the last 25 minutes, I covered it with foil to prevent over-browning.  Mine still browned a little more than in her photo (hence why I have no good photo of mine!) but it is delicious nonetheless!

This is honestly the best banana bread I've ever made, including ones with full eggs, oil, and regular flour.  This recipe really sold me on subbing in applesauce--others I've tried have turned out dry, and this bread is rich, dense, and tastes like it has 0 shortcuts in it!

The Weekender

Very, very low-key weekend happened around here.  Friday  was happy hour, a mountain of BBQ, and two movies on Netflix--Hunger Games and Bachelorette.  Highly recommend the second if you're looking for a vulgar, but ridiculous and funny girl comedy.  But guys will like it too, it's pretty ridiculous, and not at all like Bridesmaids.  Think more cocaine, more f-bombs, and less puppies and giant cookies.

took this weird selfie Friday before happy hour in our parking garage

picked up "a little" bbq after happy hour

We love us some BBQ, apparently.  We ate no where near all of this & they accidentally gave us FOUR extra sides we didn't order.

and by little, i mean what is wrong with us?!

about 11 pm on friday we had to make a golf ball run.  early tee time + forgetting = walmart stop

Saturday was so uneventful I have no photos of it-we went to Target, Academy, and Bed Bath and Beyond.  And then Trader Joe's for some grocery shopping.

Which, by the way--go immediately to TJ's (if you have one near you) and get their frozen breaded eggplant cutlets (see here)  for $2.29, and then bake them, and spoon a little TJ's marinara on top and enjoy the most simple, but delicious meal of your life.

Fast forward to Sunday:

coffee & couch morning

the game 94 seconds makes me so crazy---'merican isn't a musical style, but a UNICORN is a mode of transportation? #win


Linking up this weekend with:

Coming at me so crazy right now

Perfect example of how awesome it is to have your best friend there for your 6:45 am moments:

I really did have a dream last Thursday night about us adopting a puppy....he was dark brown and very energetic.  But we couldn't take him home right away because we were moving, so in my dream we were trying to finagle the situation!  And B woke me up at 6:45 to say he was leaving for work, and I told him the above (if I remember correctly I was pretty assertive about the whole thing too).....I'm lucky he thinks I'm so cute or he would think I'm crazy at this point!

Spring is Happening :: H54F

We are in full on spring mode here in Houston (I hope!)  B and I both marvel at how quickly you can adjust to warm weather year round after 25 years in the Midwest.  I got a little nostalgic for snowy winters and cute winter coats earlier this week looking at Chicago pictures.  Then I remembered how cool it was to not have to wear a down coat to my ankles.

Here's my usual round up of the week::

1.  Craziest thing I did this week?? Create a button for my blog that's now debuting on Friday!  So go ahead and grab it, we can swap, whatevs!  I honestly have no idea how all of that works but I see them on everyone's blogs, and I gave it a go.  Pretty pleased with it for now & like the pop of b&w on my very colorful page.

<div class="Sara-In-Texas-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://www.saraintx.blogspot.com"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1dG3_8QHZPMs_G6T7fYIvO8Q-VyOOp5gRkh30pTo8eQZ73q-CCczdDoInRnVf3ZqXaGyvPH9jDmosbf-TpRtM_Oue0NPYmfM3zNs2Gi39OrEe83VBi02Dsby-FQVGmXGeaCa6mnxTlXK/s200/spring%25202013%2520006-001.JPG" alt="Sara In Texas" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>

2.  I finally got a photo into this beautiful frame we got for our wedding--ok, this actually happened *last* week, but I'm behind & I've been admiring it this week.  We have been joking that we basically have to get a dog because we are starting to have too many photos of our wedding/ourselves around the place.  And if you were hoping we wouldn't be those people who do a photo Christmas card with our dog, you're sorely mistaken, we definitely will!

:)

3.  I had a job interview for one position that turned into a job interview for a different/ok, better position *snaps*.  We'll see how it pans out...I'm working a lot on letting my anxiety about finding a job go and just trusting that God's plan for me will happen when it happens.  

4.  We signed our lease on our new place this week!! It's for real, and final.  This situation couldn't have worked out better for us, or the girl we are sub-leasing from.  Now we will have to book movers, but that will be easy enough.

weird pic, but this is our new place.

5.  I booked tickets to Chicago for my friend's law school graduation weekend!  I am *so excited*.  For more evidence of that, please see Wednesday's post over here.

can't wait to celebrate for peeper & have a mini reunion with my friends there

6.  Birchbox came on Wednesday! And boy did I get hooked up:

tag team with women's health mag for april! super exciting

my haul this month

Here's what is inside:  three samples of the same color-protective shampoo/conditioner, an eye cream, a body wash, tea, a y e a r long subscription to Women's Health (big yay!), and a full-size creamy lip pencil/gloss/color.  I will definitely be playing with my samples over the weekend/next week and posting my reviews soon.  I was actually very pleased with the items I've tried so far, and this is one of my favorite boxes all-time I'd say.  Mayyybe the year of Women's Health is swaying me a bit.

7.  For good measure here's a seventh:  We ate a lot of homemade guacamole this week.  Inspired by how much I ate last weekend with the girls in town probably!  Since there are just two of us, we use one avocado, about half a small vine tomato, and chopped red onion to taste.  Then I put about a teaspoon or so of the guac pre-mix you can buy at the grocery store...if it's not quite right, we add a little more.  One mix packet calls for two avocados, but we've used one pack across two so far with plenty more left.

please enjoy sorority afghan as the super classy backdrop

Happy Friday and have a relaxing and great weekend, everyone!

linking up with lauren as always

New Place, New Additions

So, as some readers know, we are moving to a new apartment at the end of May.  Our current place has carpeting (which I greatly dislike), and new place has stained concrete floors (big yay!).  Obviously when we buy a house, I would prefer a combination of hardwoods and tile throughout (except bedrooms at B's request), but that's another day, another convo.

One of the biggest things about the new place is that we will need at least one rug.  So here are some potentials I've been
scoping:

via

hm this one looks like it has more "pop" on the site
via

via

this guy got a little blurry, but i love it
via

What do you think?  I want a bold, but modern/classic look.  Something we won't get sick of in a year or two, but something that doesn't remind you of your great-grandma's house either.  Something with color for sure-I'm drawn to blues, and our couch is sort of a dark mushroom color-neutral and can match with many colors! Send websites or suggestions my way, y'all!

Update :: Also found this one in a magazine today when my internet was down:

the only issue is that it's indoor/outdoor and may be too thin/not very good-feeling on the feet?!