Skip to main content

It's a "Do the best you can with what you got!" kind of Christmas!!

I have been a very bad girl this year and have not posted in weeks!!! I will post Christmas day for my big "Journey to Milfhood's weight-loss challenge" reveal with a before and after photo. You can find out on Tuesday if I meet my goal or not.

 Life continues to be cRaZy but good. I am blessed to be in one piece, to have my gorgeous sons and to have a job that is sometimes hectic but always fun and rewarding.

 Chris asked for a BIG ticket item this year....a LAPTOP. At first he wanted an ipad but then he decided a good laptop, with windows 8 of course, would be better so he could use it for homework as well as gaming. This would put a pretty big dent in my Christmas budget!!I do not charge things for Christmas. I figure if I cannot pay cash for it, I cannot afford it. I started this at about 25 because I did not want to be $40,000 in debt like many in the baby boomer generation. It works well for me because it also helps me prioritize and budget well for the holidays.

We'll, a laptop cost a little more than I was planning on spending. Last year I got Greg a netbook and those are much cheaper even for a good quality one and he has made good use of it. I know Chris will do the same and he is a great kid so, I decided to get him what he asked for. This put a BIG dent in my FIXED Christmas butget. This means that I have had to cut expenses in other places to stay within my Christmas and regular budget. I totally think it is worth it but I have to be a little more creative than normal.

I am calling this my “Do the best you can with what you got Christmas.”  Since Christmas is really about the birth of Christ and not all this other crap I think it is kind of fitting. Here are a few of the treats I made for Christmas with the food I had in my pantry.

Fudge with Powdered sugar
I make fudge every year! When making cookies that had powdered sugar in them I noticed a recipe for making fudge. I decided to try it as not to waste the big bag of powdered sugar I had. It was easy.
I melted a bag of chocolate, 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of butter in a pot.


















 I put 4 cups of powdered sugar in a bowl




















Poured chocolate mixture over powdered sugar and mixed.
 Put mixed well and put in fridge for 2 hours.



















Whala!!!! It came out pretty good. I was suprised.





Caramel Chex Mix
I wanted some more yummy treats but didn’t want to go buy more stuff. I had all these ingredients lying around. The half a bag of caramel was a bag I misplaced at Halloween and found under my bed I have been snaking on it but had enough left to make these yummy treats.  This recipe was adapted from the Chex cereal box.






















Added 2 tbs butter and 2 tbs milk to the caramel



















Melt and stir



Pour mixture over 6 cups chex and mix in a large bowl.
Microwave 3 minutes mixing after each minute.
Lay flat on wax paper or use a silpat like me J



















I covered half with Almond bark I had laying around. And left the other half plain.






















 
These are my boys NEW favorite treat!!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

San Francisco in a Day

I have loved San Francisco ever since I was a kid. I love the cool air, the ocean-side views, the food, the stores, the many different and unique neighborhoods and so much more.   I especially love walking around pier 39. This is usually where I go when I hit the city.   The smell of the salt water, fish, clam chowder and the freshly baked sour dough bread that does not taste better anywhere else on earth makes my heart skip a beat. I make the short drive over to the city by the bay every chance I get. Luckily my not so little anymore cousin loves San Francisco just as much as I do.   When deciding what to do with our one full day together this past Monday, there was only one choice! This trip did not go as smoothly as all of my other trips to San Francisco but it was still fun and totally worth it. Traffic was crazy so we decided to take the Bart part of the way in. We had to try two different Bart stations and three different parking lots before we were able to find a spot to
Post a Comment
Read more

Weight Loss Challenge: Week EIGHT UPDATE

For the third week in a row I have maintained my 9 pound weight-loss . This would be great if I only wanted to lose 9 pounds. The good thing here is that my daily activity and food intake are good enough to balance and maintain any additional weight-loss which means I have established some good habits. I am keeping my calories at a reasonable amount and my intake though out the day is pretty balanced. Here are some of my typical breakfast recipes . Natures Path Organic Instant oatmeal with 1 tsp. Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa= 254 Calories I was not too hungry this morning and when I wanted to eat more a few hours later I had a banana. You could easily add fruit, milk or juice to beef up this breakfast. Shakes and smoothies are a staple in my diet. They are yummy and quick!!! Here are two different recipes I use regularly: 1 cup of Almond Milk 2 scoops Visalus Shake mix (I think any protein powder will do) 1/4 cup Mixed berries (sometimes I do as much
2 comments
Read more

Merry Christmas: Journey to milfhoods weight loss Challenge Finale

Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a great time with family and friends. Today was the big day all the girls in this challenge were working towards. It has been great having people to do this with. It was the motivation i needed. My ultimate goal is to lose 33 lbs! I will be at me goal weight if i lose this much. Did i lose 33 lbs????????????????? Nope! But you knew that right. I did lose 10 pounds for Christmas. I am pretty happy about that! I am going to keep going. Right now  I am just trying to maintain through New Years. Then set a new short term goal. 10 pounds at a time seems to Work well for me!! Here is a before pic...it was actually a week or two into my challenge.   After to follow. I took one but it is at work...i got busy on Christmas eve and forgot to email it to myself. Oops. Enjoy your loved ones a little more today.
Post a Comment
Read more