Naughty Time: Christmas Reflections

There have been a few things that have really been on my mind this holiday season. All of them center on Jesus and Santa/Presents. We actually have a significant number of friends and acquaintances that either don't do Santa or have tried to not do Santa. For some it's the worry that Santa will take away from Jesus and for others it is the worry about "lying" to their kids. For a while I've thought that we would do Santa in our house when we have kids but just make sure it wasn't the main thing. That being said I try not to buy things with Santa on it just since I don't want it to be the focus (but I do have Santa things and if it's super cute I'm in). On the other hand I had no problem asking the nieces if they were excited for Santa to come and jingling my bracelets and asking them if they heard Santa's sleighbells as we were piling into the cars to go to church on Christmas eve.

I was in church 5 times this last week  yes 5 (no that's not normal but 3-4 times is for an average Christmas week. We go to Lutheran Church Easter and Christmas are filled with services). The girls perked up every time they heard the words Jesus, Jacob and Mary in songs, in the sermons, with people talking, etc. They sang Jesus Loves Me all week preparing for the Sunday School Christmas program which is chock-full of deep theology, seriously it's not fluff. And I've got 3 nativity sets adorning our front window 2 of which they can play with. And when asked what time of year it was their reply was "Jesus Melon's birthday" (yeah we don't know where the melon came from).

(T rocked the Jesus Loves me hand motions and L rocked the nose picking but she sang it when we were in the car I think she was just being shy)
So while we played the Santa game I think the girls got it. And I know this isn't how every family will do it and it may not be what's right for other families, but I'm really encouraged that both can be possible. In the same way that I look forward to playing make believe with my future kids I look forward to keeping the tradition of Santa and giving them presents. But even more than that I look forward to teaching them the true meaning of Christmas.

I've been frustrated about the news saying things like "for some families there will be no Christmas" when they are talking about the hardships some families are experiencing and how they need the the rest of the community's help to get presents for their kids. And yes I gave presents to Angel Tree and yes I believe those of us who are more fortunate should help make sure that others do have presents, but, Christmas is not about presents, at least not about material ones. Christmas is about Jesus being born for each and every one of us. I think that's why the words of  "Infant Holy Infant Lowly" that I posted on Christmas Eve stood out to me this year. Any ways those are a few things that have been on my mind.

And on that note I wish you all a very Happy New Year.
 

Fitness Journal: Week 18

Last week was kinda weird. I was in 3 braces for most of the week. During my Monday swim class my ankle cramped up bad and then ached for a week...oh and that was the 'good' ankle so I had braces on both ankles. Also we did more breast stroke than normal so my knee just killed the day after so that was wrapped all week. I'm up in weight still but that mostly popped up 2 weeks ago and it's stayed the same. I haven't logged food in the last two weeks but I also count it as holiday blah blah blah. I guess I'll start logging food again tomorrow. I'm just not feeling that motivated but I'm not feeling too bad about it all either. The hubby gave me a vacay (potterland and cruise) for Christmas so it would be nice to lose some weight before then. yeah

Weight:
12/15/2010 147.4
12/30/2010 147.6
I'm 5'5 but have a small frame
(I think I'm going for 135 and we'll see from there)

Nutrition Breakdown:

Didn't log things I was probably over though.

Exercise:
H bike 52 min 10.2 mi
F Bike 60 min 11.1 mi
S Off
S Skipped (gym was closed and didn't feel like doing strength at home)
M Swim 1500 yd
T Strength and Conditioning Class

W Bike  30 min 4.75mi Walk 10 min 0.5 mi

Recipes: Pomegranate and Chocolate Chip Cheesecakes with Cranberry Drizzle

So cream cheese was on sale for 98 cents a block so I kinda bought 12 blocks. I hope I haven't already burnt you guys out on cheesecake recipes because I have two more for you. I'm going to say that I liked the chocolate chip one better but the pomegranate one definitely looks more fancy and don't get me wrong both are delicious.
 

For the Crust
1 pack of chocolate graham crackers (crushed)
1/3 C Butter (melted)

For Cheesecake
3-8 oz pkgs Cream Cheese (use philidephia and make sure it's room temp or it won't turn out)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 C Sugar
3 Eggs (room temp)
3 Tbls Lemon Juice
1 Tbl Vanilla

for the pomegranate cheesecake
whipped cream
fruit from one pomegranate

 for cranberry sauce to serve with either
1 C cranberries
1/2 C sugar
2 T orange juice
1C cranberry juice 

for the chocolate chip cheesecake
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

(oops forgot to take a picture before we dug in)

The Steps

• Bring cream cheese and eggs to room temp (this will take 2-3 hours). Don't skip this step.
• Break up the graham crackers (I like to stick them in a ziplock and mush).
• Melt the butter and mix with the graham cracker crumbs. Press them into a springform pan.
• Beat the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth.
• Add sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice until well combined.
• Add eggs one by one until combined.
• for the chocolate chip cheesecake add in the mini chips (try to stir as little as possible)
• Heat a dish while preheating the oven and pour hot water in the dish when you stick the cheesecake in. Bake at 300F with steam for 1 hour and 15 minutes (until outside is set but inside is still jiggly).
• Let cool in the oven with door closed for at least 2 hours 
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours I think overnight is best, the texture and taste are much better when it's colder 
• for the pomegranate cheesecake top with whipped cream and pomegranate fruit
• Cut with a knife rinsed with hot water between each slice (or else it'll look gross and moundy like my picture because I was too impatient, see how nice the first slice looks)

 Cranberry Drizzle

•  cook all the ingredients over medium heat until the cranberries break down
• blend with an immersion blender

And get this we were at the Cheesecake Factory the other day and they screwed up our order and at the end they asked if we wanted cheesecake and we said no, they said it'll probably be comped and both of us said no (we had some of the pomegranate one left in the fridge). I'm telling you, cheesecake isn't ask scary as you think if you haven't tried it yet put it on your list.

Tutorial and Giveaway: Rosette Hair Clips and Headbands

I've been insanely obsessed with making rosette hair accessories this past week. Seriously I made a few clipies for gifts and two different elastic headbands to go with different outfits I wore last week. I really really like them, and every time I wear one out I get compliments. I think the best part is that I can throw my hair up in a claw clip or poofed pony tail and not feel like a slob ;)  I hope you have fun making them as well.

Giveaway
And just for fun to say goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011 I'll be giving one of these away on the RaeGun facebook page. Just go fan the page and then read this post for info of how to enter the giveaway (ends Jan. 11, 2011). And if you're not feeling crafty or don't have the time I've added some to my shop and I'll be adding more they'll all be in the accessories section.

(click on the pic to see a larger view)

What you'll need
Strips of fabric
Felt
Hair Clips, pins or headband (I love the elastic ones, they're comfortable enough for me to wear all day)
Hot glue gun with glue
optional: mesh, lace, beads, etc.

What to do

• tear or cut your strips of fabric I like them to be between 1 and 3 inches
• fold the strip in half lengthwise (hotdog bun style not hamburger bun)
• start to roll at one end gluing every couple of rolls
• after a few rolls start twisting (you'll get slightly different looks depending how tightly you twist)
• glue often, I do a dot about every half of third of the circumference
• when it's big enough to your liking cut the fabric leaving a little tail, put some glue on the underside and fasten the tail.
• If you want to add leaves cut leaves out of felt. Otherwise cut a small square out of felt small enough that it will not show you will be gluing this to the bottom of the rosette.
• Cut any other fabric, feathers or other embellishments you want to use.
• FOR THE HAIR CLIPS OR HEADBANDS : lay any other embellishments under the rosette and glue the felt to the back of the rosette. Then glue the rosette onto the clip (the felt should provide a good base to attach the rosette)
• FOR THE HAIRPINS: make your rosette and layer the embellishments you'd like to use glue them together then cut a piece of felt to attach to the back of the rosette and glue. Finally cut a small piece of felt slide it in between the parts of the hairpin then glue to the felt already attached to the rosette.

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it out.

What's for Dinner: Week 66

(shrimp fetticine alfredo)
For those of you are new  to my blog I write these weekly plans to help me spend less (I kinda of love grocery shopping, yea I know I'm weird), to save time and to try and help us eat in more often. Also I love knowing what other people eat so I thought it would be fun to share. For a while I'll be adding my plans for what greens. I'll be eating since one of my resolutions is to build a habit of introducing more green veggies into our diet. Maybe some day it'll be so normal for us that I won't have to mention them any more.

Oh my gosh Christmas dinner was one of THE yummiest meals I've had, seriously it was so scrumptious. Okay get this so the musicmaker, my husband kept on saying how he had no present for me blah blah blah but then yesterday I opened up an envelop with an itinerary for a full out vacation, Harry Potterland and a Caribbean cruise eeeeek! So I need to clean up my eating so we can take some cute pictures during the vacay because let's say I really enjoyed myself last week ;)

Day	Main Meal	Goals (Veggies, Whole Grain, Fish)
Sunday	Red Iguana	Grains and nuts: Sandwich, granola bars, ww pasta Veggies: peas Fish:
Monday	Sausage Potato Soup and Jalapeno Cheese Rolls
Tuesday	Mannicotti
Wednesday	Eat Out (Pub Quiz)
Thursday	Meatball Sandwich
Friday	Chicken Artichoke and Spinach Pasta
Saturday	Laab

Merry Christmas

I hope you all have a very Merry (Hipsterific) Christmas. I'll be taking the next few days off to enjoy family time and celebrate Christmas.

Infant holy, infant lowly,

For his bed a cattle stall;

Oxen lowing, little knowing

Christ the child is Lord of all.

Swiftly winging, angels singing,

Bells are ringing, tidings bringing

Christ the child is Lord of all!

Christ the child is Lord of all!

Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping

Vigil till the morning new

Saw the glory, heard the story,

Tidings of a Gospel true.

Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow,

Praises voicing, greet the morrow:

Christ the child was born for you!

Christ the child was born for you!

Customer Appreciation Pic: Candy Cane Girl

The lovely of Meghan of http://meghanrickardphotography.com/  sent me these darling pictures of her little one wearing my candy cane bottoms. It's too late to buy them for this year but they are one of my favorite things I've made still so I just wanted to share.

It is always so so fun getting pictures of little ones wearing my goodies! Makes me so happy. If you have some you haven't sent over I'd love to see them. Also you can post them to the RaeGun Facebook page if you're a fan over there, which I hope you are.

Only a few days left to Christmas, I still need to make a few gifts, wrap,  make the naughties Christmas dresses and finish the last piece of pomegranate cheesecake (recipe coming). I guess I don't "need" to do the last one but that's in today's plan ;)

Guest Blogging: Crafty Cierra

Hey all I'm blog swapping with Cierra of Crafty Cierra today. She's got some goodies to share with you today but head over there as well where I share some of my favorite last minute DIY gift ideas.

Hey everyone! My name is Cierra from CraftyCierra. I am so excited to be here today! Let me tell you a little bit about myself...I love to create things, try new recipes, & plan parties, which is what my blog is all about! I love to share my ideas with others, in hopes that they may be inspired by them, as I have by all of your amazing blogs!

I do a Wild Wednesday Party every week, along with a feature. I pick someone from the party to feature the following week! So be sure to link up!

Here are a few of my projects I want to share with you today!

Wooden Pumpkins

Hairbow Display

TuTu Cute

Most of everything I make, I also sell in my Etsy Shop. Stop by to see what I have. I also do custom orders. Right now I am selling Kids' activity books for only $1.99. The books have 25 different activites to do. You can get 10% OFF in my shop by using the code "Christmas1". I am also doing a giveaway right now at my blog. 1 Lucky winner will win a $30 Gift Certificate to CSN Stores.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure to visit my blog for more fun ideas & tutorials!

http://CraftyCierra.blogspot.com/

Happy Crafting!

Cierra

What's for Dinner: Week 65

(wontons)
For those of you are new  to my blog I write these weekly plans to help me spend less (I kinda of love grocery shopping, yea I know I'm weird), to save time and to try and help us eat in more often. Also I love knowing what other people eat so I thought it would be fun to share. For a while I'll be adding my plans for what greens. I'll be eating since one of my resolutions is to build a habit of introducing more green veggies into our diet. Maybe some day it'll be so normal for us that I won't have to mention them any more.

This week is going to be so delicious! oooh party food all Sunday I know she'll have my favorite Swedish meatballs and wonton shrimp cups weee. The Christmas plan is a not too heavy breakfast of granola wheat pancakes (I've still got to test these, I might go for gingerbread waffles also or instead), scrambled eggs and bacon. Then for dinner my sister is making prime rib and I'm making fettuccine Alfredo and scampi shrimp. I'm not sure if we'll do mashed potatoes too, and I guess we should talk about some veg. Oh yeah it's going to be so yummy.

Day	Main Meal	Goals (Veggies, Whole Grain, Fish)
Sunday	MIL's christmas party	Grains and nuts: Sandwich, granola bars, ww pasta Veggies: broccoli, peas Fish: Wontons
Monday	chicken tortellini soup
Tuesday	Meatball Sandwich
Wednesday	Eat Out
Thursday	black bean riblets with brown rice and broccoli
Friday	Traditional Wontons
Saturday	Christmas Feast

Treasury Love: Loving the Yellow and Grey

Check out this treasury that good florist put together. I'm such a sucker for yellow and grey. She included my a pair of my new little pants. So far I only have grey based pants in the shop but hopefully after Christmas I'll get the other ones listed. To see the other items in the treasury and get clickable listings for it click here.

Fitness Journal: Week 17

I've got mixed feelings about my weight. First off literally the second after I posted last week my weight jumped and it's been going up and down 2 pounds since. Not creeping up like 2 pounds one day and 2 pounds less the next. And yes I know it's normal for weight to fluctuate but I've been weighing myself everyday for like 7 years. Mine usually does not fluctuate that much. On the other hand my eating and my exercise has been fine. My trainer says not to worry about it since it's impossible to actually gain 2 pounds in a day and since on my fat testing I'm clearly down and my measurements are down. But what the heck I think it's really annoying. All I can think of is maybe I've had a little more salt than normal? I don't think it's the right time in the cycle for hormones to be an issue but it's annoying.

Weight:

12/8/2010 145.8
12/15/2010 147.4
I'm 5'5 but have a small frame
(I think I'm going for 135 and we'll see from there)

Nutrition Breakdown:

(1527 daily ave. so totally within my goals)

Exercise:
H Strength and Conditioning Class
F Bike 35 min 7 mi Walk 30 min 1.5 mi
S Off Day
S Bike 44 min 8 mi
M Swim 1100 yd
T Strength and Conditioning Class
W Bike  35 min 5.7 mi

Recipe: Cinnaburst Bread

There is this bakery here a small chain that makes really addictive bread. After my friend Laurel gave me my first taste I spent 3 days trying get a hold of the bread. Unfortunately they sell out quick so you have to be there at the right time uggg. And it's not like the closest store is on my normal route.

Any ways after reading the ingredients list I saw that it included "cinnamon chips". I never new there even existed such a thing. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago and i was in the market and saw cinnamon chips on sale. Since I was on my bread making binge I knew it was just the right time to try it out. I think it came out pretty close. And it's pretty yummy.

Great Harvest Cinnaburst Copycat Bread

1 cup warm water
1 cup warm milk 

1/3 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (1 pack)

1/3 cup oil (I used veggie oil)
1/2 T salt
1 egg
4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cinnamon chips

• In mixer combine yeast, sugar, and warm water and milk; let bubble for about 5 minutes. 
• Add in oil and egg. 
• Slowly add 2 cups flour, mix and then add salt. 
• Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until it comes away from side of bowl. Add the cinnamon chips when it gets close to the right consistency. The dough will be very sticky but the softer the dough the lighter the bread. So use the least amount of flour you can handle. 
• Let rise in mixing bowl for about 30 minutes. 
• Form into loaf (or whatever shape you want).
• Let rise and additional 30 minutes. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. 

 Makes 2 loaves

Let me know if you try this out and what you think.

Show and Tell: Heart Celebration

A few weeks ago we had the absolute pleasure to celebrate the gift of life. Last year our friend's little baby received a new heart. Yes you know that organ that you NEED to survive. Hers was failing and we were able to witness a miracle in her receiving the perfect heart (seriously what she needed out of a heart were scarily specific and unlikely). But this year we were able to celebrate 1 year post transplant. It was such a fun fabulous event.

I'd always wanted to make this little one some wearables but to be honest I was afraid I'd make it too big and that she might not make it and then her parents would have this outfit to remind them of that. If it wasn't obvious I am definitely a worrier. So it was a huge deal for me personally to make these for her and I loved coming up with the perfect heart dress and clippies for little Maddie.

The hearts on the sides are pockets and let me tell you I'm just a little obsessed with the hair clips. I made a flower one for me and I've been just waiting to have a spare second so I can make some more for everyone I know, and ahem more for me.

Both the dress and the clip set have been added to the shop let me know if you have any color combo suggestions for more clips I'm excited to do more.

What's for Dinner: Week 64

 (crab and bacon quiche)
For those of you are new  to my blog I write these weekly plans to help me spend less (I kinda of love grocery shopping, yea I know I'm weird), to save time and to try and help us eat in more often. Also I love knowing what other people eat so I thought it would be fun to share. For a while I'll be adding my plans for what greens. I'll be eating since one of my resolutions is to build a habit of introducing more green veggies into our diet. Maybe some day it'll be so normal for us that I won't have to mention them any more.

I've got a lot of baking to do this week. I've got to do cookies, rolls and cheesecake.  This week the parties begin. Hopefully I don't go too overboard I love party food!

Day	Main Meal	Goals (Veggies, Whole Grain, Fish)
Sunday	Red Iguana	Grains and nuts: Sandwich, granola bars, ww pasta Veggies: indian food and soup Fish: Shrimp
Monday	Shrimp Linguine Alfredo
Tuesday	Indian food with the girls
Wednesday	soup at church
Thursday	Company Holiday Party
Friday	Soup at a party
Saturday	Mashed Potatoes and Fake Fried Chicken

Recipe: Sugar Cookie Pops

This weekend I pulled out a probably year old ball of sugar cookie dough from the freezer (don't tell the musicmaker it was that old). But I had forgotten how much I love this recipe so I wanted to share. Also I did something fun with two of them and the girls got a real kick out of them.

It's so simple just lay a small lollipop (like dum dums or mini charms) on the dough after you pick the shape and bake like normal. I think this would be fantastic neighbor gifts or even for a girl's birthday party with flowers but I did snowflakes for Christmas.

I didn't frost the pop ones because I was short on powdered sugar and well the nieces are dirty messy little girls and I didn't want to deal but I do love the frosting so if I did it again I'd  frost those too.

On a side note T was convinced it was a lollipop and insisted on licking the cookie, gross I know. I kept telling her it was a cookie. Finally after L had devoured hers I pointed out to T that she could just eat the cookie part and start licking once she got to the candy like L did. Thank goodness or else she may still be licking that stupid cookie.

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups powdered shugar
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Mix flour, baking soda and cream of tartar in a small mixing bow. Cream sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, almond extract together. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Divide dough into two balls; refigerate at least 2-3 hours. Roll out dough and cut in desired shapes. Bake at 375 F for 7-8 minutes.

Frosting:
1 lb. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c butter

Beat all ingredients (add a couple drops of water to thin). Divide and color with food coloring if you want I just did white this year.

Fitness Journal: Week 16

Yeah I've been super consistent with my cardio and my weight has consistently gone down. Just a pound or less even a week but still down. Before I got married I lost a bunch of weight by working out in the gym 2 hours a day and eating soup or salad for most of my meal. And that was like 1 cup of soup and one small side salad. But I have to say this way feels much more real. It's nothing drastic. I don't feel deprived or like I'm doing an insane amount of exercise. Just solid on my strength training and getting in 4 days of cardio usually 40 to 60 minutes and eating right. And seriously 1600 calories for someone who is trying to lose weight is actually a lot. I'm super happy with the track I'm on. 10 more pounds to go!

Weight:
12/2/2010 146.8
12/8/2010 145.8
I'm 5'5 but have a small frame
(I think I'm going for 135 and we'll see from there)

Nutrition Breakdown:

(1607 daily ave. not counting the days I forgot to log and those were pretty average days)

Exercise:
H Strength and Conditioning Class
F Bike 50 min 9 mi
S Off Day
S Bike 30 min 5 mi
M Bike 55min 10 mi
T Strength and Conditioning Class
W Bike  35 min 6mi Walk 30 min 1.6 mi