Christmas!

So Christmas is coming! Okay, I know. For most of you shopping won't begin until after Thanksgiving so the idea of turning on some Christmas music and jamming out while coming up with creative ideas for your family is not on your list of things to do today. I, on the other hand, am faced with a very serious dilemma.

It all started back in elementary school. I am not entirely sure how old I was, probably about 9, but I started a tradition where I would make every member of my family a Christmas present. Some years I have bought presents as well (especially for the kids), while other years I relied entirely on handmade gifts.

Last year was a struggle. Now that I have two families to make gifts for I have a total of 20 people to make gifts for. That doesn't include extended family members. Just the siblings, nieces and nephews, grandparents, and great-grandparents (the ones that are really close to us). It took a LOOONG time, a lot of effort, and quite a bit of money to make all those presents last year. This year I have to factor in my own child in the mix.

So what do I do? Do I give up on my tradition of making Christmas presents for everyone, even though it is part of the reason that I love Christmas? Do I just select some people to make presents for? Do I try to come up with presents that are less complicated? And if I come up with things that are less complicated, than what do I do? How do I craft when I have a little one who demands my attention? How exactly do I handle Christmas with so many people to adorn with love? And how do I get it all from Delaware to Arizona (we are going back the beginning of December but will be traveling with the baby and I will be a good 6 ish months pregnant)?

There's my dilemma.

Betty Crocker Coffee Cake Recipe Altered

I took one of our "family" recipes (that mom got out of a Betty Crocker cookbook) and altered it some tonight. This was one of my favorite breakfasts growing up. We could look forward to the house smelling like cinnamon and brown sugar melting in the oven many Sunday mornings. As much as I love the original, I wanted to make it healthier. The altered version still has a lot of sugar in it and I am not sure that I like the way the Splenda tastes in it (I have only cooked with Splenda one other time) but I still think it turned out pretty well. I'm not sure where I would cut out more sugar. Probably the applesauce. The brown sugar is essential, although I have heard that there is a Splenda version of that. I don't know how good it is though. Anyway, here's what I came up with. (The things in parenthesis are what I altered the recipe to include. The directions are in my own awkward words.)

¼ cup oil (cinnamon applesauce)

1 egg

½ cup milk (fat free)

1 ½ cup flour  (4 tbsp wheat germ, ¾ cup white flour, ½ cup whole wheat flour)

¾ cup sugar (splenda)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

(2 apples, green, finely cut)

Mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another. Add dry mixture to the wet mixture. Add the apple and stir until mixed and all the dry ingredients are moistened.

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp flour (whole wheat)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp melted butter (Smart Balance margarine)

Mix ingredients together to create a crumble. Sprinkle on top of the cake. Bake in the oven at 375° for 25 minutes.

Nutrition Facts:

1 Serving: (8 servings total) (for the altered version)

Calories: 145

Fat: 7

Sat: .4
Trans: 0

Chol: 27

Carb: 29

Fiber: 3

Sugar: 12

Sodium: 268

Protein: 5

Potassium: 68

Iron: 6%

Vit A: 2%

Vit E: 5%

Vit D: 4%

Calcium: 4%

Vit C: 9%

Vit B12: 2%

Vit B6: 2%

Thiamin: 3%

Phosphorus: 5%

Magnesium: 2%

Zinc: 2%

Riboflavin: 1%