are you ready? 3 EASY recipes, thrift store finds, and a must-see movie

let's start with the easiest, shall we?

**note: if you try any of these, please let me know what you think!** :)

this is a little jello recipe my mom has made forever and is a favorite of mine, and a HUGE favorite of my best bud from high school, rach's. :) all you need is: 2 packets of sugar free/fat free orange jello and a can or 2 or mandarin oranges.

 sounds simple

 but SO good an SO refreshing!

1. make the jello (packet mixed with 1 cup boiling water, add a cup of cold water, stir til dissolved)

2. add can or two of oranges

3. put in the fridge for a few hours and you have a tropical and EASY peasy little side!

another easy one: banana cream pudding!

a low-fat treat and oh so easy!

see ingredients above- all fat free minus the way off brand nila wafers. :)

1. make that pudding!
2. slice up bananas, drop them in
3. put in fridge for recommended time
4. serve with nila wafers!

i made this saturday night for when chris and i watched the movie precious- i can totally see why it won so many awards and i especially enjoyed the teacher side of the movie. :) definitely a must see if you can get over lots of foul language.

thrift store finds...

awesome mirror that i might paint white, not sure and 2 KSU flutes! :)

and onto the GRAND FINALE.... as you know, i told you that my double chocolate cheesecake turned out very questionable. chris tried it and assured me it was okay, but i didn't think so. can't really explain what's wrong with it or how it got to be so... idk... gooey tasting? i won't go into detail but the texture about did me in. SO. lesson to be learned- i DID try it (thank God) before my guests arrived, just in time to run to the store and make this beautiful masterpiece:

can you say YUM!?

Ingredients:

• 
  
  2 flavors of ice cream of your choice (or you could do a 3 layer?) about 3 cups of each
• 
  
  Cool whip or whipped cream in a bottle
• 
  
  Oreos (about a whole package or 25-30 oreos)- I suggest the Mercer brand from Aldi- can't tell the difference between Oreos and the knock offs and they were $1.33!
• 
  
  Plastic wrap

1. Line bottom of baking dish with plastic wrap and line bottom with crushed oreos and oreos around the outside (ignore the ice cream- whoops)

2. First layer of ice cream! (mint choc chip for mine!) I let the ice cream sit out for a bit and it was very easy to spread using a spatula.

3. Cover first layer with Cool  Whip or whipped cream in a bottle and more oreos if you'd like! (I did more crushed Oreos)

4. Cover with 2nd layer of ice cream- I added more crumbled Oreos on top.  Put in the freezer for at least 2-3 hours (could sit overnight)

5. Make pretty! :) First, use plastic wrap to help pull out your cake. Place on serving dish and decorate! (notice the trick candles?)

below: left (chris my husband) and right (vanessa my mother in law, and my dad on the far right!)

It was a hit! :-D

Enjoy! I am off to Jo Anns to look at fabric... going to try to learn how to make slip covers for my throw pillows. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!