Monday, March 06, 2006

Happy Monday!!


...and what a good day it is :) Noah woke up in a WONDERFUL mood, coffee was ready and smelled so good when I got out of bed, and David had NO allergy problems this morning. Thank you, Lord, for these small blessings. :)

Some really exciting news to share! I have been asked to be the April guest designer for A2Z Essentials! I am SO thrilled. I love the products but haven't been able to find them locally, so I can't WAIT to play with them! There are so many talented designers on the regular DT at A2Z , so this is a huge honor for me. Thank you to my friend Heather for this opportunity! Be sure and check out their gallery and all of the fantastic products. :)

I spent a good part of the weekend planning Noah's 6th birthday party. Since he's our only child and I LOVE birthdays, I really like to go all out. He wants a DINOSAUR theme this year, so we're having a big dinosaur moonwalk (jumper) in the backyard, and I'm going to attempt to make a cake we found online. It's basically a big dinosaur "island" with a volcano with red and orange lava and a big waterfall rushing down the other side. It's pretty amazing, but I'll do the Mommy version of it, haha. His little plastic dinosaurs and some trees will come in handy on the cake. Oh...and all boys this year. Last year for preschool we invited the entire class but he said this year he only wants boys. (except for 2 girl cousins) That's ok. He'll want the girls there soon enough, so I'm fine with this! :)

Our new Taylor Hicks CD arrived in the mail this weekend. It's great! (but only has 7 songs...and cost almost $19 with shipping. Ouch!)

Oh, and these aren't THE flowers, but David brought me some pink and white tulips just like the photo above on Friday night when he got home from work. Aren't they beautiful? I love tulips!

I have some bananas that are ready to be included in a recipe :) so I'm going to attempt to make these today or tomorrow, depending on our schedule. They are from one of my favorite websites - Steph's Country Kitchen. I'll use the lowfat substitutions.

Banana Cream Muffins
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar (1/2 c. Splenda can be substituted)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup half and half (lowfat use 1% milk)
1/2 cup lowfat banana cream yogurt
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or use half oil, and half applesauce)
3 medium ripe, mashed bananas

1. Preheat oven to 400ยบ. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl; make a well in the center.
3. Mix half and half, yogurt, egg, vegetable oil, and bananas in small bowl. Pour mixture into well. Mix batter until just moistened; do not overmix.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until muffins test done. Yield: 1 dozen.
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God bless you today as you begin your week! Be sure to check out some of the new blogs I've added to my blog list to the right. :)
- Jennifer

"Life is the journey. It isn't always the destination. As we walk this path of life, we will make mistakes, stumble many times, fall once in a while. But a hand will reach down and pull us back up, perhaps a friends hand, perhaps the hand of God. But always there is hope, and as long as there is a single breath left in you, there is the chance for success, not defeat." - Anonymous

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The AI people already have CDs out????? Oooh..I would LOVE to have the Taylor HIcks CD...and the Ace one. LOL! Hey...congrats on being the A2Z Guest Designer for APril. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with their awesome product. I love their stuff and I love your work, so it should be an AWESOME month!

Anonymous said...

Taylor is AWESOME! I love that style of music. I actually found some free downloads and have been listening to them since Friday.

Enjoy the CD!

Julia Sandvoss said...

Congrats to you! That is just wonderful news on the DT spot!! Can't wait to see what you do!

Carrie Anne said...

It's no wonder you are the guest designer...your work is amazing!!!

Anonymous said...

Jennifer -- Huge congrats on the guest designer opportunity! You do cool work; they have cool stuff. Sounds like a match to me!...I love tulips, too -- they're my favorite!...Mmmm, that recipe sounds great!

Anonymous said...

Fun DT opportunity :) That is so exciting! :) Hope you have a great week!

Jenn said...

Your blog always makes me hungry... LOL

Congrats on the A2Z spotlight! Their stuff is awesome!

The tulips are so pretty! They are some of my favorite flowers!

TracieClaiborne said...

Congrats on the guest gig! I love that company - we just ordered some of their stuff at CHA.

Love Taylor Hicks. I'm jealous.

Those muffins sound yummy! I have some extra nanners, may have to make 'em. :)

Anonymous said...

Seriously Jenn...it's been 4 days. I'm needin' to feel the Jennifer Love! LOL! Just wanted to let you know you were missed!

Anonymous said...

Jennifer,
I love reading your blog. I wish I had a pinch of your creativity and talent in the kitchen. :)

re: my guess for your ribbon RAK, I have to go with the first number that popped into my head....342

Sandi