How a Foodie Failed Thanksgiving

Posted on November 24, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

So I’m sitting here on the couch relaxing with my laptop…and oddly enough STILL pinning fall recipes even though I’m stuffed to the gills!

I don’t feel so bad though since my mom was right next to me earlier flipping through the latest Food Network Magazine…what can I say, the apple foodie doesn’t fall far from the tree!

I have a lot to be thankful for today.

I got off work at 7am this morning after a CRAZY night on only 4 hours sleep, which is another story entirely…a good one…but it will have to wait until another day. Let’s just say the sleep deprivation and delirium that may or may not have occurred around 4am was totally worth it! 😉

So after I slept a few short hours (gotta get back on track with the daywalkers again), my mom and sister came over to the house (my dad had to work) and we started prepping Thanksgiving Day dinner. And when I say “we”, I mean my mom!

My sister was glued to iTunes and/or her cell phone (teenagers!) and I was aimlessly wandering around the kitchen in a half-zombie-like status. Well, that is when I wasn’t busy ruining the plans for dessert…

Yeah, so if you open up a pre-made graham cracker crust and there are crumblies on top, don’t try to shake them off into the sink!

#foodiefail

Luckily* I was able to get Tori to run to the store for another one while I tried my best to redeem myself on a side dish.

*Yeah, still not really sure how I feel about all the stores being open on the holidays. Whatever happened to the days when people got to stay at home with their families? Of course, I WAS at the store earlier…and then I sent my sister…so technically I guess I am part of the “demand” statistic…sorry Wal-Mart employees! 🙁

So about that side dish…

Pie crust? What pie crust?

Mom and I both got a little help from our friends in the literary world for this Thanksgiving.

I made the Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Grapes and Walnuts from this month’s Whole Living and mom took a cue from Food Network Magazine to bust out these two amazing dishes:

The “Almost Famous” Cranberry Walnut Relish and the Neely’s Green Beans & Bacon

Along with these sides, we also made a couple more…because you know, three people need like 5 side items on Thanksgiving Day.

Candied sweet potatoes

And deviled eggs (my one request)

And then there was the turkey…

We decided to just get a breast this year so we didn’t end up with a crap ton of leftovers, and it worked out perfect.

Ultimate Mom quote of the day:
“This bird doesn’t have any legs…and that is why he ended up in my pot…poor thing never had a chance”

Bahaha!

 My beautiful (and colorful) plate!

I opted for steamed sweet potatoes sprinkled with cinnamon instead of sharing the candied ones with Mom and Tori…just wasn’t feeling the sugar rush today.

Speaking of sugar rush…

I spent about an hour online today searching for a pumpkin pie recipe that didn’t call for evaporated milk…because I was not going to the store AGAIN.

I was so excited when I found this recipe…healthy, easy, and quick!

I threw all of the ingredients* into the food processor, waited for Tori to get back with the new pie crust, and then popped it in the oven. Ten minutes start to finish and it smelled wonderful. I was pretty proud of myself…

But I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why after an hour of cooking, it never really set. I just chalked it up to a healthy recipe “thing”…

So finally it came time to taste it…

And then we figured out how to store the leftovers!

Yeah, so umm…remember that asterisk ^up there^??

I JUST realized I forgot to add the MILK!!

#howafoodiefailedthanksgiving

Things I am thankful for:
1. The fact that my family is VERY forgiving when I ruin the one and most coveted dessert of Thanksgiving.
2. No matter my mental status, just being able to laugh about it all and enjoy a good home-cooked meal with people I love.
3. The absolutely brilliant mind of Gracie over at Girl Meets Life…her single serving pumpkin pie is happening right now! 😉

I just saw Jenn’s celebrating a two day party with What I Ate on Thanksgiving!

Can’t wait to see what kind of goodies are linked up!

What are you thankful for today? 

Posted in Entree, Holiday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

What I Changed Wednesday

Posted on November 23, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys and gals!

Well, it’s that time of week again…time to get your drool on and celebrate another
What I Ate Wednesday!

Before we get started, I just wanna say a big thank you to Jenn for putting this party together each week…especially now with the hustle and bustle of the holidays upon us!

Oh, and did you see? Jenn was featured in Foodbuzz’s Top 9 the other day!!
How exciting is that?!

Congrats girlie!

Alright, so let’s crank up the music and get this food bash going!

All of the pics are from what I ate on MONDAY with breakfast being the only exception. You guys already got a glimpse of my delicious breakfast sandwich in yesterday’s post but today, I wanted to try changing it up a bit…

Plus, I opened the fridge and had a mini panic attack when I realized I was all out of eggs! 😉

No eggs…no problem!

Just fry up some tofu coated in cinnamon and coconut flour!

Since I didn’t have the warm, gooey egg yolk to act as my sandwich glue, I drizzled a bit of maple syrup on top of the tofu before smooshing my bread slices together, relaxing back in my chair, and savoring my creation!

I enjoyed my breakfast alongside a mug of 1/2 caff coffee and my (unpictured) multivitamins.

I also had another cup a few hours later before heading into work (last week of night shifts!). I know it’s probably a mental thing, but I swear if I don’t have coffee right before I go into work, I feel like a complete zombie.

I ended up eating my lunch/dinner/whatever you wanna call it in two parts…half around 11:30pm and the other half around 3am.

I had a bowl of mixed veggies with some dippage and a sandwich thin spread with sunflower seed butter.

Oh, and about that dip…

Since the Sabra hummus was a bit more than I bargained for in the spice department, I decided to change things up and mixed it with some Greek yogurt, nooch, and fresh ground black pepper.

It was perfect…toned down the spice just enough to appreciate the flavor!

Snack time happened a couple hours later and I grabbed my trusty standby for stopping hunger in it’s tracks…sometimes change isn’t necessary!

I really wanted something warm when I was leaving work in the morning. Usually, I’ll have some tea from my stash that I keep in my locker, but to change things up, I decided to try the Teeccino that I bought last week.

The first time I tried it, it was just ok, but I had some today and it’s definitely growing on me. I think I just need to play around with the water to tea ratio.

When I got home, it was time for bed!

The last couple of days, I’ve gone without a snack before bed, but then, once I wake up, I’m STARVING! I figured this morning it was time for a change so before I face-planted into my pillow tucked myself in for the night day, I fixed a bowl of puffed millet with peanut flour and raspberries with almond milk.

Just enough to keep me satisfied without filling me up too much.

As far as water goes for the day…I did not have nearly enough! Something I’ve been trying to work on lately. It’s just so hard to remember to drink water while working the nights shift when my brain is occupied with more important things…

Like staying awake!

What is your go-to before bed snack?

What changes do you make to your meals to keep thing interesting?

Posted in Breakfast, Entree, Product Review, Snacks, What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

M is for Monday

Posted on November 21, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Monday friends!

I hope you all had a good start to the week…at least it’s a short one right? Well, unless you have to work on Black Friday…or you’re one of the crazies who actually go out and shop on Black Friday.

*Shudder*

My sanity is worth far more than any amount of money I would save.

So I thought I’d catch you guys up on some recent happenings around here annnnnnnnd, since I’m a sucker for alliteration, rhyming, and all things nerdy when it comes to writing, I made a theme!

My M‘s on a Monday!

Music

Remember when I mentioned that I spent most of yesterday downloading new music? Well, it’s been about three YEARS since I’ve updated my iTunes library and now? Now, I have a crap-ton of new songs…and a much lighter wallet! :-/

Mmmm!

Oh yes, you read that right…that would be my latest cheese discovery at Sam’s club! Any one else stake out the cheese section at grocery store just waiting for a new arrival? Just me? Surely not!

I had an idea to do a goat cheese and egg sandwich for my breakfast today…the bacon just happened to be an afterthought…a BRILLIANT afterthought! The combo of the salty bacon, drippy egg yolk and sweet cheese was amazing. I’m so having this again tomorrow!

Motivation

That would be an actual Google search by me today…I’ve had a hard time staying motivated to work out. Pretty sure it has something everything to do with the fact that my body has no frickin’ clue what’s going on with my sleep schedule since I’ve been on night shifts, so today, I looked to the web for a little kick in the ass gentle nudge to get me going.

Honestly, spotting that hottie in the bottom right corner was enough to get me to drool all over myself lace up my sneakers and hit the gym, but here are a few others that stood out:

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Ok, so that last one is just in there for giggles…but hey, it’s true ain’t it? 😉

I ended up doing 30 hard minutes on the arc trainer and 15 minutes of upper body with free weights before calling it quits and guess what!

I felt GREAT!

Endorphines are always the best motivation!

Missing my {work} peeps

This is my last week of night shifts and as much as I do like working with the people on this shift (much more laid back and relaxed), I’m starting to miss all my daywalker friends. Also, this past week was Radiology Week…aka the anniversary of the discovery of x-rays and I kinda feel like I missed out on the fun.

The hospital does a good job each year with celebrating “our” week and always gets us a a small gift…this year it was the cute little lunch box with a removable dish!

I can’t wait until next week so I can catch up with all my co-workers…and then start complaining about the day shift again! 😉

My new car

As you guys know, since Vickie’s untimely death a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been on a hunt for a new vehic-a-mobile. Well, I think I have finally narrowed it down to two!

2007 Ford Edge

or a

2008 Nissan Rogue

Both cars have a sunroof, power everything, and a reasonable price. I’ve driven both cars, but I’m waiting for a transfer of an Edge from another Carmax that has a few more frills than this one for the same price before I make my final decision.

Funny I just realized how similar they look to good ol’ Vickie! 🙂

Which car do you like better?

What is an M for your Monday?

Posted in Breakfast, Running, Shopping, Workouts | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments