Chocolate-Avocado Mousse: AKA A Little Piece of Heaven!

I love to watch cooking shows. Actually I love to watch shows about food in general. When I DVR a show it is more often than not a cooking show. Or Eat St. Food trucks seriously have some amazing looking food. I love food! I could seriously eat and eat and eat. But I don't! Because I do have self-control, and all that yummy food is not a good idea- for my body of course!

Anyways, one show I love is Giada at Home. She made a Chocolate-Avocado Mousse and it just sounded so good, and healthy too! And I love chocolate so that sealed the deal. I made that Chocolate-Avocado Mousse tonight. Delicious! So delicious that I almost (ALMOST!) ate my husband's portion (his is sitting in the fridge awaiting his arrival home). And it's so good that I think I'll buy another $1.69 avocado and make it again- soon! *I'm a coupon/sales shopper so it's a big thing to buy stuff not on sale! This is worth it. And it only took 5 minutes!  :D

Giada used 4 avocados and her's serves 4-6. I used one avocado and it served two. I just took her measurements and divided them by 4. Just fill up your 1/4 c. measuring cup half way. Although, next time I'm going to half the recipe so that I get dessert today, and dessert tomorrow!

Find the recipe at Food Network: Chocolate-Avocado Mousse

Starving Artist Art Sale

I have a huge portfolio of artwork that I would love to get to those that would appreciate it. I don't need them just sitting around. So- they are for sale at an AMAZING price. I am willing to ship but I would have to calculate the cost if needed. Some are small enough to fit in an envelope, some can be rolled into a tube, and some are on canvas. Sizes vary. For friends and family I'd love to meet up around my hometown and will take cash or check. I can also create a bill using Paypal for credit cards. Any questions just let me know! 

$20- Oil on Canvas

 $10- Acrylic on Art Board

 $10- Watercolor on watercolor paper

 $15- Acrylic on Art Board

 $15- Oil on Canvas

 $10- Charcoal on Art Paper

 $10- Charcoal on Art Paper

 $10- Chalk Pastels on Art Paper (UCM)

 $10- Acrylic on Art Board 

 $10- Pen and Ink on Art paper

 $10- Pencil on Brown Paper Roll

 $15- Charcoal on Art Paper

$10- Watercolor on Watercolor Paper

 

$15- Fabric in Wooden Frame (Includes Frame)

 $10- Oil Paint on Art Paper

$10- Acrylic Paint on Paper Mached Cardstock

Crescent Cinnamon Rolls

Made these easy and delicious cinnamon rolls yesterday.

I buy the crescent rolls on sale for $1(Usually at Aldi)

They're quick, and there's very little clean-up.

Ingredient:

1 tube crescent rolls

1/2 Tb butter

Cinnamon sugar

2 Tb tub butter

3 Tb brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tb milk

1/2 c powdered sugar

*I did not measure anything- these amounts are approximate!*

 Melt butter and wipe around bottom and edges of muffin pan.

 Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

 Divide crescent rolls into four rectangles.

Here's a tip- microwave rolls for 10 seconds to make them more pliable.

Pinch together seams.

Spread with butter.

Divide brown sugar, cinnamon, & vanilla mixture evenly over rolls.

 Rolls up starting with short end.

Cut into thirds.

 Bake 12-14 minutes.

Don't overbake them!

 Mix milk and powdered sugar.

Drizzle over rolls.

 Perfect breakfast for the first snow of the year!

Love Couponing! 37 Items for $37!

If I had to choose my favorite place to coupon it would have to be Hy-Vee.

I find this is the store I go to every single week for great deals.

And I love supporting them, rather than Wal-Mart!

And they take care of their employees, customers and our new store is so nice!

(And now I can save cents off gas for my purchases!)

Here is a haul I did just the other week.

Shopping sales and using coupons got me this haul of 37 items for $37.

It includes:

 Three things of Kemps Frozen Yogurt for $1 each!

On sale for $1.99 plus three $1/1 coupons.

 Six bags of Golden Puffs for $.09 each!

On sale for $.59 plus three $1/2 coupons.

Folgers Gourmet coffee for $3.99!

On sale for $4.99 plus $1/1 coupon.

But it's like I got it for $1 with the average of my trip.

Gerber baby food for FREE!

On sale for $1 each plus two $1/1 coupons.

I find a lot of my coupon match-ups at

PennyPinchinMom.com

She does a wonderful job posting deals for lots of stores including local ones like Hy-Vee and Price Chopper.

 And I store my coupon inserts right by the computer for easy access.

Like when the match-up says I need a coupon from the SS 11/11/12 (Smart Source)

Happy couponing and happy savings!

Time Lapse Pregancy Pictures

I just want to say thank you to my wonderful husband for taking these pictures every four weeks! He is so sweet that he was willing to take them in the same spot, at the same angle so they'd all look the same... guess I can be a little picky sometimes... :D

Fabric Labels, Burp Cloths and Wet Bags!

 Just look at these beautiful tags hot off the press from France! They were just calling out to me to sew them onto something. They need a home, snug in the hem of blankie!

 There's just something magical about seeing your name in print- looks so professional! I'm hoping to work on my crafts for sale now that I'm no longer working full time. And my baby boy has inspired a whole new line of crafts! Not planning on making many dresses or flower headbands right now (might get into that when I have a baby girl). Now in store are cute appliqued burp cloths, chenille blankets, security blankets and tummy time quilts. :D

 

My baby brand is Joe & Sallie. And the story behind this name is that I loved the Mandie series when I was a child. And her two friends we Joe and Sallie- so, being an artist I started tagging my paintings and drawings with two birds in the horizon. I named them Joe and Sallie. As I got older, and more into sewing, I appliqued the birds onto my crafts. And now, Joe and Sallie fit a baby line for both boys and girls!

 

 I even have the care instructions on the back!

 

These burp cloths are ready for their letter applique!

The left burp cloth is Gerber and I don't like it as much.

From now on I'm going with a brand I found at BuyBuy Baby.

And I'm going with a square corner because it looks cleaner.

  

 Also, I made a wet bag! And Levi thinks it's super cool!

 It's lined with PUL fabric so we can put soiled clothes and reusable diapers in it.

And I'll leave you with a sweet picture of my Drool Monster!

Vegan Grilled Asparagus Wraps

    Ok, so I'm not really vegan, and even when I made this today, they ended up not being vegan because of the mayonaise I added in. But I tucked this recipe away in my folder months ago when my husband and I looked into this thing called Forks Over Knives. But at the time I was 8 months pregnant and had no desire to do a complete overhaul of our diet. Maybe one day we'll look into it more, but for now we'll enjoy our meat and animal products- and enjoy some vegan and vegetarian meals thrown into the mix.
    And yes, hello blog world, I'm back! I'm back during the last week of my 12 week maternity leave. This is the week I either do everything I meant to do during my leave or I do nothing but enjoy the last week with my sweet baby boy. I can only imagine that you're wondering why I returned to blogging with a post on a meal I made and not cute pictures of my boy... I don't know why myself. But, they will come. :D
   You might think this recipe and picture look way too healthy but let me assure you that my husband loved it! He kept telling me they were "really, really good" and "one of his top 5 recipes". (Sidenote: I want to do a Top 5 series and might do one on his top 5 favorite meals). I unfortunately halved the recipe so when he wanted seconds there were none...   Following is the original recipe and my version-

Vegan Grilled Asparagus Wraps (Serves 4)
     from VeganCoach.com

• For the Vegan version please see their website.

Roasted Asparagus Wraps
My Version (Serves 2)

1/2 c uncooked quinoa
Sea salt and ground pepper
1 Tb lemon juice
1 tsp dried thyme
2 Tb mayonaise
12 medium asparagus spears (I used frozen)
1/4 vidalia onion, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
1 Tb exra-virgin olive oil
2 tortillas
1/2 c spinach

1. Heat a large skillet. Add quinoa and toast until fragrant, stirring occasionally. Add 1 cup water and stir. Bring to a boil. Cover, and lower heat to a simmer until quinoa is tender and quinoa filaments are visible. Turn off heat, and drain quinoa, if necessary. Stir in lemon juice, mayo, and thyme. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover with lid to keep warm.
2.  Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheet with foil. Place asparagus and onion on foil and spray or drizzle with oil. Roast 10 minutes or until onions have softened.
3. Spread 1/2 of the quinoa over a tortilla. Place some onions and 6 asparagus spears on the quinoa. Top with spinach. Roll each sandwich tightly and cut in half, using wooden skewers or toothpicks to hold together, if needed.

Enjoy!