Pumpkin Galore!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is one week away!  I'm excited about it, but also a little weirded out that it's almost here already!  Where has time gone this year?!

I can't wait to start preparing, making goodies and enjoying family and the little traditions John and I have started over the years!  Our first married Thanksgiving!  Nothing in our plans will change from the past few years, but it's still a fun little milestone!

I thought I'd share some dessert recipes today that are or at least look delicious so you can start prepping for them if you're so inclined to try any.

I found this recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake online.  

A local radio station mentioned it this week and it looks tasty and easy!  I haven't tried it yet, but it's tempting!

I've also mentioned the Pumpkin Cookies and Pumpkin Bread here.

Finally, the traditional dessert: Pumpkin Pie!  

(The link also has a recipe for Apple Pie if pumpkin isn't your thing)

And if you're looking for something for breakfast, the lovely Meg from Henning Love posted an amazing Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll recipe too!  I can't wait to try that one this weekend!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions??

Mine is running the Turkey Trot 5K the morning of Thanksgiving every year, then getting ready for the first meal (John's family's) while watching the Macy's Day parade.  And spending the day with our families!

What desserts do you have every Thanksgiving?? 

Eat it. Work it. Blog it.

I'm linking up with Amber this week for Eat it. Work it. Blog it.

Eat it.
I've done pretty good with my eating this past week.  I did cheat twice during the weekend, but to be fair, it was for a birthday and group date night...and those are my excuses.  I'm not really one to over eat...when I'm full, I've always just naturally stopped fortunately, but sometimes, you can pass the serving size and eat way to many calories that aren't so good for you and not be really full still.  I'm horrible with cereal.  So, I decided last week to start counting out my cereal for my serving size and stopping there.  I think that's how extra calories slide in on me.  So far it seems successful, and I'm usually satisfied at the end of my smaller bowl of cereal.  I've been adding a fruit to it for the morning and it seems to be working pretty well.  I'm working on this in every area, but cereal is one of my worst areas!

During my lunches, I've bought a lot of different choices to make a sandwich, have a couple sides and a fruit and veggie.  I'm usually in on turkey or peanut butter, but will on occasion eat the tuna fish sandwich.  I've found that taking a little extra time preparing for lunch has helped.  When I go out to eat, that small burger and fries every day packs on a lot of fatty calories that a turkey sandwich, carrots and cottage cheese don't have.  Then I can control what goes into my food for lunch :)

Work it.

This week, I made 5/5 workouts.  I did Insanity and ran.  My goal is to run a minimum of 1000 miles this year, and I've gotten a little off track due to vacation and a few other things, so I'm working on making it up.  If I can get in 30 miles a week up to the wedding, I'll be caught up and if we decided to go for a run on our honeymoon, those will be extra bonus miles!  I'm sure when I start marathon training again, I'll hit well over 1000 but I would like to be on track throughout the year...83.3 miles/month.  Insanity, I'm doing just to get through the whole training package.  I'm ready to go back to normal workouts though...my attention span is having trouble focusing on Insanity.  I will be finished with it in 3 weeks though!

Blog it.

The changes I've made have been successful.  I don't usually gain too much weight or lose it, but my love affair with sugar lately did add a few pounds I wouldn't mind getting rid of.  I lost 2lbs last week, so I'm happy about that :)  Hopefully I'll have a good report next week too!

My Vice Has Returned!!!

Dun-Dun-Dun...

I can't go into the store, see ones of these little guys and not buy one...

It seems they come out earlier every year.  Thankfully they're seasonal or I'd be in big trouble.

Yum!

Chicken Little, a New Governor, Taylor Swift and Chocolates!

I just finished a nice little 4.52 mile run.  I've had stupid allergies because the weather cannot stay consistent down in Florida so it's been messing with my head!  Hopefully my body will be happy again soon :)

Meet Chicken Little

He's been sick for a while now.  I think I've almost revived him!  (Think eyedrops, special cleaners and sulfur dip...) He even ate today.  He hasn't eaten in forever.  He still has some eye problems going on, but they look better!  I'm just so happy he's swimming and eating again that I had to share.  John got me two turtles when I bought my house...one didn't make it, but Chicken Little has survived for almost 3 years now!  Here's to hoping he keeps going strong!

Well, Rick Scott just was sworn in as the new Governor of Florida.  I'm not so sad to see Crist go, but I'm not sure how I feel about Scott.  Only time will tell, as is with every new leader we've ever had.  Hopefully his term will bring good things to Florida!

I finally got the new Taylor Swift cd thanks to a couple of iTunes giftcards I found recently.  I like it...her songs can bring out the old teeny-bopper in all of us!

Last night, I went with John's family to make chocolates.  It was fun!  Here are some pictures!

 John and my loot

 Robin and David (who refused to smile)

 Heck yes! They had Gator molds :)

John's family :)

Tuesday (workday) is almost over for me! :)  Only 3 more days until my spicy chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A Saturday!!

Day 4: Best Leftover Recipes

Day 4: Best Leftover Recipes

I'm not much of a leftover eater.  I've gotten better, but I could do without eating the same thing twice so close together, unless it's cereal.  Plus, I get paranoid about things being good after they've sat for more than a day. I do however, have a few things that I love leftover...they also happen to be some of my favorite foods.  But really, they do taste just as good leftover.

Chili.

Make it however you'd like.  There are plenty of recipes online.  I would share with you mine, but I'm not sure how I make it.  John and I just throw stuff in until it looks good!  Think tomatoes, spicy chili beans, kidney beans, chili powder and red peppers, onion, ect...You can eat it the next couple days and it still tastes good.  Plus...it's easy the first time!  It can cook all day while you're at work in your crockpot!  Yay crockpots!  There are many variations for chili.  For example, the first night, I had it as a soup with crackers.  The next day, I put it over yellow rice with a little sour cream and cheese and made it a mexican-ish dish, then, chili dogs!  You can make it different, while not cooking too much extra to go along with it!

Beef Stroganoff.

One of my favorite meals of all time.  Seriously.  All time.  John banned me from it for a while since we were eating it sooooo much.   You just can't stop a good thing.  We make ours over rice, but a lot of people use egg noodles.  I'm going to give you the recipe we use for the meat/sauce and you can choose whatever you'd like to put it over!

You're going to need:

1 to 1-1/2 lbs of steak of your choice.

2 cans cream of mushroom soup.

1-packet Lipton onion packet.

1 tablespoons sour cream.  I use fat free because you can't taste a difference and you might as well save calories where you can :)  Note: Very important ingredient.  I may or may not have an obsession with sour cream...

Directions:

Cut up and brown the meat in a pan until is it cooked to your liking, I like mine medium/medium rare because it still cooks after you add in the other ingredients a little more.  Add the Lipton packet and the cream of mushroom soup.  Stir.  Add sour cream.  Stir. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Serve over rice/noodle/whatever else you'd like.  Best thing is, if you store the meat and sauce separate from starches, it reheats and tastes just as good the next day.  After writing about this, I'll be having this for dinner this week!

Pizza.

It always reheats good.  It's quick and easy the first time and even more so the second!  Go check out Janae's blog, she recently wrote about a pizza crust that looks amazing!  I'll be trying it soon!

Pot Pie.

I've heard of a lot of people using leftover turkey to make pot pies.  I haven't actually done that, but I can make a mean Bisquick pot pie.  Go here to find the recipe!

Hope you enjoy!  I look forward to seeing what leftovers you suggest.  Maybe I'll find something new I love to eat!!!

Day 2: Favorite Holiday Memory

Day 2: Favorite Holiday Memory

My favorite holiday memory is Christmas breakfast.  It's always at my parent's house.  They started it when I was little, so we could be a home Christmas morning.  Both sets of grandparents and most of the family would come over.  I don't have a year in specific that I loved, it's just great every year.  My Granny and Granddaddy used to sit in the driveway to wait until they saw signs of life so they could come watch us open presents.  It was fun to be able to celebrate first thing with all the family...especially my grandparents.

FREE Chick-fil-A!!!

Hi Friends...as an unofficial advocate for Chick-fil-A, I thought I would share that you can register for free spicy chicken biscuits.  What's better than Chick-fil-A???  Especially when it's FREE!!!

YUM!

Go HERE to register for your free biscuit!!!

ENJOY!!!

Ramblings...

First and foremost...

TODAY IS FIVE MONTHS UNTIL OUR WEDDING!!!  

I'm so excited!  It feels like this time if creeping by...almost, but I know it's just because I can't wait!!!

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Lunchtime favorites...
So, recently, I've decided to limit my eating out, especially during lunchtime.  I've been looking for different alternatives, so I thought I'd share some quick, easy, and tasty (and usually healthy) lunch ideas I've found.  I just add a piece of fruit, some carrots and one of these:

Most I have found are between 200-400 calories per serving.  All you do is follow the microwave directions and eat.  Can't get much easier than that at the office.  They cost $1.95 at Publix and they taste pretty good.  I wouldn't say they are quite as good a home cooked or anything, but they are a lot better than I expected.  Just watch out for the sodium counts in those things...sometimes they can get a little high.  There are TONS of variety with these.  I've had my best luck with the pasta and red sauce meals so far.

If you're a fan of soup, these little gems are pretty good.  I haven't tried the soup in the picture, but the Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla and the Southwest Style Vegetarian are pretty yummy.  Best of all, they are low in calories and easy to prepare.  Plus, it's the perfect time of year for soup.

I love these little guys.  Sometimes, you just feel like Mac & Cheese.  Just add water and heat.  They have 220 calories and are around $4.00 for a 4 pack.  They also have ones with broccoli added if you're feeling feisty.  

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Lastly...

When I was buying some of the above at the grocery store yesterday, there was this woman in the store that made my blood boil.  She was checking out with her husband and three daughters in tow.  The oldest had to be maybe 7.  She was helping her mom by putting bananas on the conveyor belt.  Not sure what happened prior to this, but she yelled "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!  I CAN'T STAAAANNNNNDDDD THIS ANYMORE!" to her daughter...like a violent, hateful, ugh, I can't even believe she'd ever yell at anyone, much less a child like that...it was that bad.  In fact, it was so loud and scary sounding, that managers were running from all over the store to the front to see what was going on.  Pathetic.  I felt so sorry for those little girls.  I understand at times it must be frustrating to be a parent.  Much more frustrating, than my non child-having self can imagine, but when does it seem right to yell like that at anyone...especially a child?  And for the father to allow this and for this display to go on in a public place is unimaginable to me.  What happens at home?  From her outburst, it leads me to believe she can't control her temper...at. all.

When I was checking out, I asked the cashier what had happened, and she explained to me exactly what I saw.  She had no idea where it came from. Usually I'm the one saying that kids don't have enough discipline in their lives anymore, but that is definitely not the right way to instill this into children.

Would you have said something?  Or done anything?  What can be done to people like that?  You can't treat a child like that.  They're going to grow up treating others the same way, or scared and scarred.  WTF?!