Life can't be all flowers and sausages

Well, the last few years have been a stretch for me.  I've helped plan a wedding, sent my son off to the military, helped gut and rebuild a house, tiled a house, remodeled some of my own house,  watched my beautiful dil and son have my first grandbaby, landscaped my house then sold my house, moved to a rental, graduated my baby from high school, and dealt with my son being deployed to a horrible place for a year.  This year good things have come to those who wait, and I must take a little break.  I'll have tons of stories and pics for you- but here are some of the blessings we're overflowing with right now:  We're expecting our second grandbaby any day now:), my son has just returned from the military to live the civilian life:), our home is being built-and we are getting ready to get really busy, and my baby girl is preparing herself for a 5 month mission trip across the world, next spring- that will be hard- but life can't be all flowers and sausages..................................can it?!?!?!:)

Love you all

Light shopping

As we continue to work on building our home in the country, I've been excited at all the wonderful things I get to shop for:  floors, paint, sinks, toilets, baseboards, doors, door knobs etc.  Look at some of they lovely lights I've found:

horchow

I'm finding knock offs of  the lighting I really like, because  I refuse to pay $1500 for a light fixture, but, I'd love to see the home of the girl who does:)   I'm all about frugal, and if you shop around enough, with a good plan, you can find tons of knock offs of horchow, pottery barn, ballard design, and many more expensive designs, at some of your local lighting stores and even on ebay.   You can also buy some old brassy chandy at your local habitat store, and with a little ORB metal spray paint, you can bring new life to an old fixture.  Consider updating some of the lighting in your home.  You'll be surprised at how a sophisticated fixture can change the look of an ordinary room. 


Have a great week!

sweets for the sweet

courtesy of PaPeR.cLiP

One of the hard lessons in life comes during your adult years.

• You can't lose weight as quickly as you did at 17
• You can't eat everything you ate at 17
• You can't act like you did at 17 booooo

Well, my sweet tooth is ginormous, so I've really got to be careful when I'm around anything sugar.  If I can avoid it, and 'save up my sugar points' for a really special occasion, I'd rather do it.  I have a great friend Donna who is the go to girl for recipes that are low calorie, low sugar and great big in flavor.  I thank her for allowing me to share some of my favorite Donna recipes~

courtesy of chotda

These Chocolate-Chip Meringue Cookies are light and crunchy and have just the right amount of cocoa so satisfy your chocolate cravings. They are lighter than traditional chocolate-chip cookies because they are made primarily with egg whites and not grains but they are also lower in fat and calories.



Yield: 4 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

3 tablespoons semisweet chocolate minichips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300°.



Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt at high speed of a mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Sift cocoa over egg white mixture; fold in. Fold in minichips.



Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper; secure to baking sheet with masking tape. Drop batter by level tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Bake at 300° for 40 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pan on a wire rack. Repeat procedure with remaining batter, reusing parchment paper. Store in an airtight container.



Nutritional Information

Calories:22 (12% from fat)

Fat:0.3g (sat 0.2g,mono 0.1g,poly 0.0g)

Protein:0.3g

Carbohydrate:4.7g

Fiber:0.0g

Cholesterol:0.0mg

Iron:0.1mg

Sodium:16mg

Calcium:1mg

courtesy of andelmann

Pumpkin Cobbler

1 (15 oz.) Can Solid Pumpkin

1/2 Cup Egg Substitute

1 (12 oz.) Can Fat Free Evaporated Milk

3/4 Cup Splenda Granular

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 (9 oz.) Package Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix

4 ounces Diet 7UP or Sprite

1/2 Ounce Chopped Pecans



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the Pumpkin, egg substitute, evaporated milk, Splenda, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves. Spray a 9X13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pan. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly on top. Next pour the diet 7UP over the dry cake mix. Top with chopped pecans. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Cool. When ready to serve, top each piece with fat free cool whip (optional).



Serves: 12

Per Serving: 154 Calories; 4g Fat (22.4% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 26g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 292mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain (Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.






PUMPKIN SPICE BARS

4 eggs 2 tsp. baking powder

2 c. Splenda Granular 1 tsp. baking soda

1 c. oil 3/4 tsp. salt

1 can pumpkin ½ tsp. ginger

2 c. flour 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 tsp. cinnamon ½ c. raisins (optional)



Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan (17 x 11 x 1 inches)

with Pam. Beat eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Stir in dry

ingredients. Fold in raisins. Pour into pan. Bake 20-25

minutes. While still hot put on a thin glazepowdered sugar

and milk mixed together.

courtesy of akhater

Pea and Corn Salad

1 can shoe peg corn, drained

1 can small english peas (I use LeSeur), drained

1 small jar pimentos, drained

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion



In saucepan mix:

1/2 c. vinegar

1/2 c. Splenda granular

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.

Cool and pour over vegetables.

Store in refrigerator for several hours

before serving to allow the flavors to blend.