Easy tasty Weight Watchers friendly Fruit Smoothie

Sorry I've been a little MIA recently- work has been CRAZY, and I was on vacation with my mom to a Stampin' Up! getaway (I'll share the projects from that later). In the meantime, I'll show you a recipe of a smoothie I've been loving lately.
I've been trying to get back on the wagon of Weight Watchers to try and loose the holiday weight and get back down to my goal weight. The hardest thing I've always found with Weight Watchers is getting enough fruit in my diet. The other night I was craving a smoothie, so I decided to try to concoct a very fruity smoothie that was Weight Watchers friendly- the lower the points the better.

I  made this smoothie filled with lots of fruit, as to get just the right amount of fruit needed per day. This smoothie is roughly 1 1/2 weight watchers points plus a smoothie (one blender makes 2 smoothies), so if you are really in a smoothie kick, it's only 3 weight watchers points plus for 2!
This past week I think I've had a smoothie everyday after this, as I just can't get enough and it gets me my necessary fruit for the day. ;)
Enjoy this super easy and tasty fruit smoothie!

Mo's Fruity Fun Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of ice
• 2 bananas
• 4-6 oz (or 1 snack container) of Light Fit strawberry yogurt
• 1-1 1/2 cups of frozen mangoes
• 1/4 can (or 2.4 fl oz) Goya mango juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp orange extract

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a blender, blend for ice to be chopped well into smoothie. Pour into glass and tada!

1 blender full makes 2 smoothies at roughly 3 Weight Watchers Points Plus (depending on the yogurt and goya juice you use). It is super easy and tasty!
So I hope you all have a great day! I'm praying for more warm weather, so I can enjoy my smoothies outside. ;)
-M

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Favorites Friday: Entertaining evenings

Welcome to another Favorites Friday! This week it is all about the entertainment factor.

1. Rita's Italian Water Ice Strawberry Starburst flavor: So once a week a co-worker goes on a "rita's run" for the rest of us, and this past week I saw they had the Starburst strawberry flavor. I tried a kid's size (which was certainly enough sugar for me) and I just adored it! I LOVE Starburst, so the fact that they had an italian ice in that flavor- awesome!

2. Super 8: I watched this on Netflix a few days ago, and I'm surprised I never saw it when it came out in 2011. I actually really enjoyed it and I think the child actors in it were superb.

3. Cabin in the Woods: Another movie on Netflix (watched with the hubs) a few days ago, and I can't believe no one ruined it for me. So often with horror films do friends ruin the ending, so I was glad that no one talked about the end. I thought it was a well done movie- even the hubs enjoyed it!

4. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy beer: I tried this at our friend's 4th of July bbq, and then unknowingly had it again yesterday when out to eat at a restaurant with friends (I had ordered a different beer, hubs ordered this- I tried both and decided I liked his better, so we swapped). When I went and looked it up, sure enough, it was the same drink I had at our friend's house! That means it goes on my "now order" list. lol

5. Syfy's Defiance: The hubs and I just recently started watching this via Hulu (to catch up) and I like it. I'm kind of a Syfy nerd, so it is right up my ally. The main 2 characters are awesome, and the different races are very unique. Love it!

How is your Friday going?

Have a great weekend!

-M

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Blogiversary Totally Tuesday Link up Wrap up

I just want to thank all of you who participated in my 5th Blogiversary Totally Tuesday Link Party!
We had some AWESOME link ups!

Here's some of my FAVS:

 I just ADORE these pizza sandwiches from Britany (of 32 Turns). Why have I never thought to do that? (Now I know, and will certainly try it!)

Source: http://32turns.com/pizza-sandwiches/

 This Cheer Party from Uncommon Designs is so cute! I would of LOVED to have a party like this when I was a cheerleader back in Middle School thru my first 2 years of college. (I know, I was a cheerleader, hard to believe. lol).

Source: http://www.uncommondesignsonline.com/cheer-party-peace-love-cheer/

Little Accident's in the Kitchen's Strawberry Oreo Prinsesstrata looks SO yummy! I love oreos, so this is right up my alley. hehe

Source: http://littleaccidentsinthekitchen.blogspot.sg/2013/05/strawberry-oreo-prinsesstarta.html

And I really dig this Boho Chic Style Tween Room makeover by I Dream of Jeanne Designs. The colors are beautiful and I just love everything from the floors to incorporating the existing flower chandelier!

Source: http://www.idreamofjeannedesigns.com/2013/05/boho-chic-style-tween-bedroom-makeover.html

There was so many other great links shared,
including but not limited to:

I Got This Martha's S'mores on the Grill.

Kathe With an E's Garden Bench.

The Rookie Cook's Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream.

The Thriftiness Miss' Laid Back Bachelorette Party.

Michelle Paige's Adult Cupcake Party.

The Tip Toe Fairy Easy Caramel Sauce. 

... and many other great links!
To view all the other links shared at the Blogiversary Link Party, check them out here.

Thanks so much all for sharing your awesome projects, recipes, parties, etc. It was so fun to check them all out.
Have a great day, and keep your eyes open for the next Totally Tuesday Link Party, that will go live Tuesday June 25th!
Hugs!
-M

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Banana so-called ice cream

So my hubs and I have been scouring the internet for a healthier alternative to ice cream. We came across a recipe for "banana faux ice cream", aka. 2 ingredient ice cream.
After some trial and error, we came to this recipe for the "So-called Banana ice cream".

This is the strawberry-banana variation. So my hubs enjoyed this so much, that he went out and purchased more bananas to try new flavors. haha

Ingredients:

• 4 bananas (2 sliced and frozen, 2 sliced but NOT frozen)
• 2-4 ounces of your "flavor" (see below)

Flavors variations: 

• strawberry jam
• peanut butter (some honey with the peanut butter probably is a lot better tasting than straight up pb & bananas)
• chocolate syrup
• mangoes (we used the frozen mangoes, and if you use this one, use 8 ounces of frozen mangoes)
• caramel
•  honey

Instructions:
Slice up 2 bananas, then stick them in the freezer. After about an hour or so, slice up 2 more bananas and take the frozen ones out of the freezer. Throw all of the bananas (frozen and not frozen) into the blender. Add your "flavor" to the blender mixer and mix till consistency of a think milkshake. Then freeze for another 1-2 hours (or longer). Now you have the "So-called Banana ice cream."

So far my favorite was the banana/mango- as it was more of a sorbet than an ice cream. Most of these are more of that way, and not really "creamy" like most ice creams are, since there is no real milk involved. However this is a GREAT alternative to ice cream for those who are lactose or who are on Weight Watchers (bananas are zero points all!).
Have a happy day all!
-M

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Moscato Cupcakes

So my husband loves to cook (crazy, I know). I came across the original recipe for this on Pinterest by Brooke Bakes, but we decided to tweak it a little bit. They don't look all that special, but they taste AMAZING!!!

You see, my favorite type of wine of all time is Moscato. I love it! 
Below is my favorite brand kind of Moscato- Elmo Pio Piemonte Moscato from Italy, though Barefoot Wine's Moscato is good too.

We had a friend's dinner party we were invited to and decided to make these Moscato cupcakes with Moscato cream cheese icing. They were such a hit- everyone was raving about it. My hubs posted it on his foodie site, but since he doesn't blog much, I thought I'd post it up here too. The same recipe should be a good cake if you prefer cakes (he made a White Zinfandel cake for Super Bowl with a similar recipe).

Moscato Cupcakes

Ingredients for cupcakes:
2 and 1/2 Cups Flour
1 and 1/4 Cups White Sugar
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Cup Moscato Wine
3/4 Cup Non-Skimmed Milk (I usually use skim milk for most cooking, for this one you need to use a thicker dairy product, light cream, buttermilk, and whole milk all work fantastic)
2 Large Eggs
1.5 TSP Baking Soda
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP White Vinegar

Ingredients for icing:
1 Cup Confectionery Sugar
6-8 ounces of cream cheese (If you want you can substitute half the cream cheese with butter)
1/2 Cup Moscato
1 TSP Vanilla Extract

Recipe:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: Mix all ingredients together by hand. I personally prefer to mix all dry ingredients together first before adding in wet ingredients. Note: Optional for both or either: A dash of food coloring or grenadine to give the cupcakes some color.

Step 3: Bake for 10-15 Minutes, or however long you think for them to be done.

Step 4: While letting cupcakes cool, create Icing.

Step 5: Whip icing ingredients together in a bowl. The add icing to cooled cupcakes. We put in a bag and cut the tip to squirt it out, but you can just spread it on with a knife if you want.

Step 6: Enjoy!

WARNING: Because you never bake the Icing these cupcakes will remain Alcoholic, just remember that, while 1/2 Cup of Moscato divided among however many cupcakes you make is doubtful to get any adults drunk, keep this in mind around children, etc.


These were such a hit. Everyone raved that the flavor was amazing. So I hope you all enjoy it and try making some yourself!
-M

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Digiments July Release preview

Here is a quick preview of some of the fun Digiments to be released this July Release come the 18th! They go on sale that Saturday morning: 24 Digiments for $10.One of the sets is "Sistah!" It's perfect for those cardmakers who are in secret sister swaps or have a friend or sister you just want to give a shout out to. :)

I have these great chipboard letters and fruit chipboard that I really wanted to use on a card, and this is it. I had fun stamping the design with pink on pink too! It's a kinda simple card, but fruity too!

Say tuned for more fun, check out the other design team member's blogs (links on my left sidebar) for more previews and make sure you check out the Digiments blog the rest of this week. There is a fun contest going on over there right now- check it out here!
Stay tuned for more fun!
Enjoy all!
-M

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