***The Senior WW Challenge*** - FRIDAY 7/6

Got all my laundry done yesterday so not much going on today.

Maija had her counseling session with Jeff yesterday and the counselor has finally seen just how terrified Maija is of him and so cancelled any talk of lunches for the two of them as it would traumatize Maija way too much to have to spend any one-on-one time with him.

But what has made me realize just how evil this guy is was what Maija said happened when they were leaving the session. He told Maija he had some mail of hers and gave it to her, opened! One was from the junior college that she takes some high school honor classes at. He has had this since June 1 and it came addressed to Maija saying her spring semester bill has not been paid and if payment was not received in ten days it would go to a collection agency! Those ten days have been up for three weeks! Debbie was furious and said she had paid the bill in January so they had to have messed up at their end but one - how dare he open her mail; and two - he has seen her weekly why didn't he give it to her earlier?

But the second piece of mail that was addressed to Maija and also opened came two weeks ago and it was her subpoena to appear in court for his criminal case! Again why was it opened and why didn't he tell her it was there as he's been texting her enough asking her to get the boys to sign a document asking all charges be dropped. She said she asked him what right did he have to open her mail and then not text her that it was at the house? His excuse was he didn't read who it was addressed to and thought it was for him. Well those were lies as he has no reason to get anything from the junior college and all correspondence for him from the courthouse goes to his lawyer!

He also said to Maija do you realize I could go to jail for this? The counselor said to Maija how do you feel about that? Maija said there's a law in place and if you violate that law you have to suffer the consequences and if it means jail I have no problem at all with that happening. Maija said Jeff told them he has a big problem with that comment as it's not right for a "child" wanting that to happen to their Dad! She countered with well I have a big problem with what you did to me and my friends that night! He had no answer for that.

So what he has accomplished all on his own is end any possibility of a relationship with Maija as he has confirmed he lies and cares nothing about anyone except himself and she's done.

This is my contribution to cool and refreshing recipes: It makes a large amount, so I would definitely reduce it. I ran it through the recipe creator and using 12 servings, it is 1 point.

Fruit Salad with Honey-Lime Dressing - Easy
Yield: enough for a crowd

1 pt. container strawberries
1 pt. container blueberries
1 bunch (about 1 1/2 lbs.) seedless grapes (green, red or a mixture of both)
1/4 cup honey
juice from 2 limes (about 2-3 tablespoons)

Rinse strawberries, blueberries and grapes.
Gently pat dry the fruit. Hull strawberries, then cut each in half; if large, cut into quarters.
Remove stems from blueberries, if any.
Remove grapes from stems.
Gently combine all three in a large bowl or aluminum tray. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together honey and lime juice. Pour over fruit. Refrigerate.

Happy Birthday Jane! Will you do something special today?

Greetings:  Here's my contribution to cool dishes.  Modifications ... I used coconut milk.  The kind in the dairy case not the can.  I also used fat free cool whip and just stirred it in.  But this is the original recipe.

The print on the WW site is so light I can't use the recipe builder well on my computer.  Maybe I should try the phone.  I could get the ingredients, with dificulty.  Based upon the molds I used, I got 6 popsicles because hat's all the molds I had, and I put the rest of the mix in small cups.  I'd estimate about 10 popsicles altogether because I used a generous amount of strawberries.  Probably more than 3 oz.  These would be about 3 or 4 points, I think, but I'm not committing.

The directions for all the fruit add-ins are the same.  You can put whatever you want in. Also, I didn't want to wait for cool downs so I put lots of ice cubes in a big bowl and cooled down the pans that had both the base and the fruit.  That worked out fine for me.  This all comes together quite fast.  I did the fruit first so it would be ready to go in immediately.  I did use real sugar.  

EASY CREAMY POPSICLES

INGREDIENTS
VANILLA POPSICLE BASE

• 1 cup of milk I prefer full cream milk or half and half
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or good quality vanilla extract
• ½ cup of sugar (100g of sugar)
• A generous pinch of salt or ¼ tsp kosher salt, if you like salty sweet treats
• 1 cup of whipping cream

INSTRUCTIONS
VANILLA POPSICLE BASE

1. Place the sugar, salt and cornflour in a saucepan. Whisk to combine. Next, whisk in the milk (make sure there are no lumps of cornflour).
2. Heat the milk mix until the sugar dissolves and the milk is just under boiling point.
3. While the milk is heating, whisk the egg yolks and vanilla in a small bowl. When the milk has heated, pour about ½ a cup of the milk into the yolks (WHILE WHISKING THE YOLKS).
4. When the egg yolks have been tempered, strain it back into the milk in the saucepan, using a sieve.
5. Heat the milk-egg yolk mix on medium heat and bring it to a boil, while whisking regularly until you form a thick and pudding like custard.
6. Cover and set aside to cool (you can make the fruit additions while the custard cools).
7. When the custard has cooled, whisk the whipping cream until you get soft peaks. Add the lightly whipped cream to the cooled custard and fold it in gently until well combined - be careful not to knock out the air in the cream. Keep this in the fridge (covered) until you are ready to fill the popsicle molds.


BLUEBERRY VANILLA POPSICLES
• 3 oz fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice

BLUEBERRY OR CHERRY OR PEACHES AND CREAM POPSICLES
1. Add the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan. Heat under medium heat, until the sugar dissolves and the fruits start to break down. Let it all simmer until the juices thicken into a syrup. About 10 - 15 minutes (longer if you are making a double batch).
2. Do the same for the cherries and peaches.
3. Place the fruits in separate bowls and keep them in the fridge to cool down.

We have DGS-7 this afternoon.  Will pick him up after his moring day camp.  This is a science camp and they get to do experiments.  My kind of day camp.  So we'll take him to lunch and then get ice cream after.  That should be a nice Friday treat.

Jane, have a great birthday!

Sandy, yes, Jeff is a piece they  might want to get a temporary change of address to your house until they move if they haven't already.  those pieces might pre-date an address change.  I'd expect they've already done that.

Bridge tonight.  Did some practicing online last night.  We got really lousy cards.  Good grief!  Couldn't we get nice biddable hands?  But it was good to try and figure bids for some of those interesting ones.  

Sitting in with grands watching a movie. Storm approaching. Lots of thunder and lightning last night. Lights flickered and Lost the TV for a short time. Wrogjt looking good so far but we are going to Chinese buffet for lunch.

Getting fresh black berries and cucumbers this afternoon. Friends with gardens are wonderful.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Happy birthday Jane.

thank you for the birthday greetings

so far it is just another day. I went to the pool and took Don to Walmart and now it is almost 1 . He is willing to take me anywhere but I have to do the driving and now I am tired and I am really tired of driving everywhere for the last 3 1/2 years. But Don should not drive anymore because he scares me when he does. I had thought we would go to Captiva but the red tide is in and causes breathing problems so guess we won't. I really don't want to drive to Naples so for now I am just going no where until I feel like getting in the car again.

The paper which was suppose to start on Wed. has yet to start. I have called them twice so will call them again!

Italian Sub Sandwich

One sub = 8sp

3/4 cup Romaine lettuce, finely chopped
3 Tbs Plum tomatoes, diced
1 tsp uncooked red onion, diced
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp diced oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp salt (optional)
3 oz. turkey salami slice(s) thinly sliced
2 oz. reduced fat Provolone cheese, thinly sliced

Be sure to toast bun so the sub won't be soggy
In small bowl, toss together lettuce, tomato, onion, vinegar, oil, oregano , salt and pepper until blended.
To make each sub, layer half of salami and half of the cheese in each bun, top with half of lettuce mixture.

I know some have allergies so perhaps you could swap for cheese of your choice or something of equal value.

Another

Kiwi Fizz

4 servings -- 1 serving = 2 sp

2 medium Kiwi fruit, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water, still/mineral (4 fl oz.)
1/2 cup unsweetened orange juice (4 fl 0z.)
4 cups sparkling water (32 fl oz.)

Puree Kiwi, still water, orange juice in a blender until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Add the puree to a large pitcher filled with ice and pour in sparkling water, stir lightly and serve.
Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.
Can add sweetener if desired.


Beautiful day in Iowa, low humidity and temps. Not much happening here except went into town to price check food item for our local Club Ice cream supper the first Saturday in August.

Locust were singing here last night, always said to be sign of first frost in 6 weeks.