nominations make my day!

firstly, i would like to thank the lovely naomi from bewitchery, le très cute chat texas from texas, cat in new york, and the inspiring lindsay from little fashionista on the prairie for nominating me for the addictive blog, the super sweet blogger, and the one lovely blog awards. only they know that they’ve nominated me ages ago, and i’m only getting around to do it now. *ssshhhh secrets*

secondly, i want to thank lisa from mademoiselle snow, and tianna from storybook apothecary for nominating me for the versatile blogger and the beautiful blogger award.
i’m really really honored to receive these nominations, they mean the world to me! i am so thankful for all you lovely people reading my blog, you don’t understand!

now, i will list the rules for all nominations, but i don’t think i’ll be able to follow them because… well, it’s 5 nominations… that’s a lot of rules! bear with me please…

addictive blog award rules:
1. Thank the person awarding you
2. Share a little about why you blog and how the journey started.
3. Paste the blog award on your page.
4. Nominate 10 other bloggers you feel deserve the award.

super sweet blogger award rules:
1. The nominee has to thank the person that nominated them
2. Answer the 5 Super Sweet Questions
3. Nominate a bakers dozen of other Super Sweet Bloggers and let them know
1. cookies or cake?
definitely both. it’s too hard, i can’t decide.
2. chocolate or vanilla?
vanilla.
3. what is your favourite sweet treat?
i love cupcakes and muffins, but i’m also a total cookie whore.
4. when do you crave sweet things the most?
usually in the afternoon, but sometimes i find myself craving sweets in the morning.
5. if you had a sweet nickname what would it be?
ummm… i really don’t know, but lemoncookiecupcakevanillasweetie has a nice ring to it.

one lovely blog award rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Add The One Lovely Blog Award.
3. Share 7 things about yourself.
4. Pass the award on to 15 nominees.
5. Include this set of rules.
6. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs.

the versatile blogger award rules:
1. thank the person who gave you this award.
2. include a link to their blog.
3. next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
4. nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
5. finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

beautiful blogger award rules:
1. link back the person who nominated you.
2. post the award on your page.
3. tell 7 facts about yourself.
4. nominate 7 bloggers and let them know they have been nominated.

right, so im going to start sharing things about myself:
1. i’m dying to get another tattoo
2. i can’t wait to go to new york again
3. i’m really sick of winter and the snow, in fact if i could apparate, i’d be on a beach right now
4. i wish the wizarding world in harry potter were real
5. i would love to taste butterbeer- it sounds delicious
6. i love baking, but i don’t bake often for myself because then i feel guilty about eating all the goodies
7. i would love to have the means to open an animal sanctuary and rescue- hopefully sometime in the future i can do it
8. i’m obsessed with sweet potatoes and pumpkin
9. when i’m stressed i drink cinnamon tea with milk
10. when i see nailpolish, i have a compulsion to buy it
11. same goes for shoes
12. i love to sing
13. i love to party and go out as much as i love staying in my sweats at home and chill
14. i’m proud of myself for having nurtured this blog for a year now (yes, happy birthday brownponytail :) )

ok, that’s all i can come up with at the moment, sorry lovelies! now i will nominate blogs i follow, but not for specific awards- the nominees can choose which award nomination they want to follow :)
– fashion noodles
– she is impeccable
– rara reid
– closet cast
– candy coloured dreams
– imagination is spicy
– pixi wishes and forehead kisses
– my style <3
– beautiful kayekie
– hungry hinny
– keeping up with the kelly
– cinnamon spring
– adventures in polishland
– a purrfect cat
– e-namel
and lastly, i want to raise awareness about the following blog stop animal abuse – it’s very informative, quite graphic at times, but it just shows the truth about the atrocities going on in the animal kingdom, which i think everyone should know about.

thank you again to everyone that nominated me, and i hope that all you lovelies are good!

low-fat wholewheat oat apricot muffins

yesterday i was grabbed by the urge to bake something.  i was also craving apricots for the longest time. so i put the two together. 2 birds one stone thing, you know?

i scoured my fridge for possible ingredients (i like to freestyle when i cook or bake, twist some recipes and personalize them), and found i still had some buttermilk, from when i made red velvet cupcakes for a friend’s birthday party.
so i googled “wholewheat buttermilk apricot muffins”, and was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of recipes and combinations out there. i opened the first 15, and decided to come up with my own.

now, i haven’t tried them yet (i forgot them at home- brain wasn’t awake yet), but i gave a few to my friends who were travelling today, and they told me the muffins were delicious!
i tweaked the recipes i found by using wholewheat and oats instead of regular “white” flour, and brown sugar instead of white. i also added a couple of spoons of apricot jam to the batter, to intensify the flavor.

ingredients:
– 1 cup chopped dried apricots                                        – 1/4 cup melted light butter
– 1 cup boiling water                                                             – 1/4 cup vegetable oil
– 1,5 cups wholewheat flour                                              – 1 cup buttermilk
– 1/2 cup oats                                                                          – 1 egg
– 3/4 cup brown sugar                                                         – 2 tbsp apricot jam
– 1 tsp baking soda
– 1/2 packet vanilla sugar (1,5 tsp)
– dash of salt

directions:
– preheat the oven to 190°C (about 400°F) and line muffin tray with paper cups.
– chop apricots and place in a bowl. pour the boiling water on them and let stand for 5 minutes.
– in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking soda and vanilla sugar.
– in a separate bowl mix the butter, oil, buttermilk and egg.
– slowly add the wet bowl to the dry ingredients, but dont overstir. add the jam and keep stirring.
– drain the apricots and add to the batter, make sure that they are evenly spread.
– fill the muffin cups and bake for about 17-20 minutes. test with a toothpick, if it comes out clean, they’re done.
– cool the muffins before removing them from the tray.

healthy, low-fat fruity muffins- enjoy!

bananalicious!

i baked again yesterday! wanted to give those banana muffins a second chance, and you know what, i’m glad i did, because they turned out delicious! moist and banana-y, with the nutella heart. i baked them for less time, and added a fourth banana- that seemed to fix the dryness that bothered me at my first attempt.

yummy banana nutella muffins

here’s the recipe, i got it online, and modified it a little:

ingredients:

-1/2 cup of butter (or margarine)
-2 eggs
-4 medium bananas ( they should be very ripe, almost brown, so that they are sweet and soft)
-1 teaspoon vanilla (liquid)
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla-sugar
-1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (or baking powder)
-50 ml milk (i used skimmed, you can use whichever you prefer)
-1/2 cup of sugar (white or brown)
-1 1/2 cups of flour
–nutella (optional)

method:

– cream butter, sugar,vanilla-sugar and the liquid vanilla (this is best when the butter is already very soft or molten)
– add eggs separately, beating well
– mash the bananas and add them to the mixture. beat well until everything is smooth
– dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk, and add the flour and the milk alternatively
– grease the cupcake mould or insert papers, and fill with the dough. if you want to add the nutella hearts, fill the moulds halfway with batter, then put a dollop of nutella in the center of each. cover with the rest of the batter until the moulds are full (or almost full).
– bake for about 20-25 mins on 180°C (depending on your oven, test with a toothpick)
– let cool for a bit

fill halfways, then put a dollop of nutella in the center