Change one thing....

With the first of January looming, it's the time for New Year's Resolutions! For many people (me included!), we make a great start and then we're lucky if by the 31st of January, we're still on track!

Image via http://bit.ly/16jAEUr

Well, this year, I'm taking a different approach. Change, improve or add one thing to your life every couple of days throughout January and you *should* find it easier to stick to your resolution as the change has been a gradual one. Again, for many people 'to lead a healthier lifestyle' is a common resolution to make so for the first two weeks of January, I'll be posting each day with something that I have promised to do. Sometimes it will be really easy to achieve, sometimes a bit more will-power will be needed, but none (I hope) will be an impossibility!

So, here goes and I hope you will join me!  Don't forget to share with your friends and keep me updated with your progress as I keep you updated with mine!

Advent Post #24 - Merry Christmas!

Well, I hope that you've enjoyed this series of posts!

 

All that's left to say is MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope that you fully enjoy your day tomorrow, whatever it may bring!

 

 

Advent Post #23 - Quick chicken pasta bake

As Christmas creeps up on us, quick and easy family meals are a must in our house! This chicken pasta bake recipe is a perfect winter warmer and is also delicious cold the day after (if you have any leftovers, that is!). And an added bonus is that it's low in fat so you can be on your best 'foodie' behaviour before the indulgence starts!

Image via www.bbcgoodfood.com

You can vary the recipe by replacing the chicken with pork or prawns; we used left over chicken so reduced the cooking time slightly. You could also swap the broccoli for similar veg - sugarsnap peas or baby sweetcorn would be perfect!

Advent Post #22 - Yummy Chocolate Brownies!

As much as we *try* to be good with our eating habits over Christmas, who can resist a delicious chocolate brownie!

Image via www.bbcgoodfood.com

However, fear not(!), I came across this recipe for some super chocolate brownies with a magic ingredient that reduces the fat and salt content quite considerably. OK, yes they still contain fat and sugar but without butter or spread on the ingredient list, they've got to be on the healthy side of the brownie fence, right?

Click here for the full recipe if you want to know the secret ingredient and try them out for yourself!

Let me know what you think when you've made them and then challenge your friends to guess the secret ingredient... I bet they'll struggle to get it right!

Advent Post #21: 50 Festive Facts!

Following on from our little quiz, here are 50 festive facts to get you even more in the mood for Christmas!

1. US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.
2. Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.
3. Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.
4. The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.
5. Despite the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number. Matthew's Gospel refers to merely "wise men".
6. Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.
7. Carols weren't sung in churches until they were introduced by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.
8. Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas's donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.
9. There is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.
10. Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
11. The word Noel derives from the French expression "les bonnes nouvelles" or "the good news".
12. Jesus was probably born in a cave and not a wooden stable, say Biblical scholars.
13. The abbreviation Xmas isn't irreligious. The letter X is a Greek abbreviation for Christ.
14. The world's tallest Xmas tree at 221ft high was erected in a Washington shopping mall in 1950.
15. The chances of a white Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
16. Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
17. James Pierpont's 1857 song Jingle Bells was first called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written for Thanksgiving.
18. Before turkey, the traditional Christmas meal in England was a pig's head and mustard.
19. In 1647, after the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell banned festivities. The law wasn't lifted until 1660.
20. In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
21. The Greeks celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the old Julian calendar, while Xmas presents are opened on New Year's Day.
22. Many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.
23. The holly in a wreath symbolises Christ's crown of thorns while the red berries are drops of his blood.
24. The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. Featuring a family drinking wine, one sold for  £8,469 last year.
25. Hanging presents on trees may come from the Druids who believed the tree was the giver of all good things.
26. The largest Christmas cracker - 45.72m long and 3.04m in diameter - was pulled in Australia in 1991.
27. The long shopping spree before Christmas began in America when relatives of soldiers posted overseas in the Second World War were encouraged to mail gifts early.
28. Jingle Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.
29. Astronomers believe the Star Of Bethlehem, which guided the wisemen to Jesus, may have been a comet or the planet Uranus.
30. Santa has different names around the world - Kriss Kringle in Germany, Le Befana in Italy, Pere Noel in France and Deushka Moroz (Grandfather Frost) in Russia.
31. The word Christmas comes from the Old English "Cristes maesse" meaning "Christ's Mass".
32. The bestselling Xmas single ever is Bing Crosby's White Christmas, shifting over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.
33. In Britain, the best-selling festive single is Band Aid's 1984 track, Do They Know It's Christmas?, which sold 3.5million copies. Wham! is next in the same year with Last Christmas, selling 1.4million.
34. Upside-down artificial Xmas trees are sold to allow more gifts to be piled under.
35. Since 1947 Oslo has sent an Xmas tree to London to thank us for our help in the Second World War.
36. Christmas pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.
37. London sweetmaker Tom Smith created the first Christmas crackers in 1847, based on the sweet wrapper design.
38. Santa Claus comes from a Dutch folk tale based on Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, who gave gifts on December 6.
39. Boxing Day gets its name from all the money collected in church alms-boxes for the poor.
40. Kissing under the mistletoe is thought to spring from Frigga, the Norse goddess of love, who was associated with the plant.
41. The Beatles hold the record for most Xmas number 1 singles, topping the charts in 1963, 65 and 67.
42. Electric tree lights were invented by Edward Johnson in the US in 1882.
43. They may date back to pagan traditions, but the earliest known reference to a Christmas tree is in a German pamphlet from 1570.
44. The highest-grossing festive movie is 2000's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which has raked in #175m so far.
45. There are 13 Santas in Iceland, each leaving a gift for children. They come down from the mountain one by one, starting on December 12 and have names like Spoon Licker, Door Sniffer and Meat Hook.
46. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
47. Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
48. The first Christmas celebrated in Britain is thought to have been in York in 521AD.
49. In Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany, workers get a Christmas bonus of one month's salary by law.
50. In the Czech Republic they enjoy dinners of fish soup, eggs and carp. The number of people at the table must be even, or the one without a partner will die next year.

So there you are, lots of facts to strike up a conversation with at family gatherings where you've forgotten exactly who is who... or is that just me!?

Facts sourced from the Daily Mirror online.

Advent Post #20: more edible treats! Butterscotch Cookies

Simple to make and delicious to eat around the fire with a hot chocolate, but also nice enough to give as a gift to a child's teacher, lovely neighbour or anyone you like really! Once completely cooled, wrap in cellophane with a pretty ribbon or in a small box or tin decorated however you wish!

Butterscotch cookies, makes 10, prep 10 mins, cook 20 mins

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for the baking sheet

100g light soft brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

175g self-raising flour

25g puffed rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies

dark chocolate chips, for decoration

 

Method

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and golden syrup until smooth.
2. Sift in the flour and mix together, then fold through the puffed rice cereal. Roll into walnut-sized balls and place, well spaced, on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Decorate each ball with a few chocolate chips.
3. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden. Leave on the baking sheet for 1 min before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe source: BBC Good Food Magazine.

Advent Post #19: I bet you didn't know.... Christmas Quiz

I love fun (and often useless!) facts and this week have been finding out lots of little Christmassy snippets of information and compiled into a Christmas Quiz. Feel free to print and share around the table at Christmas - the answers are below, but no cheating!

1. What was the first song sung in space?
2. What are the chances of a white Christmas in England or Wales?
3. Was Rudolph a male or female reindeer?
4. In which year was the Queen's speech first televised?
5. Who invented the Christmas cracker?
6. Where and in what year was the first Christmas stamp released?
7. How many reindeer pull Santa's sleigh?
8. Their names....?
9. On which instrument was Silent Night first played?
10. Who wrote the poem 'Twas The Night Before Christmas'?
11. How many gifts (in total) are mentioned in the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'?
12. In Germany, what is Twelfth Night known as?
13. In which year was the first Christmas card created?
14. By whom?
15. On which day of the week will Christmas Day be in 2014?
16. Which song made the Christmas number one spot twice?
17. And in which years?
18. Where does the tree in London's Trafalgar Square come from each year?
19. In which American state would you find the town of Santa Claus?
20. In which year were electric Christmas lights first used?

Answers

1. Jingle Bells
2. 1 in 10
3. Female - male reindeer lose their antlers in winter
4. 1957
5. Thomas Smith
6. Canada in 1898
7. 9
8. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph
9. The guitar
10. Clement Clarke Moore
11. 364
12. Three Kings' Day
13. 1843
14. J.C. Horsley
15. Thursday
16. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
17. 1975 & 1991
18. Norway
19. Indiana
20. 1854

Highlight the space above to reveal the answers! How did you do?