Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy

Ring in 2011 Blog Hop

December 30, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Welcome to Ring In 2011 Blog hop hosted by

Melissa at Day 2 Day Living and

Heather In The Land of Mom.

This is our first annual end of the year blog hop.

What a better way to ring in 2011 by making great new friends here

in Bloggy Land and finding lots of great new blogs.

So what do you need to do?

Just grab our button

Follow both of the hostesses, link up and follow as many blogs as you want.

Let them know you found them through the blog hop. You can also grab the code from the linky to add to your own blog hop post!

Easy peasy!

So hop your way into 2011!

Linky will be open from December 30th until Sunday January 2, 2011

Breast Cancer Awareness Christmas Tree

December 29, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

My Mother is a breast cancer survivor, and this was her Christmas Tree this year. The bow on the top, and the ribbon coming down the tree have pink ribbons.

For more pictures, visit Wordless Wednesday,
Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom ,
Say “Cheese” at It’s a Blog Party
A Beautiful Mess,
Live and Love Outloud,
Attic Girl
Shibley Smiles
Angelica’s Awesome Adventures
The Florida Hogans
The Life of Rylie & Bryce, too
Mama to 4 Blessings
Wordy or Not So Wordy Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop

Banana Bread

December 29, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

We love banana bread. We like to eat it for breakfast and for snacks. A loaf of banana bread doesn’t last long in my house. That’s why I like this recipe that I have used for a long time that makes 2 loaves. One for now, and one to put in the freezer for a quick breakfast or snack later.

Banana Bread

3 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
2 cups mashed bananas (5-6 medium)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil

Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of 2 8×4 loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, mash the bananas, and add the eggs and oil, stirring well. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.

Divide into the 2 prepared pans.

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

Bread can be frozen, whole or sliced, in a freezer bag, or wrapped in foil.

I also baked the batter in a mini muffin pan. I added chocolate chips to the top before baking. These are nice little snacks for the kids. These, also, can be frozen.

Kitchen Tip – I always have a problem with the bottoms of the banana bread sticking to the pan. So much so, that when I remove the bread, part of the bottom stays in the pan. Event though I’m using no stick pans, and greasing the pan well. So now I grease, then flour only the bottom of the pan. Even though every quick bread recipe I have seen calls only for greasing the pan, I have found the flour solves my problem, and my banana breads are intact. Which makes me smile when I serve it. 🙂

Top of one loaf on the left, and bottom of the other loaf on the right

For more tips and recipes, visit:

Homemaker Monday

Market Yourself Monday

Mouthwatering Monday

Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays,

Tasty Tuesday

Tuesdays at the Table

What’s on the Menu Wednesday

What’s Cooking Wednesday

Whatever Goes Wednesday

What’s Cooking Wednesday

Homemaking Link Up

Works For Me Wednesday

The Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom

What’s on Your Plate?

Just Something I Whipped Up

Saturday Sweet Shots.

What’s For Dinner?

December 27, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Saturday – pizza night – Christmas Dinner at in-laws

Sunday – soup & sandwich day – Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggies

Monday – chicken – Baked Rigatoni, broccoli

Tuesday – beef – Hamburgers on english muffins, oven fries, carrot sticks

Wednesday – super simple – hot dogs, brats, carrot sticks

Thursday – chicken – turkey casserole with mixed veggies and stuffing topping

Friday – Friday Night Fire/Beef – Roast,potatoes, carrots in crockpot, challah bread

For more Menu Plan Monday ideas, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.

This Week’s Blog Hops

December 27, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

These are the blog hops I’m participating in this week. Blog hops, as well as Twitter & Facebook hops are a lot of fun, and a great way to find new blogs. It’s also a great way to increase your followers on your blog.

If your visiting Linda’s Lunacy for the first time, Welcome. I hope you can stay and visit for awhile!

Please come back on Saturday, for my new blog hop, Sunny Saturday! You can link up your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Networked blog and your shop! Hope to see you on Saturday!

MONDAY

TUESDAY

The Coupon Challenge and Mom on Dealz

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Fun Follow Friday

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Hope to see you again soon!

The American Patriot’s Almanac Review

December 23, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

The American Patriot’s Almanac The National Bestseller Now Revised, Updated, and Expanded
by William J. Bennett and John T.E. Cribb

The fife and drum of history mark the time of each passing day. And within their cadence, personalities, conflicts, discoveries, ideas, and nations peal and fade. American history is no different. From the starving time of Jamestown during the Winter of 1609, through the bloody argument of the Civil War, and to today, the United States is a tale best told one day at a time. Dr. William J. Bennett distills the American drama into 365 entries—one for each day of the year. Fascinating in its detail and singular in its grasp of the big themes, Bennett’s Almanac will make anyone a fan of history. Even better, it will make of everyone a patriot.

American History Parade lists and daily readings, sections on “Faith and the Founders,” “State Facts and Symbols,” and “Fifty American Quotes”.

My Review:

I really like the format of The American Patriot’s Almanac. There is a history reading for every day of the year, with what happened on that day in history. There is also an American History Parade for every day, listing what happened on that day in other years.

There are also special sections through out the book, here are just a few:

Flag Etiquette
State Flags, Facts and Symbols
Poems of American Patriotism
The Declaration of Independence
The Constitution of the United States
The Bill of Rights
And many more….

This book is great for family reading, homeschooling and for the history buff. Each days readings are all only one page long, including the American History Parade list, so they don’t take very long.

I found this book to be an excellent resource, even if you don’t homeschool. I think kids will find this book helpful with their study of history.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Wrapping Presents

December 22, 2010 by Linda @ Linda's Lunacy

Wrapping presents is hard in this house! Gone are the days of putting the kids in bed, shutting the door, and wrapping presents on the dining room table. I don’t think I really appreciated how good I had it back then!

Now, there’s always someone, with some reason, why they can’t go to bed until 11. And we have early birds who like to be out here at 7 in the morning. Which totally isn’t a problem, unless I want to sleep. And I want to sleep.

So I do all the present wrapping in my room. Usually on my bed. I guess I’m just getting plain old, because my back is not very happy at all with this arrangement anymore.

ALL my presents wrapped, ready to go under the tree.

But I did, indeed, finish all my wrapping today. In my bedroom. On my ironing board!

The black thing on my bed is my laptop, on which I watched a Christmas movie while wrapping. The wrapping project went quickly, and my back thanked me for using the ironing board!

I’m done with wrapping, the kids do have few things left to wrap, but I’m done!

Please visit Tackle it Tuesday, Tuesdays Tip Jar, Works For Me Wednesday and Homemaking Link-Up

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