Typical Breakfast

I've written about my typical lunch for work. I recently added a new page at the top that includes some of my favorite products. When I started looking for links in my blog to list by each product for some of them, I found it to be more difficult than expected. I guess some of these things are so routine that I don't post them. I tend to post new things I've tried.

But in all honestly, these waffles are my breakfast most days...even today on vacation, they were my go to. I usually eat them before work too, because they are quick and easy. On weekends we often make bigger breakfasts, but Van's are a weekly buy. Justin prefers another GF brand, which I'll post on another day. But I like Van's because they are plain and I can add flavor.

I usually eat two and pop them in the toaster.

Then I coat them with peanut butter and some honey. I need the peanut butter for protein; it helps sustain me until lunch. These waffles really do curb my hunger until I have time to eat something.

 Of course, another necessity in the morning is coffee. We recently bought a new coffee maker that is just fabulous. It makes super hot coffee in just 3 minutes. Justin always talked about getting a Bunn, but I think I was turned off because I thought they were sort of ugly. (Hey, that's a good reason if it has to sit on my counter all day!) But after putting up with our other coffee maker, that took almost 30 minutes to brew luke warm coffee I was ready for change.

I must eat breakfast, I'm definitely not one of those breakfast skippers. Usually I wake up thinking about how I need some food and coffee in my belly!

Coffee + waffles = happy me

I can drink coffee black, but I do like some flavor in my life. I've recently become attached to  Coffee-mate's natural bliss because it is natural. It doesn't have twenty names I can't read on the label.

If you can see, it says nonfat milk, heavy cream, sugar, and natural flavor. The box on the lower left corner also denotes that it is gluten free.

I may find myself with this exact breakfast tomorrow again. My parents arrived today and we are probably heading to some outlets tomorrow. I'll definitely need a full stomach for some shopping!

Xmas

Justin and I spent Xmas in Texas this year; Christmas day we saw his grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousin, brother/wife, and kids, so it was nice to see some family. My parents are coming to visit tomorrow for a week too! We spent Christmas Eve at our house in San Antonio and were heading out to the hill country on Christmas day. Since we'd be going out to Wimberley, we decided to open presents on Xmas eve.

I must've been a good girl this year! Here are a few highlights of some of the gifts I received this year.

Pink shoes!

New watch with changeable straps.

Jingle bell charm for my charm bracelet.

I received the book, The Help, from Justin's family Xmas exchange from his cousin Jeanette. I finished it today and couldn't put it down!

So Justin bought me the movie, The Help...I'm interested to see how they compare.

I not only bought Justin Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, but the gift to play it most of the day on Xmas eve. I read The Help most of the day; it was nice for both of us to relax together.

Of course Iivana had her fill of gifts as well. These next several pictures are her opening a bone from Justin's parents. Iivana opened the bone all by herself from wrapping, to plastic, to bow, to consuming. I thought it was pretty commical.

On Christmas morning we had cinnamon rolls, it has sort of become a tradition of ours. Our first year of marriage we had gluten filled ones that you pop out of the Pillsbury can. Last year, I made them from scratch and it was my first GF Christmas. They were okay...I know a lot more about baking GF than I did a year ago. This year I took the easy route and bought Udi's Cinnamon rolls. I love Udi's bread and Udi's cookies, so I figured I'd give the cinnamon rolls a try. (While I was taking this photo, someone ehem...Iivana...decided to counter surf and check out what we were having for breakfast.)

I had kept them in the freezer and pulled them out Christmas morning. I looked at the box and was surprised there were no directions for how to heat them. Do people tend to not heat them up because they are already cooked? To me, I need warm cinnamon rolls, so I again took the easy route and used the microwave. I popped one in for about 30 seconds.

I warmed each and covered it with the cinnamon glaze that was provided. To be honest, I wasn't that impressed with the cinnamon rolls. I must have high expectations for Udi's products. I thought they were a little dry and I wasn't a huge fan of the glaze. I prefer a strictly vanilla flavored icing. Justin and I wondered if they were meant to be more like muffins and just kept in the fridge when ready to eat. Did warming them up, dry them out more? I'm not going to say I hated them, because I still found room for two. I guess I was just hoping for a more comparable GF version.

After breakfast we headed over to the squadron to serve Christmas dinner to basic trainees. We sported aprons and cool chefs' hats. It was fun volunteering, even if I did work up a sweat serving the potatoes, stuffing, and yams.

After lunch we stopped home to pack up the car and drove to Wimberley. We had a nice linner (lunch/dinner), gave the kids their presents, played games, and spent time chatting. For some reason, I always forget to take many pictures when we're there. I must be in the zone of relaxation!

I did get a few of our niece and nephews opening some gifts.

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas to all!

Tonight we celebrated with a Christmas Eve dinner. I made twice baked potatoes, but first started by baking the potatoes.

Look familiar? However, these aren't potato skins, but it's the same sort of idea. Depending on the size of the potato I either cut it in half or cut the top part off after the potatoes were baked. Then I hallowed out as much as I could without breaking the skin. (I used 7 potatoes...I wanted some extras for the week.)

In my mixer, I added 3 chopped green onions, 1/2 stick of butter, about a cup of sour cream (add more or less depending on final consistency of the potatoes), and about a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Then I mixed it until it was "mash-like."

The potato mixture was spooned back into the skins.

Then topped with chopped bacon and more cheese!

Back in the oven for 15 minutes at 350.

Viola, the perfect side!

I earned this ham from work for not getting hurt since the start of the new school year! We saved it to make for Xmas and if you look real close, it tells you that it is gluten free! (Last summer, I brought home some ribs from work...remember?)

Justin took care of the ham and put it in the crock pot with some water. Basically it needed to heat up.

I also made some fresh green beans to add to the twice baked potatoes and ham.

Add a Redbridge and the meal is complete.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

Candy Cane Tootsie Pops

We did a little Christmas shopping tonight and I spotted a favorite Christmas candy of mine. I know it's not a real candy cane, but in my opinion these are better than candy canes because there's Tootsie roll in the middle.

Produced in a facility that does not use gluten! (Must be the same one as Sour Dots.)

Almost looks like it should belong on the tree.

I know some people might think the combination of mint and Tootsie roll doesn't go together, but you only get both flavors if you bite it at the end. Even if you do chomp in, it's like mint chocolate. I'm a candy lover and these holiday suckers make my season bright.

Monster Cookies

More talk about monsters in December? It is not Iivana either!

We had Justin's co-workers over today for a little holiday luncheon (they are not the monsters either.) They were also having a cookie exchange. With all the cleaning, it didn't leave much time for a GF cookie recipe from scratch that might not turn out. My sister, Kristen sent me a couple recipes for some cookies. And one of them was for:

Easy Monster Cookies

Kristen said the cookies were good, so at least I knew the recipe was solid. This provided a perfect opportunity to make GF cookies fairly easily. I had made the chocolate chip Betty Crocker GF cookies before. I remember the dough was crumbly and the cookies had a slight after taste. Adding the peanut butter must have helped hold the batter together a little more because it wasn't crumbly this time.

 I decided to roll the cookies into balls in an effort to create a uniform shape.

Chocolate chips and M&Ms are a plus to make these taste even better!

They came out looking beautiful.

I thought they tasted yummy as well. Justin agreed, but we both questioned if we had too much of a GF acquired taste. I baked them on the lesser amount of time, so they would be chewy. When I took them off the cookie sheet they were fragile...I broke a few, which meant more for me to try!

I was curious how the Chex cereal would taste in them, would it add crunch? To be honest, I didn't noticed the Chex much at all. Does that mean it's not needed at all or the opposite, that more should be added? Only time will tell; I know I'll be making these again, because they were easily to make in a crunch! Plus, they taste great.

Monsters of All Kinds

Monster sandwich! Justin is the best club sandwich maker and made these a few weeks ago. He used Rudi's multi-grain bread (we snagged some coupons at the GF Expo and they sell it at the commissary), pickles, cheese, ham, turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon, mustard, and topped off with cherry peppers stuffed with yellow tomatoes.

I also couldn't resist posting this picture of Iivana and our Christmas tree either. She was so frightened that her hair was sticking straight up on her back. She barked at it for a good 2 minutes. Then she slowly approached the tree and to sniff it. Eventually she figured out it was okay; the tree is now up in the house and there is no more barking.