Last Time I Checked

I weighed myself last about 4 days before Thanksgiving, on the way to lifegroup to have taco night! :) I have to use my Mom's scale because, well because I don't like any one else's scale, and hers is really nice, and digital, and because every time I step on it I begin lose weight like crazy. I was scared to do it though. Because I was really hungry over the Summer and I gained. A lot.

So, I happened to be at Mom's on Nov 20, so I got up my nerve to take a peek. Then I went to eat tacos. Then I made two cheesecakes for Thanksgiving and ate at least a half of one over the next couple of days. Of course I also had Thanksgiving dinner (though I didn't go crazy I wasn't really watching it either, I just prefer to have cheesecake more than anything else). Then we had Thanksgiving again with my ugly little brother and his beautiful wife and darling children where we had more cheesecake type food and smoked turkey, sweet potatoes, honey ham, green beans, dinner rolls, fresh pineapple, stuffing, pumpkin dessert, even some salad. So this is to say that we didn't eat "lightly", or at least, I didn't. That was the day I saw the Going Raw dvd by Judita Wignall - told ya a lil bout that yesterday, remember? So I sipped a tiny tiny bit a chia because mom and Heather were making me look bad and I hated it (the chia seed and the looking bad). Then I went home and probably ate more cheesecake, and pumpkin dessert, then the next day some banana bread I made for Thanksgiving morning, a little ice cream, and there was that buy one get one free Starbucks deal they ran for 4 days from the 17-20. I had my precious steppy son so we took advantage daily. The very next day I started to think about the DVD I had seen the day before. So that's when I opened the book Going Raw. I told you about the veggie juice that I've had twice now, I made a smoothie another day, and I already sang about the chia pudding, toss in some Ezekiel bread because I'm always having that.

Now, this cheesecake everyday for every meal business is not normal, but it has been known to happen if some one's had a birthday or three. We like cheesecake and it's a cinch to make. I could eat it every day. Not kidding. I have recently had it from breakfast too.

So (I'm about to make my point), all that info was to brace you for the shock of finding out that not only did I not gain weight between Nov 20 (that day I weighed) and today, but that I have lost a little more than 5 lbs in the last 12 days, and Thanksgiving was only a week ago. Do you think is was the cheesecake? ;)

Do You Chia?

Are there any Chia lovers out there? Hello hello? Until 3 days ago I was not one of you.

I know, two posts in one day, it's what happens when my husband leaves me.

I've mentioned how my mom researches things - mainly health food - and then she breaks the info down so her children can process and possible learn from it, we mostly gag and scoff, but now and then something gets through, like Ezekiel bread, coconut oil, and now chia seeds!

My mom and my husband have been loving chia for some time now but I have steadfastly resisted the gagalicious super food. A few days ago I latched onto a copy of a book called Going Raw by Judita Wignall (hich belongs to my mom and which she urged me for days to crack open, and I wouldn't) and came upon the process of making your own almond milk - which we love to drink. I also found a recipe for Chia Pudding - made with almond milk!

So first I made two batches of almond milk, the beginnings of which I posted about a couple of days ago. Then I found the chia seed that I'd been scoffing at for probably two (TWO!) years and decided it would probably taste very close to tapioca pudding - which I l.o.v.e! So, following the book's concept stored safely in my mind, I combined chia, almond milk, cinnamon, and a smidge of honey. Honey, because I haven't bought any agave since I heard it might not be as amazing as it sounds(ultra processed and some other stuff that might not be malarky). I stare longingly as I pass it in the grocery aisle. I'll probably go ahead and get more because I think it's still better than honey and lower on the GI scale either way.
So there, haters.
Anyway, back to the chia pudding, right away it was runny and loose and kinda nasty but soon it started to thicken so I ate it, and then I ate a lot of it. Then I hid the rest in the back of the fridge hoping to forget about it until the next day so there'd be some left for later (dudes, I made 2 cups of it, saving some should have been no problem but I tell you, it just kept getting better and better!). Okay, grammatical problems aside here, I did save some for the next day and it was super thick and oh so delicious that now I am going to buy more chia seeds and make more almond milk. TODAY.

Also, chia is filled with protein, gives you hydration for long time, and absorbs carbs.

End.

PS, Do it.

Hot Stone Massage and Cheesecake!

It's my little birthdaaay!!!

30th.

Father's Day Ice Cream - Pioneer Woman Style

That means I am making Pioneer Woman's vanilla ice cream for Father's Day. Because my husband is a father. Because he loves vanilla ice cream. And because I bought an ice cream maker for him, for Father's Day. He'll probably crown me with it but I really think we'll get a lot of good use out of it this Summer. I'm going to take it when we go camping.

I just went to wulmert where they had no vanilla beans. I'm totally shocked because my little local store usually has everything I'm looking for. NOT. I didn't want to run into the big city for a second time today so I picked up a bottle of "pure" vanilla. We can't have any imitation vanilla mixing with full fat cream and half and half can we? No. We can't. I am sad to say that I am using the white sugar that is called for rather than some healthy alternative because, well, I want it to be perfect the first time. After I get it perfect I'll experiment and risk messing it up.

Enough about me, here's the details.

I doubled Pioneer Woman's double batch and basically followed Ree's instructions but I forgot to double the sugar, so I left it that way since it tasted pretty darn sweet to me. It's really good. I also felt that the custard had "broke" which is the only word I know for what happened, the cream separate from the... water? So my life-saver-mother suggested the magic bullet (or in my case the Bullet Express) to smooth it out. That did the job; it's sooo perfect and smooth! I have yet to put it into the ice-cream freezer/maker but that'll happen on Saturday morning just in time to spoil our lunch. Can't wait!
Okay, this is a secret gift, the secret should be safe since my darling husband never reads my blog... don't tell him, okay? I'm a bad secret keeper so, help me Rhonda!

Check back later to see pictures that I have taken/will be taking of the results.

Happy June

Hello everyone, from more than a week into June!
After spending most of last month talking about a serious issue that's close to my heart I just want to tell you now that my hosta bed is flourishing, my horse-puppy is growing rapidly, I'm still losing weight, my husband comes home tomorrow, my kitchen is clean, laundry is folded, and I finally have a tomato plant in my dirt. Things are going great!
Last weekend I had a couple of super-groovy gals over to my house for fun and food, I might add that I was out of coconut oil for the entire weekend, which made one of them especially, um un-happy. While they were here, I was blessed with a little sunburn that is now a tan and also public pool memories that are seared into my brain and will last a lifetime. Thanks for sharing both of those with me ladies.
Last night my mom and I rented I Am Number 4 from Redbox. That was a good movie, not for kids. Scary looking bad guys. We're crossing our fingers for parts 2 and 3!
Tonight I played with two little girls who love puppies, play-doh, dirt, ice-cream, and bath time. Perfect companions for a hot late-spring-but-feels-more-like-summer night. I suggest that you sample Häagen-Dazs Pineapple Coconut Ice-cream.
On the menu tomorrow are Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes, as per a sweet request by my dearly departed husband. He's soon to be un-departed. Whoo hoo!

Cheesecake Heaven!

That's where I live!



I been making lots of cheesecake! It started last year when my father-in-law turned 50! I made my first cheesecake and I was not impressed. Really, I wasn't. It wasn't a total flop but it seemed too wet, soggy, and kind of eggy. It just wasn't smooth. Then my mom turned 50 and wanted cheesecake for her birthday party, so I tried again. This time I made a few changes. For one thing I didn't use even a speck of flour. I also made sure that my ingredients were room temp and I made sure there was a big pan of hot water below the cheesecake while it baked. I don't know which made the difference, maybe it was all three, but I've had great luck on the most recent 3 or 4 I've made! Except this one (pictured below), it looks great but the center was rather undercooked, Whoops! Some of us ate it anyway. Since then they have all been perfectly textured all throughout.





To make this cheesecake (or cheesecake bites) you need:

4 - 8oz packages of cream cheese
4 - Eggs
1 cup (or 3/4 cup Agave Nectar)
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp crushed graham crackers
Pre-heat your oven to 325*, on the lower rack place a large but shallow pan of hot water. You'll leave the water in the over the entire time your cheesecake is baking. This is supposed to help prevent "The Crack" from happening. Lightly butter around the sides and the bottom of your pan, I use a spring form for a cheesecake but a rectangular cake pan when I make the bites. Once you've buttered, then sprinkle your very fine cumbs around the bottom of the pan and shake it around to even it out. I crush my crackers in the food processor, they become a very nice powder.

Set the cream cheese and eggs out on the counter long enough to reach room temp. I do mine for the morning and make the cheesecake after lunch, I try to give it about 3 or 4 hours. This is a very important step. Don't skip it. I'm not a pre-planner but I have found out that this is key.

Blend sweetener (sugar or agave) into cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and lemon and mix. Add each egg one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. Pour batter around the bottom of the pan and pop it in the oven. I bake mine for about 50 minutes until the cheesecake is almost done, a little wiggle is okay, not a lot. You might have to go with 30 mins for the 9x13 cake pan size, it's much more thin.
This part is important, take the cheesecake out of the oven and run a sharp knife around the edge then put it back in the oven for about another hour at least, longer might even be better. You might have to force yourself to leave it! Just do it! :) If you're making cheesecake bites, at the same time that you run your knife around the edge of the pan, cut your little squares out, cheesecake is super easy to cut while its warm. Resist the urge to have a piece at this point though. Not that great.
Once you decide to take it from the oven you'll need to put it directly into the fridge, uncovered, for a very long time. Overnight is great, a day is better, TWO days is SUPER FANTASTIC. I am telling you. I have a problem with not covering mine. If it feels bad to you too, to keep it uncovered, lay a piece of wax or parchment paper over the pan, don't let it touch your masterpiece.

Agave users: If you're worried about the agave making the batter too thin, you can use less agave and add a tiny tiny bit of stevia. I use the powdered stevia from the NOW brand, and I think I just did one or two little scoops, you can taste it as you mix it in just to be sure. I am a reformed stevia hater and I found out that if I just use a teensy weensy bit, it's pretty good.

Low(er) Carb Alert! If you make a 12 slice cheesecake and you use sugar then your sugar per serving amount is about 4 tsp so when you think about it, that's pretty low for a dessert. If you make cheesecake bites, I think you get nearly 100 pieces (?) so that's a little less than half a tsp in each bite. If you use agave nectar, then it's extra low carb. Agave is a great sweetener for diabetics too!

Truffles For My Valentine

I bought some truffles with a gift card from my favorite store today and they reminded me of a truffle I had a few years ago, which I'll never forget. These were a traditional truffle, there was nothing unique about them but I was inspired to make some and take them to my husband for our Valentine celebration tomorrow (today).

I googled around and picked the first recipe I looked at. The recipe called for Ghirardelli chocolate, I was hooked right then. Also they seemed rather easy and had great reviews at http://www.allrecipes.com/ .


For these amazing truffles I needed only 4 ingredients:




1/3 c Heavy cream
1/3 stick of real Unsalted butter
1/2 bag Dark or semi-sweet chocolate
Cocoa Powder
The cocoa powder isn't in this picture because it isn't time yet. It has a very special part to play. I'll tell you about it when your older.


Anyhow, to begin the truffles you need step one.

Step 1: Melt cream and butter together in a small sauce pan, like so:

Step 2: Add to the cream and butter, the chocolate chips, like so:





Step 3: Stir until combined and smooth, like so:

It's smoothing, its getting there.

Step 4: Pour into dish, like so:

Step 5: Allow to cool for a couple of hours in the fridge. I can't show you that part. It's very sacred and can only been seen by the Chocolatier.

Step 6: Use a melon baller or spoon to make the cooled chocolate into ball shapes. I suggest the melon baller and you'll want to remember to twist it, not scrape it like ice-cream. If the chocolate isn't firm enough put it back in the fridge or into the freezer for a few minutes.

Once you have about 24 small balls (from the small end of the melon baller), you'll need your extra special ingredient: the cocoa powder!

Step 7: Scoop out about 1/3 of a cup of this into a very small bowl with a round bottom, not like a ramekin. Because my truffles were rather bitter (due to the 60% Cocoa I used) I opted to add a bit of powdered sugar to the cocoa powder, maybe 2 tablespoons. Blend these together and drop your first truffle ball in, roll it around and get it nice and covered, like so:

Step 8: Grab a dish to serve them in, a treat box give them in, or a lidded container to save them for later in. I made a little treat box for sending them to work with my Valentine, like so:



You can't see the lid, it's clear.
I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day, I know I did, I hope to have an even better Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Vanilla Syrup

I found a recipe online the other day for some vanilla syrup. It can be used for flavoring your coffee or steamed milk, you can pour it on your pancakes or waffles, or sweeten your yogurt with it. I have to say it's quite delicious.


To make it you'll need the three following ingredients:
1/2 c water
1 c sugar
3 T vanilla
Don't worry about making a big batch since it's so simple to make fresh when you get low.

Combine the three in a small sauce pan and boil for about 5 minutes. Let cool and pour into a glass bottle, or if your glass bottles are filled with soap like mine are, you can use a small jelly jar. Like I did.

You can see I just used what I had on hand. I made on small amount with brown sugar and a little bit more than that with white sugar. The brown sugar has a stronger taste and I like it, the white sugar has a lighter taste which I like less, but I think the color is prettier. I might mix the two and see if I like about half brown and about half white sugar.

I had mine in hot milk with some Phase 10. Mmm, yummy!

Granola

I made granola today and I documented the whole process for you! By the time you finish reading this you'll realize how easy it is and you'll be inspired to make your own!
In a sauce pan on low heat combine brown sugar, honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and coconut oil. Melt it together and remove from heat.

Next I measured out the dry ingredients: I used a 9 grain oat type blend, slivered almonds, dark chocolate chips, cinnamon, and salt. Though I am positive the salt could have been tossed out.

I always think the salt is unnecessary.


Mix it all up - except the chocolate chips.

Now pour the sugary mixture over the dry mix and stir it up.

Here I am just-a-stirrin'. I wanted you to get a chance to see my new hair! Maybe I'll give you a step-by-step post on that too! Anyway, onto the chocolate. (PS, that's blouse #2!)

After you stir it you can add the chocolate chips. I waited to add them because I didn't want the warm stuff to melt them all away. Mine melted anyway.


Maybe you can't see it here but there were some obvious chocolate streaks on my bowl when I poured it all into the lined 9 x 13 dish. I would recommend a cookie sheet instead of the dish and skip the lining if you're oiling your pan, which I suggest that you do.

Spread it all out and stick it right in to your pre-heated oven. Give it about 15 to 25 minutes depending on how deep your pile of crunch is and pop it out. It wont be crunchy just yet though, that will come after it cools. It will still be delicious! Go ahead and taste it!


This isn't burnt, do you notice there are no chocolate chips? I stirred them all in. I had to, I'm a compulsive stir-er. Anyway, I really liked the affect it had on the granola, or is it effect? That gets me every time. The melted chocolate made for bigger chunks and a chocolate-all-over kind of flavor. Which I liked.


I made a second batch without the chocolate chips, and added some coconut flakes. It turned out great, but not as chunky. I really loved the flavor so the missing chunks weren't a deal breaker. I'll be making this again. Either way, or both ways!

Would you like the recipe?

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 c peanut butter

3 T virgin coconut oil*

2 T honey

1 T vanilla

2 c oats

1/2 c slivered almonds

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt (or not)

3/4 c chocolate chips

Combine the wet ingredients in a med sauce pan and stir over low heat just until melted. Remove from heat and let cool.

In a med bowl combine the dry ingredients. Include the chocolate chips if you don't mind them melted or exclude them if you'd like to have whole chocolate chunks in your cereal.

Once the dry ingredients are combined then add the wet and stir it all in.

Pour mixture onto a greased baking sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. As the granola cools it will also become crunchy, so don't over cook it just because it's soft. If you'd like to keep your chocolate in the chip form, then don't stir the granola until it has cooled completely.

I found that the only ingredients I didn't have on hand were the oats and the almonds. I almost always have oatmeal but we use it up quickly. Nuts don't stand a chance in this house so I wasn't surprised that I needed those. Since this was so easy to make and calls for such common ingredients I was happy to make a double batch. I'm happy that I did!

Enjoy!

*If you need information about the benefits of coconut oil and where to find it, leave a comment below with your e-mail address and I'll send it to you.

A Day of Thanksgiving

Tonight I'm preparing some Thanksgiving food in advance. I have plenty of time to be ready, I just want to see how it does in the freezer for a day or so. Cap and I have decided to buy a deep freezer for our Christmas gift and one thing I'd like to do with it is start making up some meals that can be frozen and then popped into the oven. That's what really got me to thinking about making my Thanksgiving dishes a little early.
I'm making sweet potatoes,

and cranberry sauce, I'll probably make some cranberry muffins too, but I want to use the left over cranberry sauce for that. I did last year and they turned out delicious, we'll see if I have the same luck this year, huh?



This is my mom's famous chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal cookies recipe but I dipped them in chocolate. Here they are, All ready to go!



I have so much to be thankful for, not just this Thanksgiving but everyday. I'd like to tell you a little bit about that.
The first thing I am so grateful for is God. Always, always, God. I'm thankful for what He is, for what He does, for the wonderful blessings that He pours out on each of us and our families. I give my thanks and gratitude from the very bottom of my heart. God has kept us supplied with wonderful Christian friends, a great church with a fantastic pastor, bibles that teach us how to love one another, and by that a marriage that I am honored to be half of.
Second on my list is, my family. From my husband & step-son to my mom, and right down to each and every little niece and nephew! I am so glad to be a part of my family and my husband's family. I believe there is something to be treasured inside each person and it usually isn't hard to figure out what that special thing is! I love you, my family. I am also thankful for all the new babies born into our family this year. A combined total of 9 new babies in 2010 for my side and my captain's side! Perfect and precious. I could even list all of their names with out having to think about it!
The next category that I am giving thanks for is our home. Our nice warm beds, the running water, and a good roof over our heads. God has blessed us with a beautiful home that we are so honored to live in. Every day I look around and am so grateful for each little nook and cranny, not to mention all the extras. We are so thankful for this home and for the neighbor God has blessed us with who knows how to keep our cars in running condition!
Last and not least is our country, our freedom, our safety, and our bounty. Thank you God for this sweet land of liberty.

There are many other people and things that we are blessed to have in our lives. I hesitate to continue my list because I'm starting to feel braggadocios! I'm so honored to have been given so much in life and I thank God for all of it. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Please comment and tell me what you're thankful for this year.

PS Check back to find out more about my clothing project - for lack of something better to call it!

No Time To Kill/Project Rescue

First of all, I haven't had any extra time at all! I spent yesterday (Tuesday) taking my mom to the airport in Kansas City, then I spent the night with Captain America... but not at his barracks. No.
I got home this morning in time to take a quick shower, throw on my pretty granny dress, Skype with my momma who landed safely in Europe (but never called to say so), and head out to the mall. I sampled peanut brittle there today. See's Candy has the best peanut brittle. That isn't all I sampled though... I also had a Bordeaux, sugar free dark chocolate almond clusters, a regular almond cluster, and a couple of other things that I just can't put my finger on. It's my job, I have to know what I'm selling here people, okay?

Now, the real reason I'm still up is so that I can tell you about a fashion show and clothing re-sale shop that was held at my church James River Assembly of God in Ozark, MO. The women of the church were asked to donate their new or gently used clothing for an indoor sale that would happen the night of our women's rally. The proceeds of the sale, and any clothing that wasn't purchased, would then be donated to an organization called Project Rescue. The mission is to rescue women and children who have been sold into sexual slavery in India and Nepal. Project Rescue provides medical care and safe houses to rescued victims as well as a safe place for the children of sex workers during their mother's working hours, which keeps the children out of brothels. I have barely scratched the surface here but I hope to learn more about their mission and figure out how I can help raise awareness. Please visit their website and if you feel compelled to help. One of the greatest ways to do so is to send a donation. Start with a $20 and see if you even miss it. Go out to dinner once less this month, it'll be so worth it. Read the touching story of how it all began. Most of all, pray for these women and children as well as the people who are helping them. There are many resources on the Project Rescue website, I encourage you to look over them and find out how you can raise awareness in your own family, church, school, workplace, and community.

My Christmas Season...

...has now begun!
Today (after I go to sleep and then wake up at a slightly later than respectable hour) I will begin work my 1st day at my holiday job. It's See's Candy! I know that this means my time will be taken up by things other than blogging (and you know how dedicated I am, right?) so hopefully I will make up for quantity with quality.
I do have some things I'm interested in posting about in the near future. My weekend is a busy one but hopefully the beginning of the week will provide some time to organize my thoughts before I toss them out here in a jumbled mess.
Teaser: This has to do with my church, India, and clothing... all at once.

Happy Christmas!

Christmas Baking

I like to plan ahead. You might think I'm bored, but it's always been this way. I do the same thing for birthdays too.

For my Christmas baking I like to keep things unique, yet simple. The result usually leans more towards simple... This year I plan to make 3 or 4 treats and a few quick breads. I suppose there might be some gingerbread men and a gingerbread house somewhere in the mix too.

Here's my plan:
Peanut Clusters (new for me)
Long Pretzel Sticks dipped in chocolate & rolled in chopped nuts or m&ms. (also new for me)
My mom's cookies (everyone's favorite)
Banana Bread (another favorite)
Cranberry nut bread (MY favorite)
Apple/Caramel Cinnamon Rolls (something new)

I'll post the recipes as I get to making them or direct you to the place I got it from (like The Pioneer Woman).

Coconut Oil

Have I ever told you about the benefits of coconut oil? Well I'm not going to, not here anyway. Let me direct you to my other blog, Café de Santé.

This is a blog that my mother and I have just started, in order to answer the many questions that we receive about food as related to health, or health as related to food, and questions about natural remedies. We believe that everything natural was made by God with a purpose. Sometimes the purpose is for healing, sometimes for preventing, even sometimes just for enjoying.

Thanks for reading about the miracle of Coconut Oil! I hope you dare to try it and I hope you fall in love.

Coconut Chicken

Today I made Coconut Chicken for lunch with Broccoli, Fried Apples, and Ezekiel bread. I'll tell you how it all went down.

Chicken Breast
Broccoli
Apples
Ezekiel Bread
2 or 3 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil (per skillet)
1 Tablespoon of coconut flakes per chicken serving
1/8 teaspoon apple pie spice (per apple)
Dash of Himalayan salt for bread and apples.
Just a smidgen of Stevia

For the stevia, I like the KAL brand but I hear the liquid stevia is pretty good too. Did I just say "I like" and "stevia" in the same sentence? I think we're making more than lunch here folks, smells like progress.

I started with a cast iron skillet that was hot with coconut oil. I fry broccoli, I like it well done and crispy. Let this cook a couple of minutes while you set up the next pan. It'll cook a lot longer while you're making the rest. Toss it around a couple of times, you'll know when it's done.

In another skillet, flash fry in coconut oil some coconut flakes, then add chicken medallions. I coat the chicken pieces with the coconut flakes while it cooks and let it cook thoroughly. Once the chicken is fully cooked remove it to a separate plate.



While the broccoli is cooking and after the chicken has been removed slice or dice an apple (per person) into the same pan, toss with a dash of stevia and some apple pie spice (or cinnamon) until the apple bits are browned. Just before removing the apples, drizzle them with a tablespoon or two of water. This will pull the flavors up from the bottom of the pan and make a type of reduction, or sauce, to be served with the apples. You can pour a bit of cream over the apples for added decadence.



Want to know how I make my Ezekiel Bread?
Oh, you do! Ok, pull your slices from the freezer and every good boy or girl keeps it there. "Butter" both sides of your frozen bread with coconut oil (or even real butter). It will, of course, freeze onto the bread, it's perfect. Now, toss the bread into the apple skillet and grill as if you're making a grilled cheese sandwhich. Let the bread get slightly browned and crunchy. I throw a little salt over mine, sometimes even cinnamon or apple pie spice and a dusting of stevia. It's better than cinnamon toast Ladies and Gents! Or you can fry it up with coconut oil, salt it, and call it super-groovy. Because it is, no matter how you have it.

Seaside, FL

I've been awake since 6:00! If you've noticed that I post after midnight but usually before 4 or 5 am, then you know how odd it is that I'm waking at this time of day, instead of tucking myself in. Here's why; we were expecting a visit from the Tooth Fairy last night! My lil' guy was so excited that he just couldn't make himself go to sleep. He was up and down I don't know how many times trying to give the Tooth Fairy opportunity to sneak in and make the big switch! To prove that I wasn't the TF I had to hop into bed a few hours early... this is the stunning result!


I have so much to tell you! My family and I returned last week from 9 days in Florida. Just the very edge of Florida, just far enough to count. I took millions of pictures but left most of them on my captian's laptop, which he has, in Florida. There are a few that I can show you though, of a little town that we'll always love to visit, called Seaside.

See? Seaside. They have the best everything in Seaside. It's true.

The best little park, with the best walk down either side. The best benches, best tables, even people doing yoga in the grass.

They have the best shops.

The best, and I mean best, little market store that I've ever walked my boots into. I'll take one of everything please.

The best farmer's market. This is a booth for a restaurant in Ft Walton Beach called Ali Baba Grill Cafe, I googled it for you there. Behind that bottled water is a pan of Baklava, did I try some? No. Am I still crying? Yes.


The best places to eat or drink.

The best sandy path that leads to the ocean.

Even the best beach with the best ocean salt water. Ever.

People, this doesn't even come close.

Go to Seaside, you'll thank me

Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

These are the cupcakes I told you about long ago! V8 and fresh strawberries make the major difference in these cupcakes from a box! As you can see, this is your average cake mix. I replaced the water with the V8 Fusion and added about 4 lg strawberries.



The batter was such a yummy looking pink and it smelled so good! I'm a typical over-stirrer and so I really tried to watch that this time because I wanted to see what kind of difference the ingredience really would make.



I used a regular (or not so typical since I seem to make it up as I go along)buttercream frosting, since it's my favorite and because I love the way it pipes on and looks so pretty. The batter turned out beautifully though lost a lot of the pink hue, I suppose I should have tried it with egg whites only so the yellow of the yolk didn't take over the light pink... I'll try that again and let you knowhow it goes.


Although I did not see my mother-in-law, this was in honor of her birthday.


That brings up a question I have in my mind now and then. I've been saying my "mother-in-law" when it's really my father-in-law's wife, and not actually my husband's mother?


I just wish she could have tried one!

What's Goin' On?

So, I didn't go to Silver Dollar City last Thursday, which was a downer but just as well since I had big plans for the long weekend and was feeling crummy already!

Instead, I prepared my house and watered my plants and packed the car, I was on time when I reached my destination! You can guess at how often that happens, since I'm mentioning it, huh?

My first stop was my step-son's house (that's him up above right after I married the hottie he's walking next to), he hopped into the car and we then headed off to a drive-in movie with my mom, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew. We then stayed with my brother and sister-in-law for two nights! The little girls always wish for a sleep-over that lasts for two nights. So the kids got cousin time, played inside and out-side, watched movie after movie, and ate and ate and ate. I kissed little girl cheeks and held the most handsome baby boy, ever (since my last two nephews were babies), and got in some much needed snuggling with my step-son. He's 10 years old now but he and I are the kind of people that like to sit CLOSE to the people that we love.

We came home on Saturday night after a little shopping at my favorite store for a birthday gift for my mother-in-law. I'd show ya what I got her but it's already wrapped! Wrapping is really my thing so I'm usually inspired to get it done.

She and my father-in-law recently bought a new bistro table and chairs set for their covered patio so this was purchased with that in mind. We'll take it by on our way through their town on Tuesday when I take my step-son home in time for Summer School. The long square package is a set of 4 unbreakable tumblers, and the long round one is sparkling pink lemon aid in a beautiful bottle. The cupcakes are something I felt the urge to try out. They're strawberry, banana cupcakes with a butter cream frosting (my fave after cream cheese). I'll tell you all about it tomorrow or the next day. You'll see below that I didn't make them from scratch, I just had an itch to do some baking.


After we came home Saturday night, we went to see a movie! We saw Alice in Wonderland, though I had seen it with my mom last week, my step-son had not. It was well worth the second viewing. Even better the second time, I think!

Today is Sunday and I slept later than I am willing to admit. Then I did the usual stuff that happens when one comes home from a little trip. After that, I made those fresh strawberry cupcakes (which didn't turn out very pink). But then... we had a little party in the backyard with some of the neighbor boys. Have I mentioned that we don't have any girls in this neighborhood? So we built a fire in the pit, the boys roasted some beef franks, then some marshmallows and we made s'mores.


It was such a good time that I'm willing to try it again tomorrow night! I think we'll have a little camp-out in our back-yard.

So Much To Say!

Oh do I have a lot to tell you! I can't tell you today though because (as you can see) it's after 1am!
Tomorrow I am going to Silver Dollar City!


Then I'm going to pick up my step-son and visit my neices for a long weekend. They've been hounding me to produce him!

I made a triple chocolate, triple layer, cake tonight that I'll blog about here in a day or two. Here's a preview to hold you over. The pic is fuzzy but I already gave the cake away, so it's the only one I've got!

I'm going to make another dessert this weekend that I'll tell you all about as well! It has cream cheese in it, that's all I can say.

I took some photos at a conservation type park the other day that I'd love to show you. I don't know how you'd feel about a scenery post, what do you think?

Other than that... hmmm, well we'll just have to see what comes along!