GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS
Actually I just looked at the clock and it is a bit after 12 noon. It is a tad on the cool side but bearable at 53°. I am sticking home while Will goes and gets tires. Something we don’t want to buy right now but that is the way it goes when you need em you gotta get em. Baby needs new shoes. We still love that car and plan on having it many more years unless we see a great deal on a used Jeep.
I am feeling more back to exact today and ready to gear up to a nice OP week eating wise and exercising.
This exercising is a new thing for me. I used to get it while working but since I have been retired it isn’t so easy to get it naturally. Got to do it on purpose. I used to be so in shape ~ why oh why did I let myself get into this shape I am in now. Who knows and I can’t cry over spilt milk. Got to go from here and do something about it. Not just think about it but DO about it. There I have given myself a lecture.
UPS just delivered my new Panini maker from Chef’s Catalogue,
what fun what joy. The grids flip to smooth so it is a very useful appliance. You can also do meat on it and it doesn’t steam the meat as it grills it. And it is small enough for this little space we have. I had a larger one that I gave to a friend because it was just to big for in here but it was a good one.
FAYE Here is one of my favorite Banana Muffin Recipes. I keep some of that horrid All-Bran cereal on hand just to make these when I have a real ripe banana. (For these muffins use only shredded bran cereal, not bran flakes or powdered unprocessed bran.) This recipe can be cut in half easily. Depends on how many bananas I have if I make 6 or 12 of these. I have also made them in my tiny muffin tins and they are one point made that way. As is it makes 12 muffins ~ however, they freeze nicely if you individually wrap them in plastic wrap and then place them in a zip lock baggie.
BANANA BRAN MUFFINS
Serves 12 ~
2 POINTS each
Ingredients:
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium bananas)
1 cup unsweetened shredded bran cereal like All-Bran
¼ cup buttermilk
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup Splenda® Granular
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F, spray standard12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the first 7 ingredients (Banana though Vanilla). Set aside for at least 5 minutes to soften bran.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, Splenda®, baking soda, baking powder, and cream of tartar. Stir; make a well in the center and add the banana mixture. Using a large spoon or spatula, stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched. Col for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Now if you want to make a loaf in your bread machine here is a good one that came with my machine, so it is a one pound loaf. It is 3 POINTS a serving as is but I have lightened it down to 2 POINTS by substituting Splenda® for the sugar and egg beaters for the egg and reducing the butter to 1 Tbsp. It turned out really good lightened. This is great with a little smear of non fat cream cheese on it.
BANANA BREAD
Basic Breads ~ Soft Course Variations
Serves 8 ~
3 POINTS per slice
Place in your machine according to order it calls for.
1/3 cup 1% low fat milk
1 large egg
2 ¼ cups Bread Flour
2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1 ½ Tbsp sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ Tbsp Butter
1/3 cup Banana, Mashed
1 tsp Active Dry Yeast
SUSAN How many points are those frozen biscuits? I would definitely give them a try if they are point friendly. I am sorry your husband had to wait like that. It is bad enough to have to go in but have to wait is the pits. During my working days only once when I went to the doctor did I have to wait and wait and wait. I told the gal at the window (with a smile on my face) on my way out, that my time was valuable and I would be sending the doctor a bill for it. I did and he paid it. From then on I never had more than a 5 minute wait. That was not the doctor I have now though ~ the other one was great and has since retired all those many years ago. You sprung a leak at work ~ where is it that you work? When there was a freeze here a couple weeks ago there were a lot of broken pipes around the area. So many the plumbers couldn't get to all of them in one day.
Have a great day everyone.
Wednesday
I hear the pitter patter of the rain on the roof. I ♥ the rain. 
I always have loved rain. And we get the prettiest rainbows here. I am still not feeling tip top. Nothing bad but just uckie. No ambition and slight headache. I wish I could shake it. 
Maybe it is a low grade of something going around. It has been a hungry week also which hasn’t helped my program at all. For the main meal today I am making fajitas and a fruit salad. I have fresh apples, oranges, mandarin oranges pears and bananas. No 
for they are still too stinkin’ high. Guess we don’t have any local at this time of the year and we get them from far away places like Chile ~ so we have to pay the freight. When the price comes down I like to freeze some to have as a snack on those hot summer days we will be getting one day.
I remember my 6th grade teacher telling us of a whole variety of jobs we could aim for. She brought in nice show and tell things from different companies and peeked our interest. If I had heard about Jacque Cousteau back then I think I would have become a diver. I loved to swim and when I heard about him I was already in a career and felt too old to make that sort of change. You can only dive for so long and I wouldn’t have had that much time left. I later knew the wife of the man who ran the computer that ran the ship Gloomier Explorer. He dived and brought back huge shells which she gave to me. I had a huge killer clam shell ~ top and bottom. He had eaten the clam. I did learn to surf and frolic in the ocean and was a life guard but I would have loved to have been a diver. Frozen biscuits eh? Never tried them and they don’t sound too appealing.
I am sure your week has gone much better than mine.
Good luck at weigh in!
They are predicting more snow during the next week. Good luck at weigh in; I hope you are surprised! I know that when I thought I'd have a gain I either maintained or lost a bit. When I thought I'd had a good week, I'd gain. No rhyme nor reason to this weight game, that's for sure. 
from Iowa!
with those kids. I am sure they will run you ragged but it is worth it isn't it. They grow up to fast as it is. Cherish you time with them.
Type at you later
