My Prayer Binder

by Julie Peters///Uncategorized

Photo credit: unsplash.com

A prayer journal is not the answer to a deeper, richer prayer life, but in my experience it helps. When I was a freshman in college I attended a workshop for a prayer binder led by one of my dear friends. I had attempted to keep various prayer journals and notebooks before, but for some reason this method just stuck out to me.

After that workshop I worked on creating a binder that worked for me, and I began to notice a difference in my prayer life. I was more focused and more consistent. There were times I stopped using it, and I always noticed that my prayers were brief and often not focused. Every time I go back to using it again I wonder why I ever stopped.

This is a method that works for me, but it is simply an aid. Nothing will ever replace prayer or do it for me. Prayer is still hard. It still takes time, effort, and patience, but this helps me stay consistent and focused when I stop to talk to my God.

There are so many different ways a prayer binder can be set up and used, but I this is the way that works for me right now. I have changed it several times since I first started using it as my life has changed, and I know it will change again. This is what I have now for this time in my life.

My Prayer Binder

I have my binder split into several sections. While there are certain things I will pray for every day, I have chosen certain categories to focus on for each day of the week so I can spend more time in deep prayer. If I tried to pray for everything every day I would be overwhelmed and end up skimming over things to “get done” more quickly.

I did not post any pictures of my binder because it is nothing fancy or beautiful. It is just lined paper and tabs to separate the sections. There is nothing wrong with making a beautiful prayer binder/journal, I just do not have the time or creativity to put that much effort into it!

Praise

The first section I have is one that I use every day. I try to begin my time talking to God by praising Him, and here I have a list of things to praise Him for, usually with a verse reference. I found several lists on Pinterest that I began with, but I mostly write things down as I come across them in my Bible reading

Mountain

This is the only section that I always want to keep on Sunday. The rest of the sections are assigned days for organizational purposes, but it really doesn’t matter what day of the week I focus on them.

This is the section I use to prepare to worship on Sunday morning. I have hymns and Bible passages to meditate and reflect on, as well as a list of topics to pray for to help prepare my heart and focus on worshiping with the saints.

I call this section “mountain” because of a sermon I heard once. The speaker talked about preparing ourselves to worship God just as the Israelites spent time preparing themselves to come before the mountain of God to receive the Law. Calling it “mountain” reminds me of that story and what it means to come before God in worship.

Marriage and Motherhood

In this section I have lists of Bible verses and topics to pray for in the areas of marriage and motherhood. I do not write out prayers, but I have bullet points of things I want to pray for. My prayers are different every time, but I always know that I want to pray for Sam’s role as a preacher or for Mae to grow up to know God, for example.

Family

Here I have pages for each of my family members with bullet points of things to pray for them. If there is a more time-sensitive need I’ll write the date by it when I begin praying, then add another date when the prayer is answered.

I also have a list of extended family members to pray for, though I do not dedicate entire pages of specific prayers for them.

People

I wasn’t sure what to call this section, so I just went with the creative title of “People.” Here I have lists of people to pray for in different categories, again with bullet points of things to pray for them. I often write out Bible verses to pray for them as well, as I do with the sections of “Marriage and Motherhood” and “Family”.

I have lists of couples to pray for their relationships, single people desiring a mate, and spiritually sick. I also have a list of friends and acquaintances to pray for with specific requests I have gotten from them. Again, I’ll add dates if it is time sensitive.

Church

In this section I have lists of churches and people in the church to pray for. I pray for the elders and deacons if a church has them, and I try to pray for families and people individually. I also have lists of people and works overseas, praying for Christians and for the gospel to spread.

Personal

Here I have several Bible passages written out that pertain to my specific struggles. As with the other sections, I have bullet points to pray through as I ask God to help me.

Psalm

Once a week I try to study a Psalm and pray through it. This is a new section for me and I haven’t done it for long, but I am enjoying it so far. In my binder I write down the theme of the Psalm and a brief outline. Then I go through the Psalm and write down adoration, thanksgiving, confession, and supplication for my own prayer.

I hope this has been helpful, and I hope you will consider making your own prayer binder! Please ask me any questions if you would like more information.

What do you do to help you pray?

Two Little Things

by Julie Peters///breastfeeding, Living, Parenting

Often it’s little things that make a big difference in life. I have so many huge things in my life that make it wonderful, but these are two “little” things that I am enjoying right now.

Haaka

I had heard of this before, then forgot about it. Mama told me about it when she saw it on someone’s Instagram story and told me I had to get it! I still try to pump often, to keep up my milk supply and to have extra milk in the freezer for date nights and emergencies, but sometimes it seems like the biggest hassle. No, it doesn’t take that much time or effort, but it takes just enough to make me almost dread it! But no longer. I ordered an inexpensive (thirteen dollar) Haaka and our freezer is now full of milk. The hands-free method makes pumping a lot easier, and I love having milk in the freezer.

I still struggle slightly with milk supply, and I can tell a big difference if I stop taking my supplements (goat’s rue and fenugreek), or hydrating, eating well, etc. So I still don’t get massive amounts of milk, but I can usually accumulate enough for a bottle in a day or two, which I think is pretty amazing.

So this Haaka pump is making my life a little better.

Jogging Stroller

I always say Mississippi winter weather is bipolar. In one week it went from 20 degrees to 65! On the days that the temperature is close to 65 we have been enjoying our jogging stroller.

We’ve mostly used it together so our family can run together, but I have taken Mae on a few runs by myself as well. We love it! I am running a lot more now, and Mae enjoys it too.

These are the little things that are making life a little sweeter right now.

What is making your life better?

February Goals

by Julie Peters///Learning, Living

Happy February!

I am a few days late posting about my February goals, but I have already been trying to implement them.

This month’s focus is Marriage. I thought February was a good month to focus on marriage because after my relationship with God, my relationship with my husband is the most important. I focused on establishing habits with God during January, and now I will focus on establishing habits with my husband, continuing what I began in January. Another reason I thought February was appropriate is because Sam’s birthday was yesterday, on the fourth, and Valentine’s Day is later this month.

My goals for this month include reading books on marriage, studying Ephesians 5 (I am still studying Ephesians through this month and chapter five is where I am now!), and doing various other things I have planned to strengthen my relationship with Sam.

Sam’s Birthday

Sam had an “adult birthday,” but I think it was a good one. I gave him one gift the night before, and on his birthday he had to go out of town for work. Thankfully he was actually able to get home early, so we went on a family run when he got back. This was our second time to run with Mae in the jogging stroller and we loved it! I am so thankful we get to run together again.

When we got done running I heated up the falafel I had made earlier for dinner. We had pitas, falafel, oven fries, tzatiki sauce, and toppings for the falafel for dinner. For birthday dessert we had banana ice cream.

We finished the night after Mae went to bed watching a documentary on Hannah Arendt, but we did not finish it because we were both exhausted and falling asleep.

I am so thankful for Sam and all he has done for me and so many others. He has been a huge blessing to so many the past 26 years and I pray he will have many more years to continue to bless others!

What are your February goals?

5 Hospitality Tips

by Julie Peters///Learning, Living

Sam and I really enjoy having people into our home, and here are five tips I’ve learned that help make serving others with hospitality much easier.

When we first got married we talked about how we looked forward to having people over and using the time to get to know people and use it as a type of ministry and encouragement.

Now that Mae is here I do not have a lot of extra time to prepare elaborate meals or deep clean the house every time we want to have someone over. We did take a break for a little while, but we have started back inviting people into our home and our goal is to invite at least two families per month. It has already been so helpful and encouraging for us, and I am learning to simplify a lot! Here are some ideas that I’ve discovered are helpful for me in this stage of life.

1. Make double to freeze

We had a potluck at our house one Sunday afternoon and I made a pot of chili. I went ahead and bought a large package of ground beef and cooked the whole thing, but only put half of it in the chili and froze the other half. A few weeks later when we had company I made spaghetti and it was so much simpler! All I had to do was boil pasta and thaw the beef to mix with the sauce (that I did make, but I could have bought jarred sauce and simplified even more!). I chopped a quick salad and heated some store-bought French bread.

When I made chicken potpie for our guests I used chicken that I had frozen a while back. Someone made us a roast chicken after Mae was born and I went ahead and froze half of it since we wouldn’t be able to eat it very quickly. The chicken potpie did not turn out perfectly, but having the chicken on hand definitely made it easier!

If you’re already making something, it isn’t hard to do double and freeze it. That will make planning for guests much easier!

2. It’s okay to take shortcuts

I am definitely one who wants to make everything homemade, mostly because I enjoy it so much. But it isn’t always the best! In Romania I tried to make a homemade pie crust and it ended up being so tough you could barely eat it. If I had bought a crust it would have been better.

Sometimes it is better just for time’s sake! I love making homemade bread and I would have loved to make homemade French bread the night we had spaghetti for guests, but it would have just made me more stressed. We had guests over two nights in a row that week, and on top of my school and trying to keep the house clean, it would have been too much.

Cake mix and brownie mix is great! Yes, homemade might be better, but the mixes taste delicious too. Your guests will be delighted with something warm and sweet, no matter how it was made.

3. Don’t worry too much about cleaning

It’s not good to live in a pigsty, but your house doesn’t have to be sparkling either. You are doing to notice the crumbs on the floor or the dust on the shelf a lot more than your guest is. My main priorities for cleaning before guests come are the floors in the main areas, such as the kitchen and living room, clean counters and appliances in the kitchen (but I don’t go deep cleaning my oven or anything…) and general clutter tidied up. But sometimes not even all that gets done, or I forget to sweep up the pile of crumbs from the floor, but anything is better than nothing.

4. Keep it Simple

I’m sure your guests would love an elaborate three-course meal at a beautifully decorated table, but they will also love a simple meal on a clean table with minimal additions. You can serve spaghetti, salad, and bread on your everyday dinner dishes and light a candle in the room. You can put the butter in a nice dish or the bread in a basket for a nice touch, but your plastic dish or a plate will do also.

Aside from the food, I like to light a couple candles or have oils in the diffuser, and we like to play soft music in the background. I like using cloth napkins, but that is normal for us and they aren’t anything fancy! If I’m feeling up to it I LOVE using nice serving dishes that were given to us as wedding gifts, but if I don’t have time to wash them and arrange food on them, I don’t bother. 

5. Be calm and happy

This is one I am definitely still working on. The first time Sam and I had guests over in Romania I was so stressed that Sam almost cancelled it last minute. As soon as something goes wrong I feel like shutting down, but I am learning that my guests do not care, and it will be better for me, for Sam, and for our guests if I remain calm and try to go with the flow.

It is great to want to do everything the best you can, but that’s all you can do. Strive for perfection, but settle for your best.

I hope these are helpful for you! Happy hosting!

Disney with a Baby: 6 Tips

by Julie Peters///Adventuring, Living

Earlier this month Sam, Mae, and I went on a trip to Disney world with my family and three other families. We had a party of 25! It was an adventure; exhausting, but so fun and filled with memories.

This was my first (and perhaps last!) trip with a baby, so I am by no means an expert. However, here are a few tips I learned from our time at Disney with a four-month-old baby.

1. Go with family!

Or at least with other people you are close to. There is no way I would have survived without all the help of my family and the other friends we went with. They helped so much with holding and entertaining Mae, and watching her so Sam and I could do some things together that Mae could not do. If it weren’t for them the trip would not have been worth it!

2. Make sure to do the things baby can do

I took Mae to get her picture made with characters, we watched shows, and went on rides without a height limit. I tried to stay out of rides and shows that would be too overwhelming for her, but she really enjoyed looking at all the lights and sights. The first thing she went to was Country Bear Jamboree and she was mesmerized! I absolutely loved looking at her face. We also did Buzz Lightyear (Mama held her), It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean (which I would not have done again had I remembered what the ride was like!), and Winnie the Pooh.

Mae also just loved walking around and looking at everything. She smiled, talked, and laughed all day and slept so well at night. She got scared and started crying in one show (the Nemo show at Epcot), but it was just because it was loud and she was tired.

I never realized how loud things were until Mae was there! Overall I think we were able to make good judgement on what to bring her into and she loved it.

         

3. For things baby can’t do, use rider swap

For the rides with a height requirement we used the rider swap. Before the rest of your party gets in line you scan your magic band or Disney card along with two other people, then go wait while your party waits in line and rides the ride. Then, you can go through the fast pass line (much faster!) with the two people who also scanned. This way I was able to do just about any ride and I didn’t have to do it by myself. If we had fast passes already we were usually able to split up the group or there was someone who didn’t want to ride to watch Mae, and other than that we used the rider swap.

4. Bring a stroller

Mae did not ride in her stroller much, but it was so nice to have to put all our food and baby gear in. It was also nice for the few times she was happy enough to ride in, or for when she would take a nap reclined in the seat. It was a little troublesome to park the stroller several times during the day, but overall it was worth it.

5. Find a good nursing cover so you can feed anywhere!

I brought a cover that a dear friend made for me, but it was much like this one. This was the best thing ever! It was so easy to use and I really fed Mae all over Disney. I fed her on benches, on the ground, on rocks, in restaurants, in shows, on a ride, and once even in line! This cover made it so nice because I could see her at all times thanks to the plastic tubing in the top, but I was always totally covered to everyone else. It was heavy enough that it was not see-through, but light enough that I didn’t feel like Mae was suffocating.

6. Packing Tips

Each day I packed more diapers than I thought I would need, and at least three outfits. I also had baby sunscreen and a bottle in case of emergency. I didn’t want to get caught somewhere without Mae and her get too hungry, so I had a bottle with boiled water in it and a bottle with formula powder. Thankfully we never had to use it, but I felt better having it there!

Other necessities we packed were water bottles to refill, meals (we packed pb and banana sandwiches, baked potatoes, and hummus each day) and plenty of snacks. Between walking all over the place and nursing all day I felt like I was constantly hungry! We made sure we had plenty of homemade granola bars, apples, oranges, carrots, and pretzels for snacks.

I’m sure there are things I could have done differently to make things easier, but this is what we did that worked for us! We are so thankful for this experience and all the memories at the most magical place on earth.

January Goals and Word of the Year

by Julie Peters///Uncategorized

2019 Word of the Year

My word for 2019 is rest.

This year I want to rest in God.

I want to rest and focus on my relationship with my husband.

I want to rest and focus on my relationship with my daughter, family, friends, and other people.

I want to rest, slow down, and focus. In order to focus on relationships.

In Genesis chapter two God establishes the Sabbath as He rested on the seventh day. Throughout the Old Testament God’s people were to rest on the seventh day as well, but it was not merely a day to rest physically and refrain from exerting oneself, but it was a day to give everything to God, to trust in Him to provide, and cultivate one’s relationship with Him.

Of course today we no longer have the command to keep the Sabbath day as the Israelites did, but we are still called to give everything to God, trust in Him, and grow in our relationship with Him. This is hard to do if I am constantly going, constantly busy, constantly distracted. Relationships take time, effort, and rest.

This year I want to slow down and take time away from all the busyness and craziness of life to rest with God first, and also rest with Sam, Mae, family, friends, and those around me. It will take focus and intentionality, but it will all be more than worth it.

January Goals

My focus for January is spirituality. I want to focus on establishing spiritual habits to continue throughout the year. These goals include: Bible study, prayer, and memory work.

Bible Study

Thanks to the idea from a dear friend of mine, I am going to focus on a different book each month. January is Ephesians, and February is I Peter. I have not decided on the rest of the books yet, but I plan on choosing shorter books, such as the epistles. I have a schedule of different ways to study the book, and the goal is by the end of the month to have a good grasp on what the book is about, be able to tell someone else about it, and apply what I learned to my life. The different ways include reading in different translations, writing the book, doing the inductive study method on each chapter, outlining and diagramming the book, and finding themes, applications, and writing a summary of the whole book.

So far I have each day of January planned out for studying Ephesians. If it works well, I’ll use a similar structure for I Peter.  If something doesn’t work for me, I’ll tweak it for the next month.

Prayer

Prayer is something I constantly struggle with and constantly seek improvement with. Consistency and focus are the main things I want to improve on.

My freshman year of college I attended a little workshop, led by someone I greatly admire, on creating and using a prayer binder. I put a lot of work into making one and I used it for a while. I would get out of the habit, then go back to using it and I always found that my prayers were more focused and I was able to stay in the habit of praying more easily.

When I returned to Romania last January after a two week visit I accidentally left my prayer binder in the States and I was so sad! I should have just made a new one, but I didn’t and I haven’t really used it since. Now I have it back but so many things have changed in my life, so I am working on redoing it. I plan on posting about it in the future, so that will keep me accountable to finish it!

Memory Work

Growing up we memorized countless verses and passages together as a family. Each morning before we started school we had a Bible lesson, where we worked on memory verses and studied a portion of the Bible together. When I left for FC Mama copied each verse into a notebook for me to review and remember.

I am sad to say that I did not review them as much as I should have, and now several of the verses are quite fuzzy. I am working on a memory box to help me re-memorize the verses (which I’m hoping will be quick the second time!) and I hope to add new verses and passages this year. I also plan on doing a post on the memory box soon.

So, my goals to focus on for January are to work on being consistent and forming habits with Bible study, prayer, and memory work.

What are your spiritual goals for 2019?

New Year’s Goals

by Julie Peters///Uncategorized

2019 Goals

I am one of those people who like to set New Year’s resolutions, or goals. The New Year feels like a fresh start and it is always such a fun time to set new goals. But I am also one of those people who are excited in January, and by March I’ve forgotten my goals.

This year I’ve decided to set monthly goals that will somewhat build on each other. The goal with this setup is that I will not get burnt out after the first month, and I won’t try to do too much at once (which will also lead to burnout).

I got inspiration for this setup from Gretchen Rubin’s book The Happiness Project. I tried to do my own happiness project a couple of years ago, but it fell by the wayside as I began my last semester at Florida College while planning my wedding (although really, Mama and her two best friends did almost all the planning), and then I got married and moved to Romania.

I am hoping this year will be different. Things will always come up in life to make it more difficult, but hopefully I can stick to these goals of improving myself and serving God and others.

I have chosen my word for the year, and I will be posting about it in more detail later. My word to focus on this year is rest.

Here are my monthly goals for 2019:

January: Spirituality

February: Marriage

March: Simplicity

April: Friendship

May: Writing

June: Homemaking

July: Exploring

August: Organization

September: Reading

October: Family

November: Gratitude

December: Giving

Are you someone who sets New Year’s resolutions? What are your goals for 2019?

Our Year Review: 2018

by Julie Peters///Adventuring, Learning, Living, Parenting, Pregnancy, Romania

2018 has been a year full of blessings and hardships, sadness and joy, and lots of huge life changes. It has been both one of the hardest and one of the best years of my life.

January

On January 2, the day Sam and I left Mississippi to return to Romania, I found out that I was pregnant. It was unexpected and I was terrified, and it definitely made it hard to leave. Not long after we returned we decided to return to the States before our baby was born, but there was still so much unknown. Where will we live? What will we do? It was a difficult time for us, but God always knows best and He helped us through all the uncertainty.

I was sick and depressed the first several weeks of my pregnancy, which did not help the situation. Plans started coming together and Sam and I tried to stay encouraged with the work in Romania as we continued to volunteer, attend events, and host studies.

February

Things started getting a little better. I started going to the store by myself, which was a huge feat! Sam turned 25 and I made him a birthday dinner, though I’m pretty sure I ended up just eating toast or a potato as I was still feeling sick from the pregnancy.

By the end of the month I began feeling better and I started back running, slowly, but surely. Sam and I checked off our bucket list to go skating in the Craiova center!

March

We traveled to Brandon, England for Sam to do a week study on evangelism with the church there. We enjoyed our time in England and got to visit a dear friend from Florida College in Cambridge where she was attending school.

April

We travelled again, this time to Israel! I was still feeling slightly nauseous at times, but overall things were getting so much better.

Sam and I began volunteering at an after school organization, teaching English, and I also began leading an English book club at the local library.

May

We traveled to Moldova on an overnight train (an adventure for sure), and when we returned to Bucharest my family flew in for a visit! It was absolutely wonderful to show them where we lived and take them on all sorts of adventures. Daddy, Clay, Sam, and Sam’s dad all ran a trail race at Transylvania to add to the adventure of the trip.

June

Sam and I celebrated our one year anniversary! It is still hard for me to believe that we’ve been married over a year now. Our first year of marriage was challenging, but it was wonderful. For our anniversary we took a trip to Bulgaria. Our list of countries visited had grown quite long over our year of marriage!

We also had two evangelistic events this month in Craiova. Sam and his dad tirelessly advertised, spoke to people, planned and taught the lessons, and we had a great turnout both times!

July

We returned to the States when I was 32 weeks pregnant. I turned 21 the day after we got back! I went to the doctor and we found out we were officially having a little girl! I was told my baby was “probably” a girl at 13 weeks when I was in Romania, but it was good to have confirmation. We spent this month trying to get settled with life back in the States and we lived with my parents while we looked for a place to live. Sam began preaching and also began a full time job as a healthcare corporate data analyst.

August

We found a house and closed on it August 22! Then on August 24 our lives changed forever when I was induced and our precious, perfect baby Mae was born. We wanted to do some work on the house before moving in, and I wanted to be near Mama for the first couple of weeks after Mae was born, so we continued to live with my parents.

September

Sam’s parents and two of his brothers and their wives (and Mae’s cousin baby John!) came to visit. They also helped a LOT with preparing our house to move in, and towards the end of the month we officially moved in. I thought the timing was perfect, because by the time we moved in I was feeling much more confident with caring for Mae by myself. I was so spoiled the first 2-3 weeks of Mae’s life because Mama would rock her to sleep every night, allowing me to get a few hours of sleep before she would need to eat again.

October

Sam preached a Gospel Meeting at Rienzi, the church where he preaches. We continued to get used to our new life with a new baby and Sam’s new jobs. Life was so good, but it was also really hard at times. We had so many life changes at once. But we also had so much support and help that got us through the harder times. I went through a hard phase with breastfeeding Mae, and for a time I thought I would not be able to breastfeed exclusively. Again, with lots of help and support I was able to boost my supply and Mae began gaining as she should.

November

Mae continued to grow like a weed! She was developing and growing into the sweetest personality. Some days were hard for sure (and still are!) but I feel like every day I get to know her more and enjoy her more. It is all going too fast!

I started back doing online school to finish my Bachelor’s degree. It was a struggle at first. I felt very torn between finishing my degree (I was so close!) and wanting to quit and completely focus on being a wife and mama. I have amazing support in my parents and in Sam, and I am learning how to balance it all. I will be so thankful when I finish if I stick with it!

Mae had her first Thanksgiving at Mimi and Pop’s house (my parents, and I think they finally decided on these grandparent names!). We also had two more Thanksgivings, with Daddy’s siblings and family, and then with Mama’s brother and his family.

December

We began the month with Sam working diligently on his master’s thesis and me trying to stay motivated to do school. Mae started laughing and continued to grow and be the happiest, sweetest baby!

We had our first Christmas together as a family of three and it was wonderful. We are so blessed. We are so thankful. We have a wonderful life! I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in 2019.

Our First Christmas

by Julie Peters///Living

Yesterday was our first Christmas as a family of three! We decided that yesterday was the best day for us to do our family Christmas because of other family gatherings we have. We plan on being with my parents and all of my siblings on Christmas Day.

Our little family of three! Sam is wearing the sweater I knitted him for Christmas. I finished it before Mae was born!

We began the day while Mae was still asleep. We made coffee and gave each other one gift–a book. We decided that one of our family traditions would be to give each other a book to read all day, because we both love reading. Hopefully our kids will too! We read together for a while, then we decided to give each other the rest of our gifts before Mae woke up.

Reading our Christmas books

After Mae got up around 8 we had breakfast, which was crock pot apple oatmeal. We both love oatmeal and eat it every morning, but this was “fancy” Christmas oatmeal.

The rest of the day we just hung out, read our books, and played with Mae. I made Indian curry, potatoes, and flatbread for our Christmas dinner. When we were dating there was an Indian restaurant near the school where we loved to go on dates, and we both love Indian food. I have a huge cookbook of Indian recipes and I bought some special spices just for these recipes. I followed the recipes exactly (a rare occurrence for me) and they turned out really well!

Mae already loves to read

We ended the night watching It’s a Wonderful Life. It is a wonderful life, indeed.

Merry Christmas!

Getting Ready for Christmas part 3

by Julie Peters///Living, Recipes

Christmas baking!

The last two days have been filled with Christmas baking! I went over to Mama and Daddy’s house so we could do our baking together. I never would have gotten even a fraction of this done on my own!

We have all our recipes for goodies we make every year, such as oyster crackers, rice krispy goodies, or reindeer food (also known as muddy buddies). You can read on Mama’s blog here to get all the recipes for these goodies. We also usually try a new recipe, and sometimes it gets added to the normal, but usually we just make it once and decide it is enough. This year I found two new recipes to try. The eggnog cookies are good, but I’m not sure they’re going to enter the traditional Christmas list. The Christmas bark, however, was so easy to make and it looks so pretty! It stands a greater chance of being added to the list 🙂

Eggnog Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. softened butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. eggnog

1 egg beaten

3 and 3/4 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. nutmeg

Frosting:

1 and 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4-1/2 c. eggnog (to spreading consistency)

1 tsp. light Karo Syrup

1 tsp meringue powder

Instructions:

Mix together butter and sugar.

Add in eggnog and egg.

Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

Chill for at least one hour.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Cool on drying rack.

Mix all the ingredients for the frosting with a whisk and frost the cookies. Let them dry for a bit and the frosting will harden so you can put them in a tin to give away (or to put on a plate to eat yourself)!

Christmas Bark

Ingredients:

2 packages chocolate almond bark

Christmas colored M&Ms (I used peanut butter M&Ms, but you can use any type you like)

Roasted peanuts (or omit for peanut allergies)

Pretzel twists

Christmas colored sprinkles

Instructions:

Melt almond bark in a microwave safe bowl until soft and melted.

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and spread the melted chocolate in a thin layer (about 1/4” thick)

Top with M&Ms, peanuts, pretzels, and sprinkles and let cool

Break into pieces and enjoy!

Have you done any Christmas baking this year? What is your favorite recipe?