Christmas wreath cookie recipes with Bible and Catholic Advent object lessons

Advent was our favorite season when we homeschooled our children. We did holiday math, Catholic Advent writing, Bible reading, Christmas around the world social studies, winter science. Everything about Christmas is a teachable moment. Here are Christmas cookie recipes with Catholic Advent object lessons. Our family is nearing three decades making these holiday treats and our married daughter carries on the traditions with her family. Here's our wreath cookie recipes. 

Wreath Cookies: The hanging of an evergreen wreath is an ancient tradition, used in many cultures to symbolize eternity. The wreath was hung to ward off evil and death. That is why we often see wreaths at funerals, also. The early Christians incorporated pagan Solstice and Saturnalia evergreens into their celebration of Christmas. Catholics use the holly thorns to represent the thorns that crowned our Lord Jesus. The red berries call to mind His shed blood. The circle represents God's endless love. When we make wreath cookies or see a wreath, we remember and give thanks for Love. 

To make wreath cookies, you need: one stick butter or margarine two 10 ounce bags marshmallows 1 teaspoon vanilla green food coloring 1 18-ounce box Corn Flakes mini red M&Ms, cinnamon red hots or decorator frosting chocolate chips Melt butter and marshmallows, stirring constantly. Blend in vanilla and food coloring to achieve desired shade of green. Allow to cool slightly. Turn into a large bowl and blend with Corn Flakes until thoroughly coated. While cereal mixture is still warm, form into rings about two inches in diameter. Add mini M&Ms for berries; press into cereal. Optional: decorate with frosting "berries." Use chocolate chips for thorns. 

 

Our family's pickle soup, slaw and kebab recipes for National Pickle Day

Finding yourself in a pickle? Then celebrate because November 14 is your holiday! It's National Pickle Day. Just about any vegetable or fruit can be pickled (soaked in vinegar and salt brine). The most popular are pickled gherkins--cucumbers. Cucumbers originated in India and migrated via traders to the Tigris Valley in 2030 B.C., reports the NY Food Museum. From there, pickles enjoyed an illustrious career in healing, cosmetics and best of all, eating! Just in time for holiday munching, here are pickle recipes.  

Emma Grace's Dickle Pill Soup. After enjoying dill pickle soup at various Hamtramck, Michigan Polish restaurants, our youngest daughter decided to create her own variation. Inadvertently transposing the initial consonants, it became her trademark Dickle Pill soup. And it's to die for. Chop a small jar's worth of regular or kosher dill pickles. Milwaukee Midget dills are the chef's preference. But you can use Claussen refrigerated pickles if you prefer. Or try spicy Mt. Olive dills for a Cajun twist. Chop medium onion. Sauté onion in two sticks melted butter or margarine. When onions are tender, add pickles, a little minced garlic, freshly cracked black pepper and dill weed. Add 2-3 tablespoons flour to thicken butter mixture. Add one cup milk, juice from pickles and 2-3 cups chicken broth or water. Simmer till blended. Serve with pierogies and galumpkis. 

Deutsch Kraut-Pickle Slaw. Grate two carrots. Chop one quarter each red and green cabbage, two celery ribs and one small onion. Core, seed and chop one each green, yellow, orange and red pepper. Slice one hothouse cucumber or two regular cukes. Blend one and a half cup acai or pomegranate vinegar, half cup olive or safflower oil, and one cup apple cider and two tablespoons horseradish. Season with celery seed, caraway seed, freshly cracked pepper, dill weed, Marinate and chill overnight in fridge. You can swap sauerkraut for cabbage if desired, but reduce vinegar. 

Omi's Pickled Turnips. Super easy, super delish. I got my recipe essentially from the Jerusalem Cookbook with tweaks from some Lebanese friends in Dearborn. Pare and slice in large matchsticks, two large turnips and one beet. (Or as many as you want, just using that ratio). Heavily salt with Himalayan pink salt and place in cool area to dehydrate for a few days. Kids will love seeing how the veggies dejuice. Now, after this, some people dispose of the salt water and move on to the next stop. I do not. I just leave it. So next add a few ribs' worth of celery sticks and one sliced jalapeno (wear gloves!) Next, add in vinegar to cover the vegetables and watch the magic happen. Your white turnips will begin to turn a gorgeous shade of puce. And beets will stay their pretty purple selves. You can toss out the celery and pepper pieces or eat them as you wish. Serve with homemade hummus and toum garlic paste. 

Daddy's Famous Pickle Kebabs. Unlike my traditional Jerusalem pickled turnips, these are not traditional kebab in any way except the toothpick skewer and would have the good folk of the Levant shuddering in horror. But anyway, here's dad's recipe. Skewer on a toothpick one cheese cube, one hot dog "penny" and one pickle slice. So they're not so healthy? Don't judge. These appetizers are crazy popular with preschoolers because children can assemble themselves. They are a father-friendly quickie snack. Mind children don't eat the toothpicks. If a less salty snack is desired, sub a grape or watermelon wedge for the hot dog. Though the chef insists that this is integral. 

Tschus!

Nacho Daddy's Nachos: Good-for-you nachos and diet-friendly dips 'n chips

Not gonna lie, I love nachos. And they also love me, on my belly, hips and thighs. So how about diet-friendly good-for-you nachos that won't pack on the pounds? Just in time for tailgating and summer picnics which are right around the corner. But will these supposedly weight loss friendly nachos taste good? Isn't the point of junk food to be full of junk? In their common incarnation, they are. Nachos are basically tortilla chips smothered in some mélange of fatty, salty, intensely caloric, MSG-soaked fake-cheese dip or topping with about a million calories per serving. But if you're calorie restricting, you can still enjoy them. Just make nachos healthier and diet-friendly, like this.

Nacho Daddy's Nachos start with a better chip. Skip the high carbohydrate corn tortilla chips with high-glycemic (sugary) and starchy. Forego wheat-based tortillas. Don't be fooled by "veggie" or "healthy" chips. Read the labels and do the nutrition math. Look for multi-grain, nut, flax or quinoa chips.

Make kale or collard chips. Trim stems from kale and collard leaves. Spritz with non-fat cooking spray

or olive oil. Season with cracked pepper, and crushed rosemary, oregano, sage and basil. Bake at

400 degrees till crisp--about 15 minutes. Season with a little sea salt or substitute Bragg's Liquid

Amino (super healthy) for salt.

Freshen up your nachos. Nix bottled peppers. Use fresh jalapenos, chiles, serannos--protect your hands as you cut them. Make your own salsa, easy on the tomatoes to reduce sodium. Chop mirepoix--colored

peppers (green, red, yellow, orange, purple), sweet onions or scallions, celery and carrots. Add

chopped zucchini and season lemon juice, cumin, garlic, cilantro and chili pepper or Hungarian

paprika to taste. Load up on fresh veggies and lettuces.

Enjoy your guacamole. Seriously, it's really great for weight loss with all that avocado MUFA goodness.  But make it fresh by mashing avocado or better yet, Slimcado, diced red onions, garlic, tomatoes, cumin, lime juice and a little celery salt. I dash a bit of smoked paprika on top. 

Diet food swaps for dips. Lighten up on sour cream. Switch to non-fat Greek yogurt. Mash avocado, yogurt and salsa you made above for a super-duper-good-for-you guacamole. 

Diet cheese food swaps for nachos. Change up your cheese. Use lowfat cheese: Neufchatel, Parmesan-Asiago blend, Mozzarella, light Gorgonzola, Limburger, bleu cheese, goat cheese and feta (sharp cheese give dips a nice bite). Use Laughing Cow light cheese wedges. 

Diet food swaps for dips. Use olive oil or avocado mayonnaise (Hellman's makes a 45

calorie per serving kind). 

Meat food swaps for nachos. Swap burger or pork for chicken breast, tempeh, miso, hulled edamame, adzuki beans, turtle (black) beans, garbanzo beans, yams or squash.

Fish nachos, anyone? Seriously, fish tacos are crazy-popular, why not fish nachos? Best fish are

denser-bodied: cod, whitefish, marlin, swordfish. You could use shrimp or scallops. Or, for Cajun

nachos, try oyster, crawfish or catfish. 

Part of how I lost 100 pounds was by eating healthier diet food swaps. 

Pumpkin Spice Recipes and Pumpkin Themed Kids Lunches, Treats, Snacks

Boy, pumpkin and pumpkin spice sure is a shtick for fall foods--everything from IHOP pancakes to coffee creamer, Oreos to beer. So I thought, why not tap into that beta-carotene goodness for my +Week-of-school-snacks and +Five-day-school-lunch-menu series? Here are healthy kids lunch and snack recipes featuring pumpkin. But no pumpkin beer, promise :)

Use fresh pumpkin (be sure to get pie pumpkin, not a jack-o-lantern) or take my lazy way out and use canned--not pie filling. Or substitute yams, sweet potatoes or squash. Involve toddlers and preschooler in preparations.   You can vegan-ize any of these recipes that call for dairy and eggs but swapping tofu, TVP or almond milk. These recipes are kosher, halal and diet-friendly, too! Click to read more. 

Pumpkin Soup/Pasta Sauce: Perfect power packed nutrition for chilly fall days. In a large, deep skillet melt two sticks of butter or ghee (olive oil if you are a vegan). saute one medium chopped onion, one small stalk of cleaned, pared and sliced celery, five chopped sage leaves (or 1 teaspoon of ground sage) and one half teaspoon cracked pepper. Pour contents of saute pan in soup pot. Add one 29 oz. can of pumpkin and a carton of Progresso chicken broth (vegans and vegetarians, replace chicken broth with vegetable broth). Fill the pumpkin can with milk (vegans, use water) and add that to the pot. Simmer until blended and heated through. Just before serving, add chopped cucumbers and butter croutons. Send a jar to an elderly neighbor, a family with a new baby or a sick friend.

Pumpkin Upside-Down Custard: In a large bowl, blend 1 29oz. can of pumpkin, one teaspoon of cinnamon, one half teaspoon of nutmeg and ginger, one quarter teaspoon of cloves, one teaspoon of salt, four large eggs, one cup of packed brown sugar, one tablespoon of flour Refill pumpkin can with milk and add to ingredients. Blend until smooth and fold in one cup of peeled, chopped apples (optional). Placed in 9x13 glass baking dish coated with non-stick pan spray. Bake at 400 degrees about 40 minutes until set. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

 

For topping: blend 1 cup finely chopped pecans with 1 stick melted butter and one quarter cup brown sugar. Mixture will be crumbly. Sprinkle over surface and bake for five to ten minutes to set. Vegans can replace eggs and milk with two packages of silken soft tofu also.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Custard:</b></i> Using the same ingredients as above, cut milk down to 10 oz and add two 8 oz packages of softened cream cheese. You will need to use blender or electric mixer to blend. Using two cartons of whipped cream cheese will be easier to blend also.

How I Lost 100 Pounds: Sticking to My Diet At Restaurants

I gained a lot of weight after losing two stillborn babies. Since 2012, I lost 100 pounds. Left is August 2014 and right photo is December 2012 (when I had already started to lose).



As you might imagine, I get asked a lot how I lost weight. So, I write diet tips and recipes to answer that question. Today's topic is eating in restaurants. Now restaurant food can spell diet disaster. Restaurant food is higher in salt, fat and sugar. Portions are bigger than recommended. But eating out is so common. Ironically (or not) overweight/obese people tend to eat out more. Don't get me wrong. I love going out to eat. But it's important, if you want (need) to lose weight, to learn how to eat in restaurants and stick to the diet.  

Order water with your meal. Even if you drink other beverages, water will fill you up faster and make

you feel less hungry.

Ask for lemon with your water. Lemon is good system flush. It will help your food digest better.

Skip the alcohol, or if you do, order wine with dinner. Don't order alcohol before dinner. Many kinds of

alcohol are appetite stimulants.

Do not order coffee, diet soda or tea before dinner; coffee and caffeine are appetite stimulants. Do

drink coffee or tea after meals because they also boost metabolism.

Eat out at restaurants where meals are served in courses. Soup and salad make you feel full and help

you lose weight. If you eat buffet restaurants, start with a huge salad.

Ask for your salad dressing served on the side. Most restaurants bathe salad in dressing.

Choose vinegar and oil dressing instead of creamy dressings to lose weight.

Order grilled, baked or broiled entrees instead of sauteed, fried or deep-fried options.

Order vegetables or baked potato instead of french fries, mashed potatoes, scalloped or hash

browns.

If bread or rolls are served with the meal, skip it. This is one of the biggest diet tips and weight loss

don't go together.

Try vegetarian or tofu options. Eggplant Parmesan is just as good, if not better than Veal Parmesan.

If there is a salad bar, skip the mayonnaise based salads and load up on the veggies.

If you like cheese on your salad, choose feta; it's much lower in fat than regular cheese.

Go easy on the sauces, condiments and spreads to lose weight.

Skip the sour cream on a baked potato.

Use lemon or malt vinegar for fish instead of tartar sauce. Choose broiled instead of deep-fried fish.

These two diet tips can cut calories by 80 percent.

Skip the ranch and BBQ sauce dips; choose mustard or marinara sauce if you need a dipping sauce.

Ask for lemon instead of salt. Lemon is an excellent salt substitute.

Ask for Splenda for iced tea or coffee after your meal, instead of sugar.

Switch to garlic toast instead of garlic bread.

Eat slowly. Do not rush through the meal. This is on the top 10 diet tips anywhere you eat.

Order from the ala carte menu instead of the full dinner menu; portions tend to be very large in

restaurants.

Fish and seafood are sometimes healthier, but not often as filling. Good weight loss fish choices are:

marlin, swordfish, grilled yellow-fin tuna and baked salmon.

Choose broth soup or consomme over heavy creamy soups and chowders for weight loss.

Ask for vegetable options instead of potato or bread choices. I love a baked sweet potato with my

meals.

Order sorbet, sherbet or fruit with non-dairy topping for dessert.

All the best to you in the weight loss quest. Remember, no one is perfect and even with the best diet

tips, you'll fall off the wagon.. Don't torment yourself if you indulge, now and then, just get back on!

Labor Day Picnic Salad Bar Recipes For Picky Eaters, Dieters, Gluten-Free, Allergies, Vegans, Vegetarians--Everyone!

Labor Day is the last official picnic day of summer. Trying to plan a picnic around special diets can be difficult. Are you serving vegan, vegetarian, kosher, lactose intolerant, gluten-free, halal, diabetic guests? Complicated. Throw picky eaters (aka kids) and dieters in the party mix and harried Labor Day hosts are at their wits end to know what to feed the hungry multitudes. Here's a Labor Day picnic buffet that will have everyone--and I do mean every single picnicker--totally satisfied. A salad bar of epic proportions, with everything but the kitchen sink (and that was only cuz I don't know how to chop it!) Read onLabor Day Picnic Recipes For Picky Eaters, Dieters, Gluten-Free, Allergies, Vegans, Vegetarians--Everyone!

Wine Drinkers Horoscope

Forget dream analysis, Rorschach, Tarot, tea leaves,  magnets, crystals, palm reading and Peter Answers. I can predict your personality type and even your future by the type of wine you drink. I can do this with beer styles too, but wine is more accurate and more fun. Remember the Latin 'In vino veritas' (In wine is truth.). If you don't drink wine, that says a lot about you also. We'll start out with the sweet wines and move on to the dragons blood that I drink.

Teetotaler: You are complex. You avoid strong drink, but it often isn't for the reasons that you tell people. You are deeper person than you let on. Basically, you don't trust yourself and you sometimes don't listen to your own inner wisdom. Worry is your ruling passion. Your icon: Michelle and Jim Duggar


Lambrusco: This wine is so sweet 7-11 makes Slurpees of it for parents to give kids in place of Ritalin. If you like Lambrusco, you're non-confrontational and easy going. You want to be thought a wine enthusiast but don't want the commitment of a good dry red wine hangover. You'd make a good supervisor. Your ruling passion is caution. Your icon? Dan Quayle, Thomas Jefferson


  White Zinfandel or Grenache: Starting to get just a hint of fruit here. Slightly risky. And that's your personality. You're hiding something. You long to be naughty but still need safety. You could be a lot of fun at a party, but alas no one will ever know. That ultra conservative superego will never let you enjoy wilder. Like red zinfandel--now that's fun! You live vicariously and have a strong future as an author of romance novels. Fear is your ruling passion. Your icon? Prince Charles, Richard Nixon


  Pinot Grigio: Blah wine with fancy name. Teasing nose, prudish finish. Poser. Occupation: celebrity. Your ruling passion is show without go. Your icon? Pick one.


  Chardonnay: Now you're beginning to play the big league. Chardonnay perches between semi-dry red and dry white in a nice juxtaposition. If I didn't love red so much I'd drink Chardonnay. You are strong, idealistic, resolute and intelligent. You can see life on the other side of the wine fence; the wild dry red blow-outs, the table dancing with lampshades. But you are committed to doing the right thing. I admire Chardonnay drinkers. Ideally you'd be the perfect president, realistically you're probably a teacher or human rights activitist. Integrity is your ruling passion. Your icon: Gen. Robert E. Lee, Gandhi, Bella Abzug


  Pinot Noir: Like Loki, Mercury or Anansi the Spider you are a devious one. In common with your baby sister Pinot Grigio, you fool people and lead them on. Except you're all grown up and should know better. After all, you're a dry red. But you're also a sort of an adult child. You've never matured. Your job ideally should be circus performer or carnival ride operator. Unfortunately realistically you're a politician. Your passion is unreliability. Your icon? Rasputin, Peter Pan, George W. Bush.


  Red Merlot: You're a scion. But half-blood. You have the personality, but you lack breeding and poise. You were born on the wrong side of the blankets. You are nouveau riche. And you've got the attitude to prove it. Your job is bookie or salesman but you could have been something better. Ruling passion: ruthlessness and resentment. Your hero? Stanley Kowalski, Rhett Butler, Molly Brown.


  Cabernet Sauvignon: You're the opposite of Red Merlot in many ways. You've got title without the money to support it in the lifestyle that your family was accustomed to. Your nose is in the air and your blood is blue. But you don't amount to as much as your ancestors did because life's much more damnably expensive. Your future is unsure. It's for you to decide. Do you make something of yourself on your own steam or wallow in your misery? Your ruling passion is pride. Your hero? Earl of Grantham, Lord Robert.


  Burgundy: You are the genuine article. Old Etonian. The right stuff. You're resting on your laurels and why shouldn't you? You deserve it. Quite right. But if you aren't careful, you'll be swept away by a new generation of doers and achievers. Again, fate uncertain. Remain safe or join the fight. Your job? Labor leader, recognized artist. Your ruling passion is stability. Your icon: Neville Chamberlin.


  Shiraz/ Petit Syrah. That's what I'm talking about! Not in any league anyone else plays in, you march to another drum beat. Ancient, primeval and oriental.  You are devout and mystical. You hear voices of prophecy and wisdom. You are all times and all places. Your ruling passion is: BE. Occupation: priest or unrecognized poet, author, musician, artist, writer. Your icon? Chief Joseph, Maya Angelous, George Washington Carver.

Carmenere. Your song has yet to be sung; your lyrics still to be written. No one has any idea what to expect from you. You're rich with promise, yet you still have to prove yourself. Occupation: prophet, missionary, student, freed slave. Hero: Jean Valjean, Moll Flanders


  Happy imbibing.