On The Menu

This will be our first Christmas morning at home since the twins were born. I thought I would make it special by cooking a nice, big breakfast to go along with all of the present unwrapping! Here’s what I’m thinking will be on the menu…

Make Ahead Breakfast Casserole

1 lb sausage
6 eggs
2 cups milk or half and half
1/2 t salt
4 slices of bread,crust removed and cubed
1 cup grated cheese

Brown and drain sausage; set aside. Beat eggs, add milk and salt. Into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish, layer bread, sausage and cheese. Pour egg mixture over bread. Refrigerate over night. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Next on the menu...pancakes or waffles (depending on the kids preference that morning)! I'm a big fan of this mix from Fresh Market.

To fancy it up a bit, I thought I would make these toppings...

Eggnog Butter

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1 t rum extract

1/2 t vanilla extract

Beat butter at high speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating well. Stir in nutmeg and extracts. Cover and chill.

Orange Syrup

1 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup orange marmalade

Combine syrup and marmalade in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until mixture comes to a simmer and marmalade melts, about 5 minutes.

For something a little sweet, I thought we could round out the morning, with Paula Deen's Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits.

Pineapple Upside Down Biscuits

1 (10 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained, juice reserved

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

10 maraschino cherries

1 (12 oz) package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 10 cups of a muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, combine pineapple, sugar, and butter, and mix well. Divide pineapple mixture among the muffin cups. Place a cherry in the center of each muffin cup. Place one biscuit in each cup on top of pineapple mixture. Pour about 1 teaspoon of pineapple juice over each biscuit.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Cool for 2 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to release the biscuits. Serve warm.

A Jolly Happy Soul

Now it's Frosty's turn in the spotlight!

I think my kiddos would enjoy creating this Paper Plate Snowman.

via Kaboose

Love these Snowman Donuts. So cute and so easy to make!

via Sharp Moms

How cute is this Snowman Cheese Ball? You could use your favorite cheese ball recipe and then mold and shape away!

Finally, I couldn't resist! A recipe for Snowman Poop:) Sounds pretty good to me!

Now There's Dasher and Dancer and Prancer

Thought you all might enjoy these reindeer crafts and recipes!

Perfect for all of those presents you are wrapping...Reindeer Thumbprint Cards!

An ink pad, markers, a few mini pom poms and googly eyes and voila! A homemade Christmas card or bag tag!

via Disney Family Fun

Looking for an easy recipe? This one is for you! I have been making these Rudolph's Christmas Sugar Cookies for longer than I can remember.

via Southern Living

I have not tried this project yet, but I think it's adorable! This might be on our list for class gifts next year! The Candy Bar Reindeer...

via Tip Junkie via According to Kelly

And from the Busbee Family Vault...Reindeer Sandwiches!

All you need is a triangular shaped peanut butter sandwich, small pretzels, raisins and a red M&M! Cute and yummy!

And one final little "reindeer" idea....A recipe for Reindeer Food! This recipe is actually for Santa's reindeer using oatmeal and colored sugar (although glitter or sprinkles work just as well!). As the poem goes...

Be sure to take this magic food and sprinkle on the lawn,
On Christmas, Santa's reindeer travel miles before the dawn.
The smell of oats and glitter path will guide them on their way
And you'll wake up to Santa's gifts next morn on Christmas Day!

But here's a great recipe for your little reindeers.

Magic Reindeer Food

Ingredients

• 2 (24-ounce) packages vanilla candy coating
• 3 cups mini pretzels
• 1 (12-ounce) can cocktail peanuts
• 1 (14.25-ounce) package frosted toasted oat O-shaped cereal
• 1 (12-ounce) package crisp rice cereal squares
• 1 (16-ounce) package holiday candy-coated chocolate pieces
• Red and green sugars

Preparation

Place candy coating in a glass container; microwave at HIGH 2 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring once.

Combine pretzels and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; add melted candy coating, tossing to coat. Stir in chocolate pieces.

Spread mixture onto wax paper; sprinkle with sugars. Let stand 30 minutes. Break into pieces.

Reindeer Sighted

We are right in the middle of making a batch of this...

I haven't had "homemade" Chex mix in forever. My Grandmother used to make tins of it every Christmas, so just the smell of it brings back lots of memories! The recipe is plastered all over the boxes, but you can find it here too.

And while you are buying all of that cereal, don't forget to make some Muddy Buddies too. I mean is there anything more delicious? Peanut butter, chocolate and lots of powdered sugar! I think not!

May I Suggest

these recipes from Busbee Christmases Past to put you in the Christmas baking mood...

Toffee Crackle Cookies

Santa Claus No Bake Nutter Butter Cookies

And for this year, I can't wait to try the Candy Bar Peanut Butter Cookies from the December Southern Living.This recipe reminds me of my favorite recipe for Monster Cookies given to me by Aunt Cori. It's an easy recipe, I normally have all of the ingredients on hand, it has options for the addition of some healthy ingredients, and the dough freezes very well.

Monster Cookies
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cup peanut butter
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
6 oz. (or more) semisweet chocolate chips
4 1/2 cups oatmeal
1/4 cup flaxseed meal (optional)
1/4 cup wheat germ (optional)

Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls, place on baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees.

Gittin' R Done

My Christmas wrapping that is!

Trying to squeeze it in between Frances being asleep (or at least fed and happy) and keeping these two occupied is quite tricky! To help with the older two, I pulled out an old roll of wrapping paper and their art kits, and they went to town coloring, painting and cutting the paper. It bought me a few precious minutes of wrapping time!

This clever Mommy had some great ideas for occupying kids during the holidays! I especially love her use of old Christmas cards. Goodness knows I've saved enough of them:)

On a somewhat different note, I was wondering how many of you wrap your children's Christmas gifts? Growing up, our gifts "from Santa" were never wrapped. They were all displayed in the living room, so when walked in the room they were all there for us to see. Matt suggested doing a little of both (wrapping some, not wrapping others) which is what we'll do this year, but I'm curious as to how my lovely readers (all five of you;) either do it for your children or how your parents did it for you!

Wisemen Still Seek Him

The kiddos along with the other four year olds had their Christmas program last Friday. Here's Mary and Joseph...

And Walker made his debut as a wiseman. He even had a few lines to memorize!

We were quite proud to say the least!

The cutest little caroler you ever did see...