Did You Know?

Cinderella's slippers were originally made of fur. The story was inadvertently changed by a translator in the 1600s, who confused the very similar old French words for "glass" and "fur" - verre and vair, respectively.

Botanically speaking, the banana is an herb, the jalapeno is a fruit, and apples and peaches are members of the rose family.

Pineapples, oranges, lemons, watermelons, and tomatoes are all berries.

Lightning strikes about 6,000 times per minute on this planet.

The first American ice-cream parlor opened in New York City in 1776.

~So, Now You Know... by Harry Bright and Harlan Briscoe

Super Bowl "good for you" Munchies

Here are a couple of low-fat munchies for you to prepare for your Super Bowl watching party .... while you are cheering on my favorite team ..... GO STEELERS!


Ingredients:

1 fat-free (or nearly fat-free) hot dog (like the ones by Oscar Mayer, Hebrew National and Ball Park)
1 portion Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent roll dough

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut hot dog into 4 even pieces. Stretch or roll out the triangle-shaped dough slightly, to make it a larger triangle. Cut dough into 4 long, narrow triangles. Beginning at the base of each triangle, roll a piece of the hot dog up in the dough until the point of each triangle wraps around the center. Place dogs on an ungreased baking pan and cook for about 12 minutes (until dough appears slightly browned and crispy). Enjoy!

Popcorn Shrimp
3 oz. raw shrimp; peeled, deviened and cleaned
1/4 cup Egg Beaters, Original
1/2 cup Fiber One bran cereal
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour Egg Beaters into a bowl. Using a blender or food processor, grind Fiber One cereal to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Pour Fiber One crumbs into a plastic container that has an airtight lid (or into a plastic food storage bag). Add as much salt & pepper to Fiber One as you like. Next, prepare the shrimp by ensuring that they are as dry as possible (use a paper towel to soak up moisture). Place shrimp in dish with Egg Beaters and coat them thoroughly. Transfer shrimp to Fiber One container or bag and secure lid/ seal bag. Then shake until shrimp are well coated. Place shrimp on a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Cook shrimp for 15 – 20 minutes (flipping them about halfway through), until outsides are crispy. Let ‘em cool; then serve 'em alone, with ketchup or with some cocktail sauce. *3 Points!

Card Shares

I've got a few cards to share with you today.  The first one is the Monday Mailer I mailed out on Monday to Lynn.  This is the last week for our January Winter theme.  (Does that mean this is the last of the winter weather????  don't think so!)  I did the Dryer Sheet technique.  If you are unfamiliar with this technique, hop right over to Splitcoast and check it out!  I used the stamp set, Big on Christmas.  The Designer Paper is Pacific Point Patterns with Riding Hood Red matted in black.  I popped up the snowman on the outside of the dryer sheet.  (You should have seen me searching for a used dryer sheet - ended up dampening some towels & throwing them in the dryer for a few minutes!  Heaven forbid I actually do a load of laundry!!)

This next card is for a friend who had foot surgery last week.  I actually made this card in a class last year and have just never sent it.  I'm really bad about hoarding cards I make.  My resolution this year is to send them out - ones I make and ones I have received in swaps.

This card is a sympathy card for one of our friends in our Game Night Group whose father died.  Sympathy cards are always difficult to make.  This one I received in a swap.  It uses the stamp set "Always in My Thoughts". 

Telling the Truth

Well, I went to the dreaded weigh-in today (for my monthly Weight Watchers).  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I did have to pay, BUT, I was only 1/2 pound over my allowed weight.  As a Lifetime member, I have to weigh in once a month. If I'm more than 2 pounds over my lifetime goal, I have to pay the weekly fee.  I had weighed on my scales at home and they were showing me to be 1 1/2 pounds over, so, for once, I was loving those scales at the meeting!!! 

Of course, after the weigh-in, I had a Soup Kitchen Volunteer meeting at .... Panera Bread!!  So, just decided to have lunch there while I was at it.  My sandwich selection was probably not recommended by WW (tomato-mozzarella panini) but I didn't get the chips and got an apple instead for my side!!! 

I had a few errands to run after the meeting and had plans on going to the "Y" - even had my work-out clothes with me.  Sonny & I had a Red Cross Volunteer meeting at 7 pm, so I'd decided to just stay in Mooresville till the meeting.  Best laid plans and all .... Sonny called me around 4 and said he was debating on going to the "Y" or going somewhere for a beer & appetizers.  You know, it doesn't take much to talk me into temptation!!  So, Beef O Brady's was our choice!!  I did have a salad for dinner though!  And they had our Steeler's on TV.  Today was media day in Tampa and the reporters were interviewing the different players, so I figured we made the right choice??!!!!

I found out today that someone (hi, Jackie!) actually made the Tropical Smoothies that I had in my blog a few days ago and she said they were very good.  So, thought I'd give you another good recipe to try that's also WW approved!   These are Yummy Muffins - really moist.  I make a batch & freeze them.  Good for a snack with a cup of tea or coffee!

• One Chocoate OR Carrot OR Spice Cake Mix
• One can Pumpkin (pumpkin - NOT pie filling)
• Mix all together.  The batter will be lumpy - that's ok.  Line muffin tin w/paper cupcake liners or spray w/Pam.  Fill the muffin cups & bake for 18 minutes at 350.
• If you use an 18 cup muffin tin, it is 2 points each; if you use a 12 cup tin, they are 3 points.

ENJOY!

Speaking of cupcakes, check out this cool blog about .... CUPCAKES!!

I have a new look!

How do you like the new look???? I've been playing around with it this evening and decided I really like it!! Hope you do too. Well, as you can see, it's pretty late - need to get my shower & get to bed.

Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow ... I have to weigh in and I don't think it's going to be pretty!! I've got to get myself back in gear and QUIT EATING!! (I only have a few Moravian cookies left!)

Swap Cards

I recently participated in a Swap with my Splitcoast friend from California.  Jamie always has excellent artists in her group and I love the cards I get from them, plus we only have to make 7-8 cards.  This time, I entered two categories - in one, we made a card from our Sneak Preview Hostess sets (Level 2 and 3) and the other round was based on use of the following colors: Real Red, Rose Red, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Black, Chocolate, White, Vanilla, or Raspberry Tart DSP to make a Valentine card.

Here are the cards I received:

These cards use these sets (from top to bottom):  Always; Love You Much; Many Happy Returns & Fresh Cuts; and Wild About You.  Gives you some good ideas on using some stamps other than hearts for Valentines.

These cards use: A Happy Heart; Crazy for Cupcakes; Goody Goody Gumdrops; and Priceless & Itty Bitty Buds.  (I did the Cupcake one & the Priceless one.)  Just noticed the last one is upside down in the picture!  It says "Wonderful Friend", but you get the idea!

These cards use:  A Little Somethin'; Dream A Little; and Just Jawing.

These card use:  Echoes of Kindness & Always in my Thoughts; Rustic Rooster; and Hand Drawn Bundle.

Just Buzzin' By

I got this stamp set a couple of weeks ago and just haven't had time to use it.  Yesterday I got my copy of Paper Crafts Magazine and there were a few cards and an article in it about saying "YES" to yellow and gray.  Supposedly, these colors are straight from the runway and are "daring and sophisticated."  I don't know about that, but I knew I had the perfect stamp set for those colors.  What do you think?

I used my Prismacolor Pencils for the beehive with Gamsol.  I stamped the "hive sweet hive" in YoYo Yellow and cut it out & popped it on.  The bees are colored with YoYo Yellow.  On their wings, I used a Gelly Roll Glitter pen.  I used the Ticket Punch on the corners.  I used my watercolor pencil for the shadow under their feet.

Blog Candy Up for Grabs

My friend, Jackie, over at Just Stamp It is giving away blog candy!! If you want a chance to win it, check her out.

Monday Mailer that I sent out this week

 

I just realized I didn't share the Monday Mailer I mailed to Lynn this week.  This is one of my all time favorite stamp sets and I hope it never retires!!  It is Lovely As A Tree.  There is just so much you can do with this set.  I stamped the trees in black on the Big Note Sizzix die and backed it with another die in black.  I used my clouds template for the sky and made snow with Chunky Glitter.  It really sparkles.  I used Basic Gray paper for the card, layering Pacific Point Patterns Designer Paper (say that 3 times fast!) on the bottom.  I punched a double circle to tie the gray ribbon through.

Proud Peacock

I've been working on this card for a couple of days now & just couldn't get it right. Finally got it today though! I just love this peacock stamp. It is from last month's Stamp of the Month by Great Impressions. I love it because you can make it so colorful! It goes great with SU's Raspberry Tart designer paper, don't you think? I did the card for the Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast this week. I used Radiant Pearls, Twinkling H2O's and stickers to make him shine and sparkle!!