Category: Food and dining

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Big Family Gathering for Christmas

We had a terrific Christmas this year!  My mother in law came to visit and we had about 15 other people come over for Christmas dinner too!  I served a traditional turkey meal with all of the fixings.  One of the guests even brought a tofurkey because their family is vegetarian.  I tried it and it surprisingly wasn’t that bad at all.

Most of the day the kids were in the back yard.  Santa brought them a giant trampoline.  It was great to see their faces as they bounced up and down trying to get higher and higher each time.  My husband and I even tried it out with them.  We jumped pretty high.  I was afraid I might fall off myself.  I know I really shouldn’t have gotten on it with my leg but I did anyway.  I’m glad the kids got something that will keep them physically active.  I know a lot of kids got electronics and will end up sitting on the couch for the next month or so.  I really want top make sure the kids get enough activity so we convinced Santa to get them the trampoline.

 

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Cookie Exchange

What  a great turn out we had this year for the cookie exchange.  There were soo many gorgeous cookies and tasty ones too!  One person brought cookies that looked like a snowman was melting on top of them.  They were absolutely adorable.  She frosted the cookies with white icing and then stuck a marshmallow on top and partially melted it to look like the snowman head.  She decorated the rest of the cookie with items for the face, and hat etc. The kids went bonkers over them.

We also had a few other treats that I’ve never seen before that I just couldn’t get enough of.  I LOVED the little pretzels with a Rolo candy stuck on top with a nut.  Rolo candies are chocolate covered caramels and are one of my favorites. When I discovered this little tasty treat had Rolos I was in heaven.  I’ll definitely be making them in the future.

The party was a hit!  We had twenty five different varieties of cookies and everyone went home with a box filled with an assortment of their very own.  A few people asked if we could do it again next year.  Since we had such a great time I think we will.

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Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a wonderful time we had over the holiday weekend.  It was nice to see all of the family.  We drove out to my grandma’s house and spent the weekend there.  I got to see all of my siblings and catch upon all of the exciting family gossip.

I was looking forward to grandma’s famous cinnamon buns.  Every year she makes these delicious cinnamon buns from scratch. I love the ooey gooey caramel that melts out of them when they cook.  She tops them off with a delectable, homemade cream cheese frosting.  My mouth is watering jut thinking about them.  I’ve tried to make them myself but they are never the same.

In addition to the tasty treats we enjoyed some quality family time.  After we ate the huge meal together we all gathered in grandma’s famliy room to play a few board games.  We played Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit.  The kids had a great time kicking our butts.

I’m excited to do something with everyone again next year.  We might get to see everyone again for Christmas and do it all over again.  I can’t wait!

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Rest and Relaxation

My husband was very sweet this morning and made me breakfast in bed.  He made me blueberry waffles, fresh fruit salad, coffee and orange juice.  I felt like a queen being given the royal treatment.  I spent the entire morning just resting and relaxing in my bed.  I wish I could have more days like today.  Too bad I have to get up and go to work tomorrow.

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Food Drive

I went grocery shopping tonight with my husband.  I sat in one of those motorized shopping carts and pointed to what I wanted him to get.  While we were there we purchased a bunch of food to donate to our local food drive.  There was really large bin out in front of the store when we walked in that reminded us to give back.  I know not everyone is as fortunate as we are.  We always try to give back and help our community out whenever we can.

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Tasty Treats

Someone brought in the most divine cake pops I’ve ever had in my life today. They were beautifully decorated to look like little pumpkins and ghosts. I don’t have the skill to do the fine piping work that was done on these or I’d try to make some myself.

These tasty treats were made with a pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting. They were coated in a chocolate candy coating that was smooth and creamy when you bit into it. The cake was exceptionally moist, not one bite was dry. The woman who made them wouldn’t give us the recipe but she did share that much with everyone.

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Healthy Snacks

I need to find some new and exciting healthy snacks.  I know the standard fruits and veggies but, what else can we eat that is healthy, nutritionally dense, and tastes great? I know there are low calories snacks marketed everywhere but I dont’ really want to fill up on popcorn or rice cakes and crackers.

I like to dip my food.  Maybe I can find some healthy dips to use with some of the normal boring snacks to jazz things up a bit. Maybe if I just use some bright colors in the food we eat it will seem more exciting.  I bet I could mix beets in with hummus and have a pretty colored, bright pink, and delicious dip.  I’ll do some playing around with ideas and see what works for my family.

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What’s for lunch?

Every day we go through the same thing. What’s for lunch?  I decided to start planning out our family lunches so I don’t have to waste an extra 10-15 minutes in the morning when I pack lunches for everyone.  I made an excel spreadsheet and will add to it weekly so I have a database of all the lunches we have had.  When I can’t think of something I can go back and see what we’ve had in the past.  I know everyone is getting sick of the same things over and over again so I’m also doing some easy recipe searches to add to our lunch repertoire.

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Another Holiday Weekend

I just love 3 day weekends. It means an extra day of relaxation with the family. We’re hosting a barbecue at our house this year. I’m making my Aunt Frankie’s famous potato salad. My husband is in charge of the grill. It’s a potluck so I don’t have to make anything else. I’m excited to have our friends over and to let the kids exhaust their energy with friends.

Some days I wish we had 3 day weekends every week. It might not be as special though I suppose. I’d definitely settle for once a month holiday weekends.

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Kid friendly snacks

Growing up I had raisins, grapes, apples, and oranges.  Well, I probably had most every fruit available as long as it was om sale and not that expensive.  I also had cheese and crackers.  I loved the goldfish crackers.

Anyway, I’m trying to come up with kid friendly snacks for my kids and their play group.  I want the food to be fun and interactive.  I thought about cutting cheese up into fun shapes or even doing the same with fruit.  Melons and pineapple will work great for fun shapes.  I bet I can make some of those fancy fruit flowers that you can order online instead of regular flowers.  I could give each girl her own little bouquet of tasty flowers.

I’d like to try fun finger sandwiches for them also.  I did find a neat collection of character faces made out of food when I looked up bento box lunches.   Maybe each child could bring a bento box and I could have them build their own tasty treats.  I’ll have to talk to the other parents in the playgroup to get their thoughts and opinions.  I just want the next time I host the group to be tons of fun with a fun and fantastic snack.