RECIPE: Heather's Banana-Blueberry Breakfast Protein Shake

Since trying to lose weight through exercise and better eating, I've gotten into making shakes for breakfast many mornings. This is one I made the other day that was really good:

Banana-Blueberry Breakfast Protein Shake

8 oz almond milk
2 scoops Curves vanilla protein shake powder
1 scoop vanilla Instant pudding mix
1/2 banana
1/2 cup blueberries


Directions:

Combine ingredients in blender and process until smooth. Makes 2 servings.

RECIPE: Homemade Hot Chocolate

The colder weather down here in Florida has gotten me craving hot chocolate. And it got me thinking about what real hot chocolate is, and how I've never made "real" hot chocolate before. So, after receiving my new Emeril saucepan in the mail (which was purchased using a gift code that I won in a giveaway)...

...I decided to break it in by making my first batch of hot chocolate.

During a trip to the grocery store today, I bought some semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips and milk. After coming home, I did a little research on how homemade hot chocolate is made, and only one recipe I found had actual chocolate! Most had powdered cocoa. The one with chocolate included a beaten egg (uh...isn't that "egg nog"?) So I had to come up with my own recipe. So this is what I did:

Homemade Hot Chocolate

1 pint of reduced-fat milk
1/3-1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbs sugar
Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
Whipped Cream

Directions:

• Pour milk into saucepan and add chocolate. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, as chocolate slowly melts while milk heats.

• After chocolate seems to be melted and milk thoroughly heated, add a sprinkle of cayenne and mix well.
• Pour into two mugs, and top with whipped cream. You could drizzle the whipped cream with chocolate syrup or a sprinkle of cocoa.

Mmmmmmm good! This is a keeper as a treat for cold winter nights!

Also today: I had a knob break off of drawer, and we went today to look for a replacement. I thought I might get all new hardware, but didn't want to get too costly. I found a couple of pulls that were affordable and which I thought might go nicely with my white cabinets, and decided to try them out and see how I liked them.

This is what I have now...

...and these are the new pulls...

I'm thinking that I like them! The color goes nicely with the tile in the kitchen. So I'll be buying more for the rest of the kitchen today.

Now go make hot chocolate! Do it quick! Do it now!

SuperBowl Cocktails

Crunchy Chicken blogged recently about how she utilized some aging citrus by juicing the fruit and turning them into cocktails.

I remembered that I had a bag of citrus in the frig that my mother gave me before I had to go out of town, and thought that this might be a good way for me to use up these tangerines and oranges before I had to throw them all out.


So today, while I made chili and cornbread for dinner, I had myself a SuperBowl Cocktail.

First I juiced the citrus.


Then I mixed the fresh juice with half a serving of pineapple juice and rum. Yum!

Ruby Relaxed Into a Stupor

Tonight we decided to have dinner out, since I have some restaurant gift cards from Christmas. So off we headed to Ruby Tuesday's. I had a nice dinner of Chicken Fresco (chicken breast with vine-ripened tomatoes, lemon-butter sauce and a splash of balsamic), garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli and salad bar. I still have half of my dinner for tomorrow.

To top it all off, I had a Ruby Relaxer, which knocked me on my boo-tay! I fell in love with the Ruby Relaxer years ago, and have made them at home many times before.

Ruby Relaxer

1 shot of Skyy Spiced Vodka or Absolut Mandarin Vodka
1 shot Bacardi Coconut Rum
1 shot of Peach Schnapps
1 small can of pineapple juice
Splash of cranberry juice

Pour vodka, rum and schnapps in a glass. Mix in the pineapple juice, and use a little cranberry to color it "ruby". Add ice.


This drink can relax me like nothing else! ...snore...