Snapshots of the Season

"It's that time of year,

When the world falls in love."

Christmas Waltz

Christmas has arrived at our house. Last weekend, for the first time, we chopped down our own tree at a local tree farm. Something about loading the kids into the car, finding the tree farm, walking around a forest with a hand saw, and finding the perfect tree in the middle of a sea of trees makes you love your tree even more.

After getting the tree, we decorated it with our collection of ornaments. My hubby silently counted how many times I exclaimed, "This is my favorite!" when unwrapping the ornaments. I think the total came to seven. I obviously have many favorites on my tree!

Exclaiming that "This is my favorite!" reveals how much our Christmas tree is a snapshot in time. Ornaments from the kids' first Christmas to ornaments from special vacations tell the story of our family. That is what I love about this time of the year, it turns my focus back to my family and what has been important to us. I, literally, fall in love with my life all over again.

This year has been extra special for some reason. I haven't packed my schedule full of activities. The presents I am making are coming along smoothly. I am taking time to enjoy an extra cup of coffee in the afternoon. And I am relishing in the excitement in the kids' faces when they play around the tree. It has been a wonderful example of what this time of year is supposed to be about.

The other day I walked around with my camera and captured snapshots of parts of my life that are building this joy. I could have taken many more but here we go:

My oldest daughter's ornament she chose last year. It represents her to a T! Pink, sparkly, and full of dreams. The extra gold bling at the top can be found in any outfit she chooses any day of the week, from bracelets to rings to funky shoes. A true representation of her!

I am making quite of few of my Christmas presents this year and fabric is in many of them. I love getting a new collection of fabric (to add to my enormous stash in my craft room!) and creating a new project. Working with fabric has been such a joy lately and, my hope, is that the joy comes through in the gifts when the receivers open them.

Every year we put the garland, ribbon, and bells up outside the door. The garland, I believe, we got when we were first married at the local discount store, probably for some ridiculously low price. Every year it graces our entryway and makes me smile. When the wind picks up and you can hear the bells chime, especially on Christmas Eve, it is the best because we tell the kids that it is Santa. Oh their eyes! They get so huge and amazed that Santa is so close. It adds so much to the magic of the season.

Ah....a cup of tea. It has been so cold lately that a hot cup of tea has been what I have craved. I am so happy to sit with my hands around the cup, with the heat seeping through, chatting with the kids. Such a perfect moment!

This is the first time in my life that I can claim a bowl of oatmeal brings me joy. This is an awesome bowl of oatmeal! After changing my diet to mostly gluten-free, this has satisfied many of my cravings. It is so GOOD. I pile it high with cashews, pumpkin seeds, and chocolate chips. I think chocolate chips can make anything ten times better, anyway. But this brings me much happiness in the afternoon, especially with my extra cup of coffee or tea.

There is so many more snapshots that I could take and share with you. My new Santa that I added to our collection this year, the lights on the trees, the kid's eyes when they are huge with wonder, and so on and so on...but, ultimately, I am hoping that you are finding the snapshots of joy and love in your life this time of year. That those snapshots are staying with you even if your schedule is crazy and life feels hectic. Happy Holidays, everyone.

Time for a Change

I woke up the Friday after Thanksgiving and thought, "What happened????" My head hurt, my stomach hurt, and even my brain was foggy. What happened, you ask? I flipped my 80% to 20% rule of eating. At our house, we eat healthy 80% of the time and 20% of the time we eat what we want. Not so much on Thanksgiving. It was actually 20% healthy to 80% whatever I wanted. Too much coffee, too much dessert, and too much of everything else. It was time for a change, Amy, time for a change.

Wheat-sensitivity and dairy-sensitivity runs in my family and I did not follow the rules on Thanksgiving so my body was paying the price. Knowing that those sensitivities lurk around the corner plus being in-tuned to my body from intense training means I know when I have had too much dairy, too much wheat, and even, sorry to say, too much sugar. (Oh, sugar, how I love you! *sigh* I could write you many love poems!)

Thankfully, while I was making my grocery list the Sunday after the food-a-thon holiday, I found this food blog, Gluten-free Goddess. The author of this blog has a beautiful page, which attracted me at the start, plus wonderful recipes and stories about her quest to be gluten-free. As I happened upon this blog, I decided to follow a different way of eating. I decided to go gluten-free 80% of the day and 20% of the day enjoy wheat products. Top it off with one dose of sugar per day and it just might work (hopefully).

So how did the week go? Wonderfully. I feel amazing right now. More energy (yeah!), less headaches, more relaxed, and, overall, satisfied. That was my concern. Would a relatively gluten-free diet satisfy me, a foodie at heart. It did. We had some delicious meals that made me do many happy dances during our nightly dinners.

Here is quick view into our meals this week:

Chocolate Cake with Orange-Chocolate Frosting

This fantastic Chocolate Cake with Orange-Chocolate Frosting is a vegan cake from Bon Appetit magazine that is really satisfying if one is looking for a low-fat treat for the night. This cake is made with oil but does not have eggs in it. It is not gluten-free but there is the 20% balance I chose. The cake originally called for a thick frosting that is yummy but I opted to just put bittersweet chocolate chips on the batter before I baked it. Turned out delicious! Plus, with coffee, even better!

Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf

Next, we dined on a quinoa (a grain similar to couscous) salad that was out of this world. I wish this blog had scratch and sniff because that steak smelled crazy good that night. The picture does not do the Quinoa Mushroom Pilaf salad justice. Maybe because the steak was so good it had to be front and center but still, the salad needs to be mentioned. I found the recipe on the Gluten-free Goddess blog and am happy I did. I have had quinoa in the past and was not impressed. This time I was wowed! Very flavorful, very satisfying. Even better the next day. What more can one want from a meal?

African Black Bean Sweet Potato Soup

Our next venture into being gluten-free was an African Black Bean Sweet Potato Soup from the same blog. Spicy, happy goodness is all I can say! We topped rice with it and it turned into a dish similar to curry. It warmed the heart and made me want more. As we speak, I am enjoying left-overs for lunch and I am not a left-over person so it tells you how good it is!

When I look at ways to eat by browsing a bookstore's food section, or talking to others who are on a particular diet, I think to myself, "Can I eat this way for the rest of my life?" Typically, my answer is no and I keep searching for ways to stay healthy. After trying this 80% gluten-free to 20% gluten way to eat, I can see myself eating this way for the rest of my life. I can see the benefits that it offers me but also that it does not take away from the joys of eating that I relish.  So, I am looking forward to some new food adventures and will keep you posted. Now, I am off to see if I can make a gluten-free pumpkin bread. I will let you know how it goes! Happy eating!