Banana-Blueberry

Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins!

10:30:00 AM


Being home for the Summer means two things, more time to do everything, and more time to bake! I love baking, for some reason, I just love making things rather than buying them at a store. Though before this summer vacation started, I was warned not to bake as much as I did last time I was home...I may have baked four different types of desserts because I was only home for a day. Oops? 
Anyway, I enjoy trying new dishes and since I usually whip up something that falls into the dessert category, I wanted to try out some mini banana-blueberry muffins. 



Here's what you'll need!



2.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup mashed banana (this took me two bananas)
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (you can also use almond milk, soy milk, etc)
1 & 1/4 cup blueberries
2 large bowls, or one large, one medium

Here's how to make them:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176 degrees Celsius)
*Set aside muffin tins, I used one small sized and one for larger muffins, you can either spray these with a non-stick spray or line them with baking cups (which is what I did).
*In one of the bowls, toss the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together until combined and set aside
*In the other bowl, mix the honey and brown sugar together; use a fork to break up the clumps
*Add the banana, yogurt and vegetable oil; add the wet ingredients to the dry, not the milk yet! 

*Gently fold together, and then add milk, mix for a bit and then add in blueberries. Careful not to over mix the batter. 
*Spoon out the batter into the muffin tins. Fill to the top of each slot.

*Bake for 17-18 minutes, to make sure they're well baked check with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out with a little muffin bit clingy to it, it still needs a bit more time. About 2 minutes, and then check again. 
Once they're finished, let them cool. They will absolutely smell delicious, but you don't want to burn your mouth so you do have to wait. It'll be worth it I promise! :)

I was excited to try out this recipe because of the whole wheat flour, as I like to keep things on the more healthy side! It turned out very well and I actually think I prefer the whole wheat flour! I like the mini ones a little better than the bigger because they are great for a quick snack as well! 
I hope you guys give it a try! If you do, take a photo and show me on instagram or twitter! 
(here are links to both of my accounts! : Twitter, Instagram )

I hope that you are all having a great Summer so far! If it isn't Summer for you yet, I hope it comes quickly! Mine so far is turning out lovely! 
Thanks for reading!
xx
Kenzie







End of the Year

Another (School) Year Done

12:30:00 PM



It's finally Summer. I've been home for 3 days now from Uni and it's great. 
2015 has definitely been gentle, it's been a year of a lot of changes so far, but all of them have been for the better. Or at least, I would like to think they have. 
This school year was quite different than last, I stayed home when I was meant to move in the fall, which worked out ultimately in the end because had I been away I wouldn't have been there to say goodbye to Sadie. (You can read about her here.) 


I did eventually move away, and it was exciting and terrifying all at the same time. 
I felt overwhelmed at first, I didn't know how anything worked. But slowly I began to like it, though some days it was hard to convince myself that. 

Here are some of the things that I learned (outside of the classroom):

It's okay not to like it at first. Especially if you're like me and you change schools mid-semester and your roommate moves out two weeks in and you're left alone. Just you and your goldfish. After the snow had melted, and the sun peeked out and the blossoms turned to a million lovely colors. I started to enjoy it. And I enjoyed alone time.
Walk
(I took a lot of "me time" walks.)

You will miss random things. Being away from home made me realize a list of things I didn't know I would miss. Like quality toilet paper. 

Going home is actually fun. I had a moment (which was really an entire week and a half) where I just was not having it. I missed my friends, and my bed and I just wanted away with stress. So I woke up one morning and couldn't fall asleep, walked 20 minutes to my car and drove an hour and a half. I arrived around 9am. You can guess what time I woke. Being home for just a day was really really refreshing. I surprised everyone, including two of my really good friends at their prom (and we cried, and hugged and it was great.) It was honestly, my favorite weekend. 

You can go where ever you want. Maybe not where ever. But I explored the heck out of my new town and I found a few of my favorite spots. I think it's really important to find your favorite spot, whether it be on campus or off. If you've been reading for awhile, you have already seen a few of these spots. (here and here). 
Sunset
(and I really took too many sunset photos sorry)

Getting Mail is really exciting. I loved going to my little mailbox and seeing a little card and coming back up to my room to read it. I also loved sending them. I'm a card kind of person and I think it's so lovely to get a hand written note! 

As for right now, that's all I've got. I probably missed a few things, but those are the major things that I learned personally! All in all, if we were to compare the ending to last year to this year, I would say this year was 100% better.
 If you'd like to hear more just comment below!

As for this summer, like always, I have a few plans and goals. I'll be (hopefully) working more. While I'm not working I really want to...
Read more. I'm thinking about making Paper Towns by John Green a purchase (if you have any book suggestions I would love to hear them). 

Be Outside. As much as possible. I love being outdoors, and along with this, I really want to do new things, maybe go to a new place in Wisconsin that I haven't been. Who knows, but I'll share that with you when it happens. 

I hope you all are having a great weekend! If you're out of exams, what are your summer plans? Did you go away for Uni? 
As always, thanks for reading! 
xx
Kenzie

Beauty

Nail Polish Review: Orly

10:30:00 AM


I'm not one to usually write a beauty review, as I really don't consider myself a beauty blogger or know much of anything about the beauty world in general, but I did happen to stumble upon this brand and fall in love with it. 



Even though I really can't have painted nails due to where I work, when I have a stretch of days off, such as moving to a new town and coming for school. I'm able to paint them! 
I have had these two colors for a while now, and I love them. I have a thing for Mint-Green/Blue at the moment.  
Orly nail polish doesn't disappoint and it has actually stayed on my nails for longer than the usual three-four days. Perhaps I'm just not as stressed out while I wear these two colors? Yea...that must be it!
I think these colors are really pretty and perfect for Spring or Summer! 
I'm always looking for new colors to try, and my collection is pretty large right now! 
What are your favorite nail polish colors? What's your go to color or your favorite brand?
Let me know in the comments what you think! 
I usually don't write posts like this but if you enjoyed it, let me know too, perhaps I'll do some more! 
Thanks for reading! 
xx
Kenzie
p.s if you have any University related questions please send them to me so that I can do a blogpost about it! It can be anything like "what should I eat?, what kind of activities are there, what's the easiest way to make friends" etc etc. So please email me, tweet me, instagram me, leave a comment! 

adventure

Spring Has Sprung

11:30:00 AM


The Summer is getting closer, I can almost taste the ice cream. 
In all honesty, Wisconsin has a short Spring season, at least 4 or 5 weeks. But the weather is warm and all I want to do is go outside anyway.

Colorful

With the recent weather being somewhat unusually hot, I took it as the perfect opportunity to take even more photos around my campus, before joining up with a few girls who live on the same floor as me and going on a hike. 
One of my favorite things is that I get to see these tulips everyday when I go to and from class. They are just beautiful and make me a little more excited that Summer is just around the corner. Right after exams. 
I took plenty of pictures, and have one up on instagram for you to check out here. 
Flowers

Flower

Along with Tulips, another sign of Spring here of course, is the Robins (amongst other birds). It's always been a common thing to associate Spring with Robins. When you spot one, you know that warmer weather is on its way!

Bird

The next few photos are from when I was on the trail. I love discovering new places, so this little adventure was fun for me. 

Rocks
It was extremely hot and humid this day that it was difficult to suppress the urge to jump into the river!


Wisconsin

I know this post was quick, but I hope you still enjoyed it! Now it's back to the books and getting ready to move back to my home town for the Summer months, and back to work. 
I love finding new places I haven't been to before and I'm sure I will find more in the future!
Do you have any fun plans for the Summer? Any trails or new things that you're trying? 
Let me know in the comments! 
Also don't forget to follow me on twitter, bloglovin and instagram! I will follow you back! (just tweet, instagram, or leave a comment here! ) 
Hope you are having a great weekend!
xx
Kenzie


Eating

Eating Nature

11:30:00 AM



After months of seeing it advertised on YouTube, and once on a blog itself, I decided that it was time to finally give it a try myself. Being at Uni, snacking in between classes can be very right (those carrot sticks) or very wrong (what's one more chocolate chip cookie?). After debating a bit whether or not to wait until Summer, I decided that it would be fun, as it always is, to get something in the mail! And with a busy week it would be an exciting thing to look forward to as well!


Thankfully, if you order your first trial box of snacks, it only costs $2! Packed in my box were the Big Island Pineapple, Sweet Blueberry Almonds, Honey Dijon Pretzels, Strawberry Yogurt Pretzels and Sea Salt Pop Pops!


The excitement of hurrying from the mail pick up to my dorm room was overwhelming! And opening the box was just as exciting! The very first snack I tried were the Sweet Blueberry Almonds. These were incredible, and set my hopes high for the rest of the snacks inside as well. They weren't too sweet but just right. Covered in a blueberry-like powder. I had to stop myself from eating the whole bag in one sitting!


The second snack I decided to try were the Strawberry Greek Yogurt Pretzels. I had had yogurt covered pretzels in the past, and these did not disappoint. The sweetness of strawberry blended well with the saltiness of the pretzel!


Thirdly, I tried out the Big Island Pineapple. Knowing this was one YouTubers favorite (Shay Carl from the Shaytards). In my honest opinion I didn't think it was my favorite. I usually like dried fruit. It was still good though and even though the package says you could have more than one per serving, I just stuck to one. 



My fourth snack that I tried out was one that I was really excited about! The Honey Dijon Mustard Pretzels. These were one of my favorites, and my taste buds were extremely happy with what they experienced! 


The last bag out of the five that I had gotten in my box, were the Sea Salt Pop Pops. These are little popcorn kernels and seemed perfect for a late night study session snack! They also have no sugar so there isn't any worrying about being up all night!


All of these snacks would be perfect to set out on the counter or table if you're expecting guests! If you're looking to try something new this summer I would definitely recommend Nature Box! 
Have you tried ordering food through the mail before? What did you get? 
I was torn between this or Macarons, but Macarons are slightly more expensive! 

This isn't a sponsored post, it is all my opinion! 
Thanks for reading! 
xx



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