Merry Christmas

taking a blogging hiatus until after the new year. I hope everyone has a joyful Christmas. What a special time of year. I can't wait to write about our extensive travels when we return.

May the joy of knowing Christ fill your hearts in this next week and for always.

Substitute It

I've made some yummy eats lately and wanted to share them with my blog world.

I made this for senior girls Bible study and it was a hit.


Baked Oatmeal. Hearty. Healthy. Fiber-packed & filling. Plus, it tastes dang good too. You can substitute apple sauce for the butter if you want to make it even healthier.

Thanks to Pinterest/Annie's Eats for the recipe. I'll be making this a lot of Saturday mornings from now on.

I made Christmas Quinoa with pomegranate for our ladies, "Pinterest-inspired" lunch at work yesterday.



It's delicious and so good for you. It has toasted pine nuts, pomegranate arils, peas, green onion & pomegranate dressing in it. Quinoa is a little scary-looking as it resembles fish eggs but don't be scurred. It's delicious & fiber-packed. It's a little chewier than rice and is gluten-free. A nice break once in a while from oats, pasta or rice. It's a blank "canvas" that you can add anything to. Sweet or salty. I think I'll try some in the morning sometime and drizzle some honey and dried cranberries over it. And it's so festive, isn't it?! Thanks Eat8020 for this amazing recipe. (disclaimer: I substituted kamut for quinoa. Kamut takes too long to cook)

I made these little cuties for a couple different things.

1) youth Christmas party; 2)work. They were a hit. I think it's the mascarpone cheese. You can substitute chocolate chips for black beans. Yes, it tastes good! I can't explain how but the beans take on the choclately flavor of the brownies and you're tricked into eating something good for you! Can I get a "amen!"????
I used strawberries for one batch and raspberries on another. I have to say, the strawberries looked cuter. Thanks again, Pinterest. You're stealing way too much of my time these days.

I have found some other really great, healthy substitutes lately.
Bolthouse Yogurt Salad Dressing. It's very low-fat and low-cal AND it tastes great. Although it's a little pricier than others, it's worth the nutrition difference. Now I look forward to eating salad's at lunch time.

Wasabi peas instead of nuts. They are 90% lower in fat than peanuts, cashews, almonds, etc. And I love the spicy-ness.

Mini-Pretzels instead of chips. I love me some chips. Especially plain, salty, tortilla chips. But Rold Gold pretzels have barely any fat at all and you can eat two big handfuls for only 120ish calories! Salty craving? Satisfied.

Animal Crackers instead of cookies. They are a slight addiction of mine. I have a bag in my work desk, a bag in my pantry at home, and (gasp) a bag in my car. But you can eat 16 of them for only 120 measly calories and 2grams of fat. Bye, bye cookies.

Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Make sure it's 0% fat Greek yogurt. You'll never taste any difference in your casseroles. Promise.

Ok, that's enough food love for now. :)

Put It On a Plate

Great tip from a fellow blogger- especially around this "munchie", holiday time.

If you are a snacker like me, you probably know it. But when does snacking actually turn into grazing? What's the difference? Well, snacking is having a small meal between meals when you are actually hungry. (a yogurt, a piece of fruit, a handful of crackers/pretzels) Grazing is eating small amounts all day long, possibly due to cravings, boredom, stress, some hunger, etc.

Snacking may be a good idea. It will give you that little energy boost in between meals. Grazing, however, may actually cause you to consume MORE calories than you would by eating regular meals. Eating little amounts all day long may never trigger your satiety cues, leading you to constantly feel like you are hungry.

So what do you do if you ARE a grazer? I say "Put it on a Plate". Make an occasion out of eating. When it is placed in front of you on a plate, your portion may appear larger than if it was something that simply traveled from the bag to your mouth via your hand. Putting it on a plate may also cause you to think before you eat. What is the reason why you are eating? Hunger should be your answer (there are exceptions).

To get out of the habit of grazing, try having three basic meals. Make them balanced, then assess your HUNGER between meals. If you are hungry, try a small snack AND...............put it on a plate.

A Wonderful Week!

I'm so glad D.R. is home. After 4 weeks away from each other, it's good to have him back in everyday life...to have him there when dinner is ready...when I need my dress zipped up...when I can't reach the olive oil and feel to lazy to go grab the step stool. But I didn't just miss him in those moments. I missed him because he's part of me. He's my flesh. I'm incomplete. Sweet stuff that marriage stuff. :)

We had a great week & weekend. A recap:
Tuesday night we went to dinner at Bonefish Grill. One just opened in Columbus and it's been hard to find a night when the wait isn't an hour at least. We didn't have the best experience. Both our meals were "eh..." Should've gotten the bang bang tacos. Those are tried and true. But we went home and watched 007:Golden Eye and played with champ.
Wednesday night was our church's Christmas dinner. Such a special event. I love our church family. And great food. A delicious catered meal of lemon chicken or mushroom Marsala roast, steamed veggies, salad, roasted potatoes and 2 kinds of dessert & coffee. Singing Christmas carols and hearing the Christmas story through a drama presentation was heart-warming. Earlier that day, we took our Christmas card pictures with our friend Zach Smith. I can't wait to get our cards in the mail (hopefully tomorrow) and sent them out! They're pretty cute if I do say so my self. (Thanks Zach!!)

Thursday we went to 2 different events to support our youth. D.R went to a middle school boy's football game and I went to a Christmas Choir concert at Calvary (the school I work at) to see two of our youth, Laura & Daniel. We love our youth and love to support them.

Friday, we went to a musical "Joseph's Journey". It was a concert feat. songs by Journey, REO Speedwagon & Rick Springfield with the lyrics slightly altered ("Oh Mary" instead of "Oh Jenny" by REO, "Joseph's Girl" instead of "Jesse's Girl" by Rick Springfield) You get the picture... :) It was awesome. It told the story of Christmas (80's style) through Joseph's eyes. A light presentation of the gospel & the Christ-child but still fun. Afterwards, we went to dinner with Zach, Chelsey, Jordan, & Caleb- great friends from our small group. We ate at Woodstone Mediterranean- THEE best hummus you've ever tasted. I was a happy girl.

Saturday, we woke up whenever the heck we wanted, drank coffee, and watched a Christmas movie.

Almond Pancakes

I finished my Christmas shopping (can I get a Hallelujah!?) and then took a long, slow run outside. It was glorious. Just enough chilliness in the air to keep me going for 7 miles.
D.R. & I went to see my dance studio perform The Nutcracker that night. It was special to see it with people I know in it. All of my level 5 girls had special parts which was exciting to see. They are so talented. So poised and graceful. Ballet is hard stuff. It takes strong legs and balance and determination. I'm glad these girls have the solid foundation of ballet when they come in to my jazz class. Now, to get them to shake their booty a little more.... :)

Sunday: church. Christmas hymns, Peppermint-flavored coffee creamer, the Word proclaimed. Ahhh..... love it. We sing this hymn "Let all mortal flesh keep silence". It has a dreary, minor-key sound but is so powerful and I'm always in awe of God's holiness as we sing the words.
"Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly-minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.
At his feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim, with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!"

Last night, we had our youth Christmas Gift exchange. We made out with a Justin Bieber poster (yes!) and very fragrant lavender hand soap (yippee). We brought a $5 whoopie cushion key chain and yes, a middle school boy tried to steal it twice.


It was an eventful, fun week with D.R. Life is so much more fun with him and I'm thankful to know what it feels like without him so I can be more thankful when I'm with him. It hasn't been all-peachy, argument-free since he's been home (yes, we argue. We're sinners) but I'd rather have him home and argue with him than not have him home. Time to get back on the sanctification train. :)

Merry Monday.