Christmas in Denmark

I apologize for finally getting around to posting all of these pictures! My routine has been so messed up lately. It all started about a week before Christmas. Hans was kind enough to share his cold with me. Instead of hanging around for a few days like his, mine stuck around for almost 2 weeks. Unlike his, my cold came with a fever, chills, and a headache that stuck around for a week. I did get better, just in time to bake 18 loaves of 3 different kinds of bread to give as gifts.

I made Spanish Crusty Bread, Whole Wheat Rosemary and Olive Oil Bread, and Cinnamon Raisin Bread, which I completely forgot to take a picture of!

After the 11 hours of marathon baking were over, I wrapped them up.

The next day, I was in charge of making turkey and dressing for Christmas dinner. I used my Grandma's recipe for dressing, and invented my own for the turkey. Sadly, I only got some before shots of the turkey, and none of the dressing.

I thawed the bird, brined it, and then roasted it to perfection. I have to say, this was the best turkey I've ever eaten in my entire life...and the dressing was just like I remember it!

We went over to my in-law's for Christmas Eve (Juleaften). We had more than enough to eat and drink, and there was dessert. 

Danes traditionally eat Risengrød (Rice Pudding) on Christmas. Most everyone plays for the mandelgave (almond gift). The rice pudding is served cold, with chopped almonds and one single whole almond buried inside. Whoever finds the whole almond wins the gift. The finder of the almond typically waits to reveal it until all the pudding has been served. (Many have 2-3 helpings in order to find the almond.)

We sang songs and danced around the tree.

Then it was time to open all the gifts! The kids had been chomping at the bits all evening to open gifts. When it was finally time they ran to the tree...well actually, they were already at the tree. Each would grab a gift and go to the nearest adult and ask, "Er det til mig?" ("Is it to me?")

I think Laura loved the Hello Kitty sovepose (sleeping bag) we got her. She was ready to crawl in and sleep, or at least pretend to.

I received several gifts, a lot of Tupperware, a few books (in English), a scarf, money to go towards getting my Danish Driver's License, a table cloth/runner, and the embroidered kitchen towel below.

A couple of evenings later we drove to the summer house, where Jens, Mathilde, and their kids were staying. Mathilde made a Mexican feast, while Hans, Jens, Jonas, and I took a walk on the beach.

Did I mention it was a VERY cold walk on the beach?

Wednesday (the 28th), we drove to Hjerm for Christmas with Hans' morfar (mother's father). He rented a sports hall for the whole family (there are about 64 of us total). We ate, and ate some more, and even more! We played games upon games. I attempted to kick Hans' butt in badminton, but that backfired. 

Then Thursday came along, and Hans and I woke up sick to our stomachs. We spent the morning throwing up, and the rest of the day sleeping, thanks to Phenergan. After sleeping 6 hours that night, I was awake for about 3 hours before sleeping an additional 17 hours. I finally woke up about 6:45 on Friday morning. My body hurt, but my stomach did not. My brain was on crazy-active mode, but it took me about 10 minute just to sit up and get out of bed. I was weak and walking was hard, but by the end of the day, the only body parts still sore were my badminton arm, and my ribs. 

That's our big Christmas adventure, I'll be back tomorrow to share New Year's Eve in Denmark. 

What did y'all do for the holidays?

Happy New Year!

Pic taken by my friend Sheryl during the New Year's party, last night.

I don't know about you, but I have been busier than a one legged man in a butt kickin' contest! I had planned to return LAST Monday, but apparently life had other plans. I'm still trying to get used to Christmas here in Denmark. Back in the US, Christmas is over (for most people) on the 26th. Many people start packing up all their decorations and getting ready for the new year. 

That's not so much the case here. 

Our last Christmas celebration was on the 28th. I really enjoyed spending time with all of my Danish family, but at times it can be a bit overwhelming. When the celebrating came to an end, Hans and I both found ourselves in bed, sick. We assume it was from the mass quantities of 'junk' we consumed over the days prior. My body was certainly not used to all the breads and chocolates, cookies and cakes I felt compelled to eat. I still managed to lose some weight, and for the life of me I don't know how. Now that the holidays have come to a close, I am back on track!

I am planning to be back tomorrow with some pictures of Christmas and New Year's Eve, and possibly some normalcy in my daily routine. 

P.S. I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends over the holidays!  

Glædelig Jul (Merry Christmas)

I hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas/Yule/whatever you celebrate! I plan on returning Monday with some new recipes, so I'll see y'all then!

I'm over at Agape Love

Hey y'all (yeah, that was mighty Texan of me), I've been over at Agape Love. 

Maria was kind enough to interview me for her series of 'blog-erviews'. She's interviewed many talented ladies. I hope you will stop by and say hi to Maria and check out all the interviews.

Taking some time

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that I am taking some time off. I've been sick since Wednesday with 'the crud' which has kicked my butt the week before Christmas. So, I will be taking a little break for at least a few days, and maybe even a week or so. I will definitely be here to wish you all a 'Glædelig jul og godt nytår' (Merry Christmas & Happy New Year).

Oatmeal Cookies - With or Without Raisins

The other night I had a craving for something sweet. I sent Hans off to the store to find the lowest calorie sweet cookie or cake-like dessert, with chocolate that he could find. He returned with some cookies made of whole wheat and oat flour, that weren't bad, but I wasn't too thrilled with the amount of fat and sugar in them. So, the next afternoon I set out to make something healthier.

While these cookies have just 8 calories less than the ones my husband brought home, they are far healthier and more filling.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies


400 grams (3 med-large) bananas - less if you want a cookie that is less sweet and more dry. The riper the bananas, the sweeter the cookies will be.
170 grams (2 cups) oats - I did not use the quick cooking oats, but I assume they would work.
55 grams (about 1/4 cup) margarine, melted - This could probably be decreased to 1/8 cup. Remember, if using butter, it weighs more than margarine.
60 milliliters (1/4 cup) skim milk
100 grams (1/2 cup) raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 177C/350F. 


Peel and mash bananas in a bowl with a fork. 
Add all other ingredients and mix well. 
Drop about 1 tablespoon per cookie onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 
Pop in the oven for about 20 minutes. 
Let cool and serve.

The cookies do not spread, so you can put them fairly close together. They are very soft, moist, and chewy. They're not super sweet, so if you're used to a sweet cookie then you may want to add a sweetener of your choice. They remind me of eating a bowl of Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal. I hope will you enjoy them as much as I did!

Nutritional Value (per cookie - recipe makes about 16 cookies)

92.89 Calories

1.99 grams of fat

0.4 grams of sat fat

1.83 grams of protein

16.8 grams of carbohydrates

6.74 grams of sugar

1.9 grams of fiber

Cookies w/o raisins

72.27 calories

1.99 grams of fat

0.4 grams of sat. fat

1.64 grams of protein

12.04 grams of carbs

3.05 grams of sugar

1.7 grams of fiber

Chicken and Mushroom Soup with Baby Spinach

During the cold winter months, I usually crave soups and chili. The other night was not exception. My husband was sick with 'the crud', and just wanted tea and soup. After making my homemade bouillon, making soup from scratch is not only easier, but much healthier, too.

I took 3 large (600 grams) thawed chicken breasts (boneless and skinless) and put them in a pot along with about 2-3 tablespoons of the bouillon. 

*(I later divided the chicken in half, so for calorie purposes, this soup used 300 grams of chicken.)

I filled the pot with water and boiled the chicken for about 15-20 minutes.

While the chicken was cooking I thinly sliced 2 medium carrots (235 grams).

I tossed those into the pot with the chicken and thinly sliced 200 grams of mushrooms.

I removed and shredded the chicken.

Then returned the chicken to the pot, and added the mushrooms.

Let simmer for about 20 more minutes, adding more water/bouillon as needed. After it had simmered, I added 100 grams of raw, baby spinach to the pot and let them hang out for only a few minutes.

After a few minutes, it was ready to serve. 

This soup went amazingly well with Grandma's Cornbread.

Nutritional Value (for the entire pot of soup):

412 Calories

6.34 grams of Fat

0.44 grams of Saturated Fat

64.38 grams of Protein

30.16 grams of Carbohydrates

0 grams of Sugar

9.95 grams of Fiber

The bouillon was not figured into this recipe, since it contains only vegetables and sea salt and uses a small amount. I do suggest, adding the calories of canned stock or store-bought bouillon into this recipe, as they will have much higher calories and fat.

Whipped Butternut Squash

I've had a butternut squash sitting sitting around for over a week now, with the intention of making some roasted butternut squash soup (don't worry I'll get there, I promise), but on a whim I thought I'd try whipping it.

So, I cut it in half scooped out the seeds. It then weighed in at 741 grams. Then I placed it face down in a roasting pan, sprayed the outer skin with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and poured about a cup or so of water into the pan.

I popped the pan into a preheated 425F/218C oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until it's tender when poked with a fork.

Remove from the pan, and let cool on a plate, before peeling off the skin. Once the skin is peeled, transfer to a bowl and mash with a fork.

Add 1/2 tablespoon/6.5 grams of butter or margarine (I used the latter), 1 tablespoon/25 grams Greek yogurt, skyr or kvark (I think only Greek yogurt is available in the US, but they're all roughly the same). Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. I also added cayenne, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cumin.

Whip the squash, butter, yogurt, and spices for around 1-2 minutes and serve.

Nutritional value (per 100 grams):

56 Calories

0.5 grams of Fat

0.07 grams of Saturated Fat

1.46 grams of Protein

13.31 grams of Carbohydrates

2.47 grams of Sugar

2.25 grams of Fiber

For the entire Squash:

369 Calories

3.26 grams of Fat

0.52 grams of Saturated Fat

9.66 grams of Protein

87.89 grams of Carbohydrates

16.3 grams of Sugar

14.82 grams of Fiber

Grandma's Cornbread

The other night, I had about 380 calories leftover that I needed to eat. Since it's proved impossible to find coarse ground corn meal here in Denmark, I took Grandma's advice and omitted the flour. The end result was a beautiful, rich, flavorful cornbread...with almost perfect texture. As an added bonus of not eating all of my calories, I was able to eat one VERY large piece, complete with a generous slathering of margarine.


Grandma's Cornbread


2 cups (266 grams) Yellow Cornmeal, finely ground
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup (300 grams) Buttermilk (I used 1 tablespoon of white vinegar + enough skim milk to equal 1 cup and weighed them together)
1 Egg (55 grams)
1/4 cup (53 grams) Canola Oil


Preheat oven to 425F/218C

Combine cornmeal, baking powder & salt.


Add milk, oil, & egg.


Beat until fairly smooth, about one minute. 


Bake in greased or sprayed 8" square pan


20 to 30 minutes. Grandma usually puts it on the bottom shelf of the oven until it rises up, then moves it to the middle shelf.

Nutritional Value 

(per 100 grams - 1/6 of the entire recipe will be about 104-109 grams)

233.10 Calories

10.51 grams of Fat

0.22 grams of Saturated Fat

5.87 grams of Protein

28.04 grams of Carbohydrates

0 grams of Sugar

0 grams of Fiber

Giveaway Winner

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Comment #200 was:

Congratulations Girl, you won a pair of Orchid Trio earrings from Joanniel Creations!

 I'll be sending you an email!

Thank you all for entering! I can't believe there were 207 comments! Stick around, I'm sure we will have another awesome giveaway soon after the New Year!