Homemade Yogurt Popsicle

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Everyone learns how to cook differently. Some people rely on planned menus and recipes, and others cater to their whims and cook by feel. Most of my family falls securely into the second category. I remember watching my mom make the best white gravy EVER, it was a sprinkle here, a dash of milk there and then POOF! Gravy.  My Aunt Dorothy is the same way, she opens the spice cabinet and randomly adds a bit of this and that and the food is always amazing.  I’m not quite as bold when it comes to trying new things. I prefer to have a clear concise recipe to consult the first few times and then i’ll start tweaking and altering to suit my personal taste.

If you’re like me, jumping into the deep end right off the bat can be a bit daunting, but I found a recipe to help us at least get our toes wet. Katie, of Katie’s Pencil Box, provides some very loose guidelines on how to make a delicious cool summer treat. There is enough information here to get you started, but it also leave plenty of wiggle room for creativity and customization.

Homemade Yogurt Popsicle:

Recipe:
Flavors pictured: honeydew melon, blueberry lemon, raspberry, and peanut butter
 blend plain yogurt, honey, and a splash of vanilla- set aside
(*note- i don’t use measurements…everything is added to taste.
make sure to dip your finger in and sample a bit before moving on!)
separately, blend the flavor of Popsicle fruit you want with a bit of milk
( i use vanilla almond milk) and a sprinkle of sugar or honey.
(for the peanut butter i used a couple of spoonfuls mixed with the almond milk and blended)
pour yogurt and fruit blends into Popsicle molds (a little of each at a time)
and swirl around with a skewer to mix.
add Popsicle stick and freeze overnight or for a few hours…
(to make the striped Popsicle, pour a layer of fruit in the mold then let it freeze for about 30-45 min.
then pour a layer of yogurt blend and add your Popsicle stick. refreeze.
repeat layering/freeze step until you fill the mold. continue freezing normally from there)
I think this is such a great idea. Since I am watching my calories I can make a few substitutions and easily turn this into a guilt free treat. Happy Friday everyone!
Original post from here.

All Out of Whack

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This has been the strangest, most unbearably long week in a very long time. My boss was out the office yesterday, I woke up positive it was Friday this morning and the office park my company was in received notice that we were quarantined this morning.  It was all cleared up in a few hours, there was apparently a suspicious abandoned car across the street, but this day is now clearly defined as “one of those days”. I knew I should have called in and snuggled back into the soft covers this morning.

Yes, I did build myself a Pinterest board entitled “Sleeping In“. Although, according to Andy, none of these accurately portrays how I sleep. Evidently, I curl up and nest with the comforter all around me, and Andy has to look for the “air hole” I leave around my face to locate my exact position. As far as I can figure, this is probably the result of years of sleeping in the same bed as cats that will headbutt or paw at any visible hands or feet. Either way, the take away from today is this,”I should have listened to the fluffy orange cat and stayed in bed.”

Free Stuff!!!

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Being a bargain shopper born and bred, I look for deals, coupons or free samples without even meaning to. It’s a difficult thing to balance. While it is great to find an amazing deal on something, it is only worthwhile if it was something you intended on purchasing in the first place. It’s one of the big reasons I am so keen on purging some of the less desirable items from my closet.  A lot of what I have was purchased because it was on sale. There are some great pieces like the gorgeous violet sheath that I bought for Andy’s sister’s wedding, and then there are some things like the crazy green ruffle tank from two years ago that I’ve never even taken the $2 price tag off of.

The internet can be the same way, lots of designer/artists/illustrators offer free tools for programs like Photoshop and templates for crafters. But unless you really need 47 different types of arrows or 123 new fonts, don’t waste your memory space.  But like any bargain shopping, occasionally you find something truly perfect. Like these free (man I love that word) printable placemats from The Pretty Blog.

Cutlery Placemat
Teapot Placemat
Flourish Placemat

This is perfect way to spruce up you place setting, inexpensive and disposable. These placemats are crisp and clean on bright white, but they would look lovely in pastels, ivory or even neon.  You could even take the artists advice and take it one step further, and print these lovely images onto reverse transfer paper and iron onto plain cloth placemats.

(Please note that these documents are for non-commercial use only. This document (and any part herein) is not to be copied, redistributed, or mass produced © Lucky No. 9)

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

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This post is to wish my father  Happy Birthday!

I was a bit of a daddy’s girl growing up.  Before I was old enough to go to school, my dad would let me go to work with him a couple of days a month. As an airplane mechanic he was fortunate enough to have the kind of work/schedule that allowed him to have a 4 year old in a tutu and tiara trailing him around the hanger. I remember sitting up on the wing of one of the bigger planes (he specialized in small personal aircrafts so it really couldn’t have been all that big, but still) scraping paint with toddler determination, feeling so special that he let me “help”. When I began my ungraceful decent into adolescence, he would go to the store to buy my “feminine products” for me since I was way to embarrassing to do myself. Many a time he would call my from the store, right in the middle of that mortifyingly pink aisle, to make sure he got the right kind, and he always remembered to grab a bottle or two of Midol.

I was a bundle of nerves on my wedding day, but I didn’t start getting misty eyed until my dad stepped up to walk me down the aisle and I realized he was starting to tear up. I (jokingly) told him he was going to have to stop, I had to sit still for over an hour for Lucy to get my make up right and if he cried I was going to cry and ruin all her hard work. I even threaten to make inappropriate jokes about things that rhymed with Nantucket. It’s comforting to know that i’ll always be his little girl, but it is strange to see how things shift more and more every year. Now I’m the one hosting weekend visits and filling Christmas stockings, I can only imagine what it must be like for him.

But for the good memories and many more to come, dad I wish you an amazing Happy Birthday. I love you very much :)

So Much Hair!

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After the wedding, I decided that I wanted to let my hair grow out a bit. Almost six months later, I am at a bit of a loss on how to manage the longest locks I’ve had since middle school; and I am finding myself longing for the days where a dollop of Phomollient and a quick finger tousle were all I needed. Fortunately for me, there are kind bloggers out there who understand that some of us that need a bit of hand holding when it comes to doing something creative with our hair.

Tutorials in order of appearance:

While some of these do’s might be a bit ambitious for me to try in the 15mins I usually take to get ready before work. A messy side ponytail? Even I can accomplish that before my morning coffee. So I guess I’ll postpone my trip to the salon a bit longer.

Images and tutorials by Cup of Jo