Catching up

I haven't posted in a while, but there isn't much to report. My eye is feeling much better. I am done with the antibiotics and Michael is finally done with the antibiotics for his ear infection. I got most of the Krismas presents put away, which means getting rid of a lot of old toys. I am still looking for a good place to donate them. I want to take them somewhere where they will be given away for free. I thought about keeping them for when my cousin has a baby but she will be in the same boat as me, getting rid of old toys to make room for the new toys. She won't need hand-me-downs.

Tomorrow we will be going to my Grandparents' house for New Years Eve. I am making the Santa Fe Dip but of course I have not been able to find the rice bowls, so I got more expensive Lean Cuisine rice meals that hopefully will be as good.

Last night my phone broke in half. So today I ordered a new one. It looks interesting. I will post about it when it comes....if its worth a post. I also got a Kindle for Krismas but haven't really used it since I just bought 3 books a few weeks ago. 

2 trips to urgent care in 2 weeks.

This time it was for me. I was cooking chicken and hot oil splashed into my face. I tried to close my eyes but some got into my right eye. I could see ok but it was really really hurting. Fortunately nothing is seriously wrong, just a burnt cornea(just a burnt cornea) so I have to put antibiotic drops in it every 2 hours for 3 days. I have a little bit of an eye phobia so this isn't fun. I can taste the drops in the back of my throat which seems extremely weird. Last night was not fun but I am just thankful Michael was not holding onto my legs like he usually does.

Merry Krismas!

Michael's Krismas picture.

Our toddler-proof  Krismas tree.

A few holiday recipes.

I've been busy over the last few days so I haven't had time to blog. Here are a few recipes I made for a little get together with my cousin and her fiance and some last minute cookies for John.

Santa Fe Dip:
I package Delimex Santa Fe Style Chicken bowls
half a block of velveeta
half a cup of milk

Heat all three bowls according to directions. Mix them in an 8x8inch baking dish with the cubed velveeta and milk. Bake at 375 for about 15 mins., stir and bake 15 mins. more. Serve with tortilla chips.

Chai Spiced Smores:

Chai Spiced Smores.

8oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy cream
 mini marshmallows
graham crackers
 1 chai tea bag

adapted from 5 Ingredient Fix.

Heat cream in the microwave for 1 min. Let the tea bag steep in the cream for 10 mins. Remove the tea bag and heat the milk for another minute. Put the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the heated cream over it. Let sit for 5 mins. and then stir. Break 8 to 10 graham crackers in half. Put chocolate on all the pieces of cracker. Place mini marshmallows on on side. Put the marshmallow side of graham crackers under a broiler for 30 seconds. Place chocolate side of remaining grahams on top.



Russian Tea Cakes with cranberries:
1 cup butter, softened
 1/2 cup powdered sugar
 1 tsp. vanilla
 2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries
 1/4 tsp. salt
 powdered sugar for dusting

 Heat oven to 400. Mix butter, vanilla and powdered sugar together. Stir in all other ingredients until dough holds together. Form into 1 inch balls and bake for 10-12 mins. until set but not brown. Move to a cooling rack immediately. Dust with powdered sugar. 

I made these at 9:30 last night after mentioning to John that I should use the cranberries.

Russian Tea Cakes with cranberries.

My new favorite breakfast.

1 cup of Dannon Light and Fit vanilla yogurt, 1 cup of frozen mixed berries, and half a cup of Special K Granola. Only 380 calories in this huge bowl! It tastes really good and is super simple to make. 1 breakfast sausage patty has 200 calories and an egg has 70. So I can eat all this and be fuller longer without having a bunch of fat and calories.

We should save our money...

and return Michael's Krismas presents. His favorite toys are pots, boxes, spoons, and old clothes. I would never go without buying him Krismas presents or toys for any reason but sometimes I think we should just give him the garbage. Here are some pictures I've taken over the last few days:

Spinning around on a tray and chewing on a bag clip.

In the pots and pans cupboard.

   

Michael's new favorite tv watching spot.

Semi-productive day.

I finished baking the mini cakes I am giving my family for Krismas. Only half of them turned out right but that's ok because we all need to lose weight. John and I put up some Krismas decorations. I wanted to do it myself but he wanted to help me. Well, that turned into him doing it all while I stood in the cold watching him. I already have Michael and John's presents wrapped and the other family members' presents aren't getting wrapped. I need to print out pictures of Michael to put in the frames and I will be done. John needs to clean all his junk off the table and the counter before we have friends over but (hopefully) that will be easy.

I decided to stop the soup diet. It is making me feel horrible and I am not losing weight. Twice since Michael was born I have counted calories and kept a food journal. It works for 2 weeks and then I decide to stop tracking it. Once I stop keeping track I start eating poorly again, so this time I decided to use an online food and exercise diary. I would have preferred to lose 10lbs in a week but if I only lose 2lbs a week I will still be happy.

Michael is taking a nap, which he needs woken up from soon, although  hate doing that and John is sleeping, finally, so I am just relaxing for the moment.