I Love Smoothies!!

When the weather starts getting warmer, my favorite healthy snack is a fruit smoothie. You can pick up bags of frozen fruit at the grocery store and keep them on hand for impromptu smoothie making.

Basic Fruit Smoothie Recipe

1 cup of skim milk (I only use skim in smoothies) 90 calories
1/2 cup low fat PLAIN yogurt 55 calories
1/2 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup frozen fruit of choice
( I like blueberries, strawberries,peaches) approx 50 calories
2 packets TRUVIA or sweetener of your choice
total calories : 195
Place all ingredients in a blender, and pulse a little at first to break up the ice and frozen fruit, then blend until well mixed. Pour in a large glass, insert straw and slurp!

You can use any combination of frozen fruit, frozen banana pieces would be good too and the yogurt gives it a great taste, but you can leave that out if you want. I think it is a very healthy and satisfying snack for around 195 calories! And....you can adjust the ingredients according to your taste, more ice for thicker and if you use fresh fruit, less ice for a thinner consistency!

Easy Artisan Bread Recipe

Click here for the link with this delicious looking bread recipe!

I just started baking bread in the last 3 years and have found that it is not as scary as I thought it would be! 30 years ago, I attempted a bread called "Fool Proof Whole Wheat" and it never cooked in the middle even after over an hour in the oven! That made me give up the entire concept of home baked bread until a few years ago when I decoded, "what the heck!" and tried again! And the bread I made came out delicious and I realized that it wasn't so intimidating after all! So, give it a try, you may get hooked! And you get to control what goes into your bread so no hidden high fructose corn syrup!

The Long Journey Home

Pheww! My daughter Christina, her husband and little two year old son are in the air as I write this post, heading from Mumbai, India to Newark, New Jersey then to Tampa, Florida!
They had a good long trip which I am sure Christina will post about in her blog Consider The Coffee.
In the pictures above, my grandson is chilling on the bed in his Indian grandparents home and sweetly leaning on his Grandma there! There is also a picture of the area that they live in which is a very nice neighborhood of condos .

ETSY things reflecting my 6 random likes!

Sunshine Coffee Mug

1000 Indian Recipes e Book on CD

5 embroidered kitchen towels

8x8 Fine Art Print

Where the Green Grass Meets The Sky


5.5 inches x 4.25 inches Zippered Pouch

Click on any image to go to their ETSY location!

six random things I really , really like

Deer
I know I have posted about my deer love before, but I will say it again! When I was a child and staying with my Grandpa, every evening near dusk , I would sit on his front porch and watch the deer graze at the end of his driveway. The golden part of the day combined with the peaceful does and fawns made for a very relaxing view! I get so happy when I see them now, in the wild or at a zoo!
Mountains
When I lived with my grandfather in Pennsylvania it was in the Susquehanna Valley with the Appalachian Mountains all around. It was such a beautiful and majestic sight! God's handiwork sure is nice!

Autumn
After living in Florida for 25 years where there is either really hot weather or a little less hot weather, I am thrilled to be living where there are four distinct seasons! Fall was always my favorite as I grew up in the North East. The colors are so invigorating and they enliven the scenery with each brushstroke. Another example of God's creation being so restorative.


Birds
I love looking at them and listening to them! I find that they are so beautiful and the songs they sing are literally music to my ears! God's creation is the best recreation out there! I also love bird images in jewelry and art, etc. It never grows old for me!

Indian Food

My son in law is from India so we have learned to eat many different foods that he makes and at our favorite Indian restaurant, Taj India in Birmingham . I love Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, the naan bread, Butter Chicken, Korma and many other delicious things served there! It is now my favorite cuisine!


A Really Good Cup Of Coffee
I like strong, slightly burnt tasting coffee, fresh, not stale, not weak! I like Starbucks, but my very favorite is served at Urban Standard Coffee House, Birmingham Alabama
which also has the most delicious lunches! One of my all time favorite places!
I love making a good strong cup of coffee at home and sitting on the porch sipping away while listening to and watching the birds!

april projects with my favorite material...YARN!

So, I have so much yarn in my back room as many of you already know, and I have been trying to focus on more spring and summer uses for it, so I decided to make about a million pom pom flowers with natural twigs as the stems! Well, I have only made about 6 so far, so I still have a long way to go!
I have been using the pom pom making gadgets shown above which are "Clover" brand and comes in groups of two per package at Hobby Lobby. ( about $8.00 for two smaller, and $9.00 for two larger!) They make it much easier to wrap the yarn and I wasn't too good at the wrap around the hand method, so these babies made an easier process of it!
I like the shaggy look of these poms, but I may make some that are more perfectly trimmed, and possibly use floral wire wrapped in floral tape as stems as well!
I don't know why, but I think these things are soooo fun!

Featuring "For The Cross Jewelry"

I came upon this shop while browsing etsy today and loved the vintage and fairy tale style of the jewelry featured in it. Click on any image to take you to "For The Cross" jewelry!