#greenmuffins

These Chocolate Spinach Banana Muffins are a delightful and healthier twist on traditional chocolate muffins. The spinach adds nutrients and a beautiful green color, while the ripe bananas provide natural sweetness. Perfect for a guilt-free treat!

Ingredients: 1 cup spinach leaves. 2 ripe bananas. 1/2 cup cocoa powder. 1/2 cup sugar. 1/4 cup vegetable oil. 1 tsp vanilla extract. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. 1 tsp baking soda. 1/2 tsp baking powder. 1/4 tsp salt. 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Instructions: Start by heating the oven to 350F 175C. Put bananas, spinach leaves, cocoa powder, sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract in a blender. Mix until it's smooth. Put all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix them together with a whisk. Add the spinach and banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix them well. The chocolate chips should be carefully mixed in. Set up a muffin tin with paper liners. Pour about two thirds of the muffin batter into each cup. After the oven is hot, bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Before taking the muffins out of the pan, let them cool for a few minutes. Have fun!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

These Spinach Banana Muffins are a delicious and healthy treat. Packed with the goodness of fresh spinach and ripe bananas, they are perfect for a nutritious snack or breakfast option.

Ingredients: 1 cup fresh spinach leaves. 2 ripe bananas, mashed. 1/2 cup sugar. 1/4 cup vegetable oil. 1 egg. 1 tsp vanilla extract. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. 1 tsp baking powder. 1/2 tsp baking soda. 1/2 tsp salt. 1/2 tsp cinnamon. 1/4 tsp nutmeg. 1/4 cup milk.

Instructions: Preheat your oven to 350F 175C and line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a blender, puree the fresh spinach leaves until smooth. You should have about 1/3 cup of spinach puree. In a mixing bowl, combine the spinach puree, mashed bananas, sugar, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk, and mixing until just combined. Divide the muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove the muffins from the oven and let them cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy your nutritious Spinach Banana Muffins!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

The past few weeks have flown by, which is good because that means I’m adapting. 

I FINALLY got a chance to explore Batu (the nearest city). Bought some ballin’ Indonesian pants and rode a ratchety Ferris (Ferrish) Wheel.

My body is acclimating to the heat and 75ºF is now cold to me. Wutisdislife... Those cold mandis didn’t bother me whatsoever when I first got here but I’m finding them a wee bit nipply nowadays. I didn’t think to pack a hoodie (did I mention it’s 75º?) so I snuggle up in a big scarf my best frand in the world bought me before I left. It’s like sleeping in a hug and it makes me happy!

There’s an earwig crawling around under my keys as I type this. Will bug guts hurt the inside of my lappy? If not, I'm envisioning the most epic game of whack-a-mole.

Some days I’ll come home and I my Ibu will hand me a chocolate cake. Those are the best of days! She calls it a brownie (pronounced: bro-ny).

There are boxes that randomly show up in my house. The boxes are always full of various “sweets.” Sweets is in quotes because I’m never entirely sure what they are and every box is a palatal adventure (not guaranteed to be an excellent one). Every time a box shows up my host sisters sit down with me so I can “ini apa?” everything. All the little girls that hang out at my house beg me to try each treat so they can laugh at my facial expression. Most have the consistency of flan. Some contain unknown fillings (occasionally ground chicken). Most are coated in sugar and/or coconut. All are brightly colored. The green muffins are my favorite. They’re delish. The green bread is not so delish. The other day, my Ibu tells me to follow her if I want to eat. I was pretty confused because we never go anywhere to eat and I couldn’t understand where exactly we were going but I hadn’t had dinner yet and I’m pretty fond of food. We walk around the corner and go into a building with tons of people. At the end of the ever-present gauntlet of handshakes and smiles, my Ibu sits me down at a table and hands me a brownie. A bell is rung and everyone stands up and gets into a line to get food. The whole event kind of reminded me of a potluck. As soon as I finished eating my Ibu rushed me out of the building. On my way out I was handed one of those boxes. MY VERY OWN BOX! The next day I asked our cultural liaison what the event was. Apparently I had attended my first circumcision. Moral of the story: circumcision boxes are the best of boxes.

Sunburns/tan lines are not a familiar concept in Indonesia. I’ve developed a pretty fabulous farmers tan since I’ve been here and my family is forever cracking themselves up with the joke that I’m becoming an Indonesian flag (red and white).