Merry Christmas from Us

Merry Christmas!

 We are doing what makes us happiest which is some good 'ol quality (and quantity) time with our families and friends. 

Our sincerest hopes are that you are too.  

See you back January 5th!! 

Salty Sweet Gooey Corn Puff O' Wonder

This is one yummy recipe!! It is the perfect combo of salty and sweet and gooey and we love it around here! 

SALTY SWEET GOOEY CORN PUFF O'WONDER
12 C Corn Puffs or pops (you can always use microwave buttered popcorn too. If you chose to do this do your best to sift out the un popped kernels)
1 stick of butter
1 C packed brown sugar

Lay some parchment paper out either on your table or on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Measure out your puffs into a large mixing bowl. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter.. Add the brown sugar and stir until combine with the butter. Add the marshmallows to the butter mix and stir until melted. Pour into the puffs and mix until all the puffs are covered. Dump and spread out onto the surface you have prepared. 

(NOTE: if you did not use parchment paper be sure to lightly spray with a non stick pan spray to prevent the puffs from sticking) Allow to cool (if you can) and enjoy!! 

Caramel Pretzel Magic Cookie Bars

Every year our family does a treat exchange at our Bitner Family Christmas party. The basic gist of it is that you make a plate of treats for every family to take home with them. Then you have a bunch of yummy treats to celebrate your holiday without the fuss of having to make them all. I love it! It is like getting to take the party home with you. Not too mention all the goodies. Oh the goodies! 

This year I was going to do a bag of our favorite frozen potstickers from costco- easy peasy but then I saw these bars. So I decided to try and make them on a whim. Best whim ever! They are buttery and sweet and salty and caramely. Oh baby! They are crazy easy to make too. So now these are a serious contender for our treat exchange. I typed up the recipe because I slightly adapted the original recipe. I added nuts. Thats it! HA!

Caramel Pretzel Magic Cookie Bar

6 tbsp butter, melted

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs

25-50 pretzels

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 C pecans, chopped

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 C sweetened coconut flakes

1 C caramel bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the can of sweetened condensed milk in a bowl of hot water to help it pour easily. Do not pour it into bowl-leave in can!! Mix and press graham cracker crumbs and butter in a 9x13 pan. Pack down firmly. Drizzle half of the can of sweetened condensed milk over crumb crust. Layer pretzels tightly over sweetened condensed milk. Sprinkle pecans, chocolate chips, coconut flakes and caramel bits over the pretzels evenly. Pour the remaining sweetened condensed milk over the top. Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly browned. Let cool completely before cutting!

They are awesome!

Butter Pecan Raisin Bread Pudding!

My Hubby and I have a favorite dessert that we may or may not sneak away to a certain Famous restaurant to order and share. It is their yummy  BREAD PUDDING! Now...I have had my share of bad bread puddings too. Some that are some slimy and so squishy that they are not enjoyable at all. I am happy to announce that this recipe is AWESOME!! Its nice firm but still soft if ya know what I mean...HAHA!!

BUTTER PECAN RAISIN BREAD PUDDING

 1/4 cup butter, melted
 2 cups half-and-half
 2 cups milk
 1 (1 pound) loaf soft raisin bread, torn into small pieces
 3 eggs, lightly beaten
 2 cups white sugar
 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 Butter Pecan Sauce
 1/2 pound unsalted butter
 1 cup heavy cream
 1 cup brown sugar
 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 13x9-inch baking dish with 1/4 cup melted butter.
Pour half and half and milk over bread in a large mixing bowl; let soak for 10 minutes before gently stirring. Stir eggs into the bread mixture until incorporated. Add sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon, stirring each addition into the mixture before adding the next. Spoon bread mixture into prepared baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven until bread mixture is firm and pudding-like, about 50 minutes or more until the bread appears firm.

BUTTER PECAN SAUCE
Stir 1/2 pound unsalted butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar together in a heavy saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, stir pecans into the cream mixture, and simmer until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes; pour over each serving or over entire pan depending on preference. Can be served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream... ENJOY!!

Elf Tool Kit-Great gift to give yourself or someone else!! ( FROM THE DOLLAR STORE!!)

Do you dream of Christmas morning like I do? All the gifts are slowly and beautifully opened one at a time...OH!!! AND....everyone ooohhs and awhs over the gifts their family members have received. Nothing goes wrong....

like the box to the plastic kitchen is missing a part and there is NO WAY on Gods green earth you will be able to fix it by morning....

or SOME assembly required turns into an all night fiasco OR...

Santa forgets to include batteries 

OR we don't seem to be able to find a tiny little screw driver to open the door to the for mentioned battery door???? 

WELL...Have I got a great idea for you!! It wont fix everything but it is a step in the right direction and you will be so happy this cute little box is under your tree!! 

AND if you were to give this to a mom/family on your shopping list you will help them along with their picture perfect Christmas morning too. 

AND all of these items have come from the dollar store!! WOOT! Even better!! Here's what we are going to make...

AN ELF TOOL KIT

Here is what you will need: 

A good sturdy box to store the tools (I put this baby right under my tree)

Batteries I have a set of AA and AAA
Scissors 
Screwdriver 
Paper and Pen
Trash Bags 
Box opener 
A Folder to put cards, receipts, tags, instructions/owners manuals in all one place. 

NOTE: I would also suggest if you are not concerned with the kit coming from the dollar store, or want to make it a nicer gift, or be even more prepared is to add an empty memory card for your camera and maybe even an extra, all charged up, camera battery but this is totally optional

(I had to take the trash bags out of their box to fit in my tool box)

Here is a poem I wrote you could use to give with...IF  you'd like a free printable tag comment and I can get you one from the amazing Gabby...(and then I'd know you are out there too :))

This is your Elf Kit 

And here is the plan

It will help Christmas morn

I’m positive it can

Put it under your Tree

A great place no doubt

Now you don't have to worry

Not one kiddy will pout

All you need is there, 

its true 

It’s filled with important stuff 

 Especially our love for you!

(this is MY original poem...please only use for personal use and not for ANY material gain. Thanks friends!)

ENJOY!!

Emily

Surviving Retail During The Holidays

photo via

Anyone out there work retail? I do! The holidays can be really tough for people in retail. A lot of the time you have to work more hours at more extreme times. That takes a serious toll on your body. Not too mention your mental health! I have a few tips to get through. These are things that have helped me and some of the people I work with. 

1. Leave work at work 

I have to admit that this is not easy for me. As a matter of fact it is really hard! Everyone needs to vent so get that out. Vent and be done with it. Better yet vent to someone while you are at work. You will be glad that you didn't bring the negative energy home. 

2. Wear old lady shoes 

Wear some seriously comfortable shoes. I am talking support, high quality and orthopedic. HA! Just kidding about the orthopedic. Sort of These are a pair that I have. I wear them a lot. If your feet are hurting then your shift will seem about a million times longer.

3. Compression socks

I know that this sounds crazy. I sound like a little old lady. But little old ladies know whats up! Compression socks are amazing. It is crazy the difference they can make. They help you feet and legs feel supported. Plus now you can get rad styles! Get some. You will be happy you did. 

4. Keep up mostly on housework

Notice that I typed keep up MOSTLY on your housework. I am not saying that you have to kill yourself off keeping your house clean. Just spend a few minutes a day on household chores. This is one that I need to work on! The idea is that that way you can enjoy your day off instead of feeling like you have to scrub your house. I find it much easier to relax in a mostly clean house. We can all use a little relaxation.

5. Do something nice for yourself

 Between working, shopping, baking and all the other hoopla that comes with the holidays it is easy to forget to take care of yourself. Get a massage, play candy crush, crochet, go for a walk, zone out! Whatever it is- do something that is just for you. Relish it! Love it! Do it! If you don't feel your best then you won't be your best. 

6. Do Holiday crap

Working retail can kill your love of anything holiday oriented. You might not want to decorate. You may dread the thought of putting up a tree. Do it anyway. Doing those things will make you happy. I swear! Make the best gingerbread house ever! Go to parties and wear you snappiest outfit. Wear sequins and a horrible christmas sweater. Just do it. Enjoy every moment of that Christmas movie marathon. You will not regret it!

7. Take care of yourself

Last but not least! Take care of yourself. This has got to be the hardest one for me. Eat healthy and exercise. UGH. It is annoying me to even type that. It is the truth though! If you eat healthy you are less likely to get sick. Being sick sucks. However, it is hard to eat healthy at this time of year. There are so many goodies being shared. You know how many days we have had treats on the break room table so far this month? Like everyday. Try sharing a healthy snack like oranges or pomegranate seeds. Another suggestion is to only eat the things that sound really good to you. As well as eating healthy food- exercising helps your body and mind. I try to do a little yoga everyday. It helps me decompress and de-stress. I love it. Do whatever exercise you prefer. It is hard to get started but it feels so good once you are done.   

Quick Easy DIY Christmas Bow Hair Pretties and Matching Necklace for Christmas

 Looking for a quick easy way to feel more festive? How about a gift that is inexpensive and fun for all ages? 

Check this out!

You will need:
 Hair clips (we used some ribbon lined alligators we happened to have)
bails
ball chains
glue gun 
glue sticks for the gun
tiny christmas bows
modge podge sealer
buttons with a flat back

Spray the bows with 4 to 5 coats of sealer so that they will be safe to be in the weather etc. 

 Glue the bail to the back of your flat button. (please forgive the blurry pics. I have no idea what was wrong with my camera but it did not want to take a nice picture this button and bail. These are the best I could get. Boo.

Finally glue one bow to the hair clips and one bow to the button. String the ball chain through the loop in the bail. 

ALL DONE!! 

Need some bails??

GO here!

LOVES

Emily

Link it up!

The weekend is here! We have some fun Christmasy plans for the weekend. I love Christmas plans. Christmas crafts and destinations are all part of the plans. If I can remember to take pictures I will do a little post next week and share. To kick off this weekend right I put together a little link list for your enjoyment. Check them out!

We are doing a gingerbread house this weekend. I got wise and bought a pre made one this year. We bought that Wilton one. I have seen them at both target and walmart. Last years train ended up being a real lesson in patience for me! It wasn't pretty. Or if you like you can always bake your own gingerbread!

If I wasn't already making pom pom embellishments for my gifts this year I would crank out a ton of paper bows! They look pretty simple and cute.

My niece is crazy talented and she created two free Christmas themed printables for you to enjoy.

I made some green chile pork verde earlier this week and it was awesome!

Have you heard of The Fictionist? They are a totally rad band from Utah. Lock and Key is one of my favorite songs of theirs. Click the link to check out the music video!

This citrus on black print from Angela Hardison is lovely. It is modern and fun. It would be a great addition to your kitchen. Or my kitchen. Any kitchen.

I love this post about taking the leap into working for yourself. It is a realistic check list of what you may want to accomplish before putting your two weeks in.

I have always wanted to try my hand at making Pad Thai.

Like a lot of people winter is murder on my skin and lips. I think natural lip balm would be an awesome solution for that. Well for the lips anyway. The berry's would add just enough pretty color and the coconut oil will be super moisturizing.

What are your plans this weekend? I hope it is a good one!

Peace Out- AnneMarie

FREE Christmas Printable (and a bonus printable!!)

This is my Gabrielle Lily or Gabby for short (which is fitting because she is super short LOL!)   She is a wonderful girl that I feel humbled to be the mother to. In her 14 years she has accomplished more than some twice her age and I am so thankful to have her be a part of my life! She is the creator of the printables on our little blog. She graciously lets me give her ideas and she lets me "work" with her but really she does the hard parts and I am amazed by her!! She is working on building a printable business on etsy and has even had some sales!! WOW! Please accept the gift we offer you this Christmas in these free printables and if you are so inclined when she expands her printable business come and take a gander. You can bet I will be shouting it from the roof tops so you won't really have to worry about missing it. LOL!

In the mean time feel free to download and print these (in the size you desire) for your personal use whether it be for decor or to give in a frame etc. (please only for personal use. Thanks!)

Click Here to Download The Elf Code
Click Here to Download Come Let Us Adore Him

Crock Pot Pork Chile Verde

Did you have a happy Thanksgiving weekend friends? Mine was excellent! Lots of family time and lots of good food! Emily hosted our huge family thanksgiving meal this year and it was lovely. Smoked turkey? Um yes please. I also may have eaten an entire pumpkin pecan pie by myself. No shame. By Sunday I was over eating thanksgiving food though. That is where this recipe comes in. So if you are sick of turkey and mashed potato left overs check it out.

Pork Chile Verde 

4 pound pork picnic shoulder roast

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4-8 serano chiles

1-2 bunches of cilantro

8-10 tomatillos

2 red tomatoes

Put roast, chopped onion and garlic in a 4 quart crock pot. Cook pork roast in a crock pot on low for about 8 hours or until it is easily shredded. Shred it all up and pour most of juices off. Steam tomatillos and serano chiles until slightly cooked. Blend tomatillos, serano chiles, cilantro and red tomatoes until liquified. Pour over shredded pork and enjoy!

We ate it on corn tortillas with some sour cream and queso fresco. The queso fresco is pretty salty so we don't add salt to our chile verde. Without a salty cheese the chile verde will probably need a little salt. We made this for 7 people and wanted leftovers so thats why we used so much meat. You can easily halve this. We were feeding people who don't enjoy spice so we only used 4 serano chiles. If we were making it just for us we would put at least 8 seranos in. Also I used 2 bunches of cilantro because we love it. This is one of my favorite crock pot recipes. It is delicious.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Seriously though we hope you are enjoying your families or whatever makes you the most happy this time of year! We are so thankful for you and your support! We love our readers so much!

See you back on Dec 1 for some great new posts! 

AND THE WINNER IS....

We are so excited to announce that we have a winner!!

 Thank you to all who entered!! 

We have loved reading your wonderful traditions and especially noticed how much in common we have with our little group of readers! 

Thank you for sharing and coming along with us on this journey! 

Also keep an eye on us! 

We plan on doing lots of give aways!

 MONTHLY EVEN!! 

OK...so the winner is 

AMANDA BITNER

 (Be sure to email us in the next 48 hours with your contact info so that we can get your gift card to you!! After 48 hour a new winner will be chosen if we don't hear from you)

 CONGRATS!!

Thanks to Random.org for helping us choose our winner for us!!

Link it Up!

I am 11 days into 16 days working. No days off. That is rough. Not that it is an excuse of why my blogging has been off its A-game but really it is the excuse. Working so many days in a row has been difficult. Difficult on my body, the kids and really my sanity as well. So I apologize to all of you and apologize to my better blogging half, Emily! This post was suppose to be up yesterday but you know. UGH! 

With the weather turning cold we will be spending a lot more time inside. It is the perfect time to finally make an A-frame tent for the kids! They need a secret hideaway for their sanity that can be stored away easily for my sanity.

I want this! The mod boho shop is full of awesome stuff!

I needed this post (with video!!!) of how to do double and treble crochet stitches. Double I have down but I didn't know how to do the treble stitch.

I think this would be a great dress to wear out and about- pun intended! Can you just imagine sewing this in some camo print knit?

I can't begin to tell you what it would mean for this bell to show up at my house on Christmas day. It is beyond beautiful. And made locally. Booyah!

After being disappointed by the jet puffed peppermint marshmallows I am ready to try my hand at making some myself. This is a simple recipe- I think. HA!

THIS! How to get shit done even when you aren't motivated. I need this a million times in my life.

Crock mashed potatoes are our jam lately- they are no fuss. You gotta love set it and forget it food, right? I love this recipe but we do peeled russets because it is my flavor preference. 

15 career tips from smart women.

This smokey liner tutorial is right on time for the holidays.

How to clean a microfiber couch. I don't want you to know how badly we need this right now. Seriously.

This is a great boy and girl shared room tour. We are about to start decorating the kids room finally and I am finding it really hard to make it work well for both of them.

Check out this cute Thanksgiving craft to do with the kiddies. It is a nice change from handprint turkeys.

Oh and of course don't forget to enter our giveaway!!! A 50 dollar Amazon gift card will definitely come in handy this time of year. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Chowder-AND Bonus Parm Garlic Toast Recipe

This soup is good! So good my family horked it down like they were human hoovers! Most had 2 bowls and some ate 3. Its REALLY good! 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Chowder

1/2 C Butter
1/2 C Flour
2 1/2 C Half and half
2 1.2 C milk
2 chicken bouillon cubes broken
8 oz cream cheese
3 lb boneless chicken cooked and chopped
1 pkg pre cooked bacon cut to bite size 
1 C diced ham
8 oz swiss cheese grated 

In a large pan melt butter and then add the flour to make a roux. Cook for about a minute. Add the half and half, milk and the bouillon. Heat for a few minutes and then add the cream cheese. While continuously stirring, bring to a boil and add chicken, bacon. and ham. Take off heat and stir in Swiss cheese. Bring back to the stove on low heat and stir until cheese is melted.

BONUS RECIPE

This is a super quick alternative to garlic bread. Just broil and wah-la!!

PARM GARLIC TOAST
(All of the ingredients are to taste)

Bread
butter softened
garlic powder
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to broil. Line a pan (We used 10x15 jelly roll pan) with parchment if desired. Butter each piece of bread and cover the pan with it. Sprinkle the buttered bread with garlic powder and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Broil until browned and bubbly. YUMMY!!

NOTE!! Dont forget to enter our give away for a $50 amazon card! HERE!!

Porcupine Balls

In some ways I hate posting recipes. I find it really hard to figure out exact measurements when it comes to recipes. I cook more intuitively. Which is not to say I am a good cook it just means I throw in whatever sounds good. Guess what happens half the time? You guessed it! It doesn't work. I throw in one too many weird ingredients and it ruins the whole thing. But alas I continue doing it. I love the tossing and tasting experimenting of cooking. It feels freeing and grown-up. Ha! Yes you read that right, I said grown up. I throw caution to the wind with ever teaspoon of celery seed and dash of soy sauce I toss in. I do it like I have experience. It brings me joy.

So here is a recipe for porcupine balls that is really meant as a guideline. 

Porcupine Balls

2 pounds ground meat

1 cup instant rice

1 tsp celery seed

1 egg

1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

2 tbsp parsley

1 12 ounce can tomato sauce

1 small can crushed tomatoes

Mix meat, rice, celery seed, egg, onion, garlic and parsley until completely combined. Make into even sized balls. Cook in large sauce pan or electric skillet turning to brown each side. Once brown add 1 cup water, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer 25 minutes or until rice is fully cooked. Then enjoy!

This boy loved them! I also sprinkled some garlic seasoning and italian seasoning over them will they were simmering. I used half ground turkey and half ground beef to add some richness. Next time I make them I am going to make half with brown gravy and half with tomato sauce just to please our varying palates. Lola does not groove on tomatoes. We served them with crock pot mashed potatoes and green beans. YUM! 

PS!! Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a 50 dollar Amazon gift card!  

Smores Pie-Quick and Easy Last minute No bake pie Recipe

This Pie is awesome! Very easy, very tasty and simple and no bake is always a plus when you are using the oven for so many other things this time of year.  My sweet Gabby made this one up for us and another for a family friend and it was marvelous! Give it a try!

Yummy S'more Pie

1 package of instant pudding 3.9 oz size

1 can 12 oz of evaporated milk

1 9 inch graham cracker crust

3 cups mini marshmallows

2 cups frozen whipped topping (cool whip style) thawed

1/2 C chocolate chips

Whisk 1 1/4 C evaporated milk and pudding mix in a bowl until blended and pour into the graham crust. Microwave 2 Cups of the marshmallows and 1/4 Cup evaporated milk for 30-45 seconds until smooth. Let stand for 15 minutes. Gently fold the whipped topping. SPoon over the the chocolate layer and smooth. Add 1 cup of marshmallows and the chocolate chips to the top and then refrigerate for 2 hours.  Once set using a torch to brown marshmallows. Serve and enjoy!!

Our First Ever Give-away!!

image credit

Emily and I love Christmas. We are total freaks for it! We start planning Christmas in January. That is a true love. This season really is the most wonderful part of the year to us. The lights, smells and sounds are like magic.

 This year we decided that it would be fun to be Santa's elves! They can't be everywhere all the time, right? So Em and I are going to spread a little Christmas cheer with our first ever giveaway!

We are giving away a..... 

50 dollar Amazon gift card!

To be spent however you would like! Who can't use an 50 extra dollars this time of year?  

Our rules are simple. All you need to do is follow us via twitter, IG or GFC over there on the right. Then leave us a comment on this post with your favorite Christmas tradition and where you followed us. Easy Peasy lemon squeezy.  (if you are already a follower please add a comment letting us know you would like to be entered along with your favorite Christmas traditions)

A winner will be picked and announced next Monday. Make sure we have a way to get a hold of you!! The gift card will be sent straight to you from Amazon all wrapped up and ready to use. 

Lets get this Holiday season started!! 

Our Christmas Daily Advents-Making the Christmas Season More Memorable

A long time ago we were having the talk we always have with our kids to discuss last years Christmas to discover what worked and what didn't. (PS if you don't have this little talk you should!! It is amazing what is important to them and what we as moms and dads are doing that isn't necessary and can relieve stress by letting it go.) It became clear that when we discussed the presents/gifts they couldn't remember most if not all that they had received. This was less than a year before!! (in their defense  they were little but still....)

BUT

They could remember with some awesome clarity the things that we did together. 

Welcome to the birth of our

DAILY ADVENTS
(this is what we will be doing this year)

Nov 28: Decorating the house and tree

NOV 29: The Family Thanksgiving Dinner

NOV 30: Wisemen still seek him (FHE)

DEC 1: Make our advent calendars

DEC 2: Sign Christmas cards and Hot cocoa bar

DEC 3: Sibling shopping and Crazy candlelight  dinner

DEC 4: Read our fav Christmas stories

DEC 5: St Nicholas Shoes

DEC 6: Ward Christmas Party

DEC 7: First Presidency Devo and munchies

DEC 8: Northpole breakfast for dinner

DEC 9: Sing along

DEC 10: Make gingerbread houses

DEC 11: Eggnog and popcorn night

DEC 12: Ho Ho Someone or Toys for Tots shopping

DEC 13: The Forgotten Carols and dinner

DEC 14: FHE Lesson w the grandparents and   Christmas dinner

DEC 15: Elf on the Shelf Arrives (all 30 days was too much)

DEC 16: Make and deliver neighbor gifts

DEC 17: Random acts of kindness day

DEC 18: craft night and plant candy cane     seeds

DEC 19: jingle bell jaunt

DEC 20: baking and treat making day

DEC 21: Family Christmas Party

DEC 22: Saran Wrap ball

DEC 23: Jammie movie marathon and pizza party

DEC 24: Lunch out and movie, family puzzle           building, make cookies for santa.             finger foods, open jammies and a             family devotional.

There you go...What do you do to make the season memorable?? If you have questions on what any of these are feel free to comment!! We love nice comments from nice people!!

LOVES

Emily