It’s the 10th day of Christmas and I’m feeling more stressed out than ever! With having to find a new place to live, shopping for presents, sending out cards and making dishes for all the holiday parties I’ve been invited to, I’m pooped! Just because I teach yoga doesn’t mean I don’t experience stress… contrary to popular belief! The housing market for renters is the pits on the Central Coast right now.. there’s literally less than one percent of rentals available and I’m feeling the heat. Along with refreshing Craigslist every five minutes, I’ve been driving around the neighborhood looking for rentals and watching for people moving out of houses so that I can post a note on the door for the owners to eventually see. I’m literally being as proactive as I can and I’m not really enjoying the holiday season at all because of it. Bah Humbug. So I decided today was the day to go buy my Fraser Fir Christmas tree and put the lights up on the outside of my house and decorate in order to kill my bad mood… And then it started to rain. Just my luck!
So I’ll keep this post brief today that way I’m not complaining the whole time you’re reading this okay?! Okay! Christmas is my favorite time of year for many reasons; being with family and friends, dressing up my dogs, putting up my Christmas Carolers, singing old songs, decorating my house, receiving Christmas cards in the mail, cooking and the parties! The parties are by far my favorite part of the season and I love trying everyone’s special dish… it’s really the food I like the best I guess, HAHA! I get invited to a ton of yoga parties and nowadays it seems like you can’t teach yoga unless you’re allergic to everything. I’m serious. Everyone’s either gluten-free, dairy-free, meat-free, sugar-free or just pretending to be for that matter.
My new go-to dish? Three ingredient brownies that are dairy and gluten-free but not taste free because oh what fun would that be?! These are easy peasy to make, cheap and fast to bake. That way if you don’t the time or the energy or the desire to make a big to do about your holiday dish, you can toss this one together and call it a day. The secret ingredient? Nutella! I discovered Nutella while attending college in England and in that country, you can’t go to a store or to a friend’s house without seeing a jar. It’s like peanut butter to Americans! Nutella does have some dairy in it (skim milk and whey powder) and I just found a recipe to make your own that does not have dairy in it, and that I will share just as soon as I try it out!
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3 Ingredient, 1 Bite Brownies
Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup flour (I used almond flour but you can use white or whole wheat)
-13 oz. jar of Nutella
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Grease a baking dish and pour it all in. I made two of these and on the second one I added dairy-free chocolate chips to the top.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes and enjoy!
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Before I go, I want to share a crafting idea with you all. I typically send out 75 holiday cards and I tend to receive just as many back, lucky me! I made this Card Wreath years ago and it still continues to serve as the perfect statement and it’s durable, usually I only have to re-fix a few of the clothespins. This to is easy peasy to make and is a fun activity for your kiddos too!
All you’ll need to make this is an embroidery hoop, some gold spray paint, clothes pins, a hot glue gun, and a big bow. Spray paint the wheel first and while it’s drying, spray paint the clothes pins. Then using your hot glue gun, affix the clothes pins on the wheel about two inches apart. If you receive a lot of cards like I do, make the pins only an inch or so apart. Then, tie a big bow on top and begin pinning your cards up! Here’s what it’ll probably look like at the beginning and end of Christmas!
