Do I Hear a Ho! Ho! Ho!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Yep, it’s that time of year again ... cookies, cakes, pies, food wherever you turn. It’s a celebration and our society parties around food! I know I talked about this in my previous post, but it’s important so I hope you don’t mind a few more tricks to help keep you focused.Here’s a trick I learned this year ... aside from the few holiday treats I made this year, I also made cookies I don’t like - and yes, there are a few I’ll pass on. Do you have a cookie that just doesn’t do a thing for you? Bake it ... ignore it ... and feel good about it! Or give it away - people cherish homemade treasures from your personal kitchen, especially if you’re a good cook! We made our gingerbread men cookies over the weekend and some tiny ones will grace the tops of our presents for the grandchildren plus we made some gingerbread ornaments for our Christmas tree and those trees of our adult children who have children. Need a gingerbread man ornament recipe? Click How Do I Make Gingerbread Men Ornaments.

I am most comfortable in the kitchen so many of my gifts for my family start there. Once I learned of my unacceptable cholesterol levels, I had to assume my children may follow so the gifts coming from my kitchen will start them down the right path. Let’s step away from holiday baking for a minute and talk about some gift ideas.

My son loves his Grandmother’s pickled beets and has ever since he was about two years old. Pickled beets are quick to make and yummy. An easy gift for him (and his children). Yeah, I know it’s silly, but if you knew my son ... well ... he’ll love it. Note: if you really want a recipe for pickled beets, just comment below and I'll post it!)

In an effort to pass on the prepackaged oatmeal, I found a marvelous recipe for homemade, and really easy, oatmeal mix.

Stepfanie's Oatmeal Mix
Ingredients

• 6 cups old-fashioned or steel-cut oats
• 3/4 c ground flax seeds
• 3 T cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Mix all ingredients together. Makes 12 servings (about 3/4 cup each)
Store in the refrigerator as flax seeds and walnuts can spoil quickly.

Nutrition info:

• Number of Servings: 12
• Calories: 329
• Total Fat: 15.3 g* (This is mostly heart-healthy fats from the walnuts and flaxseed, both of which contain Omega-3 fatty acids.)
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 1.2 mg
• Total Carbs: 44.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 8.8 g
• Protein: 8.9 g

Directions

• Divide the oatmeal into single servings (1 cup food storage containers work great for this) or deliver the gift in a decorative cookie jar.
  
• Personalize this as you'd like. Swap almonds, pumpkin seeds or pecans for the walnuts; use raisins, dried pineapple or some apple rings instead of cranberries.
• If you prefer sweetened oatmeal: Add cocoa powder and a bit of sugar, toss in some brown sugar or give a bottle of real maple syrup to supplement the gift.
  
• You can also use barley, cracked wheat, wheat germ or oat bran.

Once I got started, I had more gift ideas than family members! Here are a few ideas from the Eating Well website I just couldn’t pass up.

Need some ideas?
Cranberry-Almond Granola
Blueberry Pecan Pancake Mix

The Food Network website offers many options for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner , etc. I found this great little quiche for our Christmas brunch:
Mini Spinach and Mushroom Quiche - great for brunch!

It won’t be long before we’re all making resolutions to “do better” than the year before ... but more on that later.