Santa's Little Shrinkers for December

[CarolynF]

Hi ladies..

Suzy's house is very well kept up..original flooring, woodwork, gorgeous leaded glass.
It is well over 100 years old..The peeps before her did alot of the upkeep and her dh
has a great job, so they can pay for repairs..She has 4 boys and they love all the space.

Dianne and I are braving the mall on Friday..tiny mall..but always a great place to eat.

Cindy: I loved that video so much...No horses were used, though..

I got some great news from my old college roomie who lives in CT..She had a child who
was addicted to drugs, a real mess..went to many rehabs, etc. Well, she cleaned up her
act and got married.. This is a total miracle right there. And my sweet friend has a 2 year boyfriend..(her idiot dh divorced her)..

I think I must have missed the Starbucks sale..Dd wanted one of those thermal cups
with a straw, so I got her one and one for me.. from dh..of course. No sale, though.
Good for you, Mary Kay.

[TuscanGirl]

Carolyn - the house sounds gorgeous!!

Starbucks is only on Day 6 - so more sales to come!
You can get updates on FB or your phone.

This one I bought doesn't have a straw - just a popup lid.

[CarolynF]

Oh good, because I will be near a Starbucks on Friday in Bville..I'll check the sale stuff for then..

[Buffy45]

Originally Posted by CindyCRNA

I brave the internet!



I love the Fiber Gourmet! I usually just order it with my Netrition order. And the Miso is the best 14 calorie dressing I have ever had!!



OMG, Carolyn, that was so cute! I have to show that to the BF when he gets home. He will love it!! Thanks

Gals, be careful of that Miso dressing. I did a search to see where it was sold in my area, had looked for it once before and came across an article where a lab tested it and found the label was very deceiving, that it had many more calories, fat, etc. Who knows if that is true but just wanted to let you know there was some question about how accurate their label was.

[TuscanGirl]

Morning!

It's not supposed to be 12° in December!
It's so cold!!!

Off to circuit class today and then cookie time!
I still need to pick a cookie to bake!

[Buffy45]

Morning!
Of course it is still early December but right now, I am not planning on any cookie or candy making. Maybe I will change my mind when we get the tree up?? Hmmm. I don't have to take any anywhere so there really is no reason to make them and guess who eats the majority of it all??? and not good for me either.

Sunny and 27 here in Dallas this morning, supposed to get to the mid-50's. Going to look for a skinny tree today and then to DGS's band concert at 7:00 tonight. Have 6 gifts left to figure out.

[TuscanGirl]

I'm only baking because i have a cookie exchange on Thursday!

[TuscanGirl]

Carolyn - what is that chicken soup recipe??

[CarolynF]

Originally Posted by TuscanGirl

Carolyn - what is that chicken soup recipe??

Hi..Is it just basic chicken soup?? I just take some chicken cooked, add some broth, a can of diced tomatoes, chopped onion and celery, maybe some cabbage..If I have Dreamfields, I might add that in..Is that it??

Tomorrow D and I are eating at lunch with one of our reading kids...It's sweet and sour chicken or something like that..But they have salad fixings too..sort of..

[CindyCRNA]

Originally Posted by Buffy45

Gals, be careful of that Miso dressing. I did a search to see where it was sold in my area, had looked for it once before and came across an article where a lab tested it and found the label was very deceiving, that it had many more calories, fat, etc. Who knows if that is true but just wanted to let you know there was some question about how accurate their label was.

This stuff??

OK, went on line and found it. Hummmmm. I'm not sure what to believe. It seems it has 4 times the amount of calories that the label says. It seems odd that when I'm eating 1400 calories a day, using this dressing, I still lose weight where I wouldn't if it had 300 more calories than I was counting.

[TuscanGirl]

Carolyn - I think that's it - but didn't it start with a rotisserie chicken - do I boil it to get the meat off the bones?

[CarolynF]

MK: Yup, you can do it either way..Boil the leftover meat/carcass to make the broth, or
start with chicken breasts, boil them..Add extra broth for more flavor.

I never tried the Miso Dressing..

[TuscanGirl]

Thanks!

I never tried Miso either.

[TuscanGirl]

Morning!

Spin class this morning, another batch of cookies, lunch meeting, a little shopping . . . now if it would only warm up!

[sjl330]

I had to go see my Chiro this morning. I was way out of joint! Feels better already.

This is a crazy week for me. So much to do and so little time, lol.

[CarolynF]

Hi ladies..

I get out of joint every month and have to go in for a tune-up..

LOL..Dianne and I were going to have lunch with her reading pal today..He has been bugging us for months..Well, at recess he got a detention and had to eat lunch in the
office..So, we ate our lunch in the cafeteria, then Dianne visited him in "jail"..What a kid.

Just did a Wallie run and need to wrap some gifts for my reading kids and a kid I adopted...Leaving the tags on, so I hope they fit..

[TuscanGirl]

It warmed up a little - all the way to 28!
Everything finished except baking the last batch of cookies.

First a dog walk . . . .

[CarolynF]

Hi gals..

Brett has an interview in Tulsa tomorrow afternoon.. with some seals company. He is meeting with the recruiter first..She was a KSU grad and lived in our town, but is older
than my kids..Light the candles..

We are having Italian sausage/marinara sauce, cheese casserole with a salad..Now, I think I'll chew some gum so I won't eat the sausage while I am making it..Bad habit.

[sjl330]

I was a bad girl tonight at my D of Isabella Christmas dinner/meeting. But it all sure was good. Back on the wagon tomorrow. From now until Christmas the struggles will increase. Ugh.

[TuscanGirl]

Morning!

I've been nibbling too - did you know there are Candy Cane Oreos??!!


The big cookie exchange is today! Do i take the cookies already on the plate with the extras in Tupperware, or all in Tupperware and put the cute plate in a bag?

[sjl330]

Sorry, no help here MK. I've never done a cookie exchange, although I think I'd like to. You'll have to tell me how to set one up and how it goes after yours gets done. Good luck and careful nibbling.

[Buffy45]

Morning!

Hmm, I have done a few cookie exchanges but it has been quite a while back. I think at one, we just took a big container of our cookie and then a container to gather up an assortment of the other cookies to take home. Then I have been to one where we took a nice platter of what we made for everyone to enjoy at the exchange but we had already packed up small individual parcels for each attendee to take hom with them. Call your hostess and see how they do it. They are fun and a nice way to have a very nice assortment of cookies/candy to serve at your house.

Home today but out again tomorrow to do some shopping. I need to just get it done! I do too much looking and not enough buying, LOL.

Dinner club got together last night for our Christmas night and 8 out of the 9 of us made it, one has strep throat. This year we went to a very nice part of Dallas and had dinner, then at 8:00 we took a carriage ride around that neighborhood to see all the Christmas decorations and lights. Very pretty and we had such a good time. We took hot chocolate with Bailey's in it, which was so good and the carriage was big enough for all 8 of us, so it was just a really fun time. The ride was for an hour and we saw some beautiful houses with beautiful decorations. One that really stood out was a house where the family has 6 children. There were 8 jack in the box decorations in the yard and each one was a replica of one of the famly members, not sure who had made these and they couldn't have been cheap, but it was quite impressive. Probably as tall as a person if you had walked up beside them, really unique. Saw the homes of some very well known Dallas people, sports stars, etc. Probably about 6 carriages were out making the rounds so wished the others Merry Christmas as we passed by. We decided we definitely are going to do it again next year.

[CarolynF]

Good afternoon..

My experience with cookie exchanges is like Buffy's..Take all your cookies in one big container..Then take a container for yourself to gather up the cookies..Depending on
how many peeps attend and bring cookies, the hostess will figure out how many of
each cookie each person gets to take home..

I just ate my first orange for a long time..LOL. The Lions Club were selling them so I bought a mix of grapefruit and oranges. I will encourage the boys to eat them, too.

Went to Christian Women's Club..was very good..low carbs, but I made up for it with
the orange..

Oh...Brett took his GPS so he wouldn't get lost in Tulsa..He should be at the company's interview right now...

[TuscanGirl]

Fingers crossed for Brett!!

The cookie exchange went well, and just like you both said - I took mine in a large container and took my cookies home in the same container!

Worked well.

Now I'm home for the night!

[CarolynF]

Good deal..Are you freezing the cookies?? One little cookie tip is to separate them into
baggies before freezing..Cookies taste better when they are frozen with likeminded cookies..

[TuscanGirl]

So true!
Otherwise everything tastes like peanut butter!

Everyone gets a shot at them first - then I'll freeze them.

[CarolynF]

I mixed up my cookies one year.. Everyone should get a taste, then wonder where they are the next day..LOL..

[TuscanGirl]

Exactly!!

Or they'll all taste them and they'll be gone tonight!

[CarolynF]

Right..MK..

Brett had a good interview..He should know the end of next week..maybe.

[CarolynF]

Right..MK..

Brett had a good interview..He should know the end of next week..maybe.