I Love Tacky Christmas Crap, But This Is Something Else

Eight-foot tall inflatable snowman?

I'll allow that.

Eight-foot tall inflatable snowman wearing a camouflage vest?

Ummmmm.....

Eight-foot tall inflatable snowman wearing a camouflage vest and holding a gun?

WHY DOES THIS EXIST?

Don't even get me started on the Santa-coming-out-of-an-outhouse(?) thing. I have no words for that hot mess.

Are We Spending Too Much This Year? Absolutely.

Anyone who buys an iPad for a kid is an idiot.

"Why would anyone in their right might spend that kind of money on a Christmas tree?"

That's a gift I would buy for ME, not for a kid.

"If you don't enjoy spending time with those people, why buy them anything?"

She should buy herself a gift so her moron husband doesn't screw Christmas up again.

"It's ridiculous to spend that much on gifts for a kid."

They're all statements I've heard recently. Navigating crowds at the mall, walking down the street, clicking through Facebook, scrolling my twitter timeline, everywhere . . . judgement.

Internet, why do some of you care so much how other people spend their money? I'm asking. Seriously. I don't understand.

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"I don't think we'll be able to make our car payment this month," she said with a grimace on her face.

It was an interesting statement coming from someone who had previously bragged that she bought both of her kids iPod Touches for Christmas. I literally bit my tongue to keep from saying something rude.

Later, I regretted even having thought something rude. The other side of the story, and there always is one, was that she had saved for three months to buy those iPods. It wasn't a lack of planning that had led to a budget shortfall right before the holiday season. It was an unexpected car repair. There's not much anyone can do when that check engine lights comes on except to hope the mechanic has pity on your poor, broke soul.

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"There is no reason in the world why a 5-year old needs an iPad," he growled.

I could think of a few reasons, but maybe that's only because I know more than one kid who has been handed challenges in life that make it difficult to communicate or learn. Although, those "excuses" didn't apply in this situation. A fully healthy and happy 5-year old will be getting an iPad for Christmas this year just because his parents decided that was what they wanted to buy him.

So what? Is there really something wrong with that?

I turned to the man and asked, "How does it have anything to do with you?"

"It makes me look bad," he replied. "And it's just a stupid idea. Logan is just going to destroy that thing."

I didn't know what to say to that. Makes him "look bad?" I guess if one parent spends $600 on his or her kid, we all have to do it or we look bad? And *I* should care if someone else's kid doesn't take care of his gift?

Alrighty then.

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It's hard to keep from assuming the worst. It really, really is. When we hear that someone is living in a shelter, we assume they must have done something to deserve being there. They must have wasted money. They must have acted irresponsibly. They must have done something to ask for trouble.

Victims of domestic violence don't deserve to have to live in a shelter. They didn't ask to end up in that situation.

And neither did their kids.

Every day we walk around passing judgement on the people around us, assuming they are behaving recklessly as they choose how they want to spend their money. Meanwhile, the residents of domestic violence shelters are just trying to be safe.

While you snark about your co-worker putting $1000 worth of Christmas presents on a credit card, shelter residents are just trying to be safe.

All we can do is try our best to give everyone the benefit of the doubt as we do what we can to help people who aren't as fortunate as we are.

That's what Christmas Crazy is all about. It's about making sure that parents who are struggling are able to say "Both!" when trying to decide if they should buy their children a package of socks or a small toy for Christmas. It's about making sure that a few dollars are used to spread a little joy, even as we spoil our own kids rotten just because we can.

It's all anybody really wants--to see joy in the faces of our kids on Christmas morning.

There is a little over two weeks left in Christmas Crazy. Let's make this Christmas the best one ever for the kids who benefit from the services Womansplace provides.

You can donate online here. Or, if you prefer, you can drop-off new, unwrapped toys at Cafe Solstice, Planet Smoothie, or X Shadyside Health and Fitness.

It doesn't take much to make Christmas magical for a kid and his or her parent.

 

Vegetable Pot Pie

You guys, I think it's official. Summer is over.

Shut up. I know there are Christmas cookies in the freezer and Thanksgiving pounds hanging around my middle. That's not really how I measure the end of summer. I measure it by my stockpile of Farmers Market veggies.

They're all gone. ::sob::

That means I've switched over to using a lot of frozen vegetables. There is fresh produce to be found in our house, but now that it's crazy expensive and pretty much only available at the grocery store, it has been scaled WAY back.

Hold on a second. I need to shed a tear.

OK, so, now that we've switched over to frozen veggies, we've also started to switch over to what I consider to be our "winter recipes."

Vegetable Pot Pie.

This is one of those recipes that is one notch better than processed crap from the frozen food aisle, but that isn't quite from scratch. Unfortunately, I don't get paid to stay home and cook, so I have to find ways to make eating better fit in with my schedule. This is a decent compromise, in my opinion.

You start with a pre-made frozen pie crust (extra deep!) and pop it into the oven to bake according to the directions on the package. Then you throw some frozen vegetables into the microwave and get them nice and warm.

I use about half of each bag of these. Pro tip: To measure how much of the veggies you'll need, pour them into your frozen crust before popping it into the oven. Fill the crust up, then dump the veggies into your microwave-proof bowl to cook them while you bake your crust. It saves a lot of stress because not all frozen pie crusts are created equal.

My crust was able to hold just shy of three cups of vegetables.

You're going to add a can of cream of whatever soup (I use cream of potato, but that's only because SOMEONE in this house hates mushrooms. That SOMEONE is totally missing out.), a few tablespoons of milk, and a bit of salt and pepper.

You'll dump the veggies into the already cooked pie crust.

And then you're going to cover it with another pie crust, this time the flat one that is in the refrigerated section of the store. Yes, I know I just told you to buy two different kinds of pie crust. It's all in the interest of streamlining the process. (And, yes, I could have made the edge pretty. If I were trying to impress someone, I would, but the cries of "Mooooom, I'm hungry!" tend to override any need to be fancy with the crust edge.)

You'll bake until the top crust is done, and then HOORAY! Not-entirely-processed pot pie!

(BTW, don't ever read the ingredients on a Banquet Pot Pie. TRUST ME.)

If you aren't of the vegetarian persuasion, you can always add chicken or turkey or whatever. Just make sure to precook it so that the entire pie is done as soon as possible.

Vegetable Pot Pie

1 extra-deep frozen pie crust (the ones that are already in the pan)
3 cups frozen vegetables (peas, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery . . . it's all good)
1 can cream of potato soup (Or cream of chicken or cream of celery or cream of mushroom. I'm not here to judge your cream choices.)
2 tablespoons milk
1 refrigerated pie crust
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Protein of your choice (tofu, Quorn Chik'n, turkey, chicken, etc.)

1. Bake the frozen pie crust according to the instructions on the package.

2. Place the frozen vegetables into a microwave-safe bowl and heat until warm. Mine took about 6 minutes.

3. Stir in the cream of potato soup and milk.

3a. Add a protein, if you so desire.

4. Add salt and pepper according to your tastes.

5. Pour the vegetable mixture into the cooked pie crust and smooth out the top.

6. Place the refrigerated pie crust on top of your Vegetable Pot Pie and crimp the edges. Or just fold them over. Whatever.

7. Bake at 450 degrees until the top crust is golden brown. Actual times will vary, but my oven needed about 20 minutes.

8. Allow the Vegetable Pot Pie to cool for a few minutes before cutting.

9. Enjoy!