*Success*

I reached my 10 lb weight loss goal, and I wanted to celebrate. In our family, celebrations normally involve going out to eat or deserts or treats... so I decided (in following with my endeavor to be healthier) my treat would be none of the above. Instead... FABRIC! Hehe - I think I'm starting to really love this new world of sewing and quilting...

I have wanted to make (not that I have time with all my classes, exams, and work schedule) a christmas table runner or small project, and I chose "12 days of Christmas". I LOVE LOVE LOVE the little ice skaters on the pond. Hopefully I will be able to make something to sort of showcase them... they're so cute.

And the second material I chose was this cute strawberry print from the "Meadowsweet" line of fabric. I loved all the floral patterns in the line, but fabric is sorta *expensive*, so I chose just the strawberries. Another project... another day... but I would love to make a red and baby blue quilt. Not quite colors you would expect to go together, but this strawberry print works well, doesn't it? I love it! It reminds me of the strawberry collection my mom had when I was growing up.

I'll keep you posted on any progress... may have to wait until Thanksgiving and/or Christmas break to get any real work done, but we'll see!

My new best friend...

Meet my new friend "Gogo"! Haha, yes I have named my exercise bike... after all we've become very well acquainted. This Fall I am *determined* to get in better shape. Because I go to school and work more than part time, I find it hard to make it into the campus gym for a workout. Add in very cold Montana temperatures and lots of winter snow, and it makes it hard to want to go out either in the morning before class or in the evening after work.

Enter my brilliant plan.

I went searching for a recumbant exercise bike. Recumbant because they are a little easier on the joints and I knew I would be more likely to use it. We still happen to have an old KMart here and just by chance went in to see if they had bikes. Not only did they have this bike... but it was marked down 75% off! A $250 bike for $60 something. Woo!! It was meant to be!!

The seat is the only complaint... it's a little hard on the backside, so I added a nice pink pillow. Haha - does the job! And my pink exercise ball in the background is good for warmup - you just bounce up and down on it for 5 minutes to get the blood pumping.

The results: 3 weeks and 5 lbs lost! Woo Woo!! My total weight loss is tracked at the bottom of this blog. Now that y'all know and I've drawn your attention to it, I have to stick with it! :-)

The Best Ever Banana Blueberry Muffins!

The inspiration for this recipe came from http://simplyrecipes.com/. They have a recipe called banana nut muffins which I used and added to. My husband doesn't like nuts in baked goods, so I knew those were out... and I've always loved blueberry muffins, so inspiration struck. Mix blueberries with the banana bread.... and it was DELICIOUS!! Try it! (I also made another version with chocolate chips added instead of blueberries)

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tps baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions:

No need for a mixer with this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.

Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and/or blueberries.

Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin . Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin.

Makes 12 muffins.