King Cake Smoothies!!! And some other stuff I wanted to talk about.

Hello Everyone!
Oh my gosh, I haven't blogged in so long and I feel like I have so many things I want to tell you about, crafts I want to share with you and new recipe ideas to cook, that I don't know where to begin.  So, I am just going to start with some awesome things I have seen lately, and then I will move on to my recipe for a King Cake Smoothie!

First, I realize that I have been derelict in not showing pictures of my newest family member.  In December, my husband and I "rescued" a puppy.  He was a true Christmas baby and turned one year old on December 26th.  At first, he wasn't sure how to snuggle, but once he figured it out, he took to it like a pro and has now become one of my most snuggly babies. So, happy readers, please meet Morris, otherwise know as Moss or Moss the Hoss.

Part of the reason why I have not been consistently blogging in 2017 is because my husband and I were both cast in plays at Theatre Baton Rouge.  So we have almost constantly been in rehearsals most nights since December and will continue to do so until April.  At that time, we are taking a break and taking time to do the things that we enjoy that get put on the back burner when you have shows that you are doing.  And I will probably be able to get back to a more regular schedule for blog posts.
But, don't worry! It hasn't been all work and no play, my husband and I did take the time last week-end, during a four hour window  of free time that we had, to go brunch and look at a house for sale in the area. No, we are not in the market for a house, we love our house, but a friend told us about this listing and assured us that it should not be missed.
Oh my gosh!!!!  This house was amazing! It was built in the 60's and hasn't really been renovated since it was built.  The previous owners had just kept everything as pristine and true to period as possible.  Walking into this house was like stepping into a time machine and, if it would have been furnished, I would have genuinely paid to take a tour of the place.  There were several things that made me swoon, but there were three items in the house that practically had me fainting with delight.
     1.  The aqua tiles in the bathrooms.  I love these!!!  I really want to see if I can do something like this as a back splash in my kitchen.  So far I have only found glass tiles in this color, but I will not give up.

I must have something like these tiles in my life.

2.  The Murphy Kitchen!!!  I adore these but I have never actually seen one in person.  This Murphy kitchen was put in the pool house and is an idea I just may have to steal when my husband and I start creating our backyard oasis.  If you haven't ever seen Murphy kitchens they are amazing.  They have a sink, stove top, oven, cabinets and refrigerator all in one wall unit and take up the space of about one large closet.  In short, they have everything a kitchen could need if you have very limited space in your living area.  I love them and wish they would come back in style.

This one is the one in the house and it is missing a door.  I would find a replacement door and would probably save and spend the bucks to have a professional came and paint it white or aqua.  The refrigerator is under the stove top and the oven is under the sink!

3.  The drop down shower!
Everyone's heard of drop down living rooms, but I bet very few of us have heard or seen  drop down showers.  This is my husband in the shower envying the sheer amount of space you would have to get clean.  And don't you love the art deco railing?  This railing was an element found throughout the house and tied   a lot of the rooms throughout the house to one another.

I could go on and on about this house, but I have some other things to share.

In January, I sat down and did a rough outline of things that I want to blog about this year and things that I want to accomplish for the year.  I try not to make New Resolutions.  I prefer to make New Year's Goals. Last year, my goals were to start this blog, and to try to learn one new skill.  I am so happy to admit I succeeded with both of these goals.  This year, my New Year's Goals are as follows:
    1.  Make my blog easier to navigate so y'all can more easily find any recipes or craft projects that you are interested in.
    2.  Finish painting the trim and detail work in my house and finish the pub library.
    3.  Take one class to learn a new craft or skill.
    4.  Learn how to make soap and bar shampoo and other homemade skin care and cosmetics.
    5.  Find and create more delicious vegetable recipes to eat healthier throughout the year.
I have some others that I want to try to implement, such as flossing more regularly, but these are my must do five.
I am going to document what I find out and learn as I try to implement these items, so don't be surprised if I share some of my failures as well as my triumphs.

Now, on to the food!

A staple of Mardi Gras, other than beads, floats and parades, is King Cake.  In January, we actually have a king cake day.  Bakeries all over the state are kept busy making these delicious cakes, and, for the cakes that are notorious for being extra special delicious, you can wait in line and go into the bakery every day for a week and still not get the flavor of king cake that you are wanting.
I'm not going to lie, in Louisiana it is hard to get back to eating responsibly as soon as the rest of the nation. Don't believe me?  Let me break it down, we have Halloween (Candy), Thanksgiving (All of the Food Ever), Christmas (Cookies, Fruit Cake, Mulled Wine), and then Mardi Gras (King Cakes and Mardi Gras Balls).  This makes it next to impossible to be good.  So, to help myself stay on track, I have created this King Cake Smoothie Recipe!

King Cake Smoothie

I wish I could say that I came up with this delicious idea first, but the sad truth is, I did not. I saw that Smoothie King had a King Cake Smoothie and that it was good. 

I did not take this picture.  I am sorry to whomever I am not giving credit too, but I could not find any information when I found this picture about who took it,

But I thought that I could make one just as good or better at home,  After several test runs, this is the version that I decided was the best.  I have even had the cast of Theatre Baton Rouge's A Few Good Men taste test it for me and they all agreed that it was delicious and even smelled like king cake.

As always with my smoothie recipes, these ingredients are more like guidelines, if you want to change the amounts to suit your personal tastes, do it!  I find it is very hard to mess up a smoothie, so don't be afraid to experiment.

Ingredients

Note:  The amounts listed below are enough to make one smoothie in a small blender.  I like to use my bullet blender, as this makes the perfect amount and I don't have to pour what I make into another cup unless I want to.

I forgot to add pure maple syrup to this picture, but I do use it in my recipe.

1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt

1/2 to 3/4 cup vanilla almond milk

1/2 -1 whole frozen banana  (this depends on the size of your banana, if the bananas are small you may use two bananas, I know I have)

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. almond extract (sometimes I put more, it depends on the mood I am in)

1/2 tsp. - 1tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. pure maple syrup (or more to taste)

Instructions

1.  Freeze your bananas.  I cut up my banana into to coins and put them between two layers of wax paper and put them in the freezer.  Let them freeze over night.  If you are not planning to use your bananas immediately, put them in an airtight container after they are frozen and keep them in the freezer.

2.  Put all ingredients in your blender and blend until ingredients are smooth and become the consistency of a firm milk shake.  Taste.  At this time you may want to add more milk, yogurt, almond extract, cinnamon or maple syrup to suit your taste.  DO IT!!!  The fluidity of the ingredients in smoothies is one of the things that makes them so awesome.  

This smoothie is so good, you will feel like you are being bad.  But you aren't!

That is all for this post.  Since I have the next few days off, I am going to try to get another couple of Mardi Gras posts up,  including instructions on how to make this Mardi Gras Bead wreath for under $15.00!

I may remove the Endymion beads from my wreath, I haven't decided yet.

I hope you enjoyed this post and Happy Mardi Gras everyone!