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and may you have

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a Blessed and Happy New Year

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in 2012!

Less than a week until Christmas!  We celebrated Christmas early with our daughter and her family and had turkey breast dinner Friday night, Mexican food for lunch, and then a roast & veggies cooked in the crock pot for Saturday night.  Fortunately, we have enough leftovers so I won’t have to cook much this week.  Plus, it will be such a busy week that we’ll probably have some fast food meals while we’re out and about.   So, our menu for this week is leftovers and fast food or carry out.

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Hope everyone can slow down, remember the reason for the season, and not stress over details that people won’t notice anyway.  Make a priority list and do the things that really make a difference.  Simplify where you can!

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One last thing, here’s a cute idea to take to a party or potluck this week.

“Melting Snowmen” made by Brandi, a co-worker of mine:

I realized that I forgot to ask her how she made them, but I thought an easy way to do it would be to get Chocolate Cake Donut Holes and dip in melted white chocolate.  Place snowman head in a puddle of melted white chocolate.  Use chow mein noodles for the arms and decorate with colored icing, sprinkles and colored sugar.  Here’s another recipe I found which is probably what my co-worker used:  Melted Snowmen Cookie Balls.
And if you want to see some more really cute ideas, visit our daughter’s blog, Frugal Novice, for 10 Creative & Easy Christmas Desserts (did I mention fun?).

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Need some ideas for desserts that are delicious yet lower fat, lower cholesterol, or lower calories?  Here are four desserts that might work:

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• Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie  from Food Network  (might be better with graham cracker crust).    Calories 279; Total Fat 8.5 g (Sat Fat 2.7g, Mono Fat 1.7g, Poly Fat 1.7g) ; Protein 7g; Carb 44g; Fiber 1g; Cholesterol 43mg; Sodium 158mg
• Double Chocolate Pudding Pie  from Food Network.   Just a small dollop of real whipped cream on top will still give a taste of richness.
• Healthified Pumpkin Pie  from Eat Better America  (Cholesterol-free)
• Creamy Vanilla-Caramel Cheesecake  from Eat Better America.    Calories 180 (Calories from Fat 70); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 4 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 25mg; Sodium 190mg; Total Carbohydrate 21g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 17g); Protein 5g, Exchanges: 1 1/2 Starch; 1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices.

This summer passed so fast, too fast. Before we know it, the holiday season will be here with all its hustle and bustle. Things get so busy during the weeks before Christmas that I try to get as much done early as I can so that I can enjoy the time and not be stressed.
Some people are already ordering their holiday photo cards, shopping for Christmas presents, and getting ready to buy new decorations for the Christmas season. And in all actuality, Christmas products will probably be appearing on shelves in the stores before we know it. My guess it that we’ll start seeing them next month some time. Or have any of you already seen Christmas items in stores?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

My Christmas wish for you is that you may find a place where you can take a break from the hectic pace this time of year, a place of peace and quiet where you can reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. I hope you can get a cup of your favorite coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and just sit and be still. If you have a chance, here are some Christmas songs with videos to help focus thoughts on the reason for the season…the reason for the joy of the Christmas season which is the birth of Jesus Christ!

Family Dollar awarded their Family Dollar Holiday Dream Dash Contest grand prize winners with a free holiday shopping spree recently: “The Hayes family of Nashville, Tennessee grabbed as many $5 toys and gifts and other holiday items as their shopping cart could handle, in just ninety seconds, filling up on items that will be donated to the Nashville Rescue Mission.”  How awesome that the Hayes family donated their winnings to the homeless.  That’s the true spirit of Christmas!

I really like this new version which has a completely different melody from the old one. I like the old version, too, which is what I’ve known since childhood, but this one is so beautiful!  This new melody has almost an angelic quality to it which emphasizes the phrase “hear the angels sing” in all three verses. Hope you enjoy this as much as I do!
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This is one of my favorite new Christmas songs.  Francesca is a new mom herself.  Beautiful Christmas song!
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