Hellobee Boards

we make cinnamon rolls, and some sort of egg dish that can be baked (both easy). Also hot cocoa this year for the kiddo. Saw a cute (and easy) thing on pinterest where you make a snowflake out of toothpicks and marshmallows (big marshmallow in center, spikes of toothpicks radiating out from it, with marshmallows on those spikes)

@wrkbrk: oooo I forgot about booze. Good call

We mostly just play with toys and do our Harry Potter marathon (though we only watch the first 2 because beyond that they're too scary for the kids). Hubs and I have eggnog with vanilla vodka (SO good), the kids have eggnog or hot cocoa. I make a baked nutella french toast for breakfast, lunch is a meat and cheese tray, and then I usually make something kind of fancy for dinner. Depending on the weather we might go out for a walk (or to play in the snow). But otherwise, the kids are mostly content to play with their new toys and hang out!

This thread is making me hungry

We'll be home for the first time this year b/c I'll be 37 weeks pregnant. Anyone have recipes/links to recipes for their delicious sounding breakfasts?

We will wake up and have a normal breakfast (yogurt, eggs, sausage, cereal - its basically a buffet on the weekends at our house!) Then we will do presents and pose with all the presents for pictures for the grandparents who demand photographic proof that their presents arrived.

DS1 and DS2 are getting mostly joint gifts this year. Our big gift is the Ikea kitchen and the kid table set, plus all the relatives were asked to send pots, pans, play food, etc., so they will likely be pumped to play that for the rest of the morning while we play some Christmas movies in the background (well, maybe - our threenager has been acting like a jerk lately, so we're cutting TV time).

We will probably do an interactive food activity mid morning - maybe have them help me put toppings on a pizza for lunch and throw toppings into the salad bowl. Make and eat lunch.

Then we will probably all take a long family nap!

@sweetcaroline I LOVE the idea of a birthday cake for Jesus - we do a Resurrection empty tomb cake at Easter, so this is perfect. I can have a cake pre-baked and have the kids help me decorate it and eat it as dessert after dinner.

My kids actually don't like traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas feast foods. We're having a bigger Christmas gathering before Christmas, so I think we might keep dinner simple using leftovers. They will eat ham, so I could make some ham fried rice or ham tetrazinni and they'd be perfectly happy with that.

We keep our kids on a pretty rigid routine, so I don't foresee it being really all that different from a Saturday at our house, but with some new toys and pajamas and extra treats!

@bhbee: This is an awesome idea! I was reading this thread thinking - I should really make an effort to make decent food for Christmas, it sounds so tasty and I'm sure my husband would appreciate it BUT I have no energy. TJs sounds perfect, I haven't been there in ages since we don't have one within walking distance, but there is one a couple of miles away.

@periwinklebee: TJ’s at the holidays is very dangerous read the fearless flyer online before you go so you can check out all the good holiday stuff!

@periwinklebee: the refrigerated cinnamon rolls at TJs are amazing! They are like the pillsbury kind but much better! I made an elaborate pan of cinnamon rolls one year (raise overnight and all that) and honestly the TJs ones are just as good. We have had them the last couple Christmas mornings since—it is so much easier and everyone likes them just as much or more!

@SweetCaroline: I'll be honest, since my boys are still little, I don't have to bake everything from scratch. I cheat by using the Pillsbury biscuits. But it kills me every time! I will be googling that Paula recipe right now!!!

@hilary: tell me about using puff pastry as a cinnamon roll. I have a couple sheets left from thanksgiving still in my freezer. Is it super flaky? Or does the rolling part make it less flaky? My kids are weird and won't eat things like flaky croissants (like the real bakery version, not the supermarket versions that are mushy). But they love mini things. Is there a recipe?

@hilary: well, technical enough for me to have to ask, lol. Thank you! I'm going to try this. And they love crescent rolls (of course. Of course it has to be something from a can that they love).