Chicken Lombardy

This Chicken Lombardy is better than Olive Gardens! I challenge them to a throw down!

What to Expect at the Curtis Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch

 

 

 

 

If you are looking for something that doesn't cost a lot check out Curtis Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch in Champaign Illinois.

 

There are a lot of activities for kids to do and most of them take tokens that you will have to purchase at the token booth. There is Putt 'n Play, corn maze, pony and wagon rides, an inflatable giant slide and inflatable obstacle course that cost anywhere from $1 to $4 depending on the activity. There are some other free play areas as well such as the Munchkin Land for toddlers and petting zoo. If you want to feed the animals you will need change to get food out of the machines. I believe it you needed quarters.

 

Don't forget to bring your camera because there are a lot of great photo opportunities. There is a giant apple orchard chair that the whole family could fit in for a great photo. There are several photo cutout boards that you can put your face in for some cute and funny photos. The whole place has a Wizard of Oz theme so there are plenty of places to take photos.

 

There are face painting and paint pumpkins you can purchase. You can go out and pick your own pumpkins or apples during certain times of the year. The pumpkin patch is a bit of a walk to get to so make sure you wear your walking shoes. They have wagons in which you can use to haul your pumpkins back in and they also are great to put your jackets in and things you might purchase at the store while visiting. I had noticed that some people brought their own Radio Flyer type wagons and made it easier to tote around their little ones, which is a great idea.

 

There is a really nice Flying Monkey Café that serves a variety of meals and treats. I highly recommend trying out our favorites; the apple cider, applesauce and donuts. Definitely check out the country store before you leave, this is where you will need to go to visit the pumpkin patch and pay for your pumpkins. They also have a lot more than just pumpkins and apples in their country store.

This makes a great day trip if you are looking for something to do but really you could make this a half a day trip. They offer tours and parties. Local schools enjoy taking the kids there on field trips. Sometimes they have special events so check out their website for updated information. They do not have an ATM but they expect debit/credit cards and cash.

 

This is a fun and inexpensive family outing that everyone will enjoy.

How to Throw a Skinnygirl Stock-The-Bar Bridal Shower

 

 

For those Skinnygirl liquor lovers like myself, an awesome unique and original idea for a bridal shower is to throw a Skinnygirl stock-the-bar shower. Stock-the-bar showers are not necessarily a new concept; it is gaining a lot more popularity in the last couple of years. However, Skinnygirl is relatively newer liquor on the market that is taking the nation by storm. Skinnygirl is a brand that was created by Bethenny Frankel who caught our attention as a New York housewife reality star and then stole our hearts with the hit reality show Bethenny Ever After. If Bethenny isn't already a household name by now mark my words in a few months she will be. She is preparing for her very own talk show that is being promoted by our beloved Ellen and will be airing in June of 2012.

 

The awesome thing about Skinnygirl liquor is that it has low-cal ready to serve cocktails in a bottle. Now that the brand is growing there are wine options as well as flavored vodka and I'm sure there will be more flavors to come.

 

A fun way to send an invitation to a stock-the-bar party is to send an invitation in a wine bottle. You can find clear plastic and glass bottles that you can place your invitation in. You can decorate the outside of the bottle or even the inside with confetti and ribbon. Or you can do a more traditional route and send a regular invitation that might be in the shape of a cocktail glass or an invite with cocktail themed graphics. At the bottom of the invitation ask your guests in lieu of traditional gifts our bride would like you to help her stock her bar with Skinnygirl liquor products.

 

What is cool about Skinnygirl is that they have a nutrition line as well so you could put together some gift bags of Skinnygirl On-The-Go Bars and Vitamin Power Packets for your guests. Or a cute gift bag full of Skinnygirl Face and Body products. There are some really cute Skinnygirl bath gift sets you can find at Wal-Mart. These would be perfect gifts for your guests and won't break the bank.

 

You can find some great recipes for items that you could make for your party on Bethenny's website. For example, there is a great recipe for an Italian Turkey Burger. I suggest following the recipe that calls for you making 5 patties but cut the patty sizes down and make mini 2-3 bite sliders. You will get more out of the recipe and your guests will enjoy the smaller snack size. Saves room for some of your other goodies you will be serving. There are also some really awesome low fat recipes for sweet stuff too. There are some great smoothies recipes you can make for those that do not want to drink alcohol or may be under age. The bride and bridesmaids will appreciate the attention to low-cal, low-fat items. When planning to fit into their dresses on the big day all the ladies will be watching what they eat.

 

There are endless possibilities for a Skinnygirl shower. Your décor could be the same colors as the Skinnygirl logo with black and white and pops of red. Or use the brides wedding colors and make cocktails from the Skinnygirl lines and add color to the glasses. For example, if your bride has a pink and orange color scheme, serve Skinnygirl Cocktails with colored sugar or salt on the rim of the glasses or garnish the glasses with fruits of coordinating colors. There are endless possibilities.

Banana Bread Recipe Using the Ninja Blender

Our family eats a lot of bananas. I usually try to buy two bundles of bananas every time I make a trip to the store. Most likely those bundles get eaten up but every so often I can tell that everyone is burnt out on bananas and they just sit there getting more and more speckles everyday. The good thing about this is that they get sweeter as they ripen and I can use these unwanted bananas to make banana bread. Even if the family is not in the mood for banana bread its fairly cheap to make and it freezes really well. It's nice to have a loaf or two in the freezer to pull out when you have company or in the mood for a treat.

 

I have used my Ninja blender to make this recipe. It is really easy just load in the ingredients and poor into a baking pan. If you are using a blender to mix the ingredients be sure to add then in the order stated so that they all mix well. You do not necessarily have to use a blender for this recipe but there will be less mess to clean up.

 

The ingredients you will need are:
2 -eggs
¼ -cup butter, melted
3 -bananas
1 -cup white sugar
1 -teaspoon baking soda
½ -teaspoon salt
1½ -cups all-purpose flour

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Spray two 7x3 loaf pans with cooking spray.
Step 3: In Ninja, beat two eggs.
Step 4: Add melted butter and 3 bananas broken up into smaller chunks. Blend until bananas are mashed well.
Step 5: Add all dry ingredients and blend until well incorporated.
Step 6: Pour mixture into prepared loaf pans.
Step 7: Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Candy Buffet or Goody Bar Wording for Birthdays, Showers and Weddings

 

It's always nice to send your guests home with a little something as a thank you for sharing your special day with them. Whether it's a birthday party, wedding, baby or bridal shower, a goody bag of some sort is always nice. However, if you have kids then you know that you have a lot of special moments when you may need to make goody bags…birthday parties, Halloween, countless school parties, etc. So when you are hosting a party yourself making goody bags tends to be one more thing to stress out about. That's why I like to do something a little different a candy buffet or goody bar is always fun.

 

The kids light up when they see the jars full of sugary treats! It allows your guests to choose only the candies they like and the jars full of goodies make a great party decoration too. This year I did a goody bar for my daughters' rainbow themed party. In some of the jars I put candies that came in different colors to go with our rainbow theme. I put the little waxed pop bottles that are filled with liquid candy in one jar. Pixie sticks are cheap and they come in a variety of colors as well so those went in another jar. Lollipops and rainbow swirled pops filled other jars. I like to choose candies that are individually wrapped for two reasons. No one wants food that other people have touched even if you use a scoop there is a chance that little kids will just dive into the jar with their bare hands. They just can't help themselves! Also if candy falls out of the jars or the goody bags you won't have stepped on skittles ground into your nice living room carpet. There is less chance of messes with wrapped candy. I didn't just do candy in jars. I also found some packs of eight count crayon boxes and filled a jar of those. We also had some individual mini Play-Doh jars left over from another party so we put them in a large jar as well. (A little tip, buy the mini Play-Doh jars during Halloween or right after Halloween on clearance. That's when I have found the best price on them. And the good thing is that as long as you don't open them up and break the seal they Play-Doh will last a long time so you can use them throughout the year for just about any party you may have.)

 

I made a cute little sign so that the guests at the party would know to fill up their own goody bags. Last year at my daughters party I forgot to give out all the goody bags that I spent hours putting together so this worked out so much better. The sign read:

 

Please help yourself to the goody buffet,

It's our way of saying thank you for sharing Jasmyn's Special Day!

 

If you just had candy you could use one of these for your birthday party, shower or wedding:

 

Please help yourself to the candy buffet,

It's our way of saying thank you for sharing Jasmyn's Special Day!

 

Step right up to the Candy Buffet

It's a fabulous end to a wonderful day!

And as you enjoy your bag of treats

Be sure to remember LOVE is sweet!

 

Please help yourself to the tasty treats

and remember, love/life is sweet

 

Step right up to the candy buffet,

It's a sweet addition to a wonderful day.

This is a treat we are offering you,

On this beautiful day, when we said "I Do".

As you enjoy your bag of treats,

Please remember, Love Is Sweet.

 

Love is Sweet

Take A Treat

Thank you for Sharing Our Special Day

Hugs & Kisses

From the new Mr. & Mrs.

 

Love is Sweet

Take some Treats

Love is Sweet

Help yourself to the tasty Treats

 

Thanks for making my shower so sweet,

Please take a bag and fill it with treats.

Candy Buffet

Grab a bag

Choose what you like

Leave some for others

Please be polite

 

As you enjoy your bag of treats

Please remember life is sweet

Love is sweet

Please take a treat

Grab a bag and help yourself to the candy buffet

It's our way of saying Thank You for sharing in this memorable day!

Baby Girl and Girly Scrapbook Page Titles and Greeting Card Sayings

It can be hard sometimes when you are scrapbooking to find the right title for your scrapbooking pages. Many times the photos speak to us and we can figure out what to name our pages based off what is going on in the photograph we are scrapping or the event that we are trying to document. But then there are times when we can't think of another page title to save our lives.

 

This happens most when we are working with the same subject over an over again. This happens most when we are scrapping baby photographs because most of us new mom's take hundreds of photos to capture all those awesome moments we end up with piles and piles of photographs that we want to put in our memory books. I have compiled a list of 260 page titles geared towards baby girl and girly girl type sayings that might help you when you get in that same old scrapbooking rut.

 

100% ALL GIRL
100% CUTE
100% SWEET
1^ST DAY OF SCHOOL
2 CUTE
2 SWEET 2 FORGET
A BABY IS
A DAUGHTER
A FUN MEMORY
A GIRL'S LIFE
A HEART FULL OF LOVE
A LITTLE BIT OF SUNSHINE
A STAR IS BORN
A SWEET MEMORY
ADORABLE
ADORE
ALL AMERICAN GIRL
ALL DRESSED UP
ALL MY LOVE
AMERICAN GIRL
ANGEL
BABY GIRL
BABY RECORDS
BABY'S FIRST PICTURE
BALLET
BARBIE GIRL
BATH IN THE SINK
BE STILL MY HEART
BE YOU
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER
BEAUTIFUL GIRLS
BEAUTIFUL ME
BEAUTY
BIG SISTER
BIRTHDAY GIRL
BLOOM
BLOOM & GROW
BORN TO BE WILD
BREATHTAKING
BRIGHT EYES
BUTTERFLY FLY AWAY
BUTTERFLY KISSES
CANDLES & CAKE
CHEER
CHEERLEADER
CHEERLEADERS RULE
CHERISH
CHERISH EVERY MOMENT
CHILDS PLAY
COWGIRL TOUGH
CRAZY 4 YOU
CREATE BEAUTY
CROWNING MOMENTS
CUTE AS A BUTTON
DADDY AND HIS LITTLE GIRL
DADDY'S GIRL
DADDY'S LITTLE ANGEL
DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL
DANCE
DAUGHTER
DAYDREAM
DIVA
DRAMA QUEEN
DREAM
DREAM BIG
DREAM COME TRUE
DRESS UP
DRESS UP
EVERYDAY MOMENTS
EVERYTHING NICE
EXPRESSIONS
FABULOUS FOUR
FACES OF YOU
FAIREST OF ALL
FANTASTIC FIVES
FIRST BATH
FIRST STEPS
FLOWER CHILD
FOLLOW YOU DREAMS
FROM THE VERY START
FUN AND GAMES
FUNNY FACES
GIGGLES DELIGHT
GIRL TALK
GIRL TIME
GIRLS
GIRLS ARE TREASURES
GIRLY GIRLS
GOD'S MASTERPIECE
GOOD TIMES
GORGEOUS
GRANDAUGHTER
GRINS AND GIGGLES
GROWING UP
GROWING UP 2 QUICK
GROWING UP FAST
HAVING A DAUGHTER
HEAVEN SENT
HUGS AND KISSES
HUSH LITTLE BABY
I ADORE U
I LOVE U
I LOVE UR GIGGLE
IMAGINATION
IN MY ARMS
IN MY DAUGHTERS EYES
IT'S A GIRL
IT'S A GIRL THING
IT'S ALL ABOUT ME
IT'S PARTY TIME
LAUGHTER AND JOY
LAZY DAYS
LIL BUG
LIL LADYBUG
LITTLE FLIRT
LITTLE GIRL
LITTLE GIRL BIG HEART
LITTLE GIRLS
LITTLE GIRLS AND BABY DOLLS
LITTLE LADY
LITTLE LADYBUG
LITTLE MISS
LITTLE MISS PERFECT
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
LITTLE ONE
LITTLE SISTER
LITTLE SUNSHINE
LITTLE THING
LOOK AT ME
LOUD AND PROUD
LOVE FOREVER
LOVE GYMNASTICS
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
LOVE MY GIRLS
LOVE TO DANCE
MAGIC MOMMY KISSES
ME & U
MISS AMERICA
MISS CONGENIALITY
MISS PERSONALITY
MOMENTS LIKE THIS
MOMENTS TO TREASURE
MOMMY'S GIRL
MOMMY'S GIRLS
MOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL
MY ANGEL
MY AUNT ROCKS
MY AWAITED DAUGHTER
MY DADDY ROCKS
MY DARLING LOVE
MY DAUGHTER
MY DAUGHTERS
MY DEAR BABY
MY FIRST CHILD
MY FIRST HAIR CUT
MY FIRST NIGHT HOME
MY FIRST YEAR
MY GRANDBABY
MY GRANDDAUGHTER
MY LITTLE GIRL
MY LITTLE PONY
MY LITTLE SWEETIE
MY MOMMY ROCKS
MY PRINCESS
MY SHINNING STAR
MY SISTER AND ME
NEW ARIVAL
NEW BABY
NEW BABY GIRL
OH SO PRETTY
ONE OF A KIND
OUR 1^ST GLIMPSE
OUR LITTLE MIRACLE
OUR LITTLE PRINCESS
OUR PRINCESS
OUR SWEET PEA
PERFECT DAY
PICTURE PERFECT
PICTURES OF ME
PIECES OF ME
PIRATE GIRL
PLAY DAYS
PLAYFUL ONE
PLAYMATES
PRECIOUS
PRECIOUS BABY
PRECIOUS GIRL
PRECIOUS MOMENTS
PRECIOUS ONE
PRETTY
PRETTY GIRL
PRINCESS
PURE GIRL
PURE JOY
QUIET TIME
RIBBONS AND RAINBOWS
SASSY GIRL
SCHOOL DAYS
SILLY
SIMPLE PLEASURES
SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE
SIMPLY ME
SISTERS
SLEEPOVER FUN
SMILE
SO ADORABLE
SO BEAUTIFUL 2 ME
SO CURIOUS
SO CUTE
SO FUN
SO SWEET
SPECIAL DELIVERY
SPECIAL TIME WITH BABY
STYLE
SUGAR AND SPICE
SUMMER TIME KIND OF GIRL
SUNSHINE
SWAK
SWEET
SWEET AS SUGAR
SWEET BABY GIRL
SWEET DREAMS
SWEET LOVE
SWEET MEMORIES
SWEET PEA
SWEETIE PIE
TEA TIME
TEENY BIKINI
TERRIBLE TWOS
THANK HEAVEN FOR LITTLE GIRLS
THE FIRST TIME
THE LOVE OF MY LIFE
THE NEXT DAY
THIS GIRL
THRILLING THREES
TIME 2 DREAM
TIME 4 FUN
TINY HAND PRINTS
TO MY DAUGHTER WITH LOVE
TOMBOY
TOO SWEET
TOTALLY CUTE FRIENDS
TOTALLY SWEET
U R MY HEART
UNFORGETABLE
UNIQUELY YOU
WATER AND SUN
WELCOME BABY GIRL
WHAT A BLESSING
WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF
WILD AND WACKY FUN
WILD CHILD
WILD LIFE
WISH
WONDER AND JOY
WONDERFUL ONES
XOXO
YOU ARE FABULOUS
YOU HAVE THE FACE OF AN ANGEL

60 Halloween Drink Label Ideas

The best part of Halloween is all the creative, creepy, silly and gross things you can come up with to make the day memorable. If your having a party at home or at school or if you just want to do something special on Halloween for the family, try making labels to put on your drink bottles to make the day more festive. It is really simple to print out a label on your printer and add a few Halloween graphics and tap them to your bottles. It will put a smile on everyone's face!
Halloween Drink Labels:

1. Alien Blood
2. Apple Spider
3. Arsenic
4. Bat Juice
5. Bats Brew
6. Beetle Juice
7. Bloody Booze
8. Bug Juice
9. Cauldron Brew
10. Creepy Cooler
11. Cyanide
12. Devil's Delight
13. Dr. Jekyll Juice
14. Embalming Fluid
15. Evil Spirits
16. Full Moon Elixir
17. Graveyard Spirits
18. Hell Juice
19. Hemlock
20. Jack-O-Lantern Juice
21. Lava Liquid
22. Mary's Blood
23. Midnight Mead
24. Monster Mojito
25. Ogre Snot
26. Phantom Poison
27. Pirates Poison
28. Poison Punch
29. Pumpkin Juice
30. R.I.P. Root Beer
31. Rat Poison
32. Ravens Blood
33. Slug Slime
34. Snake Venom
35. Spider Cider
36. Spider Serum
37. Spider Syrup
38. Spider Venom
39. Spider Web Wine
40. Spooky Cider
41. Spooky Sauce
42. Spooky Serum
43. Swamp Water
44. Tombstone Tonic
45. Toxic Tonic
46. Truth Serum
47. Type A
48. Type B
49. Type O
50. Vampire Blood
51. Vampire Venom
52. Voodoo Potion
53. Voodoo Vodka
54. Wicked Spirits
55. Wicked Water
56. Witches Brew
57. Witches Potion
58. Zombie Tonic
59. Zombie Virus
60. Haunted H2O