You will notice a couple of recent fudge recipes that have been posted as well as other desserts.  These are great recipes to have during the holidays for company and to take to parties, but they are not for everyday eating which then might require something to suppress appetite.  I try to cook, for the most part, meals that are healthy and also snacks that are healthy.  We usually don’t have desserts after meals, nor do we have much sugar or white flour.  However, during the holidays things are different. 

With the new year, it’s time to check out and make sure all types of insurance are covered.  If someone lived in North Carolina, for example, they would need to make sure they had NC health insurance, auto insurance, property insurance, and life insurance.  And if they lived in an area prone to flooding then they would need to have flood insurance.  It takes time to check on all of these, but it’s worth it to make sure that each type of insurance has the  amount of coverage needed.

Hope everyone had a really nice Christmas!  We had a wonderful time being with family several different times.   It’s such a special time remembering how much we’ve been blessed and then in turn, blessing other people.   Now, we don’t give gifts like a laptop or an industrial computer, but we try to give something special for each particular person.  (However, several years ago, we did give my mother-in-law a computer.  That was definitely an exception!)  

Appetizers:

• Cheese Ball

• Cheese Log
• Blackeye Pea Salsa
• Olive Garden’s Artichoke-Spinach Dip
• Mixed Nuts with Rosemary & Shallots (serve warm)
• Rolled Chicken and Asparagus
• Sausage Cheese Balls
• Sausage Rolls
• Spicy Hot Pretzels
• Southwest “Cheesecake” Dip

• Texas Stuffed Jalapenos

Beverages:

• Hershey’s Microwave Hot Chocolate (made from scratch)
• Spicy Apple Cider

Desserts, Muffins, & Breads:

• Cherry-Banana Bread (Low-fat)
• Chocolate Cake in a Mug in 5 Minutes (Microwave)
• Chocolate Chip Pie
• Chocolate Kiss – Peanut Butter Cookies
  
• Company’s Coming Cookies
• Crustless Pumpkin Pie
• Eggless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cookie Dough Safe to Eat!
• Frito Candy
• Harvest Pumpkin Muffins
• Holiday Pineapple Nut Bread
• Oreo Truffles
• Pecan Pie Muffins
• Pineapple Delight
• Sopapilla Cheesecake
• Sugar Cookies – Healthier Version (with a hint of orange flavor)
• Sugar Cookies – Old Fashioned (recipe from Central Market)

Entrees:

• Cranberry Chicken Breasts
• Crunchy Chicken Crescents (made with crescent roll dough)

Pie Crusts:

• Graham Cracker Pie Crust
• “Mix in the Plate” Pie Crust

• Never Fail Pie Crust (Make ahead of time)

Salads:

• Cherry Salad
• Green Pistachio Salad
• Mother’s Holiday Fruit Salad
• Peach Pie Salad
  
• Raw Cranberry Salad

Stuffing:

• Fritos Cornbread Stuffing

• Laura Bush’s Corn Bread Dressing

Veggies:

• Easy Sweet Potato Casserole
• Holiday Sweet Potatoes

• Holiday Vegetable Casserole
• Spicy Corn Casserole

There are still quite a few people trying to decide what to buy someone for a Christmas present.  Maybe a tv stand for their new TV, a certain item that the person receiving the gift would like to have, or maybe just a small gift to say, “Merry Christmas.”   Whatever the present, it always has been and always will be the thought behind the gift that counts!

There are a lot of people hurting right now for many different reasons.  Some are out of work and are having a really hard time.  They look and look for a job, but there are few jobs to be found.  Some people are trying to get their lives straightened out by going to drug rehab or some type of rehab. Others might have a serious illness or a family member with a serious illness, or they have lost someone close to them.  Whatever the reason, let’s keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open to those hurting around us and give them encouragement and help when we can.

If any of you have a gift that is hard to wrap, I saw huge gift bags at Bed, Bath, & Beyond that would work great if the gift isn’t too big.   Now, if you have truck accessories that you need to wrap, that’s a different story.   If the gift is huge or practically impossible to wrap, one thing you can do is wrap a list of clues as to where the gift is hidden and have the recipient of the gift try to find it.  That can be fun if the clues aren’t too hard.

There’s so much in the news about insurance nowadays, specifically health insurance.  It’s something we’ve always needed along with property insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, and maybe even flood insurance for some.  Back when we were self-employed, we had to have business insurance.   Have you added up the total amount of insurance costs for each month?  It’s quite a bit!  Makes it a necessity to get the best price on each type of insurance.

Medical costs are getting so expensive!  I think some things need to change, but changes need to be carefully studied and considered.  What should I do as an individual?  Do I need a health savings account or what exactly do I need?  Right now, I don’t know for sure.  This is something I need to research, and I also need to put in my two cents worth about health care to my representatives.

The first set of holidays is past, and I did fairly well as far as what I ate.   I won’t need phentermine or anything like that because I got a little extra exercise and just ate in moderation.   We had all the family favorites which I did modify some as far as the amount of fat and sugar.  But we really couldn’t tell the difference very much.  It was a good thing there was less fat and calories considering we had yummy left-overs for several days.

Stuffing:

• Fritos Cornbread Stuffing

• Laura Bush’s Corn Bread Dressing

Sweet Potatoes & Veggies:

• Holiday Sweet Potatoes

• Easy Sweet Potato Casserole
• Holiday Vegetable Casserole
  

Salads:

• Mother’s Holiday Fruit Salad
• Peach Pie Salad
  
• Raw Cranberry Salad

Desserts, Muffins, & Breads:

• Cherry-Banana Bread (Low-fat)
• Chocolate Chip Pie (Awesome!)
• Company’s Coming Cookies
• Crustless Pumpkin Pie
• Eggless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cookie Dough Safe to Eat!
• Frito Candy
• Harvest Pumpkin Muffins
• Holiday Pineapple Nut Bread
• Oreo Truffles
• Pecan Pie Muffins
• Pillsbury Turkey Sugar Cookies
  
• Pineapple Delight
• Sopapilla Cheesecake

Pie Crusts:

• Graham Cracker Pie Crust
• “Mix in the Plate” Pie Crust

• Never Fail Pie Crust (Make ahead of time)

Appetizers:

• Cheese Ball

• Cheese Log
• Blackeye Pea Salsa
• Olive Garden’s Artichoke-Spinach Dip
• Mixed Nuts with Rosemary & Shallots (serve warm)
• Rolled Chicken and Asparagus
• Sausage Cheese Balls
• Sausage Rolls
• Southwest “Cheesecake” Dip

• Texas Stuffed Jalapenos

Ideas for left-over turkey:

• Brown Rice, Turkey, & Broccoli in Mushroom Sauce
• Campbell’s Country Turkey Casserole
• Turkey and Vegetable Soup