Its Friday!  Woah, this week has gone by so fast!  Can you believe its only 15 days till Christmas?!  I finally got around to some xmas shopping this week.  This year on both sides of the family, we did a draw, so we don’t have much to buy…which is nice!  I still have a few things I’d like to get for Sienna, but I’m torn.  I’m sure she’d like some big new toy, but do I really want to clutter up the house even more for something that she plays with for a month? Decisions, decisions.  We’re actually going away for Christmas, so we’re going to have to pack.  No, not some sunny destination if that’s what your thinking.  We’re going east, to Edmonton, so I’m not looking forward to feeling what 40 below zero feels like, but it will be great to see all Brent’s family.  Wouldn’t it be nice if they lived in Mexico 😉  I can dream can’t I?  Well enough of the rambling…

So last week I promised a party food re-cap.  Let me just say I had all these wonderful intentions of taking detailed pictures of every dish, but it didn’t quite happen. I was whizzing around the whole night like a protein shake in a blender!  Well, not quite, thankfully I was pretty organized, but that was only because I started prepping on Thursday night!  These were the ones I happened to snap a photo…

Turkey Meatballs (done in the slow cooker)

I’m embarrassed to admit how easy the sauce recipe was!  Chili sauce and whole cranberry sauce mixed.  You wouldn’t believe how many comments I got on how delicious it was!

Honey Mustard Wings (also in the Slow Cooker)

The only labor intensive part of these was browning them (in a pan with a touch of oil, not fried) before they went into the slow cooker.  The sauce was REALLY good too — mustard, brown sugar, low sodium soy sauce.  Not sure if I’d do these in the slow cooker again as they fell apart too much, but the sauce was delish.

“Light” Seven Layer Dip

This is Brent’s request every year.  I’m not a fan of 7-layer dip, I didn’t even try it, but Brent loved it.  My tummy doesn’t like cheese so much, so I steered clear.  I got the recipe here. I even made the guacamole! I’d make it again….it was really easy.

There were many others.  Asparagus Wraps, Veggies/Dip, Crackers/Cheese, Date Turkey Bacon Wraps, Crab Stuffed Mushrooms (those were gone sooo quick!), Lightened Up Spinach & Artichoke Dip (I did in a smaller slow cooker), Procuitto Goat Cheese & Pear (couldn’t find Panchetta).

And then there was DESSERT:

Snowballs (my Mom’s recipe)….chocolate, graham cracker, walnuts, butter, peppermint icing, coconut.  Heavenly!

Cinnamon/Sugar Tortilla Crisps. My mom used to make these every Xmas.  I healthied (is that a word?) up this version with whole grain tortilla’s.  They taste like an elephant ear, but not fried.  Really yum!

For these all you do is preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Take your whole grain tortilla and brush the entire thing with a bit of butter/margarine.  Then sprinkle with a cinnamon/sugar mix and shake off the access.  Cut into triangles and bake on a cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes until it starts to curl up and get crispy.  Cool them on a baking rack.

Cracker Brittle.  A girlfriend of mine brought these.  OMG, butter, sugar and chocolate, with a cracker on the bottom…it tastes like toffee….so very rich. She did them with Premium Plus (saltine) crackers, but you can also do them with graham crackers.  The recipe is actually on the side of the Honeymaid Graham crackers box.  Very sweet though, and a small piece did suffice.

 So have you had enough of the FOOD PORN?

Doggie Update:

MacGregor is looking forward to Christmas very much.  He can’t wait to get his doggie goodies and treats.

Meanwhile, Roxie is looking forward to fishing out the crumbs from MacGregor’s drool…

She says, “I’m ready for the inevitable!”

Sienna’s Picture of the Week – at lunchtime (the girl loves her yogurt!)

Potty training update: SUCCESS!  Well, almost!  We’ve now ditched the potty and she’s going on the regular seat (well her special Dora seat).  A Pullup at night, but otherwise, doing great.  Hopefully it will keep up!

Current Food Obsession—Roasted Veggies.  I forgot how much I love parsnip!  Gotta love the root veggies.  I did up a HUGE batch and have been eating it throughout the week for lunch AND dinner! LOL!

There is yam, parsnip, carrot, red & yellow pepper, red onion, zucchini, no salt herb seasoning and a bit of olive oil.

 I’m still not feeling the salads at all, but this is sure doing the trick.  Some protein on the side (grilled chicken) and I’m golden!

Workouts:

I’ve been diligently using my Gymboss!  This week I did a lower body weights workout with it, and today and upper body (shoulder/back) workout with it.  Intervals with heavy weights = a GREAT workout. I’m finally feeling like I’m over the sickness I first got almost 3 weeks ago.  So back to some consistency.  I tried working out sick and all I got was GLARES for coughing and blowing my snotty nose around all the equipment.  Sweating it out didn’t seem to work, so I decided to rest instead.  But it worked, so this week I’ll get in my 3 workouts.  I don’t know if you remember me mentioning I’m on a reduced workout schedule at the moment for a couple reasons (which I will get into one of these days).

Ta ta for now!

xo Kristine