Archives for 2011

Nuggets: December

I can’t believe that Christmastime is here already! December has just flown by so quickly, here’s a little of what we have been up to…

:: We got to go to a Bucs game. It’s only the second football game I’ve been to. I’m not usually a big fan, but games are more fun in person than they are on TV. The tickets were Jesse’s birthday gift from my parents. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun.

Bucs game

:: The CF wives planned a cookie exchange at our last dinner. I just love getting together with these girls, and look at all the cookies I took home. I’m serving these yummy treats for Christmas Eve.

Cookie exchange

:: I even got to take home a plate of allergy-free peanut butter cookies. One of the girls made a batch just for me… and I’ve been super nice too and shared a couple with Jesse.

Peanut butter cookies

:: I came across this recipe for black bean fudge. At first I thought there was no way it could be any good, but the reviews were great… so I had to give it a try. I love it! I served it to my family and they almost didn’t believe me when I told them it was made with black beans.

Fudge

:: We went to Church Street Christmas last night. It’s just a simple Christmassy activity, walk up and down the street admiring the Christmas lights and a few performances.

Lamp post Christmas house

:: When we went last year it was FREEZING! This year, not so much… which was a bummer because I really wanted to wear this new, beautiful scarf I got as a Christmas gift. In case you don’t catch the significance it’s purple, for CF, with roses, also for CF… from one my CF wife friends. (I really love it, Ami!)

Scarf

:: I decided that I would just wear my scarf anyways… which made the rest of the girls decide that they all wanted to wear scarves since it was Christmas after all. So all the girls just pretended it was cold enough for scarves even though it was 62 degrees. It’s a fashion statement!

Scarf girls

:: Ashley is home from school for Christmas. Yay! Now we can take some silly pictures!

Muscle girls Siblings

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!

Allergy Free Holiday Recipes: Cabbage Rolls

Filed Under: Allergies, Recipes2 Comments

Cabbage rolls is another favorite recipe that I have grown up having. It’s typically a part of our Christmas Eve and/or New Year’s Day meals. The original recipe came from Canadian Living magazine, but as you will see we didn’t follow the recipe too closely. The best part is that these can be made ahead of time to avoid having to cook everything on the actual holiday. We made these up yesterday to put in the freezer until we are ready to bake them fresh for Christmas Eve.

Start by boiling a head of cabbage just long enough until the leaves tear off without breaking too much. We took the first half of the leaves off and had to boil a little longer to get the inside leaves off.

Cabbage

Once beef is cooked add chopped onions, red pepper, garlic and spices. Keep the mixture over medium heat until veggies are soft.

Peppers and onions

Then mix in cooked rice and cooked, chopped bacon. You could really add whatever you like to make the rolls to your taste.

Bacon and rice

Spread a little tomato sauce on the bottom of your baking dish to keep the rolls from sticking.

Sauce in pan

Place a spoonful of your meat mixture near the bottom of the cabbage leaf. Roll leaf, tucking in the sides and compacting filling as much as possible as you roll. I cut out the thickest, stem part of the leaf to make these easier to roll up.

Fill cabbage

Secure each roll with a toothpick at the end of the leaf.

Secure with toothpick

Place all your rolls snugly in your baking dish.

Filled pan

Cover rolls generously with the remaining tomato sauce. This keeps them from drying out during baking and makes them look prettier too.

Covered with sauce

Bake, covered at 350 for about an hour. If freezing first, allow to thaw in fridge before baking. Here’s the recipe we loosely followed, feel free to adapt it however like.

Recipe

Enjoy!

Jesse is 33!!!

Filed Under: General2 Comments

Jesse with tanks

Yay… it’s your birthday! What a wonderful year you’ve had this year, I’m so glad that I could experience it with you. You’ve reached and surpassed so many goals that you’ve set for yourself this year. You are the best husband I could ask for and you do an amazing job providing for the life that we enjoy together.

After surgery Outrun CF Us in RSM Us at the Falls