Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I shared yesterday in a blog post that I’m taking a blog vacation for the rest of the year. I’m looking forward to lots of sleep, plenty of delicious foods (that I won’t be photographing), and as many walks outside as I can squeeze into the days.

You’ll still hear from me on the weekends with the newsletter though. And if you have questions on a recipe, please leave comments on the recipe post, so that I can help you out when possible.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Stuffed French bread with a savory combination of sausage, eggs, and cheese creates a hearty breakfast or brunch. Hollowed-out French bread is the perfect vessel to hold warm, seasoned sausage, creamy eggs, and gooey cheese.

Crisp-tender broccoli florets, charred to perfection, complement the caramelized sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes. Roasted Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes offer a delightful medley of textures and tastes, creating a delicious side dish.

Stuffed Poblano Peppers hold a savory filling of seasoned ground beef, rice, onion, and bell peppers. Topped with a zesty sauce and melting cheese, each bite delivers smokiness and a hint of heat.

The velvety sweetness of chocolate mingles with the nutty goodness of walnuts in these Chocolate Walnut Cookies.

Thick and soft-baked, chewy Molasses Crinkle Cookies are full of gingery, brown sugar, and molasses flavor.

Light, buttery, almond-flavored shortbread thumbprint cookies have been the most requested cookie I make for almost as long as I can remember. My friend Augusta gave me this recipe years ago and it became a forever favorite at first bite.

What I’m CRAVING: I’ve had Rebecca’s Sushi Bake on my must-make list for far too long. I’m planning to make it next week and I can hardly wait!

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these bath salts. The eucalyptus and spearmint fragrance is fantastic and the salts are the perfect way to relax at the end of the day. I just reordered them last week and realized that I’ve been using them for several years now.

What I’m WATCHING: Four Christmases

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How’s the week going? I hope you’ve had a wonderful one so far! We’re off on a little staycation – I’ll be posting the adventures over on IG stories- and am looking forward to lots of holly jolly fun. I hope you have an amazing weekend ahead!

I didn’t have time to run the random number generator before hitting the road, so you have a couple more days to enter the Favorite Things giveaway!! I’ll edit this post on Monday morning with the winners and will send them an email then, too. Hop in if you haven’t already entered. 

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

Friday Faves 12.15

Fashion + beauty:

This sweater dress from the latest RTR Unlimted shipment. It might be a keeper since it fits well and is easy to dress up or down.

I’ve been on the hunt for a good eye primer that doesn’t irritate my eyes, and this has been the winner.

LOVE these sparkly heels for holiday dinners and parties.

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I’m wishing the very merriest of Christmases to you and yours from me and mine! May your holidays be merry, may you be surrounded by those you love, and may all your foods be tasty and stress-free.

This is my favorite time of year! Even though the kids are older now, we still look forward to the holiday traditions. Advent calendars, Christmas read-alouds, decorating cookies with friends, and holiday movie nights are all part of that.

I won’t be posting any new recipes until January, so today I’m sharing some of our long-time favorites that I’m planning to make over the next couple of weeks.

Have you tried German Pancakes? Served with my Grandma’s Orange Sauce, they’re unforgettable. They are the world’s easiest to make giant popovers. These pancakes are baked in the oven, where they rise tall and then gently fall, instead of being cooked on a griddle like traditional pancakes.

We’re big breakfast people when we have the opportunity to eat a little later in the day, so Christmas break is a fun chance to make some of our favorite breakfasts again. These tangy Cranberry Pancakes, as well as some classic Buttermilk Pancakes, are both on the meal plan list over our break. And the odds are good that there will be a batch of Ham and Cheese Waffles at some point too.

Frito Pie Huevos Rancheros is what happens when a craving for Huevos Rancheros meets a need for Fritos. This breakfast begins with a layer of chips, then you add black beans, chile sauce, roasted potatoes, melting cheese, and bacon before topping the whole pile with an egg and more chile sauce.

Christmas morning there will be both a Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole (I wasn’t kidding when I said this is my new favorite breakfast casserole.) along with a Cranberry Christmas Cake waiting on the counter.

Filled with tender chunks of pork, potatoes, and roasted green chile, Green Chile Stew is what I dream of when the weather starts cooling off each fall.

There is also a biscuit topped chicken pot pie in our near future and I’m very much looking forward to it. Those buttery, flaky drop biscuits are the perfect mat

If you’re looking for a Peloton workout plan for beginners, I’ve got you. I’m sharing three sample workout plans you can follow using the Peloton app. Two Peloton Beginner workout plans + one is a bodyweight option if you don’t have the bike or weights at home. 

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? We had a great one. We met up with my dad and stepmom for dinner, Liv had a dress rehearsal for dance competitions, and we took Maisey on some extra adventures. She’s getting spayed this weekend and my heart can’t even handle it. If you have any recovery tips or anything I can do for her, please let me know! (The last time I dealt this this with Bella, I was in college. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I remember being so worried about her. I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave my tiny apartment for at least three days.)

For today’s post, I have some new sample Peloton workout plans! This Peloton Workout Plan post continues to be one of my top posts every single day, and I figured it was time to share some new options, especially since there are so many new classes on the app.

I wanted to focus on a few specific things for this post: a workout plan for bodyweight only (if you don’t have weights at home, but still want a balanced plan using the Peloton option) and two beginner workout plans (one using the bike, and one without the bike).

A friendly reminder here to always check with a doctor before making any fitness changes. Honor your body and modify as needed.

Peloton Workout Plan for Beginners and Bodyweight

Peloton Workout Plan for Beginners (no bike)

Sunday: 20-minute beginner yoga

Monday: 20-minute dance cardio for beginners

Tuesday: 20-minute beginner bodyweight strength

Wednesday: OFF (you can also do a 20-minute full body stretch)

Thursday: 30-minute full body strength for beginners

Friday: 20-minute power walk

Saturday: OFF (option: 20-minute restorative yoga)

Peloton Workout Plan for Beginn

The Bike Crash

I had this feeling just pulsing in me to take Grayson on a bike ride. I cannot even explain how important it felt. So after cleaning the church we headed home and I told Grayson to grab his bike.

He was ecstatic!!!

And I’m telling you, I was full of love and peace and it felt so right that I was actually very ponderous about what in the world I was feeling.

My bike was in the storage unit but Cade had gotten for me before leaving town but had forgotten my helmet. I had the thought that I should be wearing one (though the angle I got I still would have been beat up but more on that later) but I decided it was just a loop around the block so Grayson threw his on and off we went.

I Should Have Listened

As we came around the cul-de-sac, I had the thought, no I should spend time with him. So I motioned to cross the street and we’d go on the walking trail. I could see a little slope from the road to the trail and I had a flat out thought to walk my bike down it. Immediately I rolled my eyes at myself as if I was being wimpy as it was so tiny, and continued forward. Just as I got to the edge I could see that it wasn’t a slope but a little ledge of asphalt and instead of grass that section had loose gravel.

I knew it before it happened.

The tire snagged the broken up asphalt and then skidded through the loose gravel, unable to grip the ground and as much as I tried to save it the bike spun out to the side and launched me forward.

I cannot stop replaying, like an old VHS on rewind, my face about to slam straight into the concrete.

I felt my teeth immediately.

They were no longer where they should be.

“Mom, Are You OK?”

And as I lifted my head to assess the damage I my brain was whirring with the worst. Feeling the blood everywhere and the dirt and the reality of hard concrete under me, both helping me feel secure and pulsing as the enemy that crushed me I felt as though the bones in my face had shattered and my lips had been ripped from my mouth.

And then I heard the softness of a familiar voice behind me…

“Mom!!! Are you ok?!”

I rolled over and started to sit up, absolutely certain I’d just crushed every bone in my right hand and my face…

What are the Chances?

The day before my accident a little girl down the road had come to play with Grayson for the first time. I grabbed her dad’s number just in case, we chatted for a bit and then I carried on with my life.

What are the chances?

I had just watched my face hurl into the asphalt and was slowly pushing myself up from the pavement to look myself over. I glanced up and saw a man walking calmly but pointedly across the street to me. He had a smile on his face and concern in his eyes as he squatted down and said, “Hey, you ok?”

What are the chances that a dad we’ve seen at the bus stop would officially get to know me just the day before?

What are the chances that because of his background he would have seen plenty of bloodied up faces and wasn’t the slightest bit worked up about me?

Lifting me to my feet he walked me across the road, back to our neighborhood and said, “how are you feeling?” Just as a wave of nausea hit.

I told him I thought I was going to be sick and he very calmly sat me day and