Journal Your Christmas

Here is a page dedicated to the Journal Your Christmas albums I’ve done.

You can see the pages I’ve completed – they’re posted on Flickr.

2009
2010

And a few samples here:

Going off the grid

I'm taking a little break this week – relaxing and enjoying some offline time with my family.

I won't be posting regularly but will share something if the muse strikes.

Have a terrific week and I'll be back to my regular posting schedule next week.

Mercy Me!

Little Bit’s class hosted a Thanksgiving program yesterday – complete with a play about the Pilgrims, Indians and the First Thanksgiving.

Little Bit was a pilgrim lady.

Their line in the play was "Mercy Me!" and she did a great job with her dramatic recitation of her line every time it was her cue. With a brush of her brow, a kick of the hip and a little toss of her head, she was the epitome of a southern belle pilgrim.

I’m thinking cookies

Every year, I bake dozens and dozens of cookies for the holidays. I used to host a cookie swap party and invited 20 or more ladies. We would all go home with five or six dozen cookies of ten or fifteen different varieties. In addition to that, I have always baked “goodie bags” for our close friends and the kids’ teachers. I fill them with all sorts of baked treats.

I like to show my love that way.

It’s all my grandma’s fault. She taught me, as any good Italian grandma should, that the way to show love is to cook for people.

But, I digress.

As part of this baking bonanza, I try to find at least one new cookie recipe to add to my repertoire each year. I scour cookbooks and online recipe sites looking for something that has a high yield, low component cost, and doesn’t require hours of effort and toil on my part. Not as easy as you might think, given that most holiday cookie recipes are the sort that are designed to “wow” people with their finished product.

I’m all about “wow-ing” people with the flavors, not the fancy icing or cutouts. But that is just me.

So, I’m starting to ponder what my new cookie recipe will be this year.

I’ve been looking at some websites –

MyRecipes.com offers a cookie countdown with a new cookie recipe every day in November.

This Mudslide cookie looks really good and reminds me of a “chocolate chewy” recipe I used to adore from a local bakery where I grew up.

FoodNetwork.com also offers a daily cookie recipe but I think it doesn’t begin until December 1st (or maybe after Thanksgiving). This one you can subscribe to receive in your email as well.

AllRecipes.com also has a wealth of cookie recipes. I love the fact that I can read all the reviews (written by normal cooks like you and me) and then see any adaptations people have made. I like the feeling of empowerment I get to “tweak” a recipe myself and see how things turn out.

They have even identified their top cookie recipes in one place to make it easy to pick one out.

This year, I’m thinking about biscotti. I made some years ago and they were a big hit. I have a few Weight Watchers biscotti recipes and I may dig those out and make some more. I think those would be fun to make with my junior bakers’ assistance.

Taste of Home also has a great cookie section. I love their recipes because they are submitted by “normal” people, too, and are usually just awesome. These Sour Cream biscotti sound pretty good – and like something you could use as a base and add other ingredients to for different versions.

I’m also a huge fan of the traditional butter cookie and the shortbread cookie, but I’ve never made those myself. I may have to dig up a recipe to try there, too.

What are your plans for holiday baking? Do you bake cookies?

Any good recipes to share?

I am planning to share some of my favorite cookie recipes in the next few weeks, so if you have any plans for baking yourself and want to try something new, you may want to check these out.

If you have any cookie favorites, send the recipes on over! I'd love to share yours with everyone, too!

Tea + Me = Happy

I love tea.

I don’t know when this started. But I have loved tea for as far back as I can remember.

It is comforting to me.

My favorite part of the day is my first cup of tea in the morning – especially on mornings when I can really sit and enjoy the cup – not just sip as I dash about getting people out the door.

I love the feeling of that hotness sliding down my throat – and the rich flavors awakening my taste buds.

Tea is soothing when I don’t feel good.

Tea is comfort when I’m sad.

Tea melts stress.

Tea washes away bad feelings.

Did you know that, aside from water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world?

Or that tea has been consumed for over 5,000 years?

And that it is full of antioxidants and is thought to boost your immune system?

All those facts aside, I like to start AND end my day with tea.

A good-sized cup of a strong black tea helps get me going in the morning. I love strong, English teas. (Yorkshire Gold is my favorite)

There’s nothing like a cup of chamomile to wash away the stresses of the day and wind you down for the night. (Xiao’s Blend from Peet’s is my favorite night-time tea)

And, even after my surgery, I’m still loving tea. It took a while to get used to the sugar-free sweeteners in my tea – they affect the taste of the tea differently, but I’m used to it now.

How about you? Are you a tea drinker?

Looking for a recipe?

I have set up a list of all the recipes that have been posted here on the blog to make it easier for you to reference them if you’re looking for something and need to find it quickly.

Just click on the image above. It will always be in my bar over there as well, so it is easy to find.

Breakfast Goodness

Many of you have asked for my baked oatmeal recipe. I used to make one that was so, so good, but not so healthy. I happened upon a recipe on the web on a WLS board and have been tweaking it for the past few months until I reached a point where it was reliably making the same moist, yummy goodness I had enjoyed in the not-so-healthy version.

This is a great breakfast bar. I usually eat one (almost) every day. They are great to make ahead and freeze or refrigerate. I make a batch about every two weeks, refrigerate my squares and warm one a day in the microwave.

The little princess loves them, too, as does SuperMan.

If you don’t have protein powder, you might have to fiddle with the moisture levels. I had to increase the moisture (adding the Greek yogurt) to get it the right consistency after baking with the added protein from the powder. I have a non-WLS friendly recipe, so if you are interested in that, let me know in the comments and I can put it up here.

Here’s the recipe:

Baked Oatmeal

Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Ready In: 1 hour

Servings 12

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce (one single serve cup)
2 scoops protein powder (I use vanilla)
1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup craisins
1/2 cup raisins
1 small container Greek Yogurt (~1 cup)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix all ingredients, adding raisins & craisins last.
Mixture will be soupy.
Pour in greased 9×9 casserole.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar if desired.
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.
Let cool & cut into squares.

Footnotes

This is easily refrigerated or frozen and can be reheated. I usually make a batch and refrigerate until ready to eat. Then you can warm a square in your microwave for about 30 seconds and it tastes just-baked fresh.

And here is the link to print it out via allrecipes.com

Do you coupon?

I have a few well-intentioned friends who have been encouraging me to coupon for a few years now. I have been dragging my feet because it just seems sooo overwhelming and like so much extra work.

I have been trying to figure out a system that would work for me.

I’ve tried Coupon Mom and Southern Savers websites.

I’ve tried the “save every coupon circular and date them and then refer back to them to find the best deals” system. THAT didn't work for me. Too much clutter and too much more time involved. I have a hard time finding time to go shopping, I can’t spend an extra hour looking through filed circulars to find coupons.

I’ve tried cutting my coupons and storing them in a cute little file box. That got forgotten at home more times than not and the coupons were expired before I remembered to use them.

I have recently, though, hit upon something that works for me. I thought I’d share with you … just in case you coupon, too.

And I’d love to hear your input and suggestions. I’m a relatively new recruit and I’m definitely looking for ideas from the more seasoned couponers out there.

Here’s what I do:

I make my grocery list of what we’re out of and what we need.
(I do this throughout the week)
I look at the weekly paper for sales at the grocery stores I frequent.
I pull the circulars and clip the coupons I know I will use.
I check Southern Savers website - I find it easier to use to find the specials for the grocery stores I like.
I plan my menu for the week, based on what is on sale and what we’re hungry for.
I update my grocery list with any specials I find on the web and my menu plan items.
I pull my coupons for the grocery list and put them with my list.

BUT, the biggest thing I have found that has helped me is this:

A friend told me about it. At first, I thought it was a novel concept, but who needs another “toy” for coupons and shopping? Now that I’ve used it?

Love it.

Love the way it makes it SUPER EASY to sort my coupons with this little thingy. It’s about 3 feet long and has a spot for you to put every category of your coupons. So, I cut, stack and then sort. My Big Girl loves to help with this part.

Everything goes in its own place.

It even has a place for me to keep the coupons I’m planning to use for my next shopping trip. And I move them over to the “checkout” section as I use them.

Easy peasy.

There’s also a place for the other “miscellaneous” coupons we get – for restaurants, car service places, etc. I like the fact that I can have ALL my coupons in one place.

Have you found a system that works for you?

What do you use? Share with us all in the comments… I’d love to hear your ideas.

Lots of words

A cool wordle of recent blog posts… lost of words there…

Category: Uncategorized

Journal Your Christmas

Links

Misc Blogs I like

Recipe blogs & websites I like

Scrapbooking blogs & websites I like

Knitting blogs I like

Bariatric blogs I like

Going off the grid

Mercy Me!

Tea + Me = Happy

Looking for a recipe?