Christmas Day Food 2018

Christmas Day Food

 2018

 Christmas Eve was busy with Dh making up his dough, letting it rise, and by the time it came out of the oven it was time for bed.

Dh put the glaze on top of the cinnamon rolls.  We had cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast before we opened our gifts.

Christmas lunch:

One of our favorite dishes: Gomae
it is basically just cooked down spinach, sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar...etc.  I love it!

Dd has been asking for shrimp for four years, since we didn't have many 'specials' this year we surprised her with shrimp for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

  Another favorite of Dd is homemade egg rolls, she fills them with veg. 

Agadashi Tofu:
Lastly, all three of us love tofu!!!  We could eat it every night!  Dh makes a fish/soy sauce that has a bunch of stuff in it that is amazing.  We normally do not eat fried food; so this is an unhealthy meal for us, but perfect for a Christmas!

This was my plate! Yum!

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Gingerbread Barn Christmas 2018

Gingerbread Barn 

Christmas 2018

I'm not sure who had more fun making this year's gingerbread barn?!!  I think they just like doing it together.

Dd found an article in a cooking magazine that had the recipe for making a gingerbread barn.  It even had the templates for all the pieces.

There were three horse heads sticking out the barn windows, a cow, a pig, and three chickens!!!

I think she is making the frosting; which was the glue that held the walls to the cardstock.  Her frosting worked very well; everything held together perfectly.

Dd used cardstock to make forms for the walls; although the magazine didn't recommend that she felt it would be a more sturdy barn if she did.

They made a lot of dough to make all the pieces; cookie sheet after cookie sheet.

 

They made our barn gluten-free so I could eat it too!

She used coconut flakes for snow on the roof and ground.

One side of the barn with two horse heads sticking out to watch the yard.

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Dec.23-29, 2018 Christmas, Gingerbread Barn, Migraines

Dec.23-29, 2018 

Christmas, Gingerbread Barn, Migraines

Here is the bulletin board I made for church this Christmas season--

Up close it has more detail than the big picture shares.

Hello Friends! and Merry Christmas!!!

The plate of cookies (GF Mexican Wedding) and milk (chocolate almond milk) for Santa---he liked them a lot!

Here is the chicken Dd made for me!  I love it!

Will Dh being off work (surprise detached retina...short-term disability) for the past 5 weeks we decided to really cut out our Christmas shopping this; we don't even know when he will get a paycheck again. 



 Every year Dh buys Dd pj's for her Christmas Eve present, so we did buy that, but that is all.  

New pj's on, you can't tell from the picture but they are super soft.

Luckily, I had been picking up things, usually at our thrift store, and had gifts for all of us hiding in my closet.  In the past, I would wait to buy Christmas presents and I'd either get a migraine cluster or a bunch of snow and would run out of time and be stuck with just minimal gifts, so I wised up and started storing yard sale or thrift store or even store-bought gifts away in my closet a little at a time.  Of course, that means that Dd has seen quite a few of the gifts as she is usually with me when I shop.  

Another card Dd made

We had some Christmas's like this in Indiana when Dh's job security was so bad we just exchanged yard sale gifts too.  I remember one hard year like that and the funny thing is Dd said it was her favorite Christmas!  I think she was eight years old at the time.

Dh, Dd, and Henry eagerly awaiting opening the presents!

Gifts:  Dd did a watercolor of a chicken for me!!  I love it!  Every birthday and Christmas I always ask for her to draw me a bird---any kind any sort of way; she almost forgot this year! 

Dd and Henry snuggled down after all our gifts were opened.

 I reminded her the day before and her face showed she had forgot...oops!  It was nice to have another Christmas that wasn't about getting expensive gifts, but spending time together and remembering the Reason for the Season is Jesus' birth, not fancy gifts.



  For memory's sake--I gave myself a wonderful, big, brown teapot!  I love it and it just cost a few dollars.  I found this lovely teapot at our thrift store and had been so looking forward to getting it for my Christmas highlight!  For Dh, I found, just this month, a bundle of Dilbert books!  He is a huge fan and every year for around 16 years now I have given him one of those day-to-day calendars from Dilbert---the kind you tear off a page each day and get a new comic/new chuckle to start off your day at work.  We all got our Christmas underwear and socks packages--luckily bought weeks back. I think we all got various used books and DVD's picked up along the months at thrift stores.  Dd's big 'new' gifts were two music cd's that she had been wanting for so long.  That about wraps up our gift exchange---oh, and Dh's annual package of M&M's, but this year he was told to share! 

Chickens:

I've been hand-feeding Beth and Bunny all this week and they are looking better!  Now that they have been getting special attention the chickens that were above them, in the pecking order, seem to have downgraded and getting picked on instead...bummer!  But, Beth and Bunny, the two hens I'm trying to help are indeed looking much less ragged and boney!  



Weeds/Greens for Chickens:
We had a few nice temperature days and I took advantage of the thawed ground and was able to feed the chickens weeds and greens; which they were so happy getting!

Migraines:
I was so glad to feel good for the six days leading up to Christmas and Christmas itself!!!  Praise the Lord!  The two days after Christmas abominable.  I threw my FODMAP diet to the side and ate whatever I wanted on Christmas day---three normal cinnamon rolls that Dh made from scratch, among other abundant sugary cookies and rich foods.  I don't know if it was the gluten, sugar (food related) consumption or if I just melted down after the high of it being Christmas but I tried two Maxalt pills on the 26th and nothing helped.  I was just a huge mass of a migraine and stuck in bed ALL day. Whatever I ate, if it was the food that bit me, it was not worth the pain and misery that followed!!! Oi.

Dh's annual:
Since I had a migraine on the 27th and wasn't up to driving; Dd offered to take Dh to his two doctor appointments for me.  That seems to crazy to think your child is driving you around to doctor appointments already!  It seems like yesterday she was just a baby!  But, they had a wonderful time of it.  There were around 2 hours between the two appointments so they went out to eat lunch at a Chinese Buffet together and made a day of it.  I was so glad they got to spend the day together and have a little 'father-daughter bonding time!'  

Dh's eye appt:
This week marks his (Dh's) FIFTH week of recovery since his detached retina--and following cataract surgery and retina repair surgery.  His normal doctor was out for the holiday so they saw a substitute.  She didn't really share much new information; just that Dh was on the right track and keep being a "walking couch potato" like he has been doing.



Compost Bins:
We have three compost bins--filled with an assortment of our left-over foods, chicken straw (dirty), and cow manure.  Normally, Dh uses a pitch-fork and he 'turns' it every few weeks.  He was already over-due to flip it before his 'injury' so I could tell it had been bothering him---he kept bringing it up and lamenting he couldn't do it.  So, this week I finally took advantage of the warmer weather and managed to really stir up all the compost.  We had a lot to stir and it was quite the job!

Honeysuckle trying to stay on the hassock; check out her trim waistline! She is just one year old, not some old cat!!

Bible Study:
Dh and I are still doing our Bible Study together each day---except migraine days.  We are doing the Seamless by Angie Smith.

Honeysuckle on the Doctor Who rug I gave Dd for Christmas; another thrift store find that even Honey appreciates!

Dd's Academic Work for the Week:



Bible:
Church, Sunday School, Youth Program, and daily Bible Study using the Teen's Word of Life workbook.

Volunteering:
1 1/2 hours at church--Olympians program-Games
1 1/2 hours Thursday for Story Time at Library
3 hours Friday for Movie Time at Library (The House With A Clock In Its Walls)



Home Economics:
Gingerbread Barn!!!  Dd and Dh made a fabulous gingerbread barn from scratch--GF--that tasted and looked delicious!  They also made Mexican Wedding cookies and cinnamon rolls.  They spent hours in the kitchen on Christmas making our special Christmas meal---I'll put a special post just on that.

Home Electronics:
Dh and Dd worked on our wiring two days this week.  



We don't have cable or dish but use an antenna to watch television. 



 They worked hard and managed to get us a few more channels...for free!

Workout:
Treadmill



Art:
Dd is always working on a few things... drawing and she also crochetted a new hat and made mittens.

She made mittens out of shrunk down wool that Heather L. gave us on our visit...This picture doesn't do them justice--very pretty.

Sewing: Dd used our sewing machine to make some shirts she bought at a thrift store fit her by making her own alterations.

Next Week: 
Giz and Grampy's Christmas party in southern Indiana.  Also, due to Dh's eye doctor being on Christmas break we get the whole week off from doctor appts!!!
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