Favorite Recipes from December

 

As we round out the year, I thought I’d share one more string of recipes with you. This month was NOT normal – far more eating out than we normally do. Hello, holidays. But here are some of the things we made at home!

Tomato Basil Soup – It’s a great comfort dinner, right? Tomato soup and grilled cheese? This homemade tomato soup has a lot of flavor, and the canned carrots throw in some extra veggies. I don’t have an immersion blender, so I just threw the canned carrots in the Ninja smoothie cup and pureed them before putting them in the pot to simmer.

Grilled Cheese – We had these with our Tomato Basil Soup, and they were yummy! We used a tortilla wrap for our bread. It’s filled with tomato, cheese, and avocado – so yummy!

Burger Bowls  - Kind of like a Big Mac Salad…so good!! We enjoyed it, and I made tater tots for Ryan to have with his.

Drop Sugar Cookies – I made these last month and they were so good! I made them again for the deacon training lunch. The frosting did better this time, but the taste was really good both times!

Greek Sheet Pan Meal – I’ve made this before, but I love how easy it is to put together! It involves a marinade, so it requires a little forethought to get maximum flavor. But SO GOOD.

Cheeseburger Chili – This was a huge hit. All the flavors of cheeseburgers in a thick and comforting chili. An absolute keeper!

Breakfast Hash – I had made this one before but brought it back. It’s a good one! The longest part of the prep (if you used frozen sweet potato cubes, which I did) is cutting the Brussels Sprouts.

Chicken Quesadillas – My favorite part of this was the seasoning on the chicken. I did chop the chicken, as the recipe directed, but I usually prefer shredded chicken on my quesadillas. I think I’ll do that next time, but keep the seasoning.

Raspberry Vinaigrette – This is the dressing from the salad I made last month. The salad was a hit that time, but I didn’t have the raspberries to make this dressing. I made the salad again this month and did the dressing this time. It was super easy to make (blender) and so good.

Cocktail Meatballs – Ryan took these to work for a carry-in. I’ve had them before but hadn’t made them. They were tasty! (We used grape jelly, but you can also use cranberry jelly if you prefer.)

Sunday Snapshots: Memorable Moments from the Week

 

As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve had the sweetest week. I welcomed the mix of rest and people, and today I’ll give you a glimpse into our fun!

Last Sunday was our Christmas program at church, and Ryan and I were both part of it! I was SO proud of him and all of those in our amazing choir. (I love a choir!) And Ryan also did a monologue, along with some others in the church, and they all did a fantastic job. So moving!

I had a massive gift-wrapping party this week. Nothing like waiting until the last minute and then wrapping everything at once! You might notice from the photo that Ryan was enjoying a massive football watching party at the same time. Ha!

We had Christmas with Ryan’s dad, stepmom, grandma, and one of his brothers this week. We all met up at Cracker Barrel and they had live music we could enjoy while we ate! And on the way home, we saw (but did not make contact with) two deer. My deer-spotting count from this week alone climbed to FIFTEEN with those two.

We had a beautiful service at church on Christmas Eve. I was excited to get to share a short message, and I loved all the Christmas songs we sang together! (I did not love the heels I wore. They were on for an hour and I ended up with TWO blisters. Perhaps it is time to shop….)

Christmas Day was a family celebration sort of day, and we got some great gifts. I’ll have to tell you more about the gifts another day.

Ryan and I went on a fun evening-after-Christmas shopping date that ALSO included a drive through some new-to-us Christmas lights! This effectively marked one item off my 50 Before 50 List! YAY!!!!

Last night we enjoyed Christmas with our godson and his Mama. This was the SIXTH Christmas we’ve been part of their lives, and it remains a tremendous privilege.

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 

What a beautiful week it has been! I am thankful for all we’ve enjoyed in our little home and with friends and family. We have more Christmas fun today, so while we prep for that, here are some fun end-of-year suggestions for you.

I know Christmas is over now, and this is a Christmas-themed piece, but the words are still worth reading. I taught a Bible study on Ezra this past fall, and the very first week, we did some background reading that took us through this very passage from Jeremiah. We talked about the “famous” Jeremiah 29:11 verse and the importance of studying it in context. I love this explanation of it!

Here are some great ideas for decorating your house for winter, now that Christmas is over. Sarah gives some tutorials for using greenery and lighting to make a warm and cozy home in the winter. What do you do in the winter? Greenery up with decorations down? Or back to a basic, neutral decorating scheme?

Ryan and I did a first day hike several years ago. I’m pretty sure we were still living in Marion at the time, because I remember we had to drive a little ways to get to the hike. It was an owl hike – at night – and it yielded NO owls. But it was still a fun and different thing to do. This post talks more about first day hikes across the US – and there’s a map you can click on to learn more about hikes near you! We have a state park near us, but I’ll wait and see how the Indiana weather treats us before I decide if I want to venture forth into the cold! 😊

Maybe I’m just becoming too nostalgic for my own good…I don’t know. But I do know that I remember these little weaving looms from when I was a kiddo. I didn’t know they were back! What fun! Do any of you remember doing this?? (I also remember cross-stitching in my childhood and think that is a magnificent skill/hobby, too!)

Perhaps you just had the joy (?) of experiencing those hard-to-buy-for people? Here is a great post about a reverse gift list. You can start now, taking note of what people mention in conversations, and come next Christmas (or a birthday) you’ll have some great ideas for gifts!

It is entirely possible that I’ve shared this some previous year, but I do love a good, fresh, January start. If you need some inspiration for January living, check out these words!

Christmas in Shafferland!

 

Good morning!! Happy day-after-Christmas, friends. Oh, how I hope you had a beautiful day yesterday.

                I wanted to share with you some of our Christmas memories over the past few days.

                We met up with Ryan’s dad and stepmom, one of his brothers, and his grandmother for an early Christmas. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel, and they even had live music while we ate!

                We enjoyed being part of the Christmas Eve service at our church. Ryan is learning to run all the things in the tech area, so he was back there learning/working during the service. I had the opportunity to share a brief message, and then we had a beautiful candlelight conclusion to the service, complete with singing. What is it about candlelight on Christmas Eve??

                Ryan and I enjoy our Christmas mornings at home – just our little family. Lexi makes it extra lively!

                We had lunch at Swiss Village with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law, and then we spent the afternoon with them!

                Ryan’s extended family met Christmas night, but we felt like the timetable was too tight to try to make everything happen, so we didn’t make it to that one this year. We are back to work today and so thankful for a good celebration over the last few days!