High Five for Friday

I am linking up for the first time with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk  today for High Five for Friday:

1. My new Essie watermelon nail polish.  It may be a little bright, but I thought it was perfect for summer!  I'm in love.

2. This pop of yellow in my kitchen.  I smile every time I walk by.

3. As soon as I heard about the show Dance Moms last year, I decided I wasn't going to start watching because I heard about how addicting it was, and knew I'd get hooked.  However, on Tuesday I was making dozens of rolled fabric flowers for some projects I'm working on, and thought it would break up the monotony if I turned on the TV.  I saw that a marathon of Dance Moms was on, and thought I could just put it on in the background and I'd be fine.  Umm, big mistake!  It took all of about 5 minutes before I knew I was completely hooked for life.  I spent my day parked in front of the TV, armed with my glue gun and yards of fabric sprawled around me, drinking in every moment while I worked.  It was ridiculous.  But I loved it. It's kind of fun that the whole thing is basically right in my backyard too, in Pittsburgh, PA and Canton, OH.  Maybe my girl(s) will someday be part of the Abby Lee Dance Company!  Just kidding...I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy!

4. Sugar free chocolate chips.  Where have these been all my life?  They are the first chocolate I've had in 6 weeks, and totally worth the wait.  

5. It's church-league softball season!  Which means I get to watch Luke play softball, and it also means a fun social hour for me at least once a week.  But more importantly, it means that it's officially summertime!

And those are 5 highlights from my week!  Happy weekend, friends!

Peach Popsicles

I guess I didn't get enough of the strawberry pineapple popsicles I made last week. I ate those way too quickly!  But at 20 calories apiece, it was okay that I ate  more than one each day!  I fell so in love with them, I decided to make peach popsicles once they were gone.

I started with about 10 peaches.  I bought mine in a pack at Aldi's for some ridiculously low price.

And then I cut them and blanched them so the skin would peel right off. (i.e. I dropped them in a pot of boiling water for about 20 seconds, then transferred them to ice water right away, and the skin practically fell off).   Is it common knowledge to blanch peaches to get the skin off?  Because I had to google it.  Either way, it worked like a charm.

Then I threw them in the blender with a packet of Stevia sweetener

And blended them until liquefied.  I poured them in my popsicle molds, and froze them for about 4 hours.  

And voila:

Seriously guys, I know this isn't rocket science.  But I had never made my own popsicles before, and they are rocking my world!  They're so good!  And the fact that they're made with real fruit instead of fruit juice makes them like frozen smoothies, and they are unlike any store-bought popsicles I've ever eaten.  

Oh yeah, and these peach popsicles come in at 48 calories apiece, which is not bad at all for a snack!  

Once you make these, if you're lucky you'll have a tiny little bit of peach juice left.  Throw in a few strawberries, blend it together, and you've got the most delicious peach strawberry smoothie ever.  

I cannot believe that just two months ago, I didn't qualify myself as a "fruit person."  A lot changes when you start eating healthy!  I could not live without fruit now!

Carb-Free Pizza Crust

My mom and I, while doing the Prism Diet, keep saying that giving up wheat has been a breeze.  We don't miss bread or pasta or even chips.  There is only one thing that's been really hard to give up...

Pizza.

I've been dying for some pizza!  To be fair, in about a week we enter phase two of the Prism Diet, which means we are allowed to eat whole wheat flour.  So if I could have just held out a few more days, I could have satisfied my craving. 

But what can I say?  Sometimes a girl just needs her pizza!  

I had picked up a recipe for carb-free pizza crust at one of our Prism meetings.  On Friday night I decided I just couldn't wait any longer, and that I was going to try this crazy pizza dough concoction. I have no clue where the recipe came from, so I don't know who to credit!  But I'm going to commit a blogger faux-pas and post the recipe anyway.  It was that good.  

**Please be forewarned that the texture of the crust was not the same as normal pizza crust.  But if you're trying to avoid the poison that is white enriched flour, this was a darn good substitute.  The crust was soft on the inside and very thin, but I still thought it was delicious and it totally satisfied my pizza craving. 

(We won't talk about the fact that I had horrible stomach cramps afterward because of the amount of cheese in this recipe.  I knew I would be sick afterwards because of my milk sensitivity, but I was so hungry for pizza, I was willing to sacrifice feeling well for the night.  I know, I know...that's just sad!)

No Carb Pizza Crust:

Serves: 8

Calories: 210 per slice (this includes Ragu pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and 1 slice of pepperoni)  

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese (room temp)

2 eggs

black pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Butter a 9x13 baking dish

3. Blend cream cheese and eggs and season with pepper and garlic powder.  Add Parmesan cheese and stir until combined.  Pour into buttered baking dish.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

5. Raise oven to 400 degrees F once the crust is out. Let the crust cool for 10 minutes. Then add desired toppings.

6. Bake for 8 more minutes until cheese is bubbly.

***

Like I said, it was yummy.  Here is a picture of the "crust" before I put it in the oven.  Weird, right?

The finished product.  See?  Looks like real pizza crust!

If you're trying to avoid wheat like I am, make this next time you're craving pizza!

**Just take note that there are quite a few calories in this pizza, so eat it in moderation!  I had 2 slices last night and it totally satisfied me.  I couldn't afford anymore calories than that in 1 meal!

DIY Plant Markers

I have a little herb garden out on my porch.  The other day I put some boring plant markers in, and called it a day.

But then I this happened...

I found these adorable alphabet stamps at Walmart for $.97!  I fell in love immediately, and knew I had to figure out a project for them, ASAP.

The next day, inspiration struck:  I could use them to make revamped plant markers!  

I used popsicle sticks and put a thin coat of white paint on them first.  then I used my little letter stamps to label them.

I kind of love the finished product

$.97, and these silly little letter stamps are my new favorite things!  I can't wait to figure out what to use them for next!

Miscellaneous Monday

A few miscellaneous facts on a Monday:

• I think I check my Instagram feed 8 billion times a day.  Seriously, it's the first thing I do every time I pick up my phone.  It is my absolute favorite social media app.  I love being able to see simple moments from my friends' days!  And I love documenting my own little life through snapshots.  Follow me, and I will follow you back! - jessicaw1106
• I've been wanting to watch the movie 500 Days of Summer for a really long time.  And this weekend I realized I still had $3 left on an Amazon gift card from Christmas time.  I downloaded the movie for 48 hours for $2.99 on my Kindle Fire, so it worked out perfectly!  I settled in and watched it Friday night and loved it!  It was really cute and sweet, and not the typical rom-com, which I appreciated.  I'm sure there are lots of different opinions about the ending, but I thought it was perfect!  And my favorite part was the Ikea scene...too cute!  Zooey Deschanel is my favorite actress, and I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so this movie was basically made of win. 

• My mom put together some hanging baskets for me, and I put them up yesterday.  I think they make the place look so welcoming!  I can't wait until they fill out more, and start spilling over the sides of the baskets.

• I am really sad that all my shows are done for the season (Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, Revenge, Modern Family, Parks and Rec, The Office, and Big Bang Theory.  Yes, we watch a lot of TV around here).  However, there are a few shows this summer that I'm excited about: Food Network Star, The Glee Project, So You Think You Can Dance, and my guilty pleasure: Teen Mom.  And of course, Mad Men and Dawson's Creek reruns on Netflix.  What shows are you looking forward to this summer?
• This past weekend was pretty great.  In a nutshell, it included: a movie, sleeping in, more popsicles, reading on the porch, a Mexican Train night at my mother-in-law's, great church service, Chipotle where we ran into friends, and a big get-together where I saw lots of old friends.  I love weekends.  

Happy Monday!

Strawberry-Pineapple Popsicles

{I finally updated my blog a little after my background became corrupted a few weeks ago.  So stop by if you're reading through Google Reader!}

Since I'm not eating refined white sugar right now, fruit is how I satisfy my sweet tooth.  I went grocery shopping on Wednesday, and let's just say I must have been craving something sweet, because before I knew what had happened, I had a cart full of fruit.  Strawberries, grapes, peaches, pineapples, watermelon...obviously more than one person needs for a week!

I've been loving it, though!  whenever I'm hungry for a little snack during the day, I've got plenty of fruit to choose from.

Anyway, on Thursday I found myself at Walmart.  I stumbled upon these colorful popsicle molds for $1.  I knew I had to have them, and immediately set to work making popsicles when I got home.

It was very simple.  I just used a couple of the fruits I had on hand from Wednesday's crazy shopping spree.

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They were so refreshing!  Everything I wanted and so. much. more! It would have made a perfect smoothie too, but I wanted something a little colder than that. 

Here are the specifics:

Serves: 8

Calories: 19 per popsicle (!!) 

Cut 1/2 a pineapple and 8 strawberries into bite-sized pieces.  add 1 packet Stevia sweetener and blend it all until liquefied.  Freeze in popsicle molds overnight.  

(Tip: to get the popsicles out in one piece, submerge the molds in hot water for 10-20 seconds, and then squeeze the plastic so the popsicle doesn't cling to the side.  They should slide right out!)

Couldn't be simpler, right?  I know I'll be making more of these throughout the summer to bring to the pool or to enjoy out on the porch on humid evenings. 

Now if I can get my picky husband to fall in love with these like I have, it will be the perfect snack!

Finally, Color!

One huge blessing that comes with living in the first floor apartment of our house is that we have the huge porch and close access to the landscaping now.  When we had renters down here, I always felt a bit weird working right in front of the porch, even though we do own the house and needed to work on the landscaping.  It is just much more comfortable now.

A few weeks ago we had finished the landscaping of the house for the summer...but it was not very colorful.  We had transplanted some Day Lilies, but with the high temperatures and no rain, they didn't make it.  Luckily with Luke working in the parks/landscaping business, he has a lot of connections where we can find cheap (or sometimes even free) plants.  So this past week we were able to add some more color to our landscaping on a very low budget. 

 I have really enjoyed getting my hands dirty and working outside this spring!

On the bottom left you can see part of my little herb garden which only contains Stevia and Cilantro right now.  I used popsicle sticks to label the plants.  

Our roses have really taken off!  I love that they're different colors.  

I'm so excited to keep our house looking nice on the outside this year.  I feel that part of my "calling" as a wife is to turn our house into a home, and I am so blessed that it has become so much easier and more convenient now that we live on the first floor!  Not only is it easier to work on the landscaping, but it is also smaller and more open on the inside, making it much easier to clean!  Honestly, we just had too much space on the top two floors before, and it was hard to keep up with the mess, even with just two of us!  Anyway, moving into the downstairs apartment has been a huge blessing, and I continue to love it!