Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

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Bananas and peanut butter go perfectly together, well at least in my book they do. Today I want to share a recipe for some Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins sweetened with Truvia Baking Blend. These muffins are delicious as a snack or make a great breakfast paired with fruit and yogurt.  

These muffins are made with ripe bananas, peanut butter, honey, yogurt, and the combination of whole wheat and all purpose flour. In a nutshell they're terrific. Each muffin has the perfect amount of sweetness from the bananas and honey combined with Truvia's Baking Blend. 

I've been using Truvia's Baking Blend for about 8 months now, and I'm loving the switch.  Each time I bake something I automatically reach for my pouch of baking blend. It's so nice to still be able to enjoy my favorite sweet treats with 75% fewer calories.

The best part is that no one in my family really even knows I've changed anything. I love that! If you want to give Truvia's Baking Blend a try, just use half the amount of baking blend in place of regular sugar. That's it no complicated measuring to remember.  

Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce

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People say the secret to perfect pizza is having a great crust. Besides a great crust having a good pizza sauce is just as important. The combination of a fantastic crust and tasty sauce can turn a good homemade pizza into a great homemade pizza.

I have been guilty of using store bought pizza sauce for a while now. I just assumed all pizza sauce was pretty much the same. Well a couple weeks ago I found out that just isn't the case. 

I've never made homemade pizza sauce, but ended up making it for the first time out of desperation. It was pizza night at our house and I thought we had pizza sauce in the pantry, but found myself without any on hand. 

I had two choice either order take out or try my hand at a homemade pizza sauce. I found a
recipe online and I had everything on hand. I realized that making homemade pizza sauce couldn't be easier. I don't know why I didn't make it sooner. 

I did slightly adapt the recipe just a bit. I added fresh onions and sauted them together with the garlic in a bit of olive oil before adding everything to the sauce. The sauteed onions and garlic added such a bold flavor. I prepared and canned two batches, so no more store bought pizza sauce for me.

Simple Strawberry Cobbler + {Tips for Purchasing & Storing}

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When bright red strawberries start popping up in the grocery store, I know summers right around the corner. May is Strawberry season in Texas, but due to the hot and cold temperatures berries won't be ready for picking at the berry farm until June. 

My family loves picking fresh strawberries, but they hate going in the heat of summer. For me it's worth fighting the grueling Texas heat to get a big box of fresh strawberries. Since the strawberries aren't ready, I will have to rely on store bought. To celebrate the beginning of "Strawberry Season", Walmart asked me to share a strawberry recipe.

Cobblers are quite common in the South and one of my family's favorite desserts, so today I'm sharing a recipe for a Simple Strawberry Cobbler. This recipe has oatmeal as one of the ingredients, so I think this could also be considered a fruit crisp

Walmart has a great selection of strawberries and the prices are really good. Before I get to the recipe, I wanted to share a few tips on picking and storing those precious berries.

Facts to keep in mind when purchasing & storing strawberries:

• Select plump, firm, fully red berries. Strawberries should have a potent fragrance. Those without it generally aren't ripe and strawberries do not ripen after harvesting.
• Fresh strawberries are highly perishable, so use them right away for the best flavor and appearance.
• Don’t wash the berries until you are ready to use them. Washing makes them more prone to spoiling.
• Put a couple of days supply into the fridge, wash and cut the caps (green tops) off the others and freeze them up! (Unless you’re going to make jam right away)

How to freeze strawberries:  

• Wash and drain berries well on paper towels
• Remove stems
• Place berries on a cookie sheet in one even layer and place in freezer 
• After frozen, place berries in a large freezer. Seal the bag tightly and label it with the date. Strawberries can be frozen for up to 6 months. 
• It's best to use frozen strawberries in jams, jellies, sauces, ice cream, smoothies, sorbets, cobblers, pies and cakes.