Amanda Del Buono is a financial planner who believes that wealth should never be defined by a dollar sign. She gives mad advice at www.pearlwealth.com and mad love at www.mandajuice.com
Every November my husband and I sit down and map out a very careful Christmas budget. X dollars for this kid, so much for that one, our decorations, cards, booze. We’re about as anal-retentive as two people can get when it comes to planning.
So, brisket. I think of it during the Jewish holidays, and rarely otherwise, but like latkes my family is so crazy about it that it makes no sense to not make it all throughout the colder months. First, it’s a pretty inexpensive cut of meat. Second, aside from acknowledging that it needs to cook for a few hours, it takes pretty little work. Don’t even brown it first, because it’s just not necessary, and that saves a lot of splattering and a little time.
This is great served with roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, or some simple buttered noodles.
Ingredients:
Directions:
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Photo from Food Network
It’s really tough to eat healthy during these few holiday weeks. And while you might be tempted to skip breakfast to leave room for that huge holiday meal later in the day, it’s an idea that’s likely to backfire. Instead, my plan is to start each day with a quick and healthy breakfast, to prevent hunger from completely taking over my rational judgment when yet another tray of baked brie appetizer is passed around at a party.
Here are few quick and healthy breakfast recipes to inspire you:
Ellie Krieger: Broccoli and cheddar fritatta
Simply Recipes: Dee’s oatmeal pancakes
Chaos in the Kitchen: Yogurt parfait
Happy breakfasting!
By Danica
It amazes me, the amount of paper two small children can go through every single day, most of it at school. Every weekday, somewhere in between cooking dinner and trying to get the laundry processed, my children run up to me with backpacks open, and start throwing at me, gazillions of paper notices of all sizes and colors. Read this one. Sign that one. Comment here.
Think of all the trees that could be saved by getting the school districts on Facebook. Of course, some of the school districts are working on that, and it won’t be all that successful an endeavor until the parents can all be wrangled into joining. Until then, the paper will keep rolling in, and must be dealt with.
The very best part of Hanukkah is the potato pancakes. There, I said it. Okay, the candle lighting is great, the present thing is certainly fun, but for me it’s all about the latkes. Last night I made 8 pounds of potatoes worth of latkes for 12 people and they were GONE. I serve them with sour cream and applesauce, so people can chose or mix and match. If you’re feeling a little fancy schmancy, you might serve them up with some cheap caviar or smoked salmon or gravlax, and maybe swap out the sour cream for creme fraiche.
I like to cook the pancakes in mostly olive oil, with a tiny bit of butter added in for flavor, but you can just use olive oil. Olive oil does burn at high temperatures, so keep an eye on the heat level; you want it high enough to cook up crisp pancakes, but not so high that is smokes and turns brown.
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By Jennie from She Likes Purple
I don’t know about you, but sometimes the stresses of the holiday season nearly outweigh the fun for me. I have all the same responsibilities and obligations as the rest of the year — bills to pay, deadlines to meet, a house to keep clean — with added schedule busters such as holiday parties, holiday shopping and holiday baking. All that added stuff is fun, definitely, but it’s still a wonder any of us make it to the first week of January ready to tackle a frozen dinner let alone an entire resolutions list!
Still, I have a few might-be-worth-sharing tricks that get me through the season with limited stress and even a little holiday spirit, too.
By Kristen Seymour of BlogHer’s Beauty Hacks
I’m a big, BIG fan of the smoky eye. More often than not, my eye makeup is done in shades of brown with a smoky finish – darker for nighttime, more subtle during the day. While tones like browns and greys are most popular, don’t think for a second I’m shy about bringing in a pop of color when the occasion calls for it. And I’d have to say that a holiday party definitely calls for it!
Fortunately, you don’t have to break the bank or learn a whole new skill set in order to try out a fun new look.
