The Elf Blog

Christmas Countdown -- 8 months

Christmas is 8 months from today! Here are some things you can do now to help you be better prepared in December.

Rememeber, our goal is that you have a low-stress December so that you are able to enjoy the holidays. Ideally, by Christmas Eve, you spend the day playing in the snow before coming inside to watch a Christmas movie while drinking hot cocoa and eating Christmas cookies.

•As you travel, think about picking up small unique gifts from local shops. I've bought some of my best presents at little boutiques I stopped by on my way to a meeting.

•If you like to make gifts, now is a great time to start thinking about what you'll make and to gather supplies. You can even begin your crafting.

•Spring is a time for graduations and weddings and moves. Make sure you update your Christmas card list.

•A rainy spring day is a great time to plow through your holiday recipe file, highlighting the keepers and discarding the ones you don't like. Youi can even spend some time looking for healthier versions of family favorites!

What else can you do now to prepare?

Do Entertaining and Dieting Mix?

Last month, I discussed my diet. I still hate it, but I'm having good success so far. But I really wondered if I would still be able to throw parties without destroyng the diet. I love entertaining. It's a part of me. I'd hate having to give it up -- more than I hate limiting my pizza intake.

On Easter, I'm attempting to host brunch without blowing the diet. I modified a few of my go-to recipes and pulled others from the Cooking Light website. I'm doing several salads instead of several desserts. In shopping today, I also took much more care in limiting the quantities of ingredients that I purchased. Hopefully, that will mean that I won't have tons of leftovers that will tempt me to pick. I've also decided that whatever I have left will either go into the freezer, in to work, or into my lunchbox within the first few days of next week.

I'll report back how it goes.

Ode to My Diet

On Ash Wednesday, I started a diet. I need to lose about 30 pounds (and, more importantly, keep it off). Overweight elves make the reindeer work harder.

I’ll be honest. I hate everything about being on a diet – everything. But, the last ten days have helped me identify some useful tips that I thought I’d share:

1) Being mindful of your eating is really important. Without mindfulness, it’s all too easy to munch
your way through a box of Girl Scout cookies without even realizing you’ve done it.

2) It’s not as much what we eat as how much we eat --which is what makes dining out such a challenge. The portion sizes are enormous, usually at least twice what you should have. That’s fine when you are at home and can make it two meals, but when you are traveling, if you don’t have access to a fridge and a microwave, you either waste food or order an appetizer or a kid’s meal.

3) If you feel hungry, get yourself a no or low calorie drink like water or a cup of unsweetened tea. Often, that’s enough to quell the hunger.

4) If you have healthy foods you like easily accessible, you are more likely to eat them. You’re
just not going to make a late night trip to the store to get carrot sticks. You’ll eat the ice cream instead – unless you have pre-sliced fresh pineapple!

5) I find that having strong flavors are more satisfying: some chopped gardineria on a sandwich, a cornichon as a snack, a squirt of siracha sauce on a piece of fish. They make me happy without adding
a ton of calories.

6) Measuring matters. Keep the measuring spoons and cups right next to the stove.

What tips would you like to share with me?

Leap Day is Coming!

Next Wednesday is Febraury 29th! Leap Day – the day that comes only once every 4 years! So, since you have an extra day next week, use this weekend to plan how you’ll spend it.

An extra day deserves an extra treat. What will yours be?

As an aside, I have decided to give Weight Watchers a try. If you know any particularly tasty recipes I should try or any helpful strategies, please let me know.

And yes, there will be an Oscar Fashion Roundup on Sunday!

Being Prepared

Being prepared just makes your life easier. For example, right now, I REALLY want chocolate. Unfortunately, I failed to prepare and I don’t have any chocolate available in my office. (The work provided hot chocolate isn’t cutting it.) If I woere better prepared, the chocolate covered cherries or the peanut clusters or the truffles I have sitting at home would be on my desk and this crisis would be averted.

Being prepared can also help you develop healthier behaviors. You can keep healthy snacks like fresh fruit and baby carrots (not chocolate) easily accessible. You are more likely to eat them if they are easy to grab. Keeping a pitcher of water with citrus handy in the fridge will likely lead to drinking more water. Having a set of workout clothes ready to go and sitting on your bed makes it easier to get the exercise you know you need. Having to find your sneakers just gives you another excuse to be lazy.

Planning ahead to do what you know you should do makes it more likely that you’ll succeed!

A Big Weekend

This is the last full weekend before Christmas so, for most people, it's the last large block of non-work time to prepare. Unfortunately, that means that stores (department, grocery,big-box, boutique, etc.) will be packed this weekend. Unless you can get to a store at an off hour (like grocery shopping at 6 a.m.), I recommend avoiding stores this weekend.

If you haven't finished your shopping yet, many online retailers are offering free shipping or shipping upgrades through midnight tonight. Give yourself a break and finish your shopping online.

Even better, use this weekend to make Christmas preparations at home:

• Finish your decorating. Wrap everything you have purchased.
• If you still have gifts to ship, pack them for shipment (but avoid the post office lines on Saturday!)
• Prepare cookie doughs that can be refrgerated or frozen as logs. Then you just slice and bake your homemade Christmas cookies.
• Finish your cards (if you haven't already!)
• Do a quick tidying and decluttering of the house so you are ready for guests.

And if you are finished? Sit back and enjoy the season.

As for me, I'll be hosting the Elf Extravaganza. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by!

Christmas Countdown - 2 Weeks

Christmas is two weeks from yesterday. You should be moving into end game on your preparations. By the end of this week:

• You should complete your shopping. You do not want to be in the stores this weekend. They will be packed with impatient people in bad moods.

• Ship any gifts that you cannot deliver personally. Shipping this week means shorter lines in the post office and less chance that you’ll have to pay expedited shipping charges.

• Finalize your menus for holiday meals and purchase all non-perishable ingredients.

• If you haven’t done your decorating, you at least need a timeline.

• Try to wrap the gifts you’ve already purchased.

• You want your Christmas cards to go out no later than December 20th.

• Follow the schedule you made weeks ago for baking, parties, and other biog events.

• Get into the habit of doing a quick tidy and declutter each day so the house will be prepared for folks to drop in.

• Keep some easy refreshments (chips, cheese and crackers, cocoa, wine, soda, sparkling water, etc.) on hand for guests who drop in.

You’re in the home stretch. If you’ve been following this countdown from the beginning, you should be just about ready for the holidays!

Christmas Countdown - (Less Than) 3 Weeks

It figures, I go away for a week and the blog gets a ton of visitors!

But better late than never.

Here’s your Christmas Countdown list for this week:

• Any gifts that need to be shipped have to go this week. If they are going outside the US, you're already pushing it.

• Finish up your cards and get them in the mail.

• Continue shopping. To avoid rush shipping charges or unexpected back orders, complete all online shopping.

• You might want to begin wrapping the presents you've bought.

• If you are hosting a party, confirm attendance and shop, cook, and bake.

• Decorations should be up this week (unless you keep to the German tradition of putting up the tree on Christmas Eve). You don’t have to do everything all at once. In fact, it can be very pleasant to do a little bit each day and slowly watch the house come alive with the spirit of Christmas.

• Decide what you will wear for your Christmas party, for Christmas Day, and for New Year's Eve. Drop off any necessary dry cleaning. Make necessary purchases. Even plan your accessories. It's not a bad idea to put the accessories in plastic bags and attach it to the clothing hanger with a clothespin (this hint is especially helpful if you have small children).

• Make final decisions on Christmas baking and on your major holiday meals so that you can begin purchasing the non-perishable ingredients.

An Accidental Recipe

When I was baking my pumpkin pies last Wednesday, I discovered that I had more fillimg than pie shell. Well, you know I hate to waste, so I decided to find a way to use it.

I created some simple pumpkin custards. I poured the remaining filling into some 1 cup ramekins. I filled each one about two-thirds full and placed them in a pan half filled with water. I baked the
custards right along with the pies – 50 minutes at 350 degrees. I let them cool and then popped them in the fridge.

To serve, just top with some whipped cream. You can make it extra fancy with some chopped
toasted pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg.

There you have it: a lovely dessert from food that might have been wasted.

Christmas Countdown: (Less than) 4 Weeks!

 

We are now under 4 weeks until Christmas!  It’s time to pick up the pace.

 

• Work on finishing up your Christmas cards.  You want them in the mail no later than December 15.
• Start your shopping in earnest. Decide how you shop best: a marathon or a bit at a time and schedule the time you need. Ideally, you should have at least half of your gifts bought before December 7^th.
• Mail gifts that have a distance to travel (anything outside the US).
• If you have some time, wrap the presents you’ve already bought.
• You may wish to start your decorating.  You may find it easier to do a little decorating each day.  It breaks up the work and you get the joy of watching your house be filled with Christmas.
• Begin finalizing your menus for Christmas entertaining as well as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
• Make your New Year’s reservations.