Spread some Christmas Charity Project

This is the last of my December Guest posts.  I hope you have all enjoyed reading posts from my friends, and maybe learned a new craft or recipe, or gained some new ideas to implement for your own family.  It is my sincere wish for your and your family to have a merry, merry Christmas.  I would like to introduce you to one last guest.  Sara is from Fresh Air Project.  This project gives kids in New York an otherwise unobtainable, experience.  Please watch the video and read on with an open heart...



This holiday season, consider giving a gift to a child in need from New York City. The Fresh Air Fund brings thousands of city kids from low-income families to the great outdoors each summer. Whether it's a two-week trip to the country to visit a volunteer host family, or a fun-filled and educational stay at one of our fund camps, our programs make for unforgettable memories – and open a world of new friendships and fresh possibilities. Summer may seem far away, but NYC children are currently participating in Fresh Air programs, from weekly tutoring sessions to job shadowings to weekend retreats at Fund camps in upstate New York! Our Career Awareness Program serves more than 300 youngsters in middle and high school. We also have new leadership programs for young women to develop their “can-do” attitudes!


No matter the season, Fresh Air children remain involved, excited and forward-thinking. We need loyal friends like you to continue serving thousands of New York City children throughout the year. Thank you!

Every year, The Fresh Air Fund gives thousands of inner-city children the priceless gift of fun – and opens the door to a lifetime of opportunities.

• Just $10 will send one child on a bus ride to his or her Friendly Town host family.


• $24 provides a child with a week of swimming lessons.


• $42 provides a day of Career Awareness classes.


• A gift of $50 can fund a camp counselor for a day.


• If you can give as much as $91, you provide a child at camp with meals for a week.

Fresh Air Fund is a not-for-profit agency and depend on tax-deductible donations from people like you to keep our vital programs flourishing.

GUEST POST - Cindy Cullen

Christmas is just mere days away, and how many times have you moaned about eating, and eating, and .... you know.   I've been there too this year.   My guest today has some great tips to avoid...and if not avoid, then lessen the pitfalls of the season in our eating and how to survive it all.  Cindy Cullen is a Bachelors degree holder in Restaurant Management and also a formally trained chef, who created the site CulinaryArtsCollege.org to share her experience about her Bachelor's degree. As students couldn't find the right Culinary college for them while trying to pursue career in Hotel Industry, so Cindy created this site to help those students to inform them about the educational process, their degree options, some pitfalls to watch out for, and what to expect when attending a culinary arts college. As a well trained chef she is acquainted with different cooking styles and recipes of different regions. She also has the passion to write about different culinary art colleges , foodie people and food available around the world.

Please welcome Cindy, won't you?

5 Healthy Cooking Tips for the Holiday Season

It’s that time of the year again when the holidays are upon us – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year; it’s a time for merriment and revelry, but also a time that precedes the guilt and agony over the overindulgence and failure to exercise, both our bodies and our self-control. There’s an abundance of food, all of it so delicious that it seems like a sin not to give in to temptation. So it’s a dilemma of sorts when the holidays arrive – to eat or not to abstain, to agonize or to rejoice. However, there’s a way to have your cake and eat it too (pardon the cliché) – cook food that’s delicious and healthy. And if you’re looking for tips on healthy holiday cooking, you’ve come to the right place:

• Use less fat: Simply put, fat not only makes you fat, it makes you unhealthy and leads to disease as well. So switch to low-fat options or use healthier alternatives to ingredients that contain fat. Gravies can be made with vegetables like mushroom, garlic and onion instead of with turkey drippings and you could use low-fat dressing for your salads instead of resorting to creamy dressings. Use skim milk instead of whole milk for your white sauce, and make your gravies at home instead of buying them readymade.

• Reduce the salt and preservatives: It’s true that salt adds to the taste of any food and that without it, you’re just as likely to be eating tasteless cardboard. However, reduce the amount of salt you add to your food and instead, augment the taste with spices and seasonings like turmeric, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, lime, and thyme – they’re healthier and add a new flavor to your food.

• Boil and poach more, fry less: Whatever you’re serving, use healthy cooking methods that retain all the nutrition of the food and use less grease or cooking oil. Anything fried is out of your menu while grilled, boiled and poached items are acceptable. Boil veggies instead of sautéing them, and eat your mashed potatoes without butter or cream. If you’re used to adopting healthy cooking options throughout the year, following them around the holidays is no big deal.

• Choose healthy dessert options: Include more fresh fruit and homemade ice cream on the dessert menu and skip the rich, creamy cakes and pies. Use healthy sugar substitutes when you make your dessert, and make the portions small so you don’t feel guilty about indulging your sweet tooth.

• Use smaller plates: While not exactly a cooking tip, this trick helps you eat less. When your plate is full, you feel like you’ve had enough and you’re more likely to stop rather than reach for a second helping. So do yourself and your family a favor and use smaller plates to serve everyone. This way, you get to eat a little of everything and avoid the guilt of overeating or indulging too much.

Holidays are wonderful – you meet and spend time with family and friends and you have a great time; enhance the experience with wise food choices that lead to good physical and mental health.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Cindy Cullen, she writes on the topic of culinary art colleges . She welcomes your comments at her email id: cindycullen84@gmail.com.

Guest Post - Melanie from Melanie, Melanie, Melanie !

I am excited to introduce you to another IRL (in real life), wonderful friend. Melanie and I attend the same church and we met a few years ago. Melanie and I occasionally write devotions for ladies which are published on-line on our church's website, First Baptist Church, Brandon, FL called Encouraging Times . It wasn't until I read some of Melanie's devotions that I becamed hooked on her writing! I finally told her that if she'd write a blog, I'd totally follow her. She did, and I do!!! I just love her wit...and wisdom. Be sure to pay her a visit and check it out at Melanie, Melanie, Melanie! Melanie has two great kids (that are growing up way too fast), and has her own cleaning service too...That, and she's very active at church, and....well, you'll just have to see!
I won't hold you in suspense any longer... meet my friend, Melanie!

Welcome to December! On my one day off this month, here is my list of things to do:

Create, Print and Mail Christmas Cards

Begin (and complete!?) Christmas Shopping

Pick up craft supplies and food items for two school and two church related celebrations.

Create and Print Yearly Family Calendar

Write Blog on Simplifying Christmas.

Ironic, No?

Here is my calendar for the month:

So, “Simple Christmas”? Maybe that’s not a realistic expectation in my life right now. The funny thing is, compared to years past, I really have simplified. Thanks in large part to the blessing of a horrible economy, we have learned many important lessons on simplicity over the past couple of years. Yes, I said “blessing”. We are an easily distracted bunch around here. Money buys a lot of distractions. We could easily, given enough cash, spend endless hours “together” as a family yet never speak a word to one another, or look into each other’s eyes. So, painful as the shopping withdrawals sometimes are, yes, it’s been a blessing. We have grown so much closer, so much more real, as a family and there’s not a thing on earth I would trade that for.

So here it is December and we are still running around “willy-nilly”, how is that simpler? It’s not. Being a family is never simple, it’s always messy and busy, BUT it can be Focused. That is what we have gained. We are not doing less with our time, just better.

Curling up on the couch with my husband and watching the kids pull out and put up all the decorative memories from the years past instead of creating my own “designer tree” in the “formal room”.

Sitting in front of a fire reading Christmas stories with the family instead of climbing on the roof and through the bushes to string more lights.

FOCUS

A simple Christmas is not, I think, about emptying our calendar but about filling our calendar with hours of being a blessing to others and being with people who are a blessing to us.

A savior was born, and died for us. He did it so that we could have life: Eternal life in Glory with Him and abundant life here, for Him.

There you go. Simple.

Merry Christ-mas.