Tea ~~Dentist~~Blueberry Pie

Hi there everyone....what a lovely day it has turned out to be. Hope you are having a good one today. I saw a cute picture on Facebook and thought to save it....but didn't. It said, "Only in Wisconsin do people get excited about 40 degree weather." Ha! that sure is the truth though...cause this weather feels so much like SPRING has sprung!!!! YAYYYYYY!!!!

Well, it is time for tea, got your cup? Think I could use one as I type this little post. As you can see in the following picture I visited the dentist today.... it's not my favorite place to go. So yeah...I need a cup of tea to quiet my soul.

It was actually a necessity to go today. Wednesday as I was flossing, a tooth broke. The top, back molar. Not knowing where to go, I decided to call the place we used to go to and could not get in till today. Have not been to a dentist since 2001....yeah, I am a big scardy cat. We have had no dental insurance all this time. I did pick some up last year for JP, but he did not want to go....neither did I for that matter. So being the "sometimes unwise people" we are, we cancelled. Wouldn't you know it....now we need it and could use it.

So today I went in....as I said, it was the old dental office we went to years ago....but with a different Dentist. The dentist we had, retired....this dentist.....I really liked him, very pleasant man and seemed to really want to help. His assistant was really nice too. They made me feel really comfortable. Never once scolded me for not coming in all these years. It was a nice visit....I will let you know after a couple more visits, what my opinion is then.

They did a complete x-ray exam, and it was all digital......I could actually see all my teeth, fillings and cavities on the screen. Then they went tooth by tooth and what each one needed....I did not understand a word they were saying. END RESULT.....the tooth will be pulled, verses saving it. Saving it, will cost $1600 verses $338 to pull. Yeah...that's the route I took. I also have 6 cavities that need to be filled and also need a DEEP CLEANING going under the gums....gosh all this time I thought my flossing was helping....he said, "partially, but because of diabetes my gums are in desperate help and will need to be cleaned every 3 months".....darn these sugars.

So the plan is, next week on St. Patrick's Day I get my tooth pulled and they will give me some "LAUGHING GAS" so I won't be feeling much pain....that is fine with me. (Darn....so much for corned beef and cabbage.) Then in about a month starts the teeth and gum cleaning....then the cavities. Sounds like quite the agenda....hopefully I can keep up with the payments. In June or July I might be getting cataract surgery.....so we shall see how this all fits together, time wise and finacially.

Does this dessert not look delicious???? (I am thinking it is diabetes worthy, don't you???) "Blueberry Icebox Pie" 313 calories per servings....oh-oh 52.3 grams of carbs, oh, but it has 11.4 g of protein. That's okay.....one slice can't hurt, can it???

Here is the ingredients:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 1/2 cups finely ground reduced fat graham cracker crumbs
4 teasp. light butter, melted (or buy a store bought graham cracker crust)
2 cups fresh blueberries (or frozen and thawed)
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 teasp powdered unflavored gelatin
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
8 oz fat-free cream cheese
14 oz fat free sweetened condensed milk
Several fresh mint leaves

Preparation:
Preheat oven 350 F. Lightly coat a 9' spring form pan or glass pie pan with cooking spray. Combine crumbs and butter in a bowl and press into a pan. Bake 10 minutes. (or just use an already made graham cracker crust)

Puree 1 1/2 cups blueberries; mix with lemon juice in a micro wavable bowl.

Sprinkle gelatin on top and let stand 10 minutes. Microwave on medium 10 seconds to dissolve gelatin, then beat with an electric mixer or food processor at a medium speed.

Beat in cream cheeses and sweetened condensed milk. Pour mixture over baked crust and chill until set. Garnish with mint and remaining blueberries. I think I shall make this pie sometime this week.

Well time to close.....just one more reminder, leave a comment and for every comment is a chance to win a St. Patrick's Day card from me. Tomorrow is the last day to qualify for a card from me, because I shall be picking names on Wednesday and sending the cards out by Thursday.

Have a great day and enjoy the weather and keep looking up!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Beautiful Day and Made Some Scones

Hi there everyone, hope you all had a wonderful Saturday....my goodness, the weather was just perfect today, here in Wisconsin, at least in our neck of the woods. Really did not accomplish anything except take a day off and just enjoy the front porch and back yard. Watered my porch plants and fertilized. Then we brought the glider chair to the porch so I took a small snooze while listening to the radio. Oh, and I got my little fountain going on the porch. It was so quiet on this block...couldn't even hear any kids screaming. They must all be up at Bay Beach in Green Bay.

So JP and I took a walk down to "Kylie's Park" with Kylie...she was in all her glory, taking mommy and daddy for a walk and showing us what she enjoys the most. We came home and got the grill going for steak, vegies and toast. About a half hour later we went to Tom's Drive in and Kylie got a baby ice cream cone and we had hot fudge sundaes. So yeah....it was a really nice day. Now here I am doing my blog....day is done, gone the sun....(sniff)...Saturday's just never last long enough.

So this past week I made some scones. Been wanting to try making them and finally did. I bought this packaged mix from the "free market" and organic food store. It was pretty much fun to make and I probably will do it again.

Can you read the instructions?? Was not thinking and threw the packaging out: Lets see....
1 bag Pamela's biscuit mix                 1 cup milk or almond milk
1/2 cup sugar                                      1/2 cup blueberries or raisins
8 Tbsp butter                                       sprinkle with ground up nuts.
Mix together mix and sugar, then add butter, then milk and fruit. Will be sticky, lay out on parchment paper and cut in small wedges. Bake at 375 degrees on parchment paper for 20 minutes.

Here they are all baked and cooling on a rack. I used dried cranberries and a few fresh and frozen blueberries. Hence, the different colors.

Here is the second group of scones being popped into the oven........they were so crunchy and good when dipped in hot coffee. Yes, I shall do this again.

Time to close this blog and head over to my other blog at: cards4ubylouise.wordpress.com  Not sure what I will blog about....it will be a surprise!!! Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Blueberry Pie and Planters Station

 Hi everyone, how are you all doing today? Feels like it is going to be a warm day today, already put the air conditioner on in the kitchen. The fans have been blowing all night long, so there is an ever so light breeze flowing through the house.

Well, as you can see in the above picture, we have blueberries!!! A friend brought them over on Saturday, oh yum were they ever good. I froze some, made sauce, ate some, made a salad and fruit salad bowl and oh, made a baked oatmeal with berries breakfast dish. AND this lovely pie in the next picture.

 I just kind of through this together using the left over Phillio sheets in the refrig, spraying each layer, then I dabbed whipped cream cheese on the phillio sheets, then poured the cooked berries over the cream cheese. Baked at 375 for 20 minutes and WAH-LAH a wonderful, tasty torte. It lasted two days. I certainly will make this again.

 Here is a piece of that pie.........only thing missing is the whip cream. Which I bought when we went out to the store later on in the day. The next piece of pie was even better!!!

 Here you see JP eating his pie, he doesn't like pictures taken of himself, nor does he like pictures taken while he eats.......or what he is eating....but we all know "Pie was on his agenda"!!!

 In the picture above is our new/old planting station and JP is giving it a work-out. I bought a bunch of petunia plants for him to plant. I paid $2.25 for 9 containers with 3 plants in each (27 little plants). So he planted them in 5 containers and took them to the church for decoration.

We have taken and planted zinnias around the church, but they got "weed-whacked" so we thought maybe planting them in pots would discourage the "weed-whacker" and he would know for sure he is to "STOP there are plants planted here"!!!!!

I took this picture from the kitchen window, you can see my purple clover in the forefront. Don't think JP knew I was taking this picture of him. I think this planting station will work out well for us. At least it is up high enough that we don't have to bend down. One person told me...."why do you need a planting station, just use the ground." Why yes, the older one gets, the harder it is to bend down and get on the knees!!! THEN it is hard to get up........so I say, "to each his own."

Well, tis time to cut this blog short, it is getting late, going on 12 noon. Time to get ready and take my bike into the bicycle shop to get fixed. It's a Schwinn and is over 42 years old. The tires are bad and it needs to be cleaned up. Gonna try riding it around the block for the rest of this summer.

Talk to you all later and have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise