Tea Party

Happy leap day everyone!  Not that this post has anything to do with leap year, but I thought it would be fun to put something out since it only comes around every few years.

My mom is so crafty that it slays me sometimes.  She is constantly whipping up something with her hands.  If I had to guess, she's made everyone in the family a new homemade Christmas ornament for about 20 years now.   How amazing it that?  Crochet is her passion, and she does a great job with it.  We, meaning mostly our kids, are so blessed to be on the receiving end of her hobby.  I am always giddy when I see a package come in the mail.  I probably get more excited to see what 'grammy' has made for the kids then they do!  It never ceases to amaze me that she keeps coming up with new things to make them.  And they are so stinking cute too.  Perhaps someday I'll do a full photo feature of her handiwork, but for today we'll stick with her latest--a tea party set.  For Valentines day none the less.

The little set has a tea pot with lid, two adult cups and saucers, four kiddo cups and saucers, eight cookies, four of each fruits--apples, peaches, strawberries, along with little serving bowls to hold the 'goodies', and a handy little bag to store them in.

I wasn't sure how it would go over to only pretend to have a tea party instead of doing the real thing.  But it was an instant hit!  The best part was watching Wesley pour the tea, complete with sounds.  I decided that in an effort to keep this treasure away from the black hole that presides in our home, I would keep it tucked away in my closet.  That way someday when I'm a 'lita' (yes, call us crazy but Phil and I already know what we want our grandbabes to call us, Pito and Lita), I'll have the complete set still.


Ok, enough babble, on with the pictures!  Apology in advance, I just cannot figure out how to rotate pictures on here, so bear with me and tilt your head to the side for full enjoyment, and I know I kinda went overboard on the photos, but my mom lives eight hours away and hasn't seen her 'grands' since Christmas :)

Almond Joy Milkshake

I know you haven't heard much from me lately.  I've been in a rut!  I have wanted to blog, but just didn't know what in the world to even talk about.  Today I was telling my friend about these milkshakes that I drooled over, I mean drank yesterday.  She said that sounded absolutely divine and I had better send her the recipe!  So here you go Jess, I hope that you enjoy it this summer (or even sooner if you can!)

 I can't take sole credit for this recipe, it was inspired by Chocolate Covered Katie's pj&j milkshake recipe  (http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/02/27/peanut-butter-jelly-milkshake/).  I just took her guidelines and ran with it.  If you've not ever been to her website before, I highly recommend checking it out.  A lot of her treats (which are healthy!) are single serving, which I appreciate.  Just a little something to tame my sweet tooth without leaving a whole pan behind to tempt me to overeat.

But I digress...after all, you probably are just wanting the recipe and not my whole life's story!

Put in blender:
2 c frozen strawberries
1/4 c shredded coconut
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp ground flax
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1.5 c vanilla soy milk
2 splashes vanilla extract
2 pinches salt

whiz  it all up and pour in a tall glass.  Or be kind and put in two medium glasses and share.  Mine turned out so thick I couldn't suck it up through the straw.  Of course that could be because hyvee's new straws are smaller than their old ones.  But once I started digging in with the spoon I felt like I was having soft serve ice cream of one of my favorite candy bars Almond Joy!

A few notes:
The texture is a bit 'gritty' for lack of a better word.  I know it's b/cuz the coconut didn't puree and possibly due to the flax, but it didn't bother me, however if textures are an issue for you, try omitting the flax and use coconut milk instead.  I also think this would be even better if I had almond extract to put in instead of vanilla.  Add that to my shopping list!  The sugar isn't necessary if you are wanting to have a decadent tasting breakfast.  I however was looking for more of a dessert type indulgence, and that's why I used it.

Now quit reading this and go whip up your own!

Pinterest Junkie

Ok, I will admit it right now.  I am rapidly becoming a pinterest junkie.  When Phil's cousin told me over Christmas dinner that her boyfriend has threatened 'pinterventions' on her, I laughed.  However, I now see why!  I find myself longing for the next pin to inspire me to make something great.  The wonderful reality is that it has been inspiring me.  Here are some of the things I've done because of pinterest:

• I've tried making my own coffee creamer (to go with my tea tower of course!), an easy tasty treat.  http://deliciouslyorganic.net/homemade-dairy-free-sugar-free-coffee-creamer-recipe/
• Someone posted a recipe (sorry don't remember which!) from what has now become my favorite dessert website.  If you haven't heard about chocolatecoveredkatie.com you better make some time to browse and drool over her healthy desserts.  We've tried the pizzert, chocolate cookie dough dip, and  baked cinnamon roll oatmeal so far and haven't been disappointed.
• http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2011/08/no-bake-energy-bites-recipe.html--quite possibly the fastest naughty tasting healthy snack around.
• made an adorable tshirt dress for my sister.  She loved it!  http://pinterest.com/pin/9570217927961342/
• I also whipped up a version of this dress over the weekend.  You'll have to wait to see mine until I can get the right kind of belt to go with it.  I tried it with a skinny braided belt and it just didn't fit the bill.  Hopefully I can get to the store over the next weekend and find one!  http://sweet-verbena.blogspot.com/2011/07/boho-maxi-dress-tutorial.html
• The best thing that I've gotten from pinterest is this decluttering calendar for 2012.  I knew that I wanted to get rid of our extra junk that's been sitting around to have a more peaceful, self sustaining (read: less cleaning on my behalf) home.  This calendar has been just the trick with 15 minute a day jobs.  I tend to be an all or nothing person, so instead of trying to clean out our home all in one day, it has been helpful to have just one task a day to preform.  Of course there have been a few days where I've gotten a bit carried away and done more! (http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012/Decluttercalendar2012.pdf)

Of course, instead of just clicking on all of my links, you could just sign up for your own pinterest account.  Then you can check out what I've been doing, become a junkie too, start pinning like crazy and give me more, ahem, 'inspiration'!