What I Did This Weekend (plus Giveaway Winners!)

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your last week before Christmas is off to a great start. I just got back from the doctors and am happy to say I have a clean bill of health! I have very pale skin and have been worried about some moles I’ve had since I was little. I’m a worrier and I was really nervous leading up to the appointment that I was going to get bad news. Thankfully I went and he said they were nothing to be concerned about. It was the biggest relief. As I get older I’ll have to monitor them to make sure nothing changes but for now I am completely healthy. If I could get on a soapbox for a minute, if there’s something that’s been worrying you lately or that you think might be a health concern, please go see a doctor. There is nothing like the piece of mind of knowing you’re alright or getting quick access to treatment.

The rest of my weekend was pretty jam packed. I mailed off cookies from last week’s cookie baking session to Josh’s parents and his family friends Mary and Joey. I found the OXO tupperware for super cheap at TJMaxx. I was really impressed with how heavy duty it is and how it locks into place.

I worked a lot this weekend. During my lunch break on Saturday I stopped at Subway to get a veggie sub but had to get a pizza instead because Subway was so busy they ran out of bread. There was a line to get in the mall and I had to drive around to find a parking spot. I sold more than I did on Black Friday! It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed dancing around to the Christmas music and helping customers find Christmas presents.

I also did a little shopping! 😀 Gap was having a crazy sale where everything in the store (minus new arrivals) was 40% off. Well everything in the store that wasn’t a new arrival was already on sale! When all the discounts were averaged in I got the infinity scarf for $8, the long sleeve shirt for $5, and the patterned tunic for $4! Such good deals!

I made some buttered noodles with carrots, chickpeas, tomatoes, garlic, vodka sauce, and cheese. I am becoming such a pasta fan. It was delicious! 😀

I stopped at Wegmans to pick up one of their $6 lunches. It had two eggplant roulettes, cranberry sauce (that was so incredibly good), and a butternut squash and spinach salad. These meals are such good deals and so filling and tasty. I need to start getting them more often!

I got to have fun watching Andy play with his new toy. Its name is Duckie and Andy carries it around with him everywhere he goes. Its super adorable! 😀

I also did more baking this weekend! Diane is off from work for the week and pulled out her special recipes for round two of holiday baking. We made Snowballs and Hershey Kiss Cookies. If you’re looking for cookies to make for the holidays I would recommend these two above any others. They are amazing!

Snowballs

1 cup butter

1/2 cup sifted confectioners sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cup sifted flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup pecans ground fine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Cream butter in large bowl until light

2. Add sugar, creaming well until mixture is light and fluffy

3. Stir in vanilla

4. Sift flour and salt together, blend into creamed mixture

5. Stir in nuts

6. Shape into balls the size of walnuts

7. Placed on ungreased cookie sheet, bake for 15 minutes

8. Remove from oven, roll in powdered sugar

9. Allow to cool and then roll in powdered sugar again

(Side note: Since Diane can’t eat gluten she made these with gluten free flour and they still came out amazing!)

Hershey Kiss Cookies

1/3 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Extra white sugar for rolling

1 package chocolate kisses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Cream peanut butter, sugar, butter, and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla to mixture

2. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt

3. Combine the two mixtures

4. Shape into balls and roll in white sugar

5. Bake for 8 minutes

6. Take out of oven, press a kiss into each cookie

7. Return to oven and bake for an additional 2 minutes

These cookies are so good

I also did something super exciting this weekend. I picked winners for the Wholly Guacamole Cooler giveaway!

The grand prize winner is: Jami O’Leary! Congrats Jamie! You won a cooler filled with guacamole!

And the three runners up winning three coupons for the Wholly Guacamole products of their choice are:

1. Jackie

2. Rachael

3. Rachael

Congrats girls!! Please email me at [email protected] with your addresses so I can send them over to Wholly Guacamole and they can get their guacamole on its way to you! I hope you all enjoy!

If you didn’t win this contest, its not too late! Today is the last day to enter my OXO Be A Good Cookie spatula giveaway! I’ll be announcing the winner tomorrow!