Shopping Complete

Finally. I think I have my all my Christmas shopping finished. "I think", "No, really I'm done". "Pretty much".

Me and my husband would venture out to the shops. Then we would separate. I'd go my way and he'd get his exercise in by walking laps around the mall while I shopped. Walking into the mall one day I noticed a little old man sleeping in the car next to us. I knew he was just waiting on his wife while she shopped. I nudge my husband, did a little giggle and said, "That's going to be you one of these days. needless to say, he agreed then jokingly said "no, that will probably be you."

I like to start my shopping early. The last family birthday of the year is my husbands which is the middle of October. After that date, Its time for me to start thinking about Christmas shopping. Yea, just thinking about it ,not actually doing it. But then by the first of November I'm ready to hit the stores. I have my daughter send me her Christmas wish list and I begin looking. Without a lot of success in getting all the things she mentions on her list, I think I do pretty good to accomplish a couple of them. There are things I cant find or afford and have to put them off. But she has always been a grateful person and accepts what she gets without complaining.


Our family, between my brothers, sisters, in-laws, aunts and uncles, we have decided to skip gift giving to each other for the simple fact that everyone has everything they need and it ends up just being a big money swap. We made an agreement to just buy for our parents and the smaller kids in the family and enjoy Christmas without the hassle of adult gift buying.


Me and My Husband have even agreed not to buy for each other. Instead, we do something special together or buy something for our home to enjoy together. ...Ok honestly, we just want it to hurry up and get by so we can move on to summer! We like to save our money to enjoy on our beach trips during the spring and summer. I'm ok with that!


So yes, my shopping is now complete. There is always that one more thing I would like to get my daughter but I have to throw in the towel some time or ill over do it. I have to finally hault.


Now I can just tidy up the house, relax and enjoy the sweet things in life such as Christmas baking and sharing my goodies with friends and neighbors. This year, I plan to make Crostoli, Italian Wedding cookies, and biscotti.

Do you procrastinate? Do your shopping last minute? or do you get ahead of the game and knock it out early?

Nutrisystem Cookie Sandwich

If you have been following me, you know I have been on Nutrisystem. Its been almost a year now and I still receive food shipments. Why? Because I like it. I lost below my goal weight and lost a total of 47 lbs. Im trying to loose three more just to claim a 50lbs loss but either way, Im at a size I like of 121 lbs. Nutrisystem helps me stay on track. While I eat a lot of regular foods now, I like to have the Nutrisystem meals to fall back on or for the simple fact of convenience.

Anyway, I do get bored of the foods at times and always looking for new ways to eat them. I discovered a delicious way to revive the Nutrisystem White Chocolate Chuck Cookies.
Here goes.

First I crushed the cookies as fine as I could get them without using a food processor. You can do this with a nut chopper or rolling pin, your choice. I just think its a waste of mess to pull out the food processors for a cup of cookies.

Spray the crushed cookies with spray butter. Zero Fat, Zero Calories. This is so they will stick together to form a crust.

Put half of the crushed cookies in a small ramekin, mug or shallow cup. A measuring cup would even work just fine. Press the buttered crumbs to the bottom.

Add a layer of sugar free cool whip, Reddi Wip or other whip cream.

Add the remaining other half of cookie crumbs to the top and lightly press, then place in the freezer for about 45 minutes.

Pop it out, and there you have it. A delicious cookie sandwich.

You can use ice cream if you wish but I love love love whip cream of any kind.

This counts as a Nutrisystem dessert plus one extra.
If your not on Nutrisystem, you can do the same thing with any of your favorite cookies.

Enjoy.