I am usually really on top of gift giving every year – but we are on a tight budget this year so I really need to think a bit harder.  My brother, sister and Tony’s family just decided to do family gift boxes, i.e. mostly homemade stuff.  This year I decided to make caramel corn, but added in chopped bacon – holy shizz – I made 3 giant batches the night before and the salty/sweet/bacon combo is incredible!

I just baked a pound of bacon in my oven while I popped popcorn.  Why have I never thought to bake bacon before?  It was done on two cookie sheets – just had to keep an eye on it to make sure the bacon grease wasn’t going to drip over.  šŸ˜€

I also am going to be making snickerdoodles and a couple other goodies – don’t want to spoil the surprise.

But I don’t know why but suddenly I realized I’d have to ship my boxes out by Saturday, December 10 in anticipation of Tony’s hernia surgery on Monday the 12th.  I have no idea how long he’ll be in the hospital or how much care he’ll need when he gets back, so every night this week is going to be Bizzy in My Kitchen.  šŸ˜€

I cooked my German potato salad in the microwave for 2 minutes so the potatoes finally were tender.  I used them as a base for my daily egg scramble – this time 3/4 cup German potato salad, 1 scrambled egg, and 1 sauteed zucchini that I Pam fried with Montreal steak seasoning – with 1/2 a fuji apple on the side. šŸ˜€  Breakfast comes in at 307 calories, 8.4 fat, 48 carbs, 9 fiber and 11 protein.

I had planned on taking a walk at lunch, it was 30 degrees but sunny.  All of a sudden there were a ton of rushes at work, and next thing I knew it was 1:15 – and I was hungry!

So I tossed together my taco salad: 2 ounces taco meat, 1 cup broccoli slaw, 1 cup of lettuce mix, 1 baby cucumber, 1 carrot, 1 hard boiled egg that I tossed with 1/4 cup salsa and 1 tablespoon light ranch dressing, with 1 package of 100 pack of Wholly Guacamole.

Seriously this salad was so big it took me like 30 minutes to eat lunch.  And the stats are amazing – 388 calories, 23 fat, 24 carbs, 8.7 fiber and 24 grams of protein.

While getting ready for work yesterday I again looked at my menu and was like “shizz! I still didn’t make the chili!”   I literally had about 15 minutes before I had to leave the house, and I was like “I can do this!”  I don’t know why but I never thought to make chili in my crock pot until I saw Sarah’s Paleo Chili!   I used my Buffalo Chicken Chili recipe, and just threw everything into the crock pot after I put the chicken and veggies in the food processor.

I set it on 10 hours and asked that Tony just keep an eye on it during the day.   He ended up turning it off for a few hours, then turning it on high about 45 minutes befoe we ate to warm it up.  When I got home I just cooked up some pasta on the side for chili mac for Tony and Hannah – that way I could get onto my cookie making!  (shhh….I may have had an ounce of tortilla chips on the side for dipping!)  Dinner comes in at 502 calories, 26 fat, 44 carbs, 8.5 fiber and 23 protein.

I am not sure what I did wrong, or if the meat just cooked down too much, but it didn’t taste nearly as good as when I cook this chili on top of the stove.  I also forgot to add salt!  I ended up adding more chili powder and Frank’s hot sauce to the leftovers. šŸ˜€

Stats for Wednesday:

  • 1197 calories (add about 200 calories for cookie tasting!)
  • 58 cat
  • 118 carbs
  • 26 fiber
  • 59 protein
  • no exercise – took a rest day!

Note to self:  You can’t stay up until 11:45 watching Top Chef Masters and expect to get up and get to the gym the next day.

Awkward Family Photo of the Day:

Question of the Day:  Are you done with your holiday shopping?