Hello from Cape Cod! We’re here with my in-laws and having a great time and even have a dinner plan for the week!

MONDAY:
– Stuffed Shells

TUESDAY:
– Seafood Sam’s

WEDNESDAY:
– Orange Chicken

THURSDAY:
– Date Night

FRIDAY:
– Cookout / Leftovers Night

SATURDAY:
– On the road again…

SUNDAY:
– Back to New Jersey – no idea what’s for dinner yet!

That’s all I’ve got because I’m on VACATION! 🙂

You all know the drill…please share your weekly menu in the comments! Thank you and have a wonderful week!

Happy Friday!

For this week’s Show and Tell I have two things to share. First, my new car that’s not really my car but I wish it was. Second, NETFLIX. Oh man, Netflix, you are too good these days. Stranger Things has me hooked. But more on that in a moment…

Okay, so the car! We are currently on our annual visit-the-family-all-over-the-northeast trip and Toyota lent us a Highlander for our adventures. I am loving this car and do not mind one bit having to drive it mile after mile after mile. So far my two favorite things (besides the smooth ride) are the fact that the car tells me what the speed limit is at any given time, which is especially helpful on these windy east coast roads with constantly changing speed limits, as well as the remote lock feature. You just have to touch the handle of the car to lock and unlock the car – it is so handy not having to dig my keys out of my purse that literally eats things. Anyway, the Highlander is a sweet ride and works great packing 5 kids in the back for our summer adventuring with the cousins. Big thanks to Toyota for the perfect car for our family vacation!

Okay, so Netflix. People. If you don’t have Netflix yet, get on that. It just gets better and better all the time. Here are a few shows I’m especially loving and/or excited about.

Stranger Things

Are you kidding me, this show is AWESOME. It’s fun and well done and the characters rule and the 80s throwback feel is perfection and everything about it is the best. This show is also scary in the best kind of way. I am not surprised that Stephen King loves it as much as I do. (I still have two more episodes to watch, so no spoilers!)

Beat Bugs

Apparently Beat Bugs, a cartoon for kids featuring Beatles music sung by current artists, is ridiculously adorable and fun, and it comes out next week. Can’t wait to show it to my kids! Fun fact: the creators of Beat Bugs are also going to be releasing a yet-to-be-named Motown-themed show as well. I might even be more excited for Motown than Beatles music. Fun stuff, and excited to have my kids get to know all of this great, classic music.

Gilmore girls: A Year in the Life

We have an air date! I repeat, we have an air date! Gilmore girls: A Year in the Life will be available on November 25. That is going to be the best day ever. Thanksgiving leftovers and 6 hours of new Gilmore girls shows to watch. I CAN’T WAIT.

That’s it for today! Happy driving and watching!

I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team, which means they send me cool stuff from time to time. For the record, I would be addicted to Netflix in spite of said cool stuff.

Right now I’m in New Jersey visiting my family. Despite the fact that my sister-in-law Cora had a baby just six weeks ago, she has still been caught cooking us delicious food. Yesterday she made four loaves of banana bread, which (unsurprisingly) are already gone! Cora has been kind enough to share her sour cream banana bread recipe with us today. Everyone say thank you, Cora! {Thank you, Cora!}

Cora’s recipe is wonderful and tastes like butter. The day it is baked, the top is wonderfully crispy, while the bread itself is soft and moist. And as happy as I am to now have Cora’s great recipe, I’m even more happy about the fact that Cora and my brother Christian shared the greatest tip ever for eating banana bread.

You know how when you make banana bread or brownies or whatever that has a crispy top and it goes soft over night? WELL…Cora and Christian always toast their slices of banana bread and then slather the slices with butter. The top gets crispy again, the edges are awesome, and the bread stays soft and delicious. And then, of course, melted butter. It’s basically the greatest and I may never eat banana bread any other way again. These toasty slices of heaven might be even better than fresh-from-the-oven banana bread. Crazy talk, I know, but true.

Enjoy! BonANA Appétit!

Cora's Sour Cream Banana Bread Recipe

 

Print

Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 5 mins

 

From my wonderful sister-in-law Cora, who is an excellent cook!

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Baking

Serves: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup butter
• 1⅓ cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or coconut extract (either are delicious!)
• 1½ cup mashed bananas
• 2¾ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ c sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add vanilla or coconut extract then add eggs, beating well after each egg.
4. Add mashed bananas and mix well.
5. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
6. Beating on low, add ⅓ of the dry ingredients until just combined. Add ¼ cup of the sour cream, beat on low until just combined. Repeat with ⅓ of the dry ingredients, then the rest of the sour cream, then finishing with the last ⅓ of the dry ingredients, making sure to mix until just combined with each addition.
7. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for 40-45 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

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Hello from family vacation! I have no menu this week because VACATION. But I promised I would still get a post up so you can all provide inspiration for one another!

I will have a recipe from my sister-in-law Cora to share with you this week (she made us dinner tonight and it was delish!), so keep an eye out for that.

Until then, be sure to enter the awesome giveaway from earlier this week and, as usual, please post your weekly meal plan in the comments! Thank you!

It’s summertime, which means two things. One, we need to do something fun. Two, you need good dishes for summer entertaining. How about I combine the two by doing a giveaway (fun!) of my most favorite melamine dishes (perfect for summer)? Let’s do it.

Pictured: Knoll Gardens Serving Bowl

I’ve been working with Q Squared NYC for some time now and continue to love their dishes and serveware year after year. Not only does Q Squared have gorgeous designs, but the quality of their melamine is top notch. I know you think you know melamine, but this melamine is just so much better than what you normally see in stores – thick, heavy (in a good way!) and just plain pretty. You can click here to learn more about what melamine is (I just discovered myself that it’s an organic-based material!) and why Q Squared’s is so lovely. We have a set of Q Squared plates we use every day. I’ve been cleaning them in the dishwasher for years and they look as good as new. And my kids have yet to break anything made by Q Squared. Their dishes are indestructible!

While our family uses Q Squared dishes every day no matter where we eat, I am especially grateful for the dishes when we are eating outside. I have zero worries about anything getting broken. And I love hosting parties and taking food to potlucks because it means I get to break out all of my awesome Q Squared serving platters and trays. I kid you not, I get compliments on them every time.

Pictured: Royal Lapis Dinner Plate, Salad Plate and Bread & Butter Plate

Since it’s summer, I think you need a little Q Squared loveliness in your life, too! You have two options to make this happen. First, go shopping and use the code JANE20 to get 20% off everything at Q Squared (code is valid through Labor Day 9/5/16). I promise you will love whatever you buy! Your second option is to enter the summer giveaway below!

To celebrate their beautiful new summer collections, including the Knoll Gardens and Royal Lapis patterns you see in this post, Q Squared is giving away a 12-piece dinnerware set to one of you lucky people! To enter, leave a comment below telling us which pattern you would choose. That’s all you have to do! Click here to view all of the collections. Be sure to leave your comment telling us your favorite pattern by Midnight PT on Friday, July 29, 2016.

I don’t want to influence you too heavily or anything, but I am head-over-heels in love with my new Knoll Gardens dishes. They are GORGEOUS. I mean, the Royal Lapis is gorgeous, too, but Knoll Gardens really has me smitten. 😉

Happy Shopping!

Hello, friends! This week marks the beginning of our annual trip to visit family on the East Coast. We have a lot of flying and driving happening this week, so I’m not going to bother thinking about what we will be happening for dinner each night. I DO know we’ll be home tomorrow night and I have the ingredients to make lentil soup, so that is happening at the very least.

MONDAY:
– Lentil Soup

TUESDAY – THE NEXT THREE WEEKS!
– Annual East Coast Summer Trip!

Even though I’ll be traveling, I’ll still publish each Sunday so you can call continue sharing your menus with one another. Plus, I have a few giveaways and fun things coming up, so the blog won’t be completely on vacation. 😉

As usual, and especially now when I’m basically in vacation mode, we need your menus! Please share your weekly meal plans! Thank you all for your awesomeness!

Hello, friends! I’ve been quiet on the blog and Facebook page this past week because, well, what a week it has been. I don’t even know what to say at this point except I’m doing what I can to amplify light in this world. Light is my focus. And love.

We had a good weekend, away from phones and computers, with friends and family. And now, here it is, time to plan another menu. We have a quiet week this week, which the kids and I are both really looking forward to. I’m hoping it means we’ll have some time to cook together, too!

MONDAY:
– Chicken Tortilla Soup (this recipe keeps NOT happening, but I WANT it to happen, so on the menu it goes once again!)

TUESDAY:
– Stir Fry and Potstickers

WEDNESDAY:
– Margherita Pizza

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Chickpea Veggie Burgers

SATURDAY:
– Phil’s BBQ with a friend

SUNDAY:
– Lentil Soup

My computer with my weekly menu files is acting up tonight, so I’ll get the PDF posted tomorrow.

As usual, please share your wonderful menus in the comments! They really are such a help each week as I plan, and I’m sure it’s a help for many others, too! 

Happy 4th of July weekend! I’m pretty sure this will be a pretty quiet week for sharing menus given the holiday weekend…which is fine by me! 🙂 I am posting my menu anyway, so if you DO have a menu to share, please do! Remember, you can post any day of the week, it is still helpful! Also, yes, I have carry-overs from last week. Summer means lots of flexibility with dinner plans! 😉

MONDAY:
– 4th of July Cookout!

TUESDAY: 
– Teriyaki Chicken with veggies and rice

WEDNESDAY:
– Chicken Tortilla Soup

THURSDAY:
– BLTs

FRIDAY:
– Leftovers

SATURDAY:
– Camping with friends! Fire food 🙂

SUNDAY:
– Visiting family in L.A.

You all know the drill…please share your menus in the comments! And have a wonderful 4th!

Happy Friday, friends! It’s been a while since I’ve done a weekly Friday Show & Tell post. There are a few things I really want to share with you, so here we go! Remember, Show & Tell is for the whole class, so if you have anything to share, please do so in the comments! Links, accomplishments, whatever you’ve got!

Thing #1 to Share: This Hair Product Has Changed My Life

This won’t be helpful for everyone, depending on what kind of hair you have, but I still have to share because it really has made my life so much easier. About 9 months ago my friend Luvvie posted about the company Shea Moisture on Facebook. I had never heard of them, so I clicked through to the website and read a bit about their company history and products. Coincidentally a few days later I noticed their product at Target. The Coconut & Hibiscus Curl Enhancing Smoothie caught my eye, so I bought it.

Okay, so here’s the deal. My hair is THICK. And very textured. About half of the strands are super kinky and thick and basically if I want my hair to look good I have to spend time styling it, and I just don’t have that time to spare. My hair is also part-curly, part-wavy, part-totally-uncooperative. It takes forever to blow dry and to flat iron, but letting my hair air dry just doesn’t work. It gets too frizzy and the waves and curls are inconsistent and blerghyblerghblergh. And I’ve tried COUNTLESS anti-frizz, curly hair products over the years that are all okay but not really what I need. And then Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie CHANGED MY LIFE.

I can let my hair air dry! It’s a freaking miracle. I get out of the shower, wrap my hair in a towel for about 5 minutes, let my hair out of the towel and then just evenly spread smoothie on my hair. Then I go about my business and my hair looks awesome. Some days (depending on the humidity) I need to add a bit of water-based pomade to separate the curls a little, but it’s not every day and not a big deal. I LOVE THIS CURL SMOOTHIE IT’S THE BEST THING EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD THE END.

Thing #2 to Share: Support MDA by Living Unlimited!

Remember my little friend Lucy? She’s amazing. So is her mom, Cherisse. And her whole family for that matter. The Muscular Dystrophy Association asked if I could help support their #LiveUnlimited campaign this summer and I was ALL IN, ready to support anything even remotely related to Lucy and her family. MDA is a non-profit dedicated to fighting muscle diseases like MD and SMA (SMA is what Lucy has). To help celebrate #LiveUnlimited, MDA sent me the Live Unlimited bracelet made by Endorphin Warrior and let me gift a bracelet to someone else.

My friend Cherisse’s daughter Lucy has been fighting SMA for years and continues to beat the odds. The very fact she can talk is a miracle, and boy does she take advantage of that gift…with all kinds of funny (often saucy) words! When MDA asked me who I wanted to give a #LiveUnlimited bracelet to, Cherisse was the only name that came to mind. You guys, I can’t tell you how amazing she is and how she inspires me to savor each and every day. The talks we’ve had over the years have truly influenced my life and I will be forever grateful to have both Cherisse and Lucy in my life. I had to make a fist for my #LiveUnlimited photo as a tribute to Lucy and her ability to FIGHT! (If you want a peak into the Lunt’s daily life, check out this awesome video. Lucy is seriously the best.)

So how can you get involved? Go buy a bracelet! For every bracelet sold, $6 will go to MDA! You can also go to the Live Unlimited website and make a customized image to show how you are living unlimited this summer to help spread the word!

Thing #3 to Share: HAVE YOU WATCHED BLOODLINE?!?!?

Nate and I recently finished Season 2 of Bloodline on Netflix. Question #1: Have you watched Season 1? Question #2: Have you watched Season 2? If your answer is “No” to either of those questions, remedy the situation STAT. Seriously, the Season 2 finale…holy cow. That’s all I’ll say, but SERIOUSLY. WHOAH.

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team, which means they send me cool stuff from time to time. For the record, I would be addicted to Netflix in spite of said cool stuff.