Zucchini Banana Muffins - Dance Mom Approved!

Our girls lit up the stage!!!

Dance Photos: Kit Chow - San Diego Photographer & Dance Dad

I'm a Dance Mom. And I'm proud of it.  However, while Liv and I can't get enough of the Dance Mom show on tv, I'm happy to say that my reality is far different from their reality show.

Our two worlds do combine with closets overflowing with fancy costumes, rhinestones littering the kitchen floor and talented dancers whom we try to keep healthy and strong.  Not in our world though, are the backstabbing comments, ridiculing teachers, and moms who are above nothing to see their daughter get a better spot in the line up.  

Dance Moms meet Twitch!

I'm lucky to be surrounded by Dance Moms who have proven to be some of the most supportive friends a Mom could ask for.  We are the girls' personal planners for their weekend competitions, we dress them during quick changes, change hair styles and put together costumes.

And it was last week that brought costuming to a whole new level with:

 The Boots

Our own Miss Abbie decided that she wanted boots for her small group tap number.  Not just any boots, but colorful boots.  Neon colors, at that.  I'll spare you the creative details as we tried and failed and then tried again with different tools.  Lets just suffice to say that my husband didn't eat well last week, Liv Life didn't get updated and the house is still a bit messy.

Luckily, Miss Abbie liked them.  But like any good dance teacher, she knew we still had more in us and she asked for embellishments.  Several trips to multiple craft stores and even more hours later we had a finished product.

The transformation.... Paint on, paint off, new paint on, glitter on, embellishments on, laces on.  Taps... on.

My husband laughed at the long hours Liv and I put into these babies (more he grumbled at the lack of homemade dinners...), but Liv and I smiled when we finished and thought, "They look good".

Liv & The Boots rock the stage!

Packing our treasures ever so carefully, last Friday we hit the road for beautiful Upland, California for the team's first competition.  Lacing up our creations, the moms stood back and thought "I sure hope nothing falls off... but damn, those boots look good!"

And they did.  The girls nailed the number, garnering compliments back stage from other studios on the "cool tap boots" and cheers from the audience for their performance.

Apparently the judges liked the boots too.  Well, perhaps it was the performance, but I'm thinking they might have been blinded by the beauty of the boots while they awarded the girls not only a 1st Place overall but also named KixMix the top scoring number of the day.  Way to go girls!!

The boots rock.

Photo credit:  Kit Chow

And these muffins rock too.  Healthy, delicious and fuel providing for the girls, they didn't last long and I've even had requests to bring more for the next event.  Thanks to Savoring the Thyme for a wonderful recipe, I'm thinking these beauties will be traveling often with The Boots.

Zucchini Banana Muffins

adapted from Savoring the Thyme

Printer Friendly

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose-flour
3 Tbs oat bran
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce - no sugar added
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup grated zucchini
1 ripe banana, mashed
raw sugar

Preheat oven to 375º.

In a large bowl combine the flours, oat bran, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder, and salt.  Whisk to combine.

In a smaller bowl combine the honey, brown sugar, canola oil apple sauce and eggs.  Whisk to blend.  Add the vanilla extract and whisk again.  Add the zucchini and banana to the wet ingredients... and whisk again.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients  and stir just until combined, being careful not to overmix.

Spoon batter into muffin pans, or mini muffin pans and sprinkle with raw sugar.  Place in the oven and bake.  For full size muffins bake 25-30 minutes, checking at about the 20 minute point.  (insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean they are done!).

For mini muffins bake 12-15 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean or the muffins spring back when touched.  Cool for a minute or two on a wire rack, then remove muffins to cool completely.

1st place overall