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Friday, December 7, 2012

{Spinach Dip} - Snacks for Christmas Eve

Growing up, my family always went to my granny's house for Christmas Eve.  There was a gift exchange and a potluck and a lot of family.  My Granny had 13 surviving children who all had children of there own, who had children of their own.  To say it was crowded is an understatement.


As our extended family began to implement their own Christmas Eve traditions and with the passing of my Granny, we now do our own thing as well.  Instead of a big meal, we have snacks or appetizers.  It varies year-to-year what we eat, except there is always Knorr's Spinach Dip.  ALWAYS.  We have learned to buy our Knorr's seasoning packet way before Christmas because it is sometimes hard to find.  Here's the recipe, which is found on the back of the packet.

Knorr's Spinach Dip (taken from the Knorr website)



INGREDIENTS

  • 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach , cooked, cooled and squeezed dry
  • 1 container (16 oz.) sour cream
  • 1 cup Hellmann's® or Best Foods® Real Mayonnaise
  • 1 package Knorr® Vegetable recipe mix
  • 1 can (8 oz.) water chestnuts (optional)
  • green onions

DIRECTIONS

  • Combine all ingredients and chill about 2 hours. Serve with your favorite dippers to your favorite people.

We usually make a bread bowl and serve it with the bread pieces, carrots, cucumbers, celery and assorted crackers.

Knorr Spinach & Greek Yogurt Dip
Credit

Low-Fat Version:
While I was on Knorr's website, I found a version of the dip using plain greek yogurt and light mayo.  You simply replace the 16 oz container of sour cream with the yogurt and the regular mayo with the light.  That brings the fat content WAY down.  The regular version has 8 grams of fat per 2-Tbs serving (YIKES) and the greek yogurt version only has 1.5 grams of fat per 2-Tbs serving.  You can find the lightend recipe HERE.

If I try the light version, I'll let you know how it turns out.  If you try it, please come back and let me know in the comments.

Thanks for stopping by,
Natosha.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

{Christmas Activities and Crafts for Children} A Round-Up

Today I'm providing links to over 300 Christmas crafts to do with you kiddos.  



Most of my "treats" in our Advent Calendar are activities.  Here are some of the ones I am doing, plus a list of a bunch more to keep your kiddos (and you) busy during the month of December.

Snow Globe via Martha Stewart

Create a Winter Wonderland in a Jar

Go HERE for 30+ Christmas crafts for kids by Martha Stewart.


A Sock Snowman via About A Mom

How to Make a Sock Snowman - About A Mom

Hand Print Santa via Crafty-Crafted





Pom-pom Christmas tree via Kaboose



Go HERE to see 80+ Christmas crafts for kids at Kaboose.


Candy cane heart via Activity Village.

Candy cane heart craft

Go HERE for 50+ Christmas crafts for kids at Activity Village.


Handprint Christmas tree via All Kids Network.

handprint christmas trees craft

Go HERE for 20+ crafts at All Kids Network.


Angel ornament via Amazing Moms.

angel Christmas ornament

Amazing Mom has 20+ crafts HERE.


Light bulb Santa via Kinder Art.



Kinder Art has 60+ activities and crafts for kids HERE.


Stained glass jars via First Palette.

Stained Glass Jars craft

First Palette has 30+ craft ideas HERE.


Candy car via Busy Bee Kids Crafts.



Busy Bee Kids Crafts has 35+ more crafts HERE.


If those aren't enough to keep you busy, then check out these boards* on Pinterest:






*If any of these boards are yours and you would like them removed, please let me know in the comments.

In the next couple of days I will show you some of the crafts I am doing with my 3 yr old.  We haven't gotten a lot done this week because we got a dog and she is getting all of Jax's attention.  He doesn't even want to do "crabs", AKA crafts.

Thanks for stopping by.  If you have a favorite list of Christmas crafts for kids, please leave the link in the comments.

Natosha


Saturday, December 1, 2012

The Terrifying Threes

So if you have a 3 year old, you may have a clue as to what the title of this post is referring to.  My son turned 3 on November 24th.


He was such a good baby.  He slept through the night very early (although he was up most of the day and didn't go to sleep until 10 or 11p).



Then he hit the terrible twos at about 20 months.  We got through that.




But now he is three and can be quite a handful.



You can totally tell what words I use with him most frequently.  He tells me to "Hush"  all the time.  He says  screams "No" at me and generally ignores requests and rules.  (BTW, I never scream at him.  I think he believes if he screams it loud enough then he will convince me.)  Oh, and he has completely embraced the use of body function words.  If he says "poop"  once during the day, he says it one hundred.  Along with:  pee pee, fart, toot, and butt.  Boys, ya gotta love 'em.  I'm dreading the day he asks about his boy parts.

He drew this picture a couple of months ago and I feel it fits the way I have been feeling lately.



So, any advice?  Do you have a toddler who is going to assert his/her will no matter what?  Spill your secrets for handling them in the comments.  I would be ever so grateful.

Thanks for stopping by,

Natosha