Santa’s Top 10 Favorite Cookies That Can Be Made Ahead of Time!

santas-top-10-pin.pngI don’t know if Santa will be visiting your house anytime soon but I think he just might stop here for a handful of cookies. My kiddos love the tradition of leaving cookies for Santa although I suspect that it may be because they get to help sample the cookies.

This year I was determined to have a little bit less stress around the holidays but sometimes life seems to just happen around you. Our new house has been one thing after another and I really wasn’t sure just what else might happen before Christmas so I really tried to get things prepped ahead of time.

One thing I did was to make a TON of freezer meals, 35+ Freezer Meals In One Day!, and I also worked on adding printable recipes to all of my existing recipes on the blog as well as to the new recipes I’ve been posting. I’ve also gotten all of my recipes from my recipe box scheduled to post and I will continue to work on some of the others I have scattered around and packed up just as soon as I can.

This is so much easier than trying to keep your screen open in the kitchen… I apologize that I didn’t do this earlier! I also went ahead and made a bunch of Freezer Cookies! (Working on that post too!) 

I’m not completely against using store-bought cookie dough but I feel that homemade is ALWAYS better if you can. With these recipes, you CANI normally like to roll most of my cookie dough into small balls and flash freeze to make it easier to only pull out what I need. You may want to experiment with these recipes or divide them into smaller batches before freezing. Check out this article HERE for more information about freezing different kinds of cookie dough!

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Potato Cakes

Need an idea to use up some of the leftovers after Thanksgiving? Have you ever tried potato cakes? These are a favorite in our house and we have them whenever we have a pile of leftover Mashed Potatoes. These can be adapted to incorporated a variety of leftovers so clean out that fridge and see what you can find to make up a batch of these.

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Spinach Dip

I love this stuff and when I was pregnant I would crave it… I always kept a batch made up. This is truly a recipe the kids can make by themselves!

This is super easy to make and tastes great with EVERYTHING! We have used it for veggies, chips, and crackers. You could probably add a bit of chopped red bell pepper to make it a little more festive. Continue reading “Spinach Dip”

Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids & Families

I know some of us aren’t really ready to talk about Christmas shopping yet but I wanted to throw a few ideas out there really quick. I’ve been getting lots of requests for sizes and likes for the kids so I know there are some busy little elves about. I’m so glad that I printed out this Free Printable Shopping Guide – Makes Christmas Shopping So Much Easier!I filled it out too which is always a good thing!

Katie over at Kids Cook Real Food has some great ideas for simple, inexpensive gifts that won’t clutter up your house. This is great for Mommas like me who HATE clutter… our house is so small that it doesn’t take long before things get cluttered in here and Christmas time is probably the hardest part of the year. Even though we’re hoping to be in our new house by Christmas I really don’t want to clutter everything up! Continue reading “Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids & Families”

Party Cheese Ball

This is the cheese ball recipe that I’ve been looking for… thankfully my Holiday Binder was still in the house and not packed away in the shed. My Holiday Binder has folders for every major holiday and party that we have celebrated and the recipes that we use for those events… such a timesaver! Kids can help with this too!

This can be made ahead of time and put in the freezer for up to a month. Just wrap the cheese ball tightly in plastic, before covering with nuts, and place in the freezer. Allow it to thaw completely in the fridge before covering with nuts and serving.

**Special thanks to my son-in-law @moments2lifephotography for the amazing cover photo!

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