Happy Tummy, Happy Hubby

It seems that every year, the day after Christmas immediately sparks a case of the after Christmas blues. All that build up of excitement over in one short day. And all that's left are scraps of wrapping paper, pine needles all over the floor, and the Tupperware full of leftovers.

Well I don't have the cure to the blues but I have something that warm the soul and help with those leftovers! Because let's be honest, no one wants to eat ham sandwiches for 2 weeks.

I give you HAM & BEAN SOUP

1 onion, chopped
1 full stalk of celery, chopped
1 bag frozen carrots
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 can Great Northern beans
1 can pinto beans
2 cups chunked ham (truthfully, use as much as you want)
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper

Let sit in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours - and ENJOY. We laddled ours over 2 rolls left from Christmas, mmmmm.

My lifetime taste tester quoted, "If you continue cooking like this I'll be one happy husband".

*I'm using the mobile app for the first time so I apologize for any formatting funkiness

Cookie Extravaganza

In a matter of 2 days we have managed to bake DOZENS of cookies - frosting and sprinkles included. All made from scratch with love and found on the one and only Pinterest.

We have your traditional cut outs which I found the GREATEST recipe for! Seriously, the perfect amount of sweetness to not be too much with the frosting and they don't lose their shape when you bake them. In short, the candy canes still look like candy canes and Santa isn't morbidly obese. I also had the perfect little helper - our friends little girl - helping me with the cookie cutters. So much love went into these.

We also have some yummy white chocolate macadamia nut. This was my first time baking these and they turned out pretty well. Could've been a little softer and they didn't spread really at all - tweaks for next time. And I can't take all the credit, Evan did do a wonderful job balling them up and baking them. We're probably a dozen cookies short though - Evan bakes one, Evan eats one.

Finally the pièce de résistance, SPRITZ COOKIES! My grandma used to make these and they were my favorite cookies every Christmas, but we haven't had them since she passed 7 years ago. This year my wonderful mother found this antique cookie press and fulfilled my adulthood wish (that's a thing right?). Obviously my technique leaves some room for improvement and I'm not 100% fond of the recipe I used. I searched through a couple, some used almond extract which I didn't so maybe I'll try that next time. And yes, I'm well aware they make more modern presses but having an antique one just makes it a little more fun.

Enjoy the recipes - let me know any suggestions you may have. And of course - 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Cup of Sunshine

Everyone says "make sure you drink a protein shake after your workout for major gains". Ok, maybe not everyone. Even less probably say it like that. But nonetheless people do say the best time to take a protein shake is after a workout because...science.

Well, since joining the dark side of 5:00am workouts, I've tried to remember to do just that. And at first it was hard... Not just hard to remember because it's the butt crack of dawn but because let's be honest it's winter, it's cold, I don't want to drink a cold beverage in the morning. And apparently neither did my protein powder because it kept clumping up in the cold almond milk (yes I splurge and nix the H20). At first I was just gulping it down but you can only force feed yourself for so long. So to battle this problem, I started warming up my milk first and BOOM. Life. Changing.

Now I know you're all wondering "Oh what protein powder do you use?" Right? I thought so.

  

I get my gains from Pure Selection. Pure Selection is 100% whey protein isolate and uses Stevia as sweetener; comes in your classic chocolate/vanilla or shockingly chocolate/vividly vanilla. Because really, who needs more than that? No one drinks the strawberry flavor anyways. Good news is it doesn't taste like chalky cardboard the way some powders do. But also isn't as indulgent as some that contain real sugar. That's not to say it's not indulgent, I feel lucky getting to sip my warm vanilla "latte". And I put it in this pretty little container so it looks all special; adds a little excitement in the morning.

Some people start their days with a nice hot coffee, I like to start mine with a warm protein shake.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Not going to be a long post, just a little tid bit of the Christmas spirit we're bringing (so far). Being our first home, we wanted to go all out. Correction - Evan wanted to go all out. So we went halfway out because Christmas decor is EXPENSIVE! 

Between the 5 new extension cords, 4 boxes of new lights, and figuring out how to light up the second story of the house it made for a long day. But the results are great for the first year!

We'll post more as we liven up the inside, including our tree that'll get put up next week! Real, of course. Still working to sort through boxes and get things organized though, thankfully I have a couple days of vacation coming up to work on that without my better half around to distract me. And we're kicking all the house cleaning into over drive because...

More to come - including pictures of the new puppy. Here's to hoping for some snow soon!