This is a favorite family recipe! We have it almost every Mother's Day as a special treat.

Almond-Cream Strawberries

2 pints large strawberries

1 3-3/4-ounce package vanilla-flavor instant pudding and pie filling

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy or whipping cream, whipped

1 teaspoon almond extract

1) Cut stem ends of strawberries. Cut a deep "X" in the tip of each berry and gently spread apart to make petals; set aside.

2) Prepare instant pudding as label directs EXCEPT use only 1 cup of milk. With wire whisk or rubber spatula, gently fold whipped cream and almond extract into prepared instant pudding.

3) Spoon cream mixture into a decorative bag with large writing tube. Pie cream into strawberries. Refrigerate if not serving right away.

Approx. 200 calories per serving. Serves 8.

Since we like this so much I've adapted the recipe using 'diet' friendlier ingredients:

Low-Fat Almond-Cream Strawberries

2 pints strawberries

1 package of Fat-Free Sugar-Free vanilla-flavor instant pudding and pie filling

1 cup Fat-Free Milk

1/2 container of Fat Free Cool Whip

1 teaspoon almond extract.

Make as above.

Also great as a dessert parfait with other fresh fruits. Some of our favorites are raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. So YUMMY!

Enjoy!

Congratulations!!

And the winner is .....

 

 

Congratulations to Lisa on winning a spot in Lain Ehmann's LOAD challenge! Not only is Lisa going to enjoy the company of many inspirational and motivational women, and a few Hugh Jackman sightings, she will be well inspired by the 20+ sketches she will receive as a participant in Sketchapalooza6! What a great head-start to 31 days of layout making.

(Lisa, check your in-box for a note on how to join LOAD)

Thank you very much to Lain for holding a spot in your very popular challenge for one of our Sketchapalooza6 participants, we're sure Lisa will love it. And, many thanks to everyone here at Feeling Scrappy who has joined in the class, it's going to be a blast!

Jayne, Becky, Tracy and I are so looking forward to the start of class on May 3rd. If you haven't joined, what are you waiting for? We're looking forward to a great month of inspiration, support, motivation, games, ideas and stories! Aren't you?

Click here to join the class!

Scrapbooking Recipe Challenge

I admit it, I've been in a scrappy funk. One of the best ways for me to get back into scrapping is to take on a challenge. I've made a Scrapbook Recipe Challenge to inspire and jump start your creative juices for the upcoming Feeling Scrappy Sketchapalooza 6! Please post a link to your completed layout or post on the Feeling Scrappy Facebook page.

Here's your Recipe : (Make a layout using the following four products)

1 Cardstock sheet
2 Pattern papers
1 Journal die cuts

1 lace, ribbon or other fiber

3 decorative elements (buttons, flowers, etc.)

1 decorative border (punch, torn edge, etc. Does not have to be used the full width of the layout)

I look forward to seeing your layouts!
Happy scrapping!

Contest Reminder!

Only one day left!

You have until 5:00PM Eastern to register for Sketchapalooza 6 AND qualify for an opportunity to join Lain Ehmann and her delightful group of LOADsters for the month of May.

Check this post HERE for the details.

Happy Wednesday! What are your plans for the day?

Pineapple Bars

I have a really easy recipe for you today! I love that I can keep the ingredients on hand and that I can whip this up in no time. (It would also make a great recipe for kids just starting to cook.) And on top of that - this recipe is low cal and it tastes good :)


Pineapple Bars

1 box Angel Food cake mix
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice

Mix the 2 together by hand (the batter will be a bit frothy) and pour into a 9x13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy!

*For those on weight watchers: cut into 16 servings and each will be 2 points

Here's YOUR chance to WIN!

Win what?

If you sign up to join Sketchapalooza 6 before April 15th you have a chance to win a sport in Lain Ehmann's LOAD challenge running the entire month of May!

In turn, if you join LOAD before April 15th you have a chance to win one of two spots in Sketchapalooza 6, running at Feeling Scrappy from May 3rd through May 31st.

Are you interested in completing 31 scrapbook pages done in 31 days?

If you area like me, you have plenty of layouts in various stages of completion and many ideas you want to capture forever.  Between the 20 sketches being offered at Sketchapalooza 6 and the motivation provided in both the Feeling Scrappy and LOAD communities, this can be a very productive month of May!

Why don't you have a listen to Lain, she can tell you all about LOAD:



So, print your photos, get your adhesive, organize your supplies and start thinking about getting your pages DONE! Be sure to enter for your chance to win a free spot by APRIL 15th!

I can't wait to see you, in both :)

Grilled Halibut with Salsa

This is a family favorite for an easy festive meal.

Grilled Halibut with Salsa
serves 6

ingredients:
2 T. olive oil
2 T lime juice
1/4 t. Tabasco sauce
2 lbs. fresh halibut fillets (I've also used halibut steaks)

Salsa:
1-1/2 cups tomato, diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced
3 T. Canned green chilis, diced
2 T. white wine vinegar
3 T fresh cilantro leaves, minced
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
Marinating time 2-4 hours. Preheat oven to broil or prepare grill.
*Combine olive oil, lime juice and Tabasco. Place fish fillets in a non-reactive pan large enough to hold them in one layer. Pour marinade over fish, cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours.

*For salsa: combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate 2 to - 4 hours. Bring to room temperature before serving.

For broiling: Adjust oven rack 4-6 inches from heat.
For Grilling: preheat grill to 375-400 degrees.
Place fish on grill or broiler pan and cook 10 minutes per inch of thickness, or until fish flakes easily with a fork, turning once. Serve immediately with salsa.

Weekend Album Project

For many of us this weekend marks the end of activities and the start of another. For our family we have just finished hockey and volleyball seasons and are about to start: football, softball, rugby and dragon boat seasons.

This week I worked on a project for one of the players/coaches on Cole's hockey team as they are moving away. The dad was one of the coaches and a his son, a fellow defenceman who enjoyed just this one season with the team. We are unable to attend the big "going away" bash for them tonight. What were we to do? A gift was in order, but a bottle of wine didn't seem enough for all of the hours and hours of together over the course of the last 10 months! So, I did what I know how to do:

I made an album!

Lucky for me, as team photographer, I had oodles of shots from which to choose, but because I don't have permission to post their photos, I'll just outline what I put together.

The perfect simple, quick and inexpensive project.

This is how it came together:

Cover Page: Photo of Subject, in this case, pee wee hockey player :)
Page 1-2: Team Photo (top) Team Roster (bottom)
Page 3-4: Off Ice Conditioning Photos
Page 5-6: Social Events (in this case summer party and garage sale)
Page 7-8: Season in Review (tournaments, regular season and playdowns with all stats)
Page 9-10: Team Photos with trophies
Page 11-12: Team Photos with trophies
Page 13-14: Lined Card (top): My memories of this season with the Oakville Rangers for player with a photo of player bottom
Page 15-16: Lined Card (bottom): My memories of this season ... for coach with a photo of coach on top
Page 17-18: Lined Card (top): My memories ... for mum with a photo of mum below
Page 19-20: Photos of player
Page 21-22: Photo of player (top) Game, loop and rule details (bottom)
Back Page: Quick personal note to the family from us!

A few notes on the project:

In the case of this album I used a Creative Memories PicFolio. The sleeves are a big bigger than your 4x6 photos, so each had to be mounted on a 4.5x6.5 piece of cardstock. All stats and information was typed onto 4x6 Bazzill white cardstock and also mounted to create consistency.

The colours used were Red, White and Blue which were the colours in the Ranger uniforms. The font used was American Typewriter because it's my current favourite :)

Total supplies used:

• 1 album (you can reduce the cost significantly by using a simple slip-in album you can pick up at the drug store, I just happen to have OODLES of Creative Memories supplies to use up!)
• 1 sheet Bazzill white cardstock
• 8 sheets Bazzill red cardstock (4.5x6.5 is a brutal size!)
• Thickers for title
• 24 Photos (all extras tucked behind mounted photos)

The beauty of this kind of album is that, due to it's construct, there is not enough space for a lot of embellishments. I really prefer a streamlined and clean album and this kind just forces you not to stray too far from that idea. Plus, it adds to the quick part!

As for the time it took: From choosing the photos (from the over 2500 I took this season!), to getting all of the statistical data on the internet, to printing the photos, defining the sequence, typing, cutting and pasting this project took a total of four hours to complete, start to finish.

What a sense of accomplishment when it was finally done. Not only that, but when I delivered it on Thursday, the look on Marilyn's face - and the tears in her eyes, let me know that it was the perfect gift.
So much better than a bottle of wine!

If for no one else, I encourage you to put this kind of album together for your little athlete! Time goes by so very quickly!