I love banana pudding, but I never learned how to make it until I learned that it was one of my boyfriend’s favorite desserts. It took 3 attempts, but I think I’ve perfected it There are lots of different ways to make this, but this is my way!

You will need:
2 bananas
1 package whipped topping (like Cool Whip)
Reduced Fat Nilla Wafer cookies
1 package instant banana pudding
1 package instant vanilla pudding
4 cups milk

1. If your whipped topping is frozen, let it thaw for a while in the fridge. When it is ready, leave it out on the counter as you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You want it to be really soft and mixable.
2. Make the pudding as the package directions say (usually all you have to do is mix both dry mixes together, add up to 4 cups of milk, wisk for 2 minutes, and let it sit in the fridge for 5 minutes to set)
3. Cover the bottom of your dish with cookies. I use the reduced fat cookies, not for nutritional value, but because they get less soggy. I noticed if you dip them in milk they stay hard for a lot longer than the normal ones, so they are great in the pudding as they don’t turn to mush right away like the regular cookies do.
4. Slice your bananas up into as many little circles that they will make. Add a layer of banana slices on your cookies in the dish.
5. Get your pudding from the fridge (after letting it set for 5 minutes). Scoop out some of the whipped topping into your pudding. I usually add about 1/4 cup or so, but you can add as much as you like. Wisk the mixture of pudding and cool whip together to make it nice and creamy!
6. Pour enough pudding into the dish to cover the cookies and bananas.
7. Add a layer of cookies. Add a layer of bananas. Add a layer of pudding. Repeat until you are ready for the top.
8. Smooth a layer of cool whip over the top layer of pudding.
9. Take one wafer cookie and put it in a zip lock baggy. Smash it to make crumbs to sprinkle on the top.
10. Add cookies around the outside of your layer of cool whip like in the picture above!

Yum!

Posted in: Yummy, Cuisine
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So, my boyfriend brought me home this bumble bee pillow pet guy holding a giant Hershey’s chocolate (my faaaavorite candy) on Valentine’s Day - a bee because he hears me talk about the quilting bee, so sweet, right? Anyways, the pillow ended up on the sofa in our guest room, and this morning I caught Max snuggled up to him:

Posted in: Cuuute, Cats, Photos, Just for fun, the quilting bee
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Friday’s High Five

1. The Little Mermaid nursery mural

2. “Important” Gender-Specific College Courses

3. Social Media Monopoly - Everyone’s favorite trip around the block for today’s generation

4. Cutest baby book ever? - hand stitched and appliqued

5. Cat vs. Internet - lol, cute cartoon

Posted in: Friday's High Five
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So, I found this old shelf that I have had for a long time, and I finally decided to put it to good use. Originally, the shelf was supposed to go in the kitchen so that we could hang jackets or scarves or keys. But, there is already a similar one hanging, so it occurred to me to use this shelf while cleaning up all of my accessories and other junk cluttering my bathroom counter. I crocheted a big piece of fabric that I can hook my earrings on and hung it on the hooks of the shelf.

I also hammered in a nail on the lower sides of the shelf to hang stud earrings. No need for a before picture, but trust me, it was a mess. Perpetually mateless earrings, tangled necklaces, bracelets that I haven’t seen in years.. Now it looks so much better!

Posted in: Crochet, Crafts, Daily
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Superbowl Sunday is just as important as any other holiday throughout the year. This year was pretty interesting. Sunday morning, I went out to get some last minute ingredients, and while I was out I had one of those moments that make you wish life came with an undo button. I walk across the parking lot to the entrance of the store, and as I step over the concrete bumper in the parking space, I somehow caught my other foot and tripped. Next thing I know, I am on the pavement, knee bashed against the curb. (Caution - there was blood, but if you’re interested, here is the damage. 5 days later, and it looks and feels about the same.) The old man next to me says, “Well, bless your heart.” Oh, man…. Embarrassing. And painful! But, in that moment, I was most pissed off as I looked down and realized there was an irreparable rip in my most favorite jeans. It had to be THOSE JEANS! Of course. Those jeans that are the perfect length and the perfect shade of blue. I believe you should put your best asset forward, and those were my best asset jeans. On the bright side they can be my best asset, cut-off denim shorts this summer. Anyway, I went on into the store and was very happy to find chocolate football Double Crisp candys! These went beautifully with my:

First Down Cupcakes!

I found a picture similar to this last year and decided to make them. It’s officially tradition now I think. Chocolate cupcakes with green icing. You can make your own with any flavor of icing (light colors) and green food coloring, but I found some green icing in a can. Then all I used was white icing and a zip lock bag! Just spoon the icing into the bag, cut a tiny hole from a corner of the bag, and use it to pipe the design out. Luckily I found these individually wrapped football candies, but last year I used Easter candy. Eggs look a lot like footballs But, they weren’t in the stores yet this year. Chocolate covered almonds would also work. While the cupcakes are in the oven, you can whip up this:

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Thank you, Laura Anne, for this one! She tossed me the recipe, and it is amazing! I used Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, but you can use any buffalo sauce that you prefer. Add in creamed cheese, ranch dressing, and season to taste. Buffalo sauce doesn’t have a ton of calories, so the total calories of this dish is mainly determined by the extras. Cook up some chicken; I used ground chicken, but it works great with canned or shredded chicken would work too. Or just vegetables would be good too. Serve with veggies or crackers or bread or…. Yum.

We went to our friend’s party, but I don’t have pictures of that. The game was a pretty good one. It was nice to root for a team that wins for a change jk, love those Panther boys no matter what!

Goodbye, football. Can’t wait for warmer weather and when you come back to me

Posted in: Yummy, holiday, Cuisine
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I found a hat similar to this one a few months ago, and I immediately decided to crochet my brother one for Christmas. He and I used to not only watch TMNT all the time, but collected all of the action figures and even had the party van. My Barbies became good friends with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I made Leonardo for Landon, and it turned out great. When I posted a picture of his, I had some friends request their own TMNT hats.

So, I decided to make another one. Pictured to the left is me sporting the orange mask of Michelangelo. He was always my favorite character besides April. But, for the second TMNT hat I wanted something a little cooler; I wanted options.

I wanted to make a hat that had detachable, mix-and-matchable masks. So, I stitched some Velcro onto the hat and each mask. Poof! Now you can be which ever hero in a half shell you like!

This is perfect for any hardcore Ninja Turtle fan, or even any kid that loves dress up My friend Bryan was the lucky winner of this one. He got his in the mail yesterday, so I can finally post this!
I am thinking some crochet nunchucks would go great with this….

(Sorry, no tutorial! I didn’t use any tutorial to make it. I just kind of made it up as I went.)

Posted in: Crochet, Crafts
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I served mine with salsa, but they would be good with lots of different dips and sauces!

For these baked squash chips, you will need:

1 Yellow Squash
Egg whites
Skim Milk
Bread crumbs
Oregano, Basil, Salt and Pepper
Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Wash and slice your squash.

3. Combine your bread crumbs and spices in a dish. I added powdered parmesan cheese, but you could add many different cheeses or spices to this coating. Be creative!

4. Spray/cover a baking pan with olive oil.

5. Next, in a small container, make a batter to coat the chips with. This is to make it easier for the bread crumbs to coat and stick to the slices. To stay super healthy and low calorie, I made my batter with a 1/4 cup of All White liquid egg whites and a 1/4 cup of skim milk. Use a fork to dip a slice into the mixture, and allow it to coat the squash. Then place the slice into the breadcrumbs. Use a spoon to cover the squash with crumbs thoroughly on each side.

6. Place each crumb covered slice on the oil coated baking pan. I also sprayed the top of these with a little bit of olive oil to help it crisp up a little.

7. Let your chips bake at 350*F for about 10 minutes.

8. Take them out and flip them over, then bake for another 5-10 minutes.

9. Serve with salsa, ranch, marinara, hummus, honey mustard….. the list goes on

Posted in: Healthy, Cuisine
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They are so the same and so different. We joke that Max listens to heavy metal while Schroeder sits in the corner writing poetry.

Why bother with all the toys they have? They are so OK with just having this bed and this box.

Posted in: christmas, kitty
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Here is my boy Max showing off one of my favorite projects. I crocheted this scarf using what is called a broomstick lace stitch. I love this stitch not only because it looks super pretty and elegant, but it is super easy and quick to do! I was going to write out a pattern for how I made this, but I will direct you to the original pattern that I used. She does a wonderful job explaining it in an easy to understand way. The only difference I made was using a larger hook size, and instead of 60 stitches across (you have to have a multiple of 4), I did 16 since my loops were a larger size.

I love it, and I think Max does too!

Posted in: Crochet, Crafts
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I can’t believe I never even posted in 2010. There are a lot of reasons why not… most of all, I didn’t want to post entries just saying “I haven’t written in a while,” or “I don’t know what to write about”. However, I am currently overhauling everything and have sevvvveral new entries on the way! Also, I really this layout, but I’ll be changing it soon because I feel obligated to incorporate a panda, given the name of the website and all.

That’s all for now, but I will leave you with this:

Twins?

Posted in: Daily
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