One of the cutest things I've ever seen...

I can hardly wait to make this Santa Party Mix this week! Absolutely precious.

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Our family has started a tradition in the past few years of taking a family picture just before Thanksgiving to use in a photo card for Christmas. It has been such a fun tradition, and we look forward to looking back on each year's photo to see how we've changed and grown. To go from two dogs in 2007 to two kids in 2010 is crazy fun. =)

The only difficulty each year is actually choosing a card. Generic cards are easy to find. Cards that share our faith - that we're wishing everyone a "Merry Christmas" and not "Seasons' Greetings" - are much more sparse. Typically the choices are few, and most are boring. So, when I clicked on a sidebar ad the other day to peruse Shutterfly's selection, I was shocked to find so many choices bearing the details we desire in a card. Look at how cute some of these are!


I love these!

Plus, they have a ton of other options that I was unaware of like personalized gift tags,
Christmas party invitations,

Photo calendars,

Photo mugs,
and even Address labels that coordinate with the Christmas cards.

Then, several days later, I saw a blog post of a friend talking about earning 50 free cards by blogging about her favorite Shutterfly products. Perfect! And, if you're interested, make sure you visit their site to find out how you can earn 50 free cards too!

Here's the thing - good luck sticking to just the 50 cards! Once you start looking around the site, you may stumble upon many more things to fill your cart.

I'm seeing a version of this under our tree for sure!

I can't wait to get started on this! What a precious gift for a little girl. Do you know anyone who would love this as much as my sweet daughter?

Chocolate-covered Marshmallows

We made some gift buckets for our neighbors for Halloween, and I had to share the only handmade element - chocolate-covered marshmallows. I've seen this idea floating around the Internet, and it was the easiest and probably most versatile thing I've ever made. You just put a jumbo marshmallow on the end of a lollipop stick, dip the top in melted chocolate, then decorate with sprinkles. This could be so fun with white chocolate and crushed candy canes, dark chocolate and crumbled graham crackers, or milk chocolate and mini M&Ms. The possibilities are endless, and it's the perfect quick and easy favor!

My new favorite soup

This soup is easy and out of this world delicious! I highly recommend it.

Spicy Butternut Squash and Chicken Soup

1 small diced onion

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 cups of cubed butternut squash

2 cups chicken stock/broth

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup chopped cooked chicken

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp black pepper

fresh lime juice

bunch of cilantro

Cook onion and celery in a saucepan over medium heat in a drizzle of olive oil for 5 minutes while stirring. Stir in squash, broth, tomatoes, chicken, ginger, salt, cumin, and pepper, and mix well.

Cover, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes or until squash is tender. Stir in the juice of one lime, and serve with fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.

Yum!

Patchwork Colored Pencil Roll

I love this project! Crayon/colored pencil/marker rolls are all over etsy right now, and I thought I'd try my hand at a pieced version for my nephew's birthday. I love the way it turned out, and it was super easy if you're looking for a quick project.

Heart-Healthy Barbecue Sauce

My family and I are spending some time with my parents trying to help them out following my dad's quadruple bypass surgery. I've been busy dreaming up heart-healthy (low fat, low/no sodium, and no sugar) recipes. One of our favorites is homemade barbecue chicken pizza (which we make with whole wheat flour), so I tried to find some good heart-healthy barbecue sauce at the grocery store to no avail. I searched for some recipes and based this recipe off of several of those. It is delicious, and I can't wait to have this on our pizza for dinner!

Heart-Healthy Barbecue Sauce

1/4 white onion, finely chopped

1 small can tomato paste

Diet Coke (I filled the tomato paste can twice to measure)

2 Tablespoons heart-healthy ketchup

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon mustard

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp worchestershire sauce

a shake or two of your favorite Mrs. Dash

In a skillet over medium heat, saute the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat for 15-20 minutes until the flavors combine and the sauce thickens slightly. Add more of your ingredients to taste.