What to do on a Rainy Day...

Noah and I decided to make some Banana Bread on this wet and dreary day. I found this recipe in one of my Pampered Chef cookbooks.

Peanutty Chocolate Banana Bread

*2 cups all-purpose flour
*1 cup sugar
*1 Tbsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp. salt
*1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium)
*1/3 cup milk
*1/3 cup peanut butter
*3 Tbsp vegetable oil
*1 egg
*1 cup chocolate chips, divided
*1/3 cup peanuts, chopped (I used two packets of chopped peanuts that you get from McDonald's when you order a sundae.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom only of Loaf pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add bananas, milk, peanut butter, oil and egg; stir until just moistened. Stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Spoon batter into pan.

Sprinkle peanuts and remaining chips evenly over batter.

Bake 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. (A full 60 minutes made mine slightly overcooked.) Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Loosen sides and remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely then serve.

Happy 6th Birthday, Carlie!!

We just returned from our Chicago trip to celebrate Carlie's birthday. It may take a few days to get all the highlights posted. As a surprise we had a ladies only lunch at the American Girl Cafe. She said it was her favorite part of the trip. Glad to hear that!! My friend, Nancy, and her daughter, Brooke, still came despite just recovering from the stomach flu. It was great to see her again and finally see Brooke in person rather than just 3 years of photos. Grammy and Pawpaw R. came up with us. And, Grammy D. and Buddy drove up from Lexington to join us as well. The boys all ate at McDonalds.

If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. It is definitely very fancy & girly. The pampering for the dolls is never ending. The store has a doll hair salon, photo studio, and more clothing choices than I have in my closet. Lucy got her own chair at the table as well as a porcelain dinner plate and cup. And, if you don't have your own American Girl or Bitty Baby, they will provide one for you to dine with.

The meal was delicious. They start you out with cinnamon rolls, then bring out a tray of carrots, cucumbers and cheese pastry puffs with a variety of dips. You can select from about 8 different entrees. I had the chicken panini. It was fabulous. Finally, each person gets a dessert tray with a butterfly cookie, a chocolate mousse flower pot, and mini piece of cake. A great treat well worth the price.

Birthday Girl

Me & C.

The Grammys

Lucy joined us as well. Carlie made her the "L-U-C-Y" necklace she is wearing.

The picture of Nancy and I did not turn out, but she was there too. Great to see you again, Nancy!!

The Price to Be Hairless

Noah and I just returned from Costco to pick up a few things. I needed some new razors among other things. It's obviously been awhile since I have purchased razors because I had complete sticker shock. Twelve razors were $20.99. Yikes!! (yes, I realize I could have probably gotten the Bic one blade for less, but those things are like taking a machete to your legs. Yow!) I guess they will last a whole year, but that is over $1.00/month to have smooth legs. I wonder if it's worth it. My nephew went like 3 or 4 months without shaving his face and looked like a nut job Berkeley professor. Maybe I should do that to save a little green. I am part German, you know. Hmmmm...shave or don't shave??

Get Over Yourself

Seriously? Lindsay Lohan is suing E-trade for $100 million because she claims the latest baby ad is making fun of HER. Honestly, get over yourself. I have seen that ad so many times, laugh every single time, and not once do I think it is about Lindsay Lohan.

"Many celebrities are known by one name only, and E-Trade is using that knowledge to profit," Lohan's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said in a statement to the New York Post. "They're using her name as a parody of her life. Why didn't they use the name Susan? This is a subliminal message. Everybody's talking about it and saying it's Lindsay Lohan."

This is such a joke and needs to be thrown out of court. Maybe Tiger Woods should sue E-trade for the hilarious "Shankapotamous" golf ad because it is clearly about him. Whatever. Here's the "milkaholic" ad if you've never seen it...

Spring Cleaning

We've been doing a little spring cleaning this weekend. I'm not sure how much progress we are making. Yesterday, I made a pretty potent mix of bug spray to hopefully rid all of the Asian beetles or whatever they are that somehow find their way in through our kitchen windows. Another dose to come today. If I continue to see them, not sure what I will do.

I also face the dilemma of whether to get out the spring clothes or not. Once I do, I'm sure the temperatures will plummet. Maybe a few for now. I also HAVE to get the basement carpets shampooed this week before my mom returns next week and takes her steam cleaner back. Fixing chicken and noodles for dinner. Just have to finish picking apart the chicken, then boil the noodles. Laundry and ironing. Whew, busy day. I better get to work. All this while trying to get in a little NCAA hoops action today.

Photo from Flickr

What Would People Do?

Our current session of Financial Peace University has been going for five weeks now. We are hoping for some major life changes once again. There are 61 people in our class. About half are married couples. The total debt for the class (not including mortgages) is over $1 million!! Yes, I said $1,000,000. And, again, does not include mortgages. That's an average of $22,000/household of student loans, car payments, credit card debt, furniture payments, home equity loan, etc. What a heavy chain to be carrying around.

I started reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey so I could use it to supplement what we were studying in class. I'm already finished. It gives real examples of people who have been in financial bondage and were able to break the chains of debt and are now living financially free. I think I need to go on a crusade to get this stuff taught in every junior high and high school in the country to rid everyone from their sick entitlement mentality.

Anyway, something to ponder for the weekend that is an excerpt from the book...

"What would people do if they didn't have any payments? They would save and they would spend, not support banks. Spending by debt-free people would support and prosper the economy. The economy would be much more stable without the tidal waves caused by "consumer confidence" or the lack thereof. (Consumer confidence is that thing economists use to measure how much you will overspend due to your being giddy about how great the economy is, never taking into consideration that you are going deeply into debt. If the consumer were out of debt and living within his means, the confidence he would have would be well founded.)

Saving and investing would cause wealth to be built at an unprecedented level, which would create more stability and spending. Giving would increase, and many social problems would be privatized; thus, the government could get out of the welfare business. Then taxes could come down, and we would have even more wealth. Those who are worried about polarization, the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, need not look to government to solve the problem; just call for a national Total Money Makeover."

It's March...

...LET THE MADNESS BEGIN!!!!!

Maybe if you're lucky I'll give you 5 reasons to be very wary of picking Rock Chalk, Jayhawk to go all way as well as 5 reasons you should pick Rock Chalk, Jayhawk. This will be a very exciting tourney!!