WFMW: The Letter "M" and Peanut Butter Banana Bear "M"uffins

I LOVE spending time with my three year old son. He is full of joy and loves learning, helping me bake, being silly, and laughing! I recently ordered the book, "Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child-Read-Lessons/dp/0671631985/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268707940&sr=8-1. Today, we started with the first lesson, learning to say, sound out, and spell the letter "M". We learned that the words: mommy, monkey, mickey mouse, and muffin start with "M". In honor of our first lesson, we did something super fun and made a Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Bear "M"uffin. The recipe is my own, but the idea to make them look like Bears came from the Family Fun Website. These were not only healthy, but absolutely DELICIOUS and would work for breakfast, a snack, or even lunch accompanied by some fresh fruit and yogurt.

Make these with your kiddos and you will be teaching and making memories as well. The recipe is below.

Making Learning Fun and Spending time in the Kitchen with my son TOTALLY WORKS FOR ME!! To see more "Works For Me Wednesday" tips, visit http://www.wearethatfamily/

And, if you are new to Butterfly Kisses & Tasty Dishes, then THANKS for stopping by! Check out my recipes, ramblings from my heart, and my 100 muffins in 100 day adventure. May your day be filled to overflowing with God's Love so that you naturally spill it out on others! And, here is an extra "M" word to Bless your day-MERCY.

Lamentations 3:22-23

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning."

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups flour (I used half wheat and half white)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons ground flax seed (optional)
3 bananas, mashed
2 eggs, beaten
3-4 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips (optional)
TO MAKE BEARS: Almond Slivers and semisweet chocolate chips, regular and mini

Directions:

1. Mix wheat flour, white flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, flax seed, and sugar in a large bowl. In a separte bowl, mix eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk, peanut butter, vanilla, applesauce, oil, and chocolate or butterscotch chips. Then add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
2. Spray muffin pans and fill about 3/4 full.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. Use a wooden toothpick in center, muffins are done if they come out clean.. Allow muffins to cool, and then decorate the muffins to look like bears by putting mini chocolate chips for the eyes, a regular size chocolate chip for the nose, and almond slivers for the ears and mouth.
4. Makes 24 regular size muffins