Christmas recap, and an easy recipe

"I want to see what presents are in my stocking!" Chickie told us at 6:30 yesterday morning.

She "got it" this year--she was really excited about her stocking, and opening presents, and she even understood a little about Jesus being born--though I'm pretty sure that to her, the presents were the most important part of the day!

Zoodle liked having some new items to chew on, and other than that, it was a normal day for him.

Christmas really started on Sunday when Chickie and Zoodle dressed in their fancy, festive clothes for church.

When we opened presents yesterday, Chickie was very excited about getting the jump rope she'd been asking for. Watching her try to jump with it was great entertainment. It looks like she may have inherited my (lack of) coordination--let's hope she outgrows it!



Zoodle thought this book was great.... It tasted like chicken.



For dinner we had tamales, refried beans, and Spanish rice. I was very excited, because I managed to make Spanish rice with instant brown rice--healthy, easy, and really good! Here's the recipe.

Easy Brown Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp oil

Diced onion (1 large or 2 small)

Garlic, minced (4 cloves or 2 tsp jarred)

2 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 1/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 cans undrained diced tomatoes (plain, Southwestern style, or Ro-Tel)

2 cups instant brown rice

Heat oil in large skillet or medium pot over medium-low heat. When it is hot, add diced onion and garlic. Cook until onion is quite soft.

Add cumin, chili powder, broth, and undrained tomatoes. Turn heat up to high. When liquid boils, add rice and stir. Reduce heat to low, and cook, covered, for five minutes. Turn off heat, and let sit, covered, for five to ten minutes. Stir, and serve.

And I suppose I should post a photo of the finished product. Please, I beg you--don't be jealous of my fancy serving bowl.