Emily here again! (I’m on a roll with post and feeling inspired!) Sharing how we celebrated Christmas this year.
Christmas Eve day my husband went to the store and he picked up some frozen pizzas and corn dogs for dinner. Now this maybe seem kind of lame but it was so nice! I’ve mentioned it before but I spend many days cooking in the kitchen. I make pizza from scratch regularly and so for the holiday I wanted something easy. I also had a feeling we’d be up late being Santa’s little helpers so I didn’t want a big kitchen clean up that night.
We let the boys open a present on Christmas Eve morning. Both me and my husband love letting them open presents early and new toys keep them busy for a while. After naptime we all watched the Polar Express for the first time. Pal and captivated the whole time and Bud was ever so snuggly bouncing between me and my husband to give equal snuggles.
We cooked off our simple dinner (corn dogs for the boys with a side of strawberries. Frozen pizza for me and my husband.)
After dinner Pal and I baked off some sugar cookies and decorated them for Santa. I used the recipe from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.
After the cookies we all sat at the dining table (even Bud!) and made a few cut out snowflakes.
Then it was off to bed for the boys! My husband and I got started on wrapping presents and building a dollhouse for the boys big gift. This was one of those moments where we really felt like parents. Creating the magic for our boys and spending our evening trying to figure out a “simple” dollhouse lol.
Biggest holiday tip: get your tree up high. I’m not spending all December telling little hands to not touch ornaments.
Christmas Day! Presents were opened in about 15 min but played with for the rest of the day. We ate scrambled eggs and doughnuts for breakfast. We had a relaxing day at home playing with toys and being together. I started dinner prep around 2. I’d like to note that next year I need a disposable pan for the ham. I have used this glaze recipe the last two years but it always ruins the pan I use. No matter how much foil I use. Also this year it somehow leaked out of the pan and made a huge mess in the oven and the house smelled burnt for days. But worth it because it’s delicious.
Emily here! Sharing how we celebrated the Winter Solstice this year! I mentioned in my Autumn Equinox post that I want to start celebrating the solstices and equinoxes this year. So far I’ve been keeping up! I had a few very cute ideas but had no energy on the actual day of the solstice so I took Pal and Bud to my mom’s house and we did a little baking project there.
We dipped pretzels in chocolate and added sprinkles. Honestly very similar the our autumn equinox celebration but I knew it would work with Pal lol. He’s really into sprinkles so he loved this and he enjoyed eating them too. He kept saying it was ice cream and licking it like a popsicle. Bud sat in a highchair and watched us while he had snacks and my mom chatted with him. Also shout out to my mom for taking the pictures!
Cheers!
My hope for next year is to do some more winter solstice specific activities. I’d like to try and make some candles with Pal. Maybe dip candles or use leftover broken crayons. I’d like to make sun-bread on that day too. And I’d like to start the tradition of the children opening a present early on that day. We always got to open a present on my parents anniversary and I look back on it fondly!
Emily and Maddie here for a joint blog post. We wanted to wrap up the year with some of our fav things from 2022!
Top 3 Books of 2022
Emily’s Picks: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. This book no joke changed my life. I couldn’t read another book for like 3 months after. I still think about it everyday. It was inspiring, eye opening and heartbreaking. I didn’t see the ending coming and those are always the best books to me.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. The book was such a cozy delightful read. Perfect for October-December. I loved all the witchy talk of potion making and in a way felt like a very modern Circe.
I’ll Show Myself Out: Essays on Midlife and Motherhood by Jessi Klein. This was hilarious. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in like 2 days. Jessi nails so much of motherhood and made me laugh out loud and cry as well. She this book talks a bit more about the toddler phase so if you’re a mom with a baby I would say to wait until you have a toddler to really “get it”. But again so funny!
Honorable Mention: I couldn’t finish this post without mentioning Wintering By Katherine May. I read this book at the beginning of the year and I’m currently rereading it right now. (Maddie jumping in here to say SAME!)
Maddie’s Picks: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Wow this was such an amazing and profound read! The story was epic, exploring multiple generations, and what I loved most was how the author managed to show the perspectives of so many different kinds of people, even those who were not necessarily important to the story. The family in this book and all that they experience has stuck with me long after reading it.
Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe. I listened to this on audiobook read by Anderson Cooper, which I highly recommend. The Vanderbilt history is in many ways the history of America and it was extremely eye opening to learn about the story of this iconic family. Would you believe it made me cry? This book is definitely unexpected in all the best ways.
A Court of Thorns and Roses Series by Sarah J. Mass. I love me a good fantasy series and have torn through 4 of the 5 books in 2022 (currently reading the 5th book as I write this in 2023). I was immediately drawn into the characters and storyline of this book about high faeries and humans and have not stopped reading it since!
Top 3 Recipes
Emily’s Picks: Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. Okay this one feel like I’m cheating a little but I got this cookbook last Christmas and about halfway through the year started using it. Everything I have made from it turns out perfect and amazing. This is something everyone (and I mean everyone) should have in their kitchen.
Oatmeal Cookies (If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Cookbook). My husband’s one and only cookbook is this adorable If You Give a Mouse A Cookie Cookbook. I started making a few cookies from it with Pal and discovered the most delicious Oatmeal Cookies recipe in it. I think the secret in the heavy cream. It’s also very easy to put together. (I assume the book is now so expensive since it’s out of print.)
Cottage Cheese Pancakes. Maddie sent me this recipe when she was going ham for cottage cheese this Christmas and this has been a hit with everyone in my family. It’s not common that I find a recipe that everyone will eat. Love that it is low in sugar and has great protein!
Maddie’s Picks: Emily’s Pizza Recipe (Sister Hack) After visiting Emily in Oregon and getting an in person tutorial on how to make her famous dough, the hubz and I upgraded our home pizza accoutrements and have been making this almost weekly with delicious results.
Pasta Fagoli Soup (Taste of Home) Healthy, cheap, tasty: check, check, check! This is a simple but oh so yummy recipe that I found on Taste of Home in early 2022. Perfect for fall or winter nights.
Turkey Meatball Subs (Six Sister’s Stuff) This recipe is a light and perfect for game day! I also like how I can use the leftovers for spaghetti later in the week.
Top 3 Purchases
Emily’s Picks: New Dining Table. This was the best purchase of the year. Our other dining table had fabric seats which were getting destroyed with children learning how to eat. It was also a hand-me-down which we have used for 5 years. We were ready to purchase something specific for our space and agreed that this table would be perfect. (Bonus we reused our old dining table as a play table for our children. My husband just shortened the legs.)
7 Pack of Black Leggings. I kept telling myself that I couldn’t wear black leggings everyday. Idk why I was so set on it. But once I let myself it was so freeing! I bought a pair for each day and they have really held up! I’m currently 5 months pregnant and still wearing them!
New Water Bottle. I had been using the same water bottle for many years and anytime it got knocked over it leaked no matter what (and it gets knocked over a lot). So I bought this new one and its been so nice!
Maddie’s Picks: Hot Pop Microwave Popcorn Maker. I was influenced to buy this after seeing it in a Youtube video from See Mindy Mom. I love that it is so easy to use and we can control all of the ingredients in our popcorn. We use it weekly for movie night.
Dining Room Rug from Wayfair. We bought this to replace our old dining room rug and I got the 8×10 size on sale for $164. It’s an indoor/outdoor rug, so very durable and the subtle pattern adds a little something to the room without being distracting.
Ever Go Blazer from Maurices. I bought three of these blazers in different colors for my new job that I started in April and I wear them all the time. They are so easy to dress up or down! My favorite way to wear them is with a v-neck tee, jeans, and loafers.
Maddie here! This holiday season I found myself with 7.5 pounds of cottage cheese. Thanks dad! Cottage cheese is a delicious, budget friendly superfood packing 11 grams of protein for a 1/2 cup serving. I wanted to maximize this abundance of nutritious free food, but eating plain cottage cheese can get old pretty fast. So I made it my challenge to use the cottage cheese as creatively as possible. Instead of going ham for ham leftovers (see parts 1 and 2), I went ham for cottage cheese.
#1: Cottage Cheesy Scrambled Eggs on Toast This one is pretty basic: instead of mixing in cheddar cheese to make my scrambled eggs cheesy, I threw in a scoop of cottage cheese and mixed until melty. I enjoyed it on toast with some everything bagel seasoning on top.
#2: Blueberry Cottage Cheese Muffins I have made these muffins twice already and they are v delicious! The second time I made them I added an extra 1/2 cup of cottage cheese and they turned out great. They are a quick snack to grab during the day, and I even added a few handfuls of walnuts to the mix for extra nutrition.
#3: Cottage Cheese Pie I came across this recipe on reddit and it definitely felt like the riskiest to make because of the lack of detailed instructions, but it turned out really good! Because it is a vintage recipe, it used a minimal amount of sugar. I recommend making it if you are looking to reduce sugar intake but still have something sweet. I topped mine with homemade whipped cream and it was *chef’s kiss*.
#4 Macaroni and Cottage Cheese Casserole If you are looking for a lighter mac and cheese, this is the recipe for you. It has that creamy flavor without being too heavy and the breadcrumbs on top are so yummy. I used a high fiber macaroni noodle and added frozen peas to mine. There are lots of ways you can customize it depending on what leftovers you have around. I have been eating it for lunch every day this week and am not tired of it yet!
#5 Blintz Pancakes I saved my favorite recipe find for last: these blintz pancakes! This recipe made pancakes that were deliciously tart and creamy using minimal (1 tablespoon) sugar. I’m definitely going to be adding it to my breakfast rotation when I want a little something special. The first time I made it was on Christmas Day and I topped them with a blueberry compote and whipped cream. The second time I poured the batter in a glass baking dish and cooked at 350 for 15 minutes. After it cooled, I topped with butter and strawberry jam.
Whether you find yourself with an abundance of cottage cheese like me, or you are looking for ways to incorporate more protein into your diet I hope you found some inspo from the exciting and overlooked world of cottage cheese recipes.
Sister Hack 