My Turkey Day!

Well, my friends, we had a successful and surprisingly traditional Thanksgiving this year!

Since my mom and I were determined to stay true to all of our holiday traditions -- basically great food and great company -- we started our prep last night and were in the kitchen bright and early to get that turkey in the oven!

I decided to do a turkey trot on my own and ran a rather painful 7 miles before meeting up with Lee.  We planned to tackle 6 miles before heading home... but I declared around mile 8.5 that I couldn't do it.  I wasn't in the mood.  So, I headed back home.  No harm done!

By noon, we had the appetizers out, the game on, and the turkey cooking away!

This year was really special for me because I got to cook over half the dishes alongside my mommaaa, which made it feel like the HOLIDAYS! 

We decided to keep appetizers easy and light -- a platter of gluten-free corn chips, guac and salsa.  A bowl of black and green olives, pickled beets, and baby dill pickles.  And Marcus (one of our stray grad students) brought a huge platter of crackers, cheese, and meat!! YUM!

Before we knew it, the turkey was ready and it was time to eat!

We had some easy place-and-bake rolls (for the boys -- they like their carbs)

And our lightened-up stuffing, made with Sara Lee's 45 calorie bread, celery, onion, a little bit of butter and some chicken stock.  Stuffing is always my favorite -- and this was no exception! I think I had 3 or 4 helpings of this stuff...ing.  Ha.

Classic green bean casserole -- made with french style green beans and a can and a half of fat-free cream of mushroom soup.  I opted for my helping without the fried onions on top.  Green bean casserole just screams comfort food and holiday meals to me!

Amazingly juicy and tender TURKEY thanks to my mom's skills with the turkey bag.  Are you a dark meat or white meat fan??  I'm all about the dark meat, baby.

My contribution:  Healthy Maple Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole -- 120 calories per serving! Marcus, my friend from the midwest (meat and taters kind of guy) said that this was some of the best sweet potato casserole he's ever had! And he didn't even know they were healthy!

My second contribution: Healthy buttermilk mashed potatoes with chives. About 150 calories per serving -- this was a favorite at the Thanksgiving table today!  The chives really added something.  All the boys (and my mom) loved them!  I'm not really a potato fan... but I enjoyed my fair share!

The spread: 

The chefs:

The college students!

My plate (first plate, I should say)

I was especially excited to see how our Skinny Pumpkin Pie turned out, so you can imagine how long I waited before I dove into the dessert selection (I think under 5 minutes...)

 

Lee brought some vegan peanut butter and apricot cookies and a loaf of double chocolate pumpkin bread!  YUM.  I tried both, obviously. 

I also made some Mini Maple Pecan Pies -- another healthy alternative for the dessert table.  At about 45 calories a pop, you couldn't help but go back for seconds.  

We have this tradition of passing out in turkey-induced comas right after lunch (served around 2:30)... and waking up in time to watch even more football and make some interesting leftovers!

What, you don't eat Thanksgiving lunch AND dinner?  Crazies...

My mom waits all year to bust out one of her favorite leftover turkey recipes -- an Asian-inspired crispy turky with spring onion, plum sauce, and cranberry sauce on top of flat bread.  Think Peking duck but with Thanksgiving leftovers!! SO DAMN GOOD.

 I also made some more dessert -- sugar cookies (healthified with apple sauce in place of butter)

Wow. 

I can't believe we had that much food in one day!  Actually, I can... it was truly delicious and I enjoyed every last bit.  My favorites included the stuffing, the sweet potatoes, and the pumpkin pie!! One of the best pies I've ever had! 

We sent the boys home with tons of leftovers and my mom and I are currently plopped on the couch watching Love Actually to carry us right into the next holiday.

I'm so thankful.

Thanksgiving Prep!

HAPPY HAPPY TURKEY DAY, EVERYBODY!!

I hope you're all surrounded by good friends, great family, and delicious food!  I also have one simple request from you: eat enough so some stretchy pants are required :)

What's on your plate for the day?

ANYWAYS, my Thanksgiving is off to a great start, continuing with all my silly adventures around the Bay with my mom.

Essentially, our first 24 hours of this holiday weekend have been spent eating, shopping, napping, and repeating -- and I fully intend on continuing this pattern for the next few days!

After coming back from our grocery excursion to end all excursions, we promptly snuggled up on the couch to watch Grey's Anatomy reruns and nap!

Once we regained our strength, we headed out to shop & stroll before stopping for dinner at a new Greek place that opened up

Mom is a huge fan of Greek food -- we went to Greece two summers ago and I swear she would have moved there just for the food! -- so our expectations were pretty high.  We decided to split an appetizer and two entrees (okay, and two desserts).

Appetizer:  The Meza Plate for Two: pita, hummus, babaganoush, falafel, dolmas, olives, and feta cheese with some fabulour spicy pepper and cilantro sauce!
 

True fact: it was Mom's first time trying falafels!!! My favorite fried chickpea balls?!?!  She fell in love.  Love at first bite.  I foresee tons of falafels in our future :)

Next up: Greek Salad topped with Gyros Meat and Mousaka with a side of brown rice. 
 

Oh my Lord -- that Mousaka (which is like a Greek lasagna with lamb meet and eggplant and cheese)!! I apologized to my mom because I hogged that dish.  It was so amazing.  So creamy.. I need to learn how to make this dish.  My eggplant never comes out like that :(

Mom with crazy eyes: it runs in the family.

And for dessert: homemade Baklava and Rice Pudding.
Enough said.

We left feeling satisfied -- but not totally stuffed.

Our goal this trip is to enjoy everything, but to not over-indulge and over-eat just because it's a holiday.  I want my new clothes to fit me after the weekend's over!

So, instead of stopping for a chocolate chip cookie, we did the next best thing: SHOP.

We goofed around before Lee came over to help us prep dishes for TODAY'S FEAST!
Since we're condemned to work within the small confines of my apartment.... we spread out our mess throughout the kitchen an the living room.  Hey, it works.

Lee couldn't figure out how to work my crazy can opener (thanks, Gram!!)... and he just got into some awesome medical schools.... yeah, I'm worried for the future of our medical profession, too.

Mom got to work on our healthy homemade stuffing -- tip: use Sara Lee's 45 Calorie Bread to replace your typical stuffing bread.  It cuts calories like NO OTHER.  And it tastes amazing. Why not, right?
 

I got to work on some healthy maple whipped sweet potato casserole and healthy buttermilk mashed potatoes with chives. 

The maple sweet potatoes are between 120-140 calories per 1/6th of the dish!
The buttermilk mashed potatoes are about 160 calories for 1/5th of the dish!

Not too bad, huh?

While our potatoes were getting acquainted with the boiling water, Lee popped open some wine while I started on some Skinny Pumpkin Pie

Mom asked me to calculate the nutrition facts for my healthy contributions: Pumpkin Pie is 140 calories for 1/8 of the pie! AND, it does not taste healthy, my friends. 

Lee's wine failure.
Between my mom, the rocket scientist, and Lee, the med student, they still couldn't figure it out.
 

Lee's true skills shined when he cut shapes into the leftover pie crust to decorate the top of our pumpkin pie!  Thank God he's good for something :)

How creative....
 

Our pie! Before going into the oven!

Oh, yeah... we mean business!!
Our little apartment smelled heavenly -- and it really got me excited for the feast, in just a few short hours!!

I'm meeting up with Lee for a little turkey trot before we start cooking up a storm!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!!
GO EAT AND BE MERRY!

Festivities BEGIN!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!!

My un-traditional Thanksgiving weekend is kicking off with a bang, thanks to the arrival of one of my very best friends: MOMMA!

Instead of flying home to San Diego and having a Thanksgiving feast for two (my siblings plus extended fam will be in DC with my dad!), we decided to go rogue and plan a girls weekend. I'll fill you in on the details in a bit... but first...

Check out what my amazing roommate & friend left for me! Jenny's flight home was at some unGodly hour this morning, but she remembered by obsession with all these chocolate and peanut butter... so, she left me a treat right by my oatmeal :)

I love you Jenny!!!!!! Especially since you sweetened up my morning with oatmeal + candy bars... only kidding.  I managed to save my candy bars for this afternoon.

So, once I went on an easy 6.5 mile run & attended my favorite abs and back class -- my mom was at my apartment, ready to get a jump start on our girl's weekend!

First up?  LUNCH! 
She wanted something healthy and warm.  So, I suggested Burma Superstar.  I figured we could split their famous Tea Leaf salad and a side of curry -- which is just what we did.

Tea Leaf Salad -- as seen on Food Network!

Pumpkin and Chicken Stew with Brown Rice! You know I love my Kabocha Squash...

My dining companion :)  she's a looker, huh?

Pumpkin stew with a side of "girl with no sense of color scheme or fashion" (hence, the plaid, the charcoal, and the brown knit scarf...)

My mom was kind enough to indulge my sweet tooth with a run to McDonalds for some vanilla softserve and HOT coffee!  You gotta find that balance, right?

So -- back to this weekend!

Our plans for the holiday?  Thanksgiving feast on Thursday - complete with a 13 pound turkey and all the traditional fixings - which will be spent with a few strays (grad students!) who are staying in the Bay Area instead of going home.  Football. Food. Friends!

In order to prepare for the Thanksgiving feast, we made a pit stop at Safeway. 
Holy mother of all things sacred... groceries galore.

After our semi-traditional part of Thanksgiving, we're straying from the norm.

No black Friday.

Friday to Sunday will be spent exploring Napa Valley, where we rented a room at the cutest B&B ever! I can't wait to check in :)  I expect tons of wine, cheese, long runs on the trails, and a few redwood forests -- keep a lookout for pictures!


I'll fill you in on some of the trouble we'll most likely get ourselves into!!
HAPPY ALMOST THANKSGIVING!  
Hope you're spending it with loved ones -- I know I am.