Podcast Ep. 15: Our Christmas Traditions – Stories, Ideas & Food (of course!)

In this episode we discuss our favorite Christmas traditions, from childhood on. Things like food, gifts, events, and cutting down your own tree – or not. Jami explains why she never wanted to actively fool the kids into believing in Santa, and we talk about all kinds of things that have made the holiday special–things that are so great we keep doing them every year. We’re also diving into foods – what goes into our popular Christmas goodie bags, our easy make-ahead Christmas morning brunch (after many years of too many and too much) and why we always have fish and chips for Christmas dinner. Plus, Brian shares a cool password manager he uses and Jami reveals her source for cheap pillows (again-guys, these are so great!).

You can download this episode from iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio – or listen to it below right on your computer! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we talked about in the episode. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you might have to click through to the post to see the player.

Christmas Traditions

Links to some of the traditions we talked about (if they’re on AOC):

• Advent stockings, mini ornaments and tree
• Peppermint Mochas – homemade or store bought
• Our Nativity Memory & Tradition

• The Christmas books, movies & shows we’ve loved.

To get more Christmas ideas of all kinds, this 8 Weeks of Christmas series is full of good things.

For more fun ideas, check out this BIG list of family traditions to help you create memories the whole year long.

What’s Cooking

Our traditional Christmas Brunch menu (all make ahead so you can enjoy the morning!):

• The much beloved Make-Ahead Real Food Monkey Bread (kids love to help make this)
• Delicious Overnight Scrambled Eggs with Spinach 
• Maple-Mustard Peppered Bacon
• fruit, coffee, etc.

As Brian described, our Christmas night Baked Fish & Chips dinner is made easier with this As Seen On TV potato cutter.

Recipes we’ve included in our Christmas Goodie Bags over the years include:

• Moose Munch Caramel Corn
• Quadruple Chocolate Brownies
• Caramel Coconut Shortbread Cookie
• Dark Chocolate dipped Cream Cheese Mints
• Healthier Chocolate Crispy Peanut Butter Balls
• Whole Grain Cut Out Cookies (when there are kids to help, ha!)
• Mocha Chip Cookies

And the new treat in the bags this year will definitely be these Dark Chocolate Coconut Clusters!

This is Really Cool!

Brian’s: LastPass password keeper – synchs with all your devices.

Jami’s: Pretty and inexpensive pillows from H&M.com – $5.99-$12 regularly, often on sale for $2.99 each!

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