Baking Christmas cookies, there goes my diet

I have been trying to lose some of this unwanted weight I'm carrying. I have decided to lose weight during the Christmas season. Ha! I know better but I'm so tired of being overweight and unhealthy. I have worked on incorporating healthy foods into my diet. So you can only imagine how hard it is when I decided that it was time to make Christmas cookies. I did not go overboard but I did taste test several cookies.

Here is some of the Christmas cookies I baked this holiday season.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies. Recipe found here. These cookies are a hit in  my home. Everyone loves them. Not one cookie is left. 

Okay so these next cookies are dangerously delicious and well are pre-diabetic Paula Deen.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies from Paula Deen. Get the recipe here.  These are my hubby's favorite cookies. 

I made my own family recipes that have been passed down to me by my mother. I think everyone makes these so I don't mind sharing the recipe. 

Thumbprint Cookies (my favorite)

The recipe is super easy and theses cookies are super delicious. You can use any kind of jelly you would like. This year we use Raspberry (seedless), peach, strawberry blackberry, black cherry, and cherry jelly. Here is  my recipe, Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cup (4 sticks) of softened butter
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 2 egg yolks (hold onto yolks)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 4 cups of flour
• 2 cups chopped walnuts
• your choice of jelly, blended smooth
• 1/2 cup Confectionery (powdered) sugar

Baking directions:

Preheat overn to 375 F. Put butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add flour into mix and beat on medium until all blended together. In a separate bowl beat get white to a loose consistency. Form 1 inch balls of dough and roll into egg whites and then into walnuts. Place on baking sheet. With the back of a spoon or with your thumb press gently into the center of the ball. Fill indentation with jelly. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Place on wire rack to cool. Gently coat with powdered sugar and enjoy.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas! 

Jess

Linking to:

I have a serious addiction to Pinterest

The big P. Yup, I'm a Pinterest addict. I have over 1,800 pins and 35 boards right now and growing. I can't help it. While I was in nursing school I pinned my little heart away. My daughter and I after the holidays will be doing some (as we call them) Pinterest projects.

My favorite pins right now are Christmas pins and as always food pins. Since it is Christmas I want to share some of my favorite Christmas pins. Feel free to follow me on Pinterest. I love it there, I'm sure you do too.

One of my joys before school was card making. I still have so much  paper. It will be fun to do some card making again in the future. To see more of my Christmas Card pins go click here!

A beautiful Christmas Care made by Dawn Easton, TreasureOilerDesignz.blogspot.com

Along, with all the shopping comes the wrapping. I'm so inspired this year to wrap all the gifts beautifully. I'll probably be the only one to appreciate it but as long as I'm happy, who cares right? To see more gift wrapping pins click here.

Beautiful gift wrapping from Alissa at 33Shadesofgreen@blogspot.com

You have to put those presents under the tree. How about this beauty? 

Yeah, I agree she's beautiful. Check out the blog post on this tree at Moore Mintues,click here.

I'm truly inspired this year to make new stockings for my family. I love these plaid stockings.

You can purchase these beauties at Horchow. 

Must throw in some mantel luv. So many to choose from, so hard to pick just one. 

A great how-to from BHG. Click here for instructions.

How about what is trending this holiday season? 

Reindeer, Chalkboard signs, and Cone shaped decorated trees.

So I can go on and on. Please join the dark side with me on Pinterest if you haven't already. Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest. Let me know and I'll follow you back.

Have a wonderful holiday. 

Jess

Let's remember

On Friday, I was out with my husband and daughter doing some Christmas shopping. It was a rough day for me because I get anxiety when shopping in crowds.  My anxiety was a 10 out of 10, 10 being the worst and it didn't help that I was pissed off  at my husband and daughter.  The three of us were not getting along and were stressed out. At one point of our day of shopping, my husband and daughter decided to go into a pet store. I decided I needed a break from them for a few minutes. I decided to sit in the car and breath.  I went onto my personal Facebook account and noticed that many of my friends were saying how sad they were and were praying for the families and community of Sandy Hook, CT. I had no idea what was going on. I hit the CNN link and read about the awful tragedy that had unfolded that day in Sandy Hook, CT.

My thoughts of shopping, being angry with my family had instantly ceased. My thoughts were immediately on the families of the victims of this senseless act of violence. My family is my life, my children are my heart and soul. I can't imagine not waking up and not being able to talk, laugh and hug my children. My biggest fear is losing one of my children. I believe in God and in heaven but I'm will never be able to let them go.

My heart aches for all the parents that lost their little one on Friday. I cry for them. I pray for peace in their hearts. I pray these children's lives will not be in vein and that changes are made nationwide for the safety of all children. While I believe that every one has a right to own a gun but we need better gun control laws. We need to keep guns out of the hands of violent human beings that decide that they don't want to live and take others with them. I feel that these mass shootings are becoming too common.

I read a supposed statement made by actor Morgan Freeman. The statement is currently being called a hoax. I wish it weren't because it makes some valid points. We need to remember the children. I want to know all about the hero's that risk their lives to save others, the teachers, the children, the parents. I don't want to know anything about the killer. I don't want to know his name, what he ate for breakfast that morning, nothing. I have not watched the news at all. CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC and all the other news media need to focus more on the victims and not on the murderer.

To help out the families I have included a link to an article on Huffington Post that has links to were donations can be made. Click here: Sandy Hook donations.

Please hold your children a little tighter, tell them you love them more often, and appreciate every moment big or small. Pray for the families and community of Sandy Hook, CT. They need it.

Jessica

I did it. I'm officially a nurse. Four and a 1/2 years of hard work has paid off.  I am so happy that I will be working in a career that I have only dreamed about. I will miss my nursing school family. I grew so close to so many of them.

I still have to study for my boards so I can get that RN after my last name. Currently, I'm a graduate nurse or GN. I still have to apply for a job. I always let God lead the way. I'm sure he will place me where he sees fit.

Remember, you are never to old to learn something new and always follow your heart, it will take you to where you need to be.

Have a great week!

Jess

Knock, knock..

Knock, knock.. who's there?? Anyone still around? I know I dropped off the face of the blog world but well I had something really important to do.

Graduate!!!

 And well, guess what, I'm almost there. 3 more days in fact until I will have earned my bachelor's degree in the science of nursing. It has been a trying 4 years but these last 2 years have been extremely difficult. I had to sacrifice everything I loved to do in order to finish school. I, by the way am an awesome nurse. Just my opinion. I am so thankful though. I couldn't have done it without the support of my family, friends, and classmates.

So now what? Well, I'm happy to say that I will be posting more often. I keep saying to myself that I'm not going back to my old life but I'm starting a new one. Everything I do is new or renewed with a passion. I can't wait to start my new life. I will be crafting again, starting a new weight loss/healthy living journey, preparing to take the state boards, and returning to a level headed or close to it human being, and working as a registered nurse. So please join me in this new life, this new journey.

Jess