New Year, New Goals

As I start this new year, I've been thinking about my priorities and what goals I plan to persue this year.  I've basically catagorized my priorities into 4 parts: Spiritual, Family/Social, Educational and Personal
I've set some goals to help me grow in each of these catagories this year.  Since they say that a goal is only a wish until you write it down, and that sharing a goal with another person makes it more likely that you will achieve that goal, I'm going to write my goals down here in my blog and share them with you.
Spiritual:
Say a personal prayer at least once every day
Read the scriptures for at least 10 minutes every day (I hope to finish the Book of Mormon and then read The New Testament after that)
Family/Social:
Maintain a family Budget and live within our means, saving for college and future expenses
Hold Family Home Evening once a week
Spend one on one time with each of my children every week
Catch up on family scrapbooks
Visit and or call a friend at least once a month
Educational:
Read at least one book a month
Try at least one new recipe every month
Personal:
Eat a healthy diet and avoid sugar and processed foods
Exercise at least 4x a week
Volunteer at children's school regularly
Look for ways to serve others without them knowing

Besides all that, I'm  hoping to start a new blog.  I've been toying around with an idea to put together a Winert Family blog that will document the histories of my parents, siblings and other relatives.  We all have interesting stories to tell and I'd like a way to share them with each other, so I hope to put something together for that part of my extended family.  Maybe I'll do one for Stuart's family too, who knows? 
I wish you all the best in the year of 2012!

Christmas at the Roberts home



Chad, Greg and Eli all participated in a live children's nativity



I have often heard people exclaim how much fun it must be at our house on Christmas morning.  One of the advantages of having a big family is that even simple Christmas traditions are big! I must admit, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning are some of the best days ever at my house.  2011 was no exception.  So, I'll share with you some of my favorite pictures from the holiday.  Enjoy!



Adin decorates the gingerbread house on Christmas eve



Our Family loves Christmas

Chad tears the sheet off his new bike

Mitchell is delighted with his picture book



Adin opens up an RC truck



Santa gave Diane some makeup





Greg is our new Spy Kid



Merry Christmas!



Elijah and Adin move to the new XBox game

Mitchell is all worn out by the fun



The completed puzzle that Eli gave Mom for Christmas



Goal for Sophia has been met!

I don't know how it happened, but yesterday there was a challenge for all the Angel Tree Warriors to get their orphan up to the $500 level mark, and for every child that reached it, an anonymous donor would donate to give what was needed for the next closest orphan to $1000 to reach that mark.  Sophia had only 380.81 in her account at the beginning of the day, so I asked everyone on my facebook to help her get to the $500 level so another child could reach the $1000 level.  I'm not sure if the donors came from people I knew, or from more anonymous people, but somehow Sophia reached the $500 level and then, by this morning, she had over $1000 in her adoption fund from the Angel Tree donations.  I couldn't believe it!  If you are reading this and you are one of her donors, I want to thank you so much!  I wish Reece's Rainbow would let me know the names of the donors so I could personally thank them.  I'm so grateful for everyone who donated, whether it was $1 or $100, it is so needed. Now we just need to find a wonderful family to adopt her!! If you have not yet donated, but feel that you can, please do so!  It costs more than $30,000 to adopt a child from her orphanage, so every dollar helps to rescue this sweet princess.  Thank you again!

Almond Butter Bars

This recipe is a Roberts family tradition.  My mother-in-law gave us the recipe and we have made it every Christmas! It wouldn't feel like Christmas without these.  I've adapted the recipe a little and have figured out the easiest way to make them.  So here it is if you ever want to try them:
Cookie Mix 
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 Tbs salt
2 tsp. baking powder
6 cups flour
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl (I use my Bosch mixer) until it is fine crumbs.  Store in a covered dish or ziplock bag in the refrigerator up to 4 weeks.  Makes 8 cups. (2 batches of almond butter bars- I make one for Christmas and another on New Year's Eve)

Almond Butter Bars
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tsp. almond flavoring
2/3 cup butter + 2 TBS  butter, softened
12 oz (1 1/2 pkg.) cream cheese, softened
4 cups cookie mix
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  In a small bowl, combine sugar, almond flavoring and food coloring (red or green) for the filling.  Set aside. 
In a large bowl (I use my Bosch mixer) combine 2/3 cup butter, cream cheese and egg yolks.  Blend until smooth.  Stir in cookie mix and 2/3 cup sugar.  Knead on a floured surface about 25 times until pliable like pie dough.  Divide in half.  Using packing tape, tape a sheet of parchment paper slightly larger than your cookie sheet onto the counter, then roll out 1/2 of the dough about 1/2" thick into a rectangle the size of the cookie sheet.  Pick of parchment paper and flip dough onto the foil on the cookie sheet.  Spread butter over the top of the dough, then spread the colored sugar mix on top, leaving 1/4" edge.  Place remaining dough on the parchment paper and roll out to the same size.  Spread with butter, then flip onto the top of the sugar, making a sandwich.  Pinch edges of dough to seal.  Brush the top with egg whites (I like to beat them first) and sprinkle with sliced almonds, pushing them into the dough slightly.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges are golden brown.  cool completely, then transfer cookie to a cutting board by lifting the foil off the pan. cut into 3" long strips (I use a pizza cutter) and enjoy.

Don't forget that if you donate $50 to Sophia, and email me or make a comment about your donation on this blog, that I will send you a plate of my cookies!  Merry Christmas.

Gingerbread Men

 Adin has been begging me to make Gingerbread Men with him, so last Friday we went to work.  He had  blast cutting them out and putting on the eyes and buttons.  He really  liked his one-legged boy!  After getting them all ready, he tasted one and didn't like it.  After all that work!  He sure is a cutie though.  He loves using face paint and asks me every afternoon to paint his face- hence the Tiger make up in the picture. 
Please remember to donate to Sophia M.'s adoption fund so someday, she can join her family in making cookies too. If you donate $50 or more, I'll send you a plate of all these cookies I've been baking up!  Thank you.

Gingerbread Men Recipe:

4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup molasses

Cookie Frosting:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 to2 TBS milk        food coloring (optional)

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger.  In a separate bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the molasses.  Gradually add the dry ingredients, blending until the flour is thoroughly mixed in.  Divid the dough in half, flatten each half into a round, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.  Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a baking sheet (or line with parchment paper). On a floured surface, roll our one half of the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out gingerbread people with a cookie cutter.  Use a spatula to transfer them to the baking sheet. 
Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool.  Make frosting by mixing all the ingredients together and adding more milk if needed to thin.  Place frosting in a sealable plastic bag and cut the tip off the corner. Then decorate by piping the frosting around the cookie and adding M&M candies for the mouth and buttons. 

Teacher's Christmas Gifts

 I put together some Christmas gifts for my children's teacher's this year. I took big bottles of hand sanitizer, took off the front label, then printed the Hands poem onto a transpency, rolled it, stuffed it into the bottle and unrolled it using my sharping tool from my knife set and pressed it up against the front of the bottle. Voila!







A useful and personalized gift. I took the idea from a blog that I enjoy: http://www.mymixofsix.blogspot.com/
She had made them on small bottles of sanitizer, you can also put them in soap bottles. I just enlarged them to fit the big bottles so they would last longer. I love giving gifts that are useful as well as creative and thoughtful.

Kiss My Cookies

Tonight I made a double batch of Peanut Butter Blossoms.  I used Hugs as well as Kisses for a festive look.

Hershey Kisses (or Hugs)
1/2 cup shortening (I used half butter, half shortening)
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Unwrap Kisses.  Beat shortening and peanut butter in a large bowl until well blended.  Add sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add egg, milk, vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually beat into butter mixture. 
Shape dough into 1 inch balls (TBS size).  Roll in granulated sugar, place on ungreased cookie sheet. 
Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Immediately press a chocolate into the center of each cookie; cookie will crack around the edges.  Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Then cool in the refridgerator for 20 minutes.  Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

So far, I've been choosing cookies that freeze well and I am storing them in the freezer until we are ready to put together our Christmas plates for sharing.  Remember to let me know when you have donated $50 or more to Sophia's grant and I will send you a plate with an assortment of all these cookies!  Thank you.

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Today I made a double batch of Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.  I chose to make the glaze white, but you can color it with food coloring, or use a bit of Jello powder to make a sprinkled effect in the glaze.  Don't forget my offer to send you a plate of cookies to say thank you when you donate $50 or more to Sophia's Grant.  Just let me know you made the donation and I'll you to my cookie list!  Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 TBS milk
1 TBS melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, egg and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture and beat until creamy.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls, flatten slightly. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven.  Cool cookies, then dip into glaze to coat the tops. 
To make the glaze: combine confectioner's sugar, milk, 1 TBS butter and 1 tsp vanilla.  Add milk as needed to achieve drizzling consistency.  Makes about 36 cookies. 

Cookies!

I've made my first batch of Christmas cookies for this year!  To thank you for donating $50 or more to our Christmas Angel, Sophia M.  at this link: http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltreekids/ I will mail or bring you a plate of cookies this year.  After you make the donation, please let me know and I will get your plate ready!
My first cookies this year are Cream Cheese Snickerdoodles.
Our family doubles this recipe so we have lots of cookies for sharing:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 TBS soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup cream cheese (or sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
colored sugar or edible glitter

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.  In a separte bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and butter.  Gradually mix in the sugar.  Beat in the egg until blended, then the cream cheese, vanilla extract and lemon zest. 
With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture half at a time, until evenly mixed.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. 
Shortly before baking, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease on or two large cookie sheets (or cover with parchment paper).  Put the decorative sugar into small bowls. 
With lightly floured hands, shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch thick balls.  Roll the balls in the colored sugar and place them on the baking sheets spaced about 3 inches apart.  Bake the cookies on the center oven rack for 15 minutes.  Do not over bake or they will be as hard as rocks.  Let cool.

I hope to make 5 or 6 more types of cookies over the next 2 weeks.  I'll post all the recipes on my blog with a picture of how they turn out. 

Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree

The last week or so has been so busy getting ready for Thanksgiving, doing my Christmas shopping and teaching the craft club at my children's school, so I haven't had time to check on the status of my Christmas Angel from Reece's Rainbow.  I decided to take a look at it today and was happy to see that we have $240  raised for her adoption fund.  I want to thank everyone who has contributed so far.  I also was happy to see that there are now 10 children who have found their forever families during the Christmas Angel event.  It is wonderful to know that these children will soon be in loving homes where they can be loved and show their love and reach their fullest potential.  If you have not yet contributed, please join us in rescuing these special orphans.