Weekly Menu Plan – Dec. 4 to 10

Here is your weekly menu plan for the week! Use up those last Thanksgiving leftovers…

Monday: Leftover Turkey and Stuffing Acorn Squash

Tuesday: Scrambled Eggs with Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Wednesday: Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Thursday: Shepherd’s Pie

Friday: Chicken Artichoke Pasta

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Smoked Meatloaf

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Dec. 4 to 10

Hi friends! How’s the week going? We’re off on a little staycation – check out my IG stories for pics and adventures! – but for today’s post, I thought I’d share some fun activities to do with the kids while they’re home for Christmas break. 

Insert MAJOR sigh of relief and all the cheer for Christmas break. I love having the kiddos home, and especially love zero alarms (except for the days I have to teach), slow mornings, and seeing where the day takes us. Our weeks are pretty busy around here between school, gymnastics and dance team, horse lessons, and soccer, so having a couple of weeks off lovely. (Not months off. I’m not putting that out into the universe.)

While I still have to work while the kiddos are home, I’ve been trying to pre-write as much as possible and book calls into time blocks so we can have some fun adventures while they’re home. I thought I’d share some of my top ideas here and would love to hear what you’re doing with the fam this winter break!

Winter Break Activities with Kids

Please keep in mind that these are just ideas and a brainstorming list, and there’s no way we’ll do all or most of the things here. I’m really most excited about just CHILLING, but it will be great to have the lists on the afternoons when we’re looking for something to do!

Ideas for home:

Camping in the living room

This was a huge hit when the pandemic first hit, and a way for us to distinguish the weekend from all of the other days that blended together. We’d roast s’mores, watch a movie, and sleep in a tent downstairs. I learned very quickly that I hate air mattresses lol but it was worth it for the memories for the kiddos.

Make slime

This is our go-to recipe and you can add glitter to the mixture for a sparkly snow slime

Bake something

We rarely have time to bake while the kids are in school, so this is a special opportunity to bake together

Simple In-home Science Experiments

Did you know that learning can be as entertaining as it is enlightening? With a touch of scientific flair, you and your little ones can embark on a journey through the wonderful world of winter. From creating frost on a can to making your own snow, there are countless experiments that will make their eyes sparkle brighter than a starlit winter sky. Not only will these activities engage their curious minds, but they will also provide an opportunity for you to bond with your children and share some memorable moments together. So, gather your lab coats and safety goggles – it’s time for some educational fun!

Teach them a recipe

This is one of my goals for this Christmas break! We have a gas stove, so I’m not quite comfortable with them using it yet, but I want to teach them how to make eggs and pancakes on our large griddle. It’s electric, so it will be perfect for them to make breakfast (with supervision, of course).

Go on a scavenger hunt

While it is a bit chilly, we still bundle up and take walks with Maisey each day. Create a scavenger hunt list before you head out.

Hi friends! I have a podcast episode up and am so excited to share this one. I’ve super topical with the holiday season and everything we have going on this time of year, so I really hope you’ll take a listen.

Today, I’m chatting with Megan Blacksmith, and here and some of the topics we discuss:

– Conflicting parts and what to do when one part of our body or brain doesn’t agree with the other part

– Calming your nervous system and strategies you can use

– Her tips for being Healthy in Real Life and so.much.more.

Conflicting parts and calming our nervous system with Megan Blacksmith

Here’s a bit more about Megan:

Megan Blacksmith is a holistic health coach, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, speaker, NLP Trainer and mindset ninja.  She is the co-founder of Zesty and the Becoming Zesty podcast.  She trains coaches, practitioners and leaders with the tools for faster (inner) transformation without fighting themselves along the way through Functional NLP, a combination of the principles of NLP, functional medicine and compassionate coaching.

Connect with Megan on Instagram here, check out the Becoming Zesty website and podcast.

She recently hosted a Masterclass on parts. You can watch the replay here since we dive into this quite a bit in the episode!

If you’re interested in attending their January event, the details are here!

GIVEAWAY: Leave a podcast review if you enjoy the show, and be sure to add #zesty so we know you’re entering to win a free ticket to the January event. (Travel not included.)

BONUS entry: Screenshot this episode, share on IG stories, and tag us @fitnessista @becomingzesty

More resources from this episode:

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 25% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items (Black Friday deal). This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers.

If any of my fellow health professional friends are looking for another way to help their clients, I highly recommend IHP.

Easy Apple Dumplings with Sprite

Who knew that crescent rolls, cinnamon sugar apples, brown sugar, butter and sprite could make the best easy apple dumplings with Sprite ever!

Ditch your old apple dumplings recipe. Do it. Ditch it. These easy apple dumplings have a couple of very minor changes that make a HUGE difference and I’m totally not kidding. I’ll never make another apple dumplings recipe again.

This recipe reminds me so much of my grandma’s apple rolls recipe just because that sugar liquid is so deceiving. You pour it all around the rolls and it almost puts you into a panic attack seeing all of that liquid around the dough, like is this really going to work?! Are they going to be a soggy mess?!

And then those golden, crisp, pillows of dough come out and you’re a real life hero to the whole family.

Creating This Apple Dumpling Recipe

This is seriously the craziest apple dessert recipe. Most apple desserts seem to be inspired largely from the way apple pie is made. Think about it: apple crisp, apple pull-apart bread, and apple pie scones are all takes on the classic apple pie. 

This apple dumpling recipe is similar, but as I’ve been making recipes from others over the years I felt like there was always something missing. Sure, it is a good recipe and one that your guests will love you for, but couldn’t it be taken up a notch without changing the whole recipe?

We started experimenting, a lot. Too much. I could hardly stand to look at another apple dumpling recipe, let alone the apple dumpling itself.

And then it hit me, when you’re trying to do something awesome and it’s not coming together, go back to the original recipe.

So I did. And do you know what I discovered? The apples were not like an apple pie, they were completely plain. No, no, no! Apples need a little cinnamon sugar action to really drive home that fall smell and flavor!

Well don’t stop there, I thought. We need a little cinnamon action in the butter mixture as well. Too many recipes called for just butter and brown sugar. No. We need more. We added vanilla and cinnamon. Let’s get this party started!

How many waffle toppings can you think of off the top of your head? My family has a well-established weakness for waffles and with that comes a weakness for all the awesome ways that you can top a hot crisp freshly made waffle.

Is “waffle season” a thing? Or is that just me? We enjoy hot breakfasts all year long, but there is something wonderfully fall and winter about pulling out the waffle iron and watching the steam rise as they cook in the mornings.

All I know is that right now, we are deep in waffle season over here and we’re making all the toppings to pour, stack, and pile on top of our waffles.

Waffle Toppings

From the sweet to the savory there are so many options when it comes to dressing up your waffles. A basic buttermilk waffle can be transformed from simple to spectacular with the right combination of toppings.

I recently shared a list of some of my all-time favorite waffle recipes. After spending all that time thinking about waffles, it became clear that I’d need a whole other post just to talk about waffle toppings!

Craving something sweet? My Grandmother’s Waffle Sauce will forever reign supreme, (just ask literally anyone who has ever tasted it!) but there are so many other delicious ways to top them too.

Sweet waffle toppings are hands-down the most