I would like to share with you just one of the many holiday traditions we have as a family.

The Peppermint Pig Family Tradition

It’s almost Christmas in July so why not talk about a tradition~

THE PEPPERMINT PIG

My pig came from Saratoga Sweets.

The tradition of the famous Peppermint Pig started ages ago in the 1880′s with candy makers in Saratoga Springs, NY (that is where I live Bitches). This is why it is our very own tradition what we like to bring to our family (who come from all over). Though the Peppermint Pig is sold all over the nation, Saratoga County is its hometown. To this day they are made NO WHERE else (be jealous)! Today, the Peppermint Pig remains a fun and heartwarming tradition at my families holiday table and it makes a sweet and memorable holiday tradition… with Victorian roots!

This candy  pig represented good health, happiness and prosperity when it is broken. This sweet treats is made of hard peppermint candy –similar in taste and texture to a candy cane — and appropriately colored a very festive pink!

When my  family gathers together for our Christmas party, the tradition is to break the Peppermint Pig after dinner (inside a small cloth pouch) using a miniature hammer.  Everyone, even the littles, take a whack at the pig. Sometimes people even squeel like a pig (dont judge, you know you have a few wacky family members too). Every family member then shares in eating the sweet candy pieces, hoping for good fortune, good health, happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

If you would like a little more history as to why its a pig you can read here.

The post Family tradition – The peppermint Pig appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

Here is another great recipe for a skinny mini holiday. I hope you are all staying healthy and fit throughout this holiday season. IS IT ALMOST OVER YET? 

I have been enjoying writing and trying new recipes for you all. I guarantee this recipe will be sure to warm up your bones, but it won’t stick to your tights!

What you need:

source

• 1 cup of sliced carrots
• 1 cup of diced celery
• 1 cup diced onions
• 4 small potatoes already cooked and diced
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup cream
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of shredded cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

what you need to do: Add all ingredients to the pan and cook for 1 hour (till veggies are soft) Serve and enjoy with a salad and bread sticks.

The post Cream Corn Soup- Skinny Mini Holiday Recipes appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

I am opening this blog hop back up. I think this world could use a little more kindness. Show case your random act of kindness so other can read and be inspired.

random acts of kindness

I was truly inspired when I made my 30 before 30 list and one of the events I wanted to do was a random act of kindness for a stranger. I was down right proud of my accomplishment. It gave me joy, peace and sparked the compassion I was lacking for others.  It made me want to do it again. It’s like a chain of events.

Have you ever received a Random act of Kindness form a stranger? Someone ran to hold the door open for you, bought a DD coffee for you, had a penny when you need it? How did it make you feel? Thankful right?

The word “random” encourages us to look beyond our circle of friends and family. It is sometimes those completely unexpected gestures to or from total strangers that have the most impact on our lives. Practicing kindness is raising our awareness to those people surrounding us every day—at home, at work, on the street, in the subway—any one of whom may need an act of kindness . The word “random” does not necessarily mean “unplanned” as there are times when we are aware of someone’s need, and we plan a way to help out.

So here is where you come in.

I’m looking for you to be kind and compassionate to one another and I want to hear about your random acts of kindness.

I also have tons of stickers (that I won ) I want to give out to those who want to join in the kindness.
Email me that you are interested and include your snail mail address. I will send you 10 stickers that you can hand out to others or display with your act of kindness. Include the kids in the journey.

domesticallyseasoned@gmail.com

Here and HERE are ideas to help you start.

Also you can link up your story or a story of another Random act of kindness.

(please don’t link up your whole blog, just the post)

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Time to link up all your tasty, yet skinny and healthy holiday Recipes for the Skinny mini Holiday recipe blog HOP

Feel free to link up your favorite recipes that are on the healthy side of living. I know some of you are really good cooks.

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Cranberry Couscous Salad

Nothing screams Christmas and healthy like cranberries and couscous. This recipe requires no baking and I usually serve it as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup edamame
• 1/2 cup chopped seeded cucumber
• 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons honey dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup of any type of nut (almond, walnut, pine nut)

What you need to do:

Bring the cup of water to a boil and throw in the couscous. remove from heat and cover. Let stand for 5 mins and fluff with a fork.  Toss in the chopped veggies and all the other ingredients. Stir, cover and place in refrigerator for 2 hours.

This recipe was adapted slightly for my liking from Once a month mom.

get the InLinkz code

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Doing a lot baking this holiday?

Try baking your own goodies. It gives you the CONTROL over how much fat and the quality of the ingredients a recipe has. Fresh is best and these skinny mini banana muffins are tasty and fresh.

Below, Link- up your favorite skinny mini Holiday Recipe.

Skinny Mini Banana Muffins

What you need:

• 3  tbs. non sweetened applesauce
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup of agave nectar or maple syrup- sugar if you must
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1  1/2 cups of very ripe bananas
• 24 count mini muffin pan

The facts that make is Skinny Mini:

• Recipe yields 36 mini muffins
• Calorie count- Approximately 20 calories a muffin – Thank me later!

• Why applesauce?

Apple sauce is a substitute for butter in recipes. Butter is fat, apple sauce is healthy.

• Why Agave Nectar?

An all natural, organic substitute for white sugar. Agave has strong sweetening properties that make taste good but with a low glycemic Index. It means that it is slowly absorbed by the body and doesn’t cause the spikes in blood sugar that we find with white table sugar.

Directions:

Mash bananas. Add all the other ingredients. Stir till mixed well. Place in a non greased mini muffin pan. Bake on 375 for 9 mins.

The post Skinny Mini Banana Muffins appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

Join in on the fun and link up a healthy (skinny) mini holiday recipe blog hop.When it comes to Appetizer’s I am all over it. I recently made pesto cucumber roll ups. This is the best SKINNY mini holiday recipe for an easy, healthier holiday.

PESTO Cucumber ROLL UPS

What you need:

• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1 small  fresh garlic clove
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 Cucumbers

What you need to do:

• Combine basil leaves, garlic, olive oil, parm cheese and pine nuts in a food processor; pulse until well-blended.

• Thinly slice cucumber lengthwise into long strips

• Later the long strip with pesto- about a tablespoon
• Roll-up
• Pin with toothpick to keep them together.

The post Pesto Cucumber roll ups- Appetizer appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

Tis the season!

November through New Years I am surrounded by food, parties, drinks and way to many calories to count. So usually I don’t count and go on shoving food in my la boca (mouth).

This season is going to be different. Why?

Well first off I have my monthly goals and secondly I am finding & making healthy (skinny) holiday recipes.

I am co-hosting Skinny Mini Holiday Recipe blog Party with Emilie over at Inch by inch Step by step.

This year can be different for you too.  Lets focus on skinny holiday recipes without all the fat and butter, sugar and weight gain.

How is this going to happen you ask?

Simple!  A whole glorious group of mighty fine bloggers are joining forces to make sure that we ALL make it through the holidays still fitting into our pre-holiday skinny jeans!  You wanna join in the fun of this mega-holiday-blog-hop?   We sure hope you do because the more the merrier!

There’s only a few simple rules:

1)   When you stop by the featured blog of the week, please make sure that you add them to your following list – I’d rather see my following numbers grow than the number on the scale, wouldn’t you?

2)   Try a little bit of comment love.  I love nothing more than to get a tiny bit of love back (especially if you try the recipe and it’s AMAZE-BALLS!)

3)   Grab the button and plaster that sucker all over your blog – helps to get the word out and get even more people to our blogs.  It takes a village after all, right?

Grab the button

<div align="center"><a href="http://inchbyinchandstepbystep.blogspot.ca/" title="Inch By Inch and Step by step" target="_blank"><img src="http://i48.tinypic.com/2yknxo5.jpg" alt="Inch By Inch and Step by step" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

The post Skinny Mini Holiday Party appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

If you missed out on last week’s features; you can check them out right here!

This week’s co-hosts are:

• Julie from This Gal Cooks (host)

• Janelle from Domestically Seasoned

• Nik from Confessions of a Makeup Addict

 If you are interested in co-hosting, please contact  (thisgalcooks@gmail.com) and let her know when you would like to co-host.)

Rules (please follow them):

1. A follow of your hosts via Google Friend Connect, Twitter, Blog Lovin, Facebook or RSS Feed is greatly appreciated. 

2  Check out your fellow bloggers’ projects. Leave them some wonderful comments to let them know that you stopped by.

3. Link up your recipes, crafts or DIY projects. No giveaways or shops, please.

4. Grab a button. It’s not mandatory but it helps get the word out about the party.

The post Marvelous Monday- Blog hop appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

For the last two months I have signed up with Foodie Penpal over at The lean Green Bean.

The Foodie Penpal program is an opportunity to swap food with people from all over the United States. It has been really neat and exciting to try new foods from my penpals. I recently had the opportunity to become pen pals with a gal named Tammy from the state of  Washington. I asked a few questions via email about her taste preferences and her dietary needs so I can send her things she can eat. Upon conversing we realized we have a special bond. We both have had the opportunity to reside in NY state, in almost the same town. Here is what Tammy has to say:

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My Name is Tammy, and I LOVE food!

 I ran across Foodie Pen pal (FPP) when a friend of mine, Sandra of www.HeartyAppletite.com told me about it. She said it was a lot of fun. So being the foodie that I am, I had to investigate!

September was my second month participating, and I am HOOKED! I not only love to receive my box, but it is a blast shopping for my FPP as well. Searching out the best of our local goods.

Living in the Pacific Northwest makes it easy to find great things. I live in a small town in the foothills of the Cascade Range called Battle Ground, WA. We are also about 30 minutes from Portland, OR. There is a HUGE emphases on eating local here. We are very mindful of how are food is grown or raised as well. CSA farms are very popular here. There are even CSA farms popping up around here that sell authentically raised, cage free meat, with no added hormones. This really is a great place to FIND GREAT FOOD!!!!

The first thing I noticed when I received my box was that is was not on its first FPP voyage! That thrilled me because I am passionate about reusing and re-purposing ANYTHING!!!

I opened it was SO EXCITED to see fresh canned salsa from my FPP garden!! She warned me in my note, that it was spicy, so with that it was GAME ON! I had to open it right then and needless to say in 3 days it was just a memory:-)

Another thing that was a favorite in my box was coffee!! We are known for being passionate coffee drinkers out here in the Pacific Northwest, so that was an awesome find. It is smooth yet a good dark roast. Great for the cold fall mornings.

Followed by that, were amazing New York Flatbread crackers, and the most delicious pickled garlic that tasted amazing in my bloody Mary during my happy hour!!

Despite my love of coffee and bloody Marys, I am a very healthy eater. (As I told my FPP) So the Madras Lentils were the perfect lunch. Very spicy and hearty, with nothing artificial added. Just real food. It’s great to find a convenient lunch for on-the-go that does not need to be refrigerated, that is healthy and hearty!

Thank you, THANK YOU Janelle for a wonderful Box of goodness!

Tammy

It’s so much fun to have a foodie Pen pal. In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for October, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by October 4th as pairings will be emailed on October 5th!

The post Foodie Penpal -August appeared first on Domestically Seasoned.

Why should the Magic bullet be on your baby registry? It’s not your typical baby registry item, but let me show you the ways it helps any mother out.

I am very glad that my mother gifted me this product. At first, when she asked if I wanted the Magic Bullet, I said,” Mom, I don’t need another sexy toy”.  She reassured me that it wasn’t what I thought it was and that It would be really handy in the Kitchen.  So I had a few plans for it.

I made baby food with it: If you plan on making your own baby food, the Magic Bullet is your versatile counter-top magician food processor.  Unlike bulky blenders, The Magic Bullet is so handy, easy to use and to clean up. Who has the time for a big ta-do when you have a little one to take care of! I am also glad I was able to make my own baby food. They also make a baby bullet just for making baby food.  But instead of just using this item once, we opted for the larger version so we can make more than just baby food.

I made tasty Yogurt Smoothies for my growing Toddler

I made tasty Pesto for my Hungry Family

I made a mixed Drink to relax after the toddler goes to bed

The Magic Bullet is a great tool for any family. We use our magic bullet weekly. I make drinks in it to food items, to party dips to bread. It was one of the best baby Items I have ever received. It’s multipurpose function in the kitchen takes up less room on my counter then 5 gadgets that do the same job.

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Today I am co-hosting Toddle Along Tuesday with Growing Up Geeky.

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