5 Fun Apps for the Holiday Season

5 Fun Apps for the Holiday Season

Here are 5 fun Holiday apps suggested by the team at American Meetings, Inc. that will help you and your family make it through the holiday season organized and happy!

1. The Christmas List

This app is great to keep track of your Christmas shopping. You can make a list of everyone you need to buy gifts for, and then you can set a budget for them. Let’s say that you add a friend. You’ll walk into the store, tap your friend’s name, and you’ll see the list of items you want to buy for this person, and, of course, the budget. You can then tap on the items as you buy them, and when you go back to the main screen, you can see how much you have left to spend on your gifts. This is a great way to keep track of what to buy, and most importantly not go over budget.

Available on IOS and Android.

2. Pandora Holiday Stations

If you’re a holiday music fan, then you need to make sure you have Pandora on your phone. It has so many incredible Christmas music stations, your head will spin. Stations like: ’80s Christmas, Kids’ Christmas, Smooth Jazz Christmas, Hipster Holidays, and R&B Pop Holidays. There is even a Hanukkah music station.

Available on IOS and Android.

3. Christmas Booth: Photo Fun

With this app, you can take a picture or just grab it from your camera roll and choose from a host of Christmas-themed stickers to turn anyone into a Christmas character. You can also send your photo via email, Twitter, or Facebook. It’s compatible with iMessage, too, so you can use the stickers there and message your friends.

Available on IOS and Android.

4. Elfster – Secret Santa Generator

Elfster.com takes the business of holiday gift exchange generating to a whole new level of “ease and fun”. Making sure your special Holiday gift exchange goes smoothly and easily is what Elfster was designed to do FOR FREE. Yes, it’s completely free to use our Secret Santa generating tool and set up your next family Holiday gift exchange easily, faster, and more fun. Common holidays, of course, are Christmas, Hanukkah, and Eid al-Fitr – but whatever the holiday, if it involves gifts, we elves are ‘on it.’

Available on IOS and Android.

5. Martha Stewart Makes Cookies

If you love making cookies during the holiday season, the Martha Stewart Makes Cookies app will totally impress you. It features more than 90 recipes, instructional videos, baking tips, packaging ideas, kitchen timers, shopping lists, and sharing options. There is also a category specifically for holiday cookies, as well as 6 additional recipe bundles for purchase.

Available on IOS

3 Great Thanksgiving Recipes for Busy Business Professionals

3 Great Thanksgiving Recipes for Busy Business Professionals

Managing your Meeting Planning strategies can take a toll on time to plan your own life. Here are three quick Thanksgiving recipes from the team at American Meetings that we love that are quick, easy and delicious.

Happy Thanksgiving from your friends at AMI!

Cheddar and Garlic Biscuits

What You’ll Need

  • 5 cups biscuit baking mix or buttermilk biscuit mix
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
  • 1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth or Swanson® Certified Organic Chicken Broth or Swanson® Natural Goodness® Chicken Broth
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

How to Make It

  1. Heat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Stir the baking mix, cheese, broth and garlic in a medium bowl with a fork.  Drop12 spoonful’s dough onto a baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough and another baking sheet.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown

Sausage & Apple Stuffing

What You’ll Need

  • 1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth or Swanson® Certified Organic Chicken Broth or Swanson® Natural Goodness® Chicken Broth
  • 1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
  • 1 small onion, coarsely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 Red Delicious apple, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1/2 Granny Smith apple, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  • 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage, cooked and crumbled
  • 2 cups Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Stuffing
  • 2 cups Pepperidge Farm® Cornbread Stuffing

How to Make It

  1. Heat the broth, celery, onion and apples in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables and apples are tender.
  2. Add the sausage and stuffing and stir lightly to coat.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Squash with Cranberries & Pine Nuts

What You’ll Need

  • 1 1/2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
  • 3 cups diced peeled seeded butternut squash
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large shallot, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4 cup)
  • 1/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1 cup Swanson® Chicken Broth or Swanson® Certified Organic Chicken Broth or Swanson® Natural Goodness® Chicken Broth
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

How to Make It

  1. Set the oven to 425°F.  Stir the Brussels sprouts, squash and oil in a large bowl.  Spread the vegetable mixture on a rimmed baking sheet.
  2. Roast for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are lightly browned.