Happy New Year

Chorizo Empanada Puffs

I call these Chorizo Empanada Puffs because they look like empanadas before they are cooked, but once they puff up they don't look like them anymore, but they are oh so good. 

This is really a "go to" app for me. I make them a lot because they are good, different, easy, and my husband LOVES them! 

This is not really a straight forward recipe. The first time I had them my friend, Kristie, made them and just kind of told me what was in them. So here goes....

Chorizo Empanada Puffs

I cooked up 3 links of chorizo. I basically removed the raw chorizo from the casings and added to a skillet until I felt like it was cooked through...about 20 minutes on med. 

Once that was done I laid it on paper towels to remove some of the oil (chorizo is oily)

Then I took 2 boxes of puff pastry and cut out circles with a cup. I added a little of chorizo to the middle and used warm water around the edges to crimp together. Then I used a fork to crimp more and make sure they were closed. 

I whisked an egg white and painted it on them with a pastry brush. 

Put them in the over for about 20 minutes on 350. Basically until they were golden brown.

I served them with a sweet chili sauce. 

I made these on my lunch break and then warmed them back in the over right before serving. 

This picture is before they puff up!

Elf on the Shelf

My niece spent the night with me on Saturday night. I have so much fun with her whenever she comes over. Since it's Christmas time her elf, Bobby, joined the sleep over. I wanted to do something fun with Bobby so I had my sister pack a couple barbies in their bathing suits and some of Ken's swimming trunks!

I filled up the sink with water and blue food coloring to make a pool. I had booby holding come sunscreen and I had it spell out Emily's name. I laid one barbie on a wash cloth and had one holding tinfoil to tan her face. 

This was a hug hit with Emily. She was cracking up and couldn't believe Bobby had done that!!

Bobby also left Emily a magic seed to plant!! The day before Emily met with Santa. She told him she wanted an Ariel barbie for Christmas. It just so happened that I had found an Ariel barbie on sale and had it stocked away. Santa told her she needed to stop sucking her thumb though. 

That night she did so good not sucking her thumb. When it was bed time, she asked me about 1000 times if she could suck her thumb. I said no every time and she ended up falling asleep without sucking her thumb. So, the next morning I left her a note from Bobby explaining that he had told Santa she did really good and was proud of her. He left her a magic seed (green m&m) and we planted it in a pot of sugar. While she was in the living room I stuck the Ariel barbie in the pot. 

That child was so excited. I couldn't get the smile off her face! I love doing this kind of stuff for her. It makes her so happy!

DIY Christmas Coasters

My sister in law made me these really cute coasters last year for my Christmas present. She used tile,  mod podge, scrap book paper, and cork drawer liners. They were so cute and seemed easy so I decided to make them for my neighbors this year. 

These were so easy to make and SOOO cheap. I bought a pad of Christmas scrapbook paper that had 24 sheets in it for $5.99. That's 25 cents a sheet which is really cheap. Then I bought a big bottle of the matte mod podge. I think that was about $8, but it has enough in there to probably last me a year! The tile was 16 cents a piece at Home Depot, and I already had the cork draw liners cause I made placemats with them last Easter.

First I put a layer of mod podge on the tops of the tile. Then I laid the paper on it and let it dry. I then added 4 layers of mod podge, letting each layer almost dry in between. I let them dry over night. Then I flipped them over and added a layer of mod podge to the bottom and added the cork liner and VOILA!...done! So dang easy! I might be making these a lot now!!

Christmas Dessert in a Hurry

Wednesday night I need to bring a dessert to a Christmas party. I didn't have time to make anything so I threw the following together...

3 bags of Crunch n Munch 

1 container of Christmas candy corn

1 container of white chocolate covered pretzels (Publix even had them with Christmas colors)

1 bag of Christmas M&M's

And Voila!, you have a quick and easy dessert on the fly!!

Christmas Decor

This year I am not decorating. I have been so busy lately (JUST took down my Halloween stuff today) and will continue to be busy until December is over. Also, we will be spending the week of Christmas at our cabin this year so we won't even be home to enjoy it. It takes a lot of time to get all that stuff out of the attic and even more time to put it up. So I made the decision to forgo it this year. 

So, here are my decorations for last year! I love Christmas so much and I am so sad that I don't get to enjoy the decor this year, but at least I have pics!!

I love putting the garland and lights up the staircase! So pretty! 

Last year I did something new. I have urns on either side of the door. When we

went to get out tree they had a ton of scraps from the trees and let me have them for

free. I grabbed a ton. I put those down first, then cut some of the holly branches in our 

front yard, some pinecones I picked up on the ground, and some pine tree

 branches. Then I added the large ornaments on top of that. 

I loved how it turned out and it was cheap!

 I used those same scraps and stuck them in my grapevine wreath that I use all year long for different holidays (Easter, Halloween). 

 This is our little tree. It is filled with ornaments that we 

get when we travel. We have been doing this since 2005. 

 And of course our big tree. I love this tree!! 

Christmas Food

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love all the lights, decor, and themed food! What's not to love! Here are a few things I made last season.....pictures are horrible!

This is tortellini with some pesto and tomatoes. I called it Christmas pasta!

Cheese and Meat Tray....pepper jack, colby jack, munster, cheddar, tomatoes, capicola, prosciutto, rosemary, and a little yellow pepper star! 

 Santa Pancake.....whipped cream, can of strawberry pie filling, 2 banana slices, and 2 chocolate chips

Santa belly pizza.....pepperoni, black olives, and yellow peppers

Red velvet brownies cut like Christmas trees with green sprinkles

Santa Bagel.....bagel thin, cream cheese, mini chocolate chips, 

chocolate chips, baby carrot, 

spinach wrap, and crasins

I have been making these for years....WAY before Pinterest ;) Grape tomatoes, 

fresh mozzerella balls, fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and kosher salt on a tooth pick

Reindeer buckeyes....buckeyes, pretzels, red gel icing, mini chocolate chips

Chicken roll tree....chicken salad made with cream cheese and cheddar, 

spinach wraps, and bell peppers.

Christmas Wrapping

I love wrapping presents. I do get very stressed out when it doesn't quite go my way though!! I want it to be perfect and sometimes that's just not possible. 

Last year I did a very simple wrapping job. I took brown paper sack style paper, adding a thinner version of the ribbon I had on my tree, then added some sprigs from the tree. It was elegant, yet natural and matched the tree very well!

   

Clean Eating Waffles

This weekend I had my annual work meeting. We get together once a year for a time to reflect on the past year, learn, hang out, and have fun. We had a wonderful dinner at Pricci on Friday night and then saw Cirque Du Soleil Totem on Saturday night. It was a ton of fun, but exhausting. 

 On Sunday I was BEAT! So Mike and I had a wonderful day of doing NOTHING. Like litterally NOTHING. I haven't been that lazy in a while. One of the only things I did was make clean waffles with organic pure maple syrup! They were really good. 

Click here for the recipe from Gracious Pantry!