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Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish

December 18th, 2014October 3rd, 2024

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

This Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish is the perfect breakfast, or dessert, for the holiday season! Use canned fruit to make this deliciously easy Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish.

Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish

I have a fun dessert and/or breakfast recipe for you guys to try for the holiday season. This Candy Cane Cherry and Cream Cheese Danish is not only super cute, it’s pretty easy to make 🙂 Not to mention, it’s festive! I ran to Target and spent less than $10 on everything I needed, I love the ease of using the canned pie filling in the recipe.

You only need a few ingredients, which you might already have in your refrigerator or pantry since it’s baking season.

How To Make a Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish

The “hardest” part is shaping the crescent rolls into a candy cane, which isn’t really hard at all 🙂 I kept 2 of the crescents rolls separate, so I could use those for my stripes later.

You could use a knife and make your edges all perfect, but I figured since we were going to be baking it away and covering it with delicious cream cheese and fruit, that wasn’t needed.

Once you put on the cream cheese and powdered sugar mixture down, you add on the delicious cherries.

After the cherries are on you will add stripes to the candy cane.

Use the remaining crescent rolls (the two that you set aside earlier) and cut them into small strips.

Yummy Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish

Add the strips along the candy cane.

When you are done baking it, you will add on the powdered sugar glaze.

How To Store Leftovers

If you have leftovers (though that’s unlikely!), store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. To reheat, pop the danish in the oven at a low temperature for a few minutes to keep the pastry flaky and warm.

Now, here’s the recipe! Make sure to print or pin it so that you can make it again and again 🙂 Think of all the fun seasonal shapes we can make…

Print Recipe

Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish

This Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish is the perfect breakfast, or dessert, for the holiday season! Use canned fruit to make this deliciously easy Candy Cane Fruit and Cream Cheese Danish.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Course: Breakfast or Dessert

Keyword: breakfast, christmas, danish, dessert, easy recipe, holidays

Calories: 1487kcal

Author: Tracy

Cost: 10

Equipment

Oven

Ingredients

1 can crescent rolls I used the reduced fat
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
⅓ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ can cherry pie filling you could also use strawberry

Glaze

1 tbsp powdered sugar
milk as needed very small amount

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Open the crescent rolls and set 2 aside
Shape the remaining crescent rolls into candy cane
Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl and mix well
Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the candy cane shape
Spoon pie filling on top of cream cheese mixture
Using the remaining two crescent rolls that you set aside, cut into strips, and lay on top of your pie filling to finish off your candy cane
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes or until golden brown
Drizzle with Glaze and Enjoy!

Glaze Instructions

Take a small amount of milk (1 teaspoon at a time) and slowly mix in powdered sugar until you get a glaze consistency

Nutrition

Candy Cane Cherry and Cream Cheese Danish

I hope you enjoy this Candy Cane Cherry and Cream Cheese Recipe as much as we do!

Happy Holidays!

While you are at it – make sure to find Food Wine Sunshine on Facebook, Pinterest for more Florida Fun, reviews, recipes, and more!

Looking for a festive Holiday Dessert?

Get this Peppermint Chocolate Icing in the Cake Recipe.

Snowman Milk Jug Craft

December 16th, 2014August 29th, 2020

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

This Snowman Milk Jug Craft is simple and fun to do with the kids this holiday season! Plus, this easy craft is inexpensive.

Snowman Milk Jug Craft

I have a cute Christmas Craft for you guys today. The holidays are just around the corner and since this craft requires you to start saving your milk jugs, I wanted to share it now 🙂 My mom made these with the kids and it was a perfect afternoon activity that the kids loved and they came out adorable. Plus, it’s really cost effective to make!

What You Need To Make This Milk Jug Snowman Craft:

CLEAN Milk Jugs – I recommend rinsing them out with hot water several times. Spoiled milk is not a pleasant smell 😉
Black felt or construction paper
Orange Construction paper
Yarn or pre-made pom-poms for the ear muffs
LED Glow Bracelets from Dollar Store
Optional – brown construction paper

What You Do To Make Your Milk Jug Snowman Craft:

Use the black construction paper to make the eyes and mouth
Cut the orange construction paper into triangle shapes for the nose
Cut yarn into strips and gather it so that it looks ear muffs
Hot glue the eyes, nose, mouth, and ear muffs to the milk jug
Open the LED Bracelet and hang it in the milk jug so that it glows

You can also cut a whole in the back of the milk jug and put Christmas lights in back and plug it in. BUT, I have several glass bottles that have Christmas lights in them and after awhile they will start to get hot. I personally wouldn’t want the milk jug getting too warm and melt, so I didn’t make mine that way.

Have fun making your Snowman Milk Jug this Holiday Season!

Looking for more easy Christmas Crafts, check these out:

Wine Cork Reindeer

Paint Swirl Ornaments

Happy Holidays!

Be sure to visit Food Wine Sunshine on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Florida Prepaid College Plans – Give The Gift Of Education

December 16th, 2014August 28th, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

Florida Prepaid College Plans – Give The Gift Of Education

I officially looked at the calendar today and realized that I have to do a lot of shopping still AND get those presents to the Post Office. I know I’m not the only one out there that stands in a toy store wondering what to get all the kids on their shopping list. And, if we are completely honest…we KNOW that the toy we bought will only be “cool” for so long. How many toys end up in the back of the closet in your house come January 31st?

How about giving a gift that the child will DEFINITELY use for not only the next year, but for the rest of their life. A college education. Pretty amazing gift, huh? Well, thanks to Florida Prepaid College Plans, a college education here in Florida is actually affordable. College…affordable?? YES.

There is nothing more amazing than the feeling as a parent that my son’s college tuition is PAID FOR. He is 9 years old. My daughter, who is 7, has her’s almost paid for. When Florida Prepaid College Plans opened enrollment in October with their dramatically reduced fees, we were able to sign Sadie up again to finish paying hers off.

So, when people are asking you for gift ideas for your kids or grandkids, I strongly recommend giving the gift of a College Education! You can make additional payments at any time, so any amount from $1 – $1,000 is a great way to get a head start on their future 🙂

How do you get started?

Check out Florida Prepaid College Plans online

Have questions you would like answered?

Call their Customer Service line at 1.800.552.GRAD (4723) and they will answer any questions you may have. They are really nice 🙂

When should you sign up?

Florida Prepaid College Plans is open NOW for enrollment. Use promo code SAVING20 to save 100% on your application fee.

I cannot begin to tell to you how wonderful it feels to know that we have given our children a start on their future. I want their future to be anything they want it to be, and signing up for Florida Prepaid College Plans has given us the opportunity to help them.

I encourage you to considering giving the gift of a child’s FUTURE this holiday season! I encourage you to take a moment and check out Florida Prepaid College Plans.

Disclosure; I am a proud Florida Prepaid College Plan Blogger. All opinions are 100% my own.

Paint Swirl Ornaments Kids Craft

December 15th, 2014December 7th, 2020

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

The kids will love making this easy Christmas craft this holiday season! These Paint Swirl Ornaments are a perfect holiday gift idea too, handmade with love.

Paint Swirl Ornaments Kids Craft

My mom came to visit us for the weekend and did a craft with the kids for beautiful glass Paint Swirl Ornaments. It is very easy and the ornaments end up looking like hand-blown glass ornaments!

What You Need To Make Paint Swirl Ornaments:

Glass (or plastic) clear ornaments – they are on sale just about everywhere right now (we got ours for $5 for 6)
Acrylic Paint – Poster and Tempera Paint will eventually crack

What You Do To Make Paint Swirl Ornaments:

Cover your working station – we used trash bags!
Take the top off the ornament
Put a small amount of ONE color at a time into the bulb
Swirl/move the ornament around to get the paint to move
Apply as many colors as you would like and make sure to do just one color at a time
Place ornaments in up right position (back in package, in a cup etc). to allow the paint to completely dry – overnight is a good time 🙂
Once paint is dry you can put the ornament top back on

If too much paint gets into the bulb, you can turn the bulb upside down to drain out some of the excess paint. This will allow it to dry better and it will not affect your beautiful bulb!

As I mentioned, my mom made these with the kids and they gave them to my husband and I for Welcome Home gifts from our weekend away 🙂 These will be ornaments that we will cherish forever!

These Paint Swirl Ornaments would also make for perfect gifts.

Looking for some more Christmas Crafts?

Christmas Mason Jars Tutorials

Wine Cork Reindeer

Happy Holidays!

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St. Jude Marathon 2014 Weekend Recap

December 11th, 2014May 8th, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

St. Jude Marathon 2014 Weekend Recap

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have noticed that I ran in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Half Marathon this past weekend.

I am a runner, avid exerciser. But, I don’t have a running partner, so I went almost a whole year in between races. And, to be honest, I wasn’t sure if there would be one I would sign up for. Why run for 2-2.5 hours by yourself for no reason? It’s a great accomplishment, yes, but I just wasn’t by just that.

Then, back in September I went to a special luncheon with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at the Type A Parent Blogger Conference. In that one hour, so many things changed for me. For the better. My eyes were opened in so many ways, my heart was filled with a desire to help children in need in anyway I could, and I wanted to run…run for a reason.

I wanted to run for the children and families of St. Jude.

And that was that! The fabulous team at St. Jude got me to Memphis on 12/5/14 and I ran my 1st half marathon of 2014 in Memphis Tennessee. I actually ran as a St. Jude Hero.

What is a St. Jude Hero?

When you sign up for an event as a St. Jude Hero, you’ll be taking an important step toward finding cures and saving children battling cancer and other deadly diseases. Through the generous support of fundraisers and their donors, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food—because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.

I set out with a fundraising goal, and by the time of the race, I almost tripled it. It was such an amazing feeling.

So, I ran my race without a running buddy, but I didn’t run alone. I ran with THOUSANDS of other people that all had the same goal as me….to help children battling cancer and other deadly diseases. I ran with all those incredible feelings in my heart. I didn’t feel alone for one second.

I was a bit cold, because this Florida girl did not dress the way she should have, but my heart was warm. At the end of the race, I donated my medal back to the hospital…because the real heroes are the families and children at St. Jude. I ran 13.1 miles, but that is NOTHING compared to what they go through in a day. It was the least I could do, and I am forever changed in my heart and soul.

All over the race there were signs that said “Thank You St. Jude Heroes!” and while I LOVED seeing them, I said “Thank You” back to each and every person that was holding one. Because they are amazing, St. Jude is amazing. So, thank YOU St. Jude. Thank YOU.

St. Jude Heroes don’t just run in Memphis, there are races all over that you can participate in and help raise funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital! So, if you are ready to run for a reason, I strongly recommend checking out the races that support St. Jude.

Find your next race here

I will be posting some as well, I have actually added an “Exercise” tab on my blog, as you all know that being healthy, exercising, and running is a big part of my life…This way you can keep track of me easier 😉

Be a HERO for a cause that you believe in.

Experience Christmas at SeaWorld

December 10th, 2014June 7th, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

Disclosure: We received passes to experience the holiday season at SeaWorld for free. All opinions are 100% our own.

Experience Christmas at SeaWorld

This past weekend I packed up the kids and we headed to SeaWorld to experience some Winter Wonderland Magic. And that we did. This is actually the first time we have ever been to SeaWorld and did not ride ONE RIDE. Not ONE! We spent our entire visit enjoying all the Christmas festivities 🙂 And it was awesome!

We started off by walking down Winter Wonderland Way 🙂 Where we instantly stopped and watched the huge model train sets. It doesn’t matter how old you are, model trains are always fun to watch!

From there we sat with a nice cup of hot cocoa and watched the performers sing Christmas Carols. The kids then played one of the Holiday Games and won cute plush ornaments 🙂

Check out my video of the SeaWorld Festival of Trees

After we watched the Festival of Trees dance on the water, we walked the rest of the park.

Check out my O Wondrous Night Show video

We have never seen the O Wondrous Night show before, so we caught that and it was WONDERFUL. If you have never seen it, I strongly recommend it. It was a fun twist on the Night That Jesus Was Born. To be reminded of the whole reason for the holiday season was perfect. I don’t know about you, but we are always running around crazy and busy in December, so to actually sit down, relax, and listen to a beautiful performance sing about the Birth of Jesus was just what I needed.

There were also various street shows to watch, the Statue that comes to life, and all the lights! Oh, there are so many beautiful lights all over the park. There is Christmas Magic all around you!

We ended our evening watching the Ice Skating Show and the awesome fireworks display.

As we were walking out, we thought our night was done, but then we were greeted by SNOW! It was snowing in SeaWorld! Which gave me the perfect opportunity to beg for one more picture 😉

You will find everything from Santa to Shamu, presents to penguins, and elves to Elmo at SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration. Of course, you will also find the rides that you know and love, but I will admit, it was really nice to just relax, watch the shows and lights, and really enjoy the season.

There are still a few more weekends left to SeaWorld’s Christmas Celebration, so if you haven’t been yet, don’t worry!

Here are the dates:

December 12-14, and 19-31 starting at 6 p.m.

As with all the events as SeaWorld, the Christmas Celebration is included with park admission, Annual Pass and Fun Card.

If you need passes, there are a few ways that kids can get in for FREE right now:

You can get one free child’s admission with each paid adult by Dec. 31, 2014
You can also get one free child’s admission with each paid adult and hotel accommodations through Dec. 24, 2014

Looking forward to the fun at SeaWorld in 2015? I know I am 🙂

Check out the SeaWorld Events Calendar for 2015

Check out SeaWorld on Facebook and Twitter to stay social.

While you are at it – stay up to date with me too 🙂 Find Food Wine Sunshine on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Looking for more fun things to do in Florida?

The Best Great American Teach In – Thanks To K’NEX

December 8th, 2014September 5th, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

The Best Great American Teach In – Thanks To K’NEX

The Great American Teach In was last month at my kids’ school and they really wanted my husband to come in and speak to their classrooms. My husband is in Real Estate Development and he will be the first to tell you that he was incredibly nervous! He conducts meeting all the time, sometimes in front of hundreds of people, but that is nothing compared to 2nd and 4th graders 😉

He was on a mission to make his presentation not only a learning experience for the kids, but also fun. Kids can lose their attention quickly, especially in a classroom setting. My mom has been a teacher and has worked in a school for 20 years, so we called her for her advice and the 1st thing she said was that you can to spark a child’s imagination in order to hold their attention. And sparking a child’s imagination in a world of technology can be hard sometimes. We knew my husband had to do something FUN.

Playing with K'NEX in classroom

He started his presentation with a PowerPoint presentation with pictures of cool buildings and even a blueprint of the Disney Princess Castle! From there he asked the kids to draw a picture of a cool building, then he brought out the K’NEX that we had received for review. The kids were then asked to BUILD something! The presentation was supposed to last between 20 and 40 minutes and he was truly nervous that he wouldn’t have enough to keep them busy for 20 minutes. He actually spent 45 minutes in each class. It was an absolutely amazing experience for both him and the kids. He was really able to SHOW the kids what he did for a living in a way that they really understood and enjoyed it. My kids were so proud of him! So was I 🙂

K'NEX 70 Model Building Set

Dear Dad, Thank you for coming in this year I had so much fun. I liked when we got to make houses out of knex. Sinserly, Steven

The next day, my son came home with over 15 “Thank you” cards from his classmates. Each card said something different and well….adorable…but one thing was consistent, they all loved being able to build with K’NEX.

K'NEX Building Sets used in Classrooms

I love that kids can still use their imaginations and can have FUN. And not only can they have fun, but they appreciated it. So, spark their imaginations, have your kids use their hands, have them CREATE, have them check out K’NEX.

K'NEX 70 Model Building Set Review

My husband brought the K’NEX 70 Model Building Set (it has 705 pieces) and another set with him to make sure he had enough pieces for all the kids to use. The K’NEX 70 Model Building Set comes with instructions to build 70 different models, but it is also great to let the kids use the pieces as they would like…like my husband did with the kids in the classroom.

You can get the K’NEX 70 Model Building Set at your favorite retailer, or online on Amazon on K’NEX.com.

Make sure to follow K’NEX on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

While you are at it – you might as well stay up to date with me too 🙂 Find Food Wine Sunshine on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. Food Wine Sunshine did receive products from review from the above company. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

Wine Cork Reindeer Craft

December 4th, 2014August 5th, 2022

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

This easy wine cork reindeer craft is a fun way to decorate for the holidays. Grab some leftover wine corks and start crafting!

Easy Wine Cork Reindeer Craft

I have a super cute and easy Christmas Craft for you guys today! I may not be the crafty person around, but I could easily make this Wine Cork Reindeer. And it’s a great way to reuse those wine corks 🙂 I now have a few of these around the house and I think they will make a great addition to gifts!

Here’s what you need:

3 brown pipe cleaners
2 wine corks
Small piece of felt or something similar to make a tail
Small red pom-pom (if you want to make Rudolph!)
Stickers, googly eyes, or just markers for the eyes and heart!

I recommend making the head and body first.

To make the head:

Grab one of your wine corks make the eyes (use stickers, googly eyes, or just markers!)
Draw on a mouth
Finally and glue on the red nose and make your eyes

To make the body:

Draw on a heart
Glue on a small piece of felt for a tail

Next, make the legs:

Grab one of the pipe cleaners and fold it in half
Twist it in the middle to make a circle that fits snug on the “body”
Fold each side of the remaining pipe cleaner in half and twist it around each other
Do this twice so that you have two sets of legs

For the Neck/Head:

Fold the pipe cleaner in half and make a circle around one of the wine corks for the body and make another circle for the head.
Use the remaining pipe cleaner to make the antlers

These are all the pieces that you will have:

When assembling your adorable reindeer, first add in the head.

Then slip on his “legs”. Push the front set of legs back just a bit so that the other “circle” fits.

And there you have it! Your cute, cost-effective, easy-to-make Wine Cork Reindeer!

I hope you guys have fun making this Wine Cork Reindeer this holiday season! What is one of your favorite holiday crafts?

Looking for another fun holiday craft?

Christmas Mason Jars

Follow Food Wine Sunshine on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for more tips, fabulous recipes and more!

Thanksgiving Leftover Pie

December 2nd, 2014July 6th, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

Thanksgiving Leftover Pie

I know we can’t be the only ones out there with Thanksgiving leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer. I love open face turkey sandwiches, but I will be honest…I can only eat so many of them 😉 This year I tried my hand at something different….I layered all my leftovers into a pie!

We actually ate all our mashed potatoes, so I did have to make more of those, so if you have some left, your prep time for this dish will be next to nothing. Yes, we do serve Baked Beans on Thanksgiving. It’s a tradition on my husband’s side, and I will admit the flavor was perfect in the pie. The little bit of extra “sauce” and flavor was perfect.

The beauty of this pie, is that the ingredients can totally vary on what you have leftover! I do think the traditional Green Bean casserole would also be great in here.

Now, here’s my recipe…Don’t forget to print it and/or Pin it so that you can make it again and again.

Thanksgiving Leftover Pie

Recipe Type: Dinner

Author: Tracy @ HavingFunSaving.com

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Turkey – sliced
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
1 Jar of gravy or homemade gravy
1 can of baked beans
1 package of pie crusts

Instructions

Place one of the pie crusts on the bottom of a pie pan
Add layer of turkey
Add layer of Baked Beans
Add layer of mashed potatoes
Add layer of gravy
Add layer of stuffing
Top with pie crust
Cut 4-5 slits in the top of the pie crust
Bake at 350 for 45 mins – 1 hour until top is golden brown
Enjoy!

Notes

Your prep time will be longer if you have to make the mashed potatoes 🙂

My kids aren’t huge stuffing fans, so I did only put stuffing on half of the pie. And my daughter usually doesn’t like Baked Beans, but she ate them in the pie with no issues.

I hope you all enjoy your Thanksgiving Leftover Pie as much as we did! I even enjoyed a piece leftover pie for lunch the next day 😉

In fact, be sure to check out all the recipes on Food Wine Sunshine and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and Instagram.

10 Tips For Staying In Shape During The Holidays

November 24th, 2014September 14th, 2019

This post may contain affiliate links, please read our disclosure policy.

It can be hard sticking to your healthy lifestyle goals over the holidays, so I am sharing tips for staying in shape during the holidays to help you with your goals!

10 Tips For Staying In Shape During The Holidays

The holidays are here and I know many of us worry about the typical holiday weight gain. Schedules get busy and food gets plentiful, it’s just that time of the year. To help you stay on track with your healthy life journey, I thought I would share a few tips that will hopefully help you stay on track during the holidays and beyond!

Stay Hydrated

I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want on a cold day is an ice cold cup of water. I think of hot cocoa, hot tea, and all those delicious fancy drinks at Starbucks. BUT, those drinks don’t hydrate you. Even though you are chilly, you still need to care of your body. I keep a glass of water next to me all day. This time of year is also a great time to infuse your water or add flavor to it. That way you aren’t thinking about the fact it’s a cold cup of water.

Indulge A Little for a Day

Figure out where you’re willing to indulge a little on something special. This could be one day during the holiday season, or just one specific meal. We all have our weakness when it comes to traditional holiday food. It’s perfectly acceptable to have that one cheat treat or meal we go for during the holidays. One treat or meal isn’t going to put your goals to stay in shape during the holidays behind that much. I know I have my favorite sides and desserts during the holiday season, and since it’s only once a year, I see nothing wrong with having a little bit of my favorite holiday dishes.

Dress for Success

Wear your work out clothes when you plan on working out. Do NOT let your workout clothes be your comfy clothes. You can even consider laying your clothes out for yourself. So you SEE them…no “out of sight out of mind” here! And make sure you have the right clothes. You may be going inside for your Jazzercise class, but when you get out it will be COLD, so layer! Wear a performance Tee from Cariloha instead of just a tank (or wear the tank under the tee!). This is also the time of year to wear long capris or pants instead of shorts. Make sure the fabric is light, long-lasting and comfortable. I love the Fitness line from Cariloha because it allows your flexibility, breath-ability, and they irresistibly soft clothing. Each piece of clothing is made of viscose from bamboo so it is hypoallergenic as well. Plus, they are cute! I don’t know about you, but when I actually like my workout clothes, I tend to enjoy my workout more 🙂

Exercise

This may seem obvious, but I know everyone’s schedules gets crazy this time of year. Make sure you are still planning time for your work out. No time during the day? Too cold to get outside? Give yourself 15 minutes during the day to walk the office, walk the mall, do strength training at home before bed (work out those triceps on a dining room chair!), run up and down the stairs for 10 mins. Just stay active! I know it’s easy to make up excuses…maybe you don’t get in that hour class or that 3 mile jog…but do something. Do it for you!

Sleep

Make sure you’re getting enough sleep each night during the holiday season. I know that the holidays bring about a busy schedule and you may feel obligated to attend every holiday event that you’re invited to, but it’s important to get enough sleep. Make sure you have a regular bedtime each night and wake up at the same time to keep your mind and body running on full. Sleeping well during the holiday season is always difficult for me, that’s why I set my sleep schedule to make sure I hold myself accountable to sleep well during the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

Snack Right

Will your counters and tables be filled with cookies, chips, dips and more? Make sure there are healthy options out too. Carrots, hummus, celery sticks filled with low-fat cream cheese or peanut butter, etc. I also love Crispy Green dried fruit, no sugar added! Need to satisfy your “salty” fix? Have Pretzel Crisps out…they are a much healthier version and they are packed of flavor. They have a ton of different flavor options too, so there is an option that everyone is sure to love. Oh, and keep a look out for the Pretzel Crisp minis – 42 of them are only 110 calories. I promise you won’t miss the fat and calories.

Learn to Say No

It’s totally fine to say, “no, thank you” when someone offers you a decadent treat that may not fit your mission to stay in shape during the holidays. Let your family and friends know that you’re watching what you eat and while you can treat yourself a little bit, you’re trying to do your best to stay on track during the holidays for your weight loss and fitness goals. Most family and friends will embrace your polite no to their delicious treats, and most may even compliment you for your strength to stay in shape during the holidays amidst all of the tempting treats.

Be Weary of Desserts

Cookies, pie, cake, OH MY! Yes, this is the time of year that we are constantly surrounded by delicious, calorie-filled desserts. It would be silly for me to say “Just don’t eat them.” As, for me, that’s impossible…I have horrible willpower 🙂 BUT, I can enjoy them in moderation. Just a few bites will do ya…no need to eat the whole piece…or several pieces. Fill up on lots of veggies at dinner and you won’t still be hungry at dessert time. Another secret of mine…have lower calorie options available, bring one to the party!! Like these Pumpkin Bundt Cakes. Then maybe, you won’t want that double chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Or maybe you’ll just want one bite 😉

Write it Down- Goals and/or What You Eat

I always need a visual reminder of my goals to help keep me on track and motivated to stay in shape during the holidays. Write down your goals, cheat allowances, and other details so that you’re able to stay in shape during the holidays. The simple act of writing down your goals, as well as cheat allowances for the holiday season, helps keep you strong as you continue enjoying the holiday season with friends and family.

Pack Emergency Bag

Just in case all else fails and you find yourself in a jam at a holiday gathering, make sure you have an emergency bag packed! I’m not talking about a first aid kit or those type of emergencies, no! I’m talking about an emergency bag full of healthy snack options just in case you find yourself among a lot of junk and sweets without any alternative healthy options to eat during a holiday gathering.

When it comes to the best tip for staying in shape during the holidays, I’ve found that being creative is the great way to go. You don’t want to deprive yourself of your favorite holiday treats, such as that pumpkin pie that Grandma always makes, but you also don’t want to eat the entire pie! That’s why I invite you to use my easy to follow, reasonable tips shared today to stay in shape during the holidays. Remember that it’s okay to cheat a little bit, but the key is to stay focused on your goals and not let any family member or friend steer you away from those goals.

Here’s to a safe, happy, and HEALTHY holiday season for us all!

What you some of your favorite tips for staying in shape during the holidays?

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