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12 Days of Christmas Stocking Gifts Tradition

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12When my husband and I first got married, we started exchanging stocking gifts beginning December 13 running through Christmas Eve.  It was a fun tradition that we started and continued through having kids.  Well we kinda fell off the tradition wagon for a few years, but I’m bringing it back in 2012.

Starting tomorrow, Santa Mom is going to be stuffing the kids’ stockings as well as my husband’s with little gadgets, gizmos, practical items, candy, and other surprises up until the 24th when the REAL Santa arrives.  It’s an easy and fun tradition to start, just make sure you keep to a budget and don’t go overboard.  I generally shop at Target but this is where the Dollar Stores come in real handy!

Here are some stocking gifts that I have in mind:

1.  Socks…doesn’t sound too exciting but holiday socks, slipper socks, fuzzy knee highs are cute and practical.

2.  Gum…how many times do they ask at the check out, EVERY TIME…easy and inexpensive.

3.  iTunes cards…maybe for the finale, and maybe $10 per child…

4.  Hair ties, ribbons, headbands for my girls…again festive colors, practical and cute.

5.  Pokemon, Club Penguin, or other trading card sets for my boy.

6.  Chocolate coins…always a fun novelty and yummy too.

7.  CDs for my hubby…he’s a commuter and some good classic rock for the drive would work for him.

8.  Pencils, pens, notebooks…great for the last weeks of school before holiday and beyond.

9.  Mittens…mornings are freezing even in California!

10.  Gift Certificates/Gift Cards…McDonald’s, Baskin Robbins, Subway…endless possibilities.

11.  Earbuds…we lose these constantly but they are a must for car trips!

12.  Lotto tickets/scratchers for the hubby!

13.  Nail polish, fun nail art…my girls love this kind of stuff.

14.  Lego Mini Figs…my son may never grow out of the love of Lego.

15.  Earrings…that may be on my list…but nevertheless.

I can go on and on!  Tell me, what would you add to this list?

Marie Callender’s Peppermint Pie

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Enjoying all things peppermint since as long as I can remember, I used to crave the flavor so much with each of my 3 pregnancies that I would eat toothpaste and Tums to satisfy my need.  To this day I enjoy that sweet minty bite and mix it in with a cold dessert like Marie Callender’s Peppermint Pie, I’ve found a wonderful fast and easy go-to dessert to share for the holidays.

I will be the first to admit that I take the easy way for meals and desserts as much as I can.  I’m so busy with work, the kids, and now my two new volunteer jobs that meals are always the last thing I think about.  My youngest daughter told me the other night that we just don’t have dessert enough so when I pulled out a pie that had been bought frozen then thawed in the fridge she was all smiles!

The Marie Callender’s Peppermint Pie has a chocolate cookie crust with a pink peppermint base topped with chocolate shavings and a light whipped cream.  It looks so pretty, it really does, the presentation is lovely.   The crunchy crust was a nice contrast to the creamy peppermint that had a pudding-like texture and was rich in flavor.  The whipped cream was light and didn’t overpower the pie at all, each bite had a great bit of all the layers.  The added chocolate shavings finished off each bite.  What’s best about it, I didn’t feel like it was too sweet and rich that I couldn’t eat a second bite, it’s a really light dessert yet very satisfying!  If you are a peppermint lover like me you’ll love this pie, it’s like a cookie plus pudding, with a sundae topping!  Pick up one for your next holiday party, Christmas dessert, or New Year’s gathering!

Products for our review were offered, all opinions our own.

5 Tips for Coffee with the Ladies Holiday Style

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It’s Christmas time and for me it means invitations to holiday parties, shopping days out with the girls, and catching up with old friends over coffee or lunch. The spirit of the season is about sharing special times and making memories, so why not turn an ordinary “Ladies Coffee” into a new holiday tradition.

5 Tips for Coffee with the Ladies Holiday Style!

1. Before the party, enlist your kids to help out by making coffee filter snowflakes fit both the theme of the event plus the season! Placed under each coffee mug or glass, the delicate decor is precious.

2. Decorate your table with mason jars filled with coffee beans, tie a wire holiday ribbon on the rim and stand a candle in the center.

3. Offer a selection of chocolate dipped spoons to add flavor! Add flavoring oils to chocolate with a hint of mint, orange, almond, or even Kahlua. Or try crushing peppermint sticks and covering the chocolate before chilling. Display them near the coffee mugs or stand them in the jars in #2.

4. Serve one delicious dish like Lemon Pull Aparts! Send each guest home with the recipe printed on holiday stationary tied in a ribbon.

5. Goody Bag idea to take away… design your own travel mugs with assorted holiday wrapping paper, stickers, and markers. Take a group photo and print from your computer to commemorate the event and you have a reusable memory! Mugs can be bought in bulk from a place like Oriental Trading Company.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Breville. The opinions and text are all mine.

Holiday Baking with Safeway: Cakies Recipe

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Okay, it’s time, it’s time to bake!  This holiday season, Safeway is your one stop destination for all of your baking needs. With a large assortment of mixes, sprinkles, decorating sets, and much more available in-store, and the Safeway Chef Assistant app and Pinterest page to help online, Safeway is here to inspire you to bake up sweet memories with your family and friends!

We are super excited that Safeway sent us a gift basket to inspire and get our baking started for the holiday.  With red velvet cupcake mix, decorating sets, sprinkles, decorating bags and tips, no bleed baking cups, fondant shapes, sparkle gel decorators, frosting starters, and much more we were overwhelmed in the best possible way.

I started VERY simple with something I’m going to call CAKIES, cookies make with cake mix…get the name now?  I saw the simple and easy recipe on Pinterest and went with it.  You can really mix and match a number of ingredients like the type of cake mix (white, yellow, chocolate, red velvet) the add ins…(chocolate chips, mint chips, white chocolate, raisins, m&m candies, etc..)

CAKIES

1 box cake mix (we used Pillsbury classic yellow)
2 eggs (beaten)
3/4 stick of butter (melted)
2 cups of your favorite add-in (we used chocolate chips)

Mix all ingredients together and spread in a greased 13X9 baking dish and bake for 24 minutes at 350 degrees.

Easy Peasy!  Plus they are super moist and delicious, a great beginning to our baking week!

Chef Assistant App (#SafewayChefAssistant)
Safeway’s Chef Assistant app offers super cute holiday recipes and tips, a baking timer, and a fun “Virtual Cupcake Decorator” that allows you and your children to decorate a virtual cupcake and email or share it on Facebook and Twitter.  My youngest keeps busy making cupcakes in the grocery store multi-tasking in the cart while she ticks off the items on my Just for You app!

Safeway on Pinterest
Visit Safeway on Pinterest for holiday inspiration and recipes for holiday meals, sides, baking, and dessert and drink pairings.

Safeway on Facebook and Twitter
Fan Safeway on Facebook and follow on Twitter to stay current on deals and promotions, and be among the first to know about the upcoming Safeway Pin to Win sweeps on Pinterest!

Products were sent to us via representing pr company.  All opinions are ours.

VTech Retro Phone Review

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Remember the days when we had dial phones? I remember the one my parents had in the kitchen, it had a dial and even a CORD that was extra long so that I could sit on the couch in the living room and chat away while watching MTV! Ahh…the good old days…

VTech has a Retro Phone that doesn’t live in the past but gives the style of a dial, modern flair, push button capabilities, and all the technology of a cordless house phone.

-With up to 14 minutes of recording time, the digital answering system grabs calls when you can’t.
-Caller ID/Call Waiting—stores 50 calls–Know who’s calling with Caller ID/Call Waiting. Handset displays the name, number, time and date of incoming calls.
-Handset and base speakerphones–Leave your hands free, or bring more people into the conversation: The speakerphones allow you to talk and listen without holding the handset.
-ECO mode power-conserving technology–Power-conserving technology manages consumption for optimal battery performance.
-Quiet Mode, Silence the ringer on the handset and base unit immediately, or for an extended period of time.
-DECT 6.0 Digital technology

Even better, it comes in 5 colors and we chose blue to match the scheme in my teenager’s room!  The handset is slim and light and is easy to switch over to speaker phone as I see my daughter do if she’s chatting and doing homework, styling her hair, or any other multi-tasking job.  The charge lasts quite a while on the handset if it doesn’t make it back to the base.  Perfect and priced right ($59.95-$69.95) for any teenager, office, or lover of contemporary style.
Product sent for review, all opinions our own.

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