Monthly Archives: November 2013

Ready for Thanksgiving, Round 2

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Good morning, folks! Sorry I never checked in yesterday. It was a hectic day to say the least, and I taught my normal double-header last night. By the time I made it home at 8 pm, I had enough time to shower and clean up my kitchen (because who wants to leave for vacation with a sink full of dirty dishes?!) before I had to hit the sack. My body basically collapsed into a slight coma as soon as I laid down. But I slept hard, and woke up early to get in my normal Wednesday morning run.

Morning Run

I’ve said this before, and I’m hoping I won’t say it many more times, but this morning’s run was my coldest yet!

photo(2)My other weather app (KY3 weather app) told me it was also 16 degrees, but that the ‘Feels Like’ temp was 6 degrees. Umm BRRRRRR!! I bundled myself up in two bottom layers, a long sleeve cold-weather compression top, my running puffer vest, and my usual ear warmer and gloves. I’m pretty sure I looked about like the Michelin Man this morning running around my neighborhood.

michelin_manYup, that was me. When I stepped out of my front door, it definitely felt like 6 degrees, and it didn’t matter what I was wearing. I was going to be frozen no matter what! Or so I thought. About 3 miles down the road, I started getting too warm and had to take off my gloves. Yup, that is how warm I get when I run. It’s still crazy to me!

I tried to make it to 7 miles in an hour, but I just couldn’t make it today. My legs were too cold, and I made it to 6.93 at the hour mark. Oh well, I almost made it! And more than anything, I was thankful to get this run out of the way before we head off to St. Louis this evening.

And speaking of heading off to STL, my turkey hat is in my suitcase and ready to trot tomorrow morning!

image(10)That’s your sneak peek. 🙂  I’ll have Nick take some wonderful pics of me tomorrow before the race. I’m hoping I can get it to stay on my head!

We’re heading out after work this evening and should be at Nick’s parents house around 8 tonight. Then I’m hoping to get a good night’s rest before our 5K. Sometimes Mac has some issues with getting a full 8 hours of sleep when we travel, but mommy is hoping he will cooperate and sleep in past 5:30!

Cauliflower Salad

And now for a quick and easy salad recipe! As requested by Dede, here is my mom’s cauliflower salad. Just be warned that for a salad, it is nowhere near healthy, and all the measurements aren’t exact. She doesn’t measure one thing when she makes this, so I’m mostly guessing!

photo(33)This is the salad she made for our Thanksgiving dinner last weekend. It’s always a hit around our dinner table, and it’s super convenient to take to parties/gatherings.

You’ll need:

  • 2 bags of romaine lettuce (or enough to almost fill a large serving bowl!)
  • 1 head of cauliflower,  cleaned & chopped into bitesize pieces
  • 1 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing (use Light if you prefer)
  • 1.5 cups of crispy cooked bacon, crumbled
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

This salad is put together in the bowl you will serve it in. It’s also assembled in layers, and all you have to do is toss it right before serving!

Begin with the lettuce as your base, and layer the cauliflower evenly across the top of it. Next will be your Miracle Whip. Using a flat spatula, spoon the salad dressing over the top of the cauliflower and spread it out evenly to form a flat layer over the cauliflower. You may need more dressing to get a nice thick layer over the top depending on the size of the bowl you’re using. If you feel like you’re using too much, don’t worry. This salad can turn out too dry if you don’t use enough Miracle Whip!

Next, sprinkle on the bacon evenly, followed by the sugar, and lastly, the paremesan cheese. Since all the ingredient servings are approximate, feel free to use more or less to make it work for you! You can toss the salad immediately to serve, or you can cover it tightly and keep it in the fridge. My mom has kept this salad premade in the fridge for up to 2 days and it was fine. Beyond that, I’m not sure how it will hold up. 🙂

Easy peasy! Enjoy your cooking/traveling/eating these next couple of days. I’ll be right there with you dealing with crazy traffic, stuffed bellies, and too much family time. But remember the real reason for the holiday and everything we have to be thankful for. And maybe, just maybe, these positive thoughts will help us deal with the stress of too many family members in one house. 🙂

Have a great Thanksgiving! I’ll check in as soon as I can – see you then!

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Thanksgiving in Hartville

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, , , ,

Hey there! I’m back in the land of high-speed Internet after a busy weekend at my parents house. It was a great weekend to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my immediate family.

Nick and I headed to Hartville on Saturday morning after I got in a long run of 11 miles. It was a cold morning, and the run was fairly easy for me knowing that I was earning the right to eat a huge turkey dinner!

image(13)YUM!!! Once we made it to Hartville, my mom and I got to work on preparing this small feast. I whipped up my sweet potato casserole first thing and put it in the fridge to bake right before dinner time.

photo(52)This stuff was tasty right out of the bowl, so I was excited to bake it with marshmallows! The marshmallows kinda failed though…I melted them instead of just toasting the top.

image(10)Ooops! Still tasty though! I made them extra spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg. They were a hit around the table.

My mom cooked our 9 lb. turkey in her beloved CrockPot (hence my obsession with my own Crockpot!), and it turned out amazing despite my doubts of it even fitting in there!

image(15)It was falling apart it was so tender, and all the juices made an awesome gravy.

photo(50)But let’s not forget about the amazing carbs that we all know and love too so much.

photo(32)I had a couple of these babies, and I enjoyed every bite!

Our little feast also featured stuffing, sweet corn, and a cauliflower salad that my mom is famous for.

image(12) photo(33)And for the sweet stuff, cranberries and pie!

image(11) image(14)My sister-in-law made the homemade pumpkin pie. She made the crust and everything! My pies weren’t that homemade, but at least I tried. 🙂

photo(51)This is Angel, my brother’s schnauzer-mix. Isn’t she cute!? Her and Mac played the entire evening. They are a hyperactive-match made in doggie heaven! Also, check out my mom’s awesome retro kitchen floor. Love it.

Getting together like this makes me so thankful for my family and all the blessings they bring me throughout the year. I’m one lucky girl to have such wonderful parents and family members!

Nick and I headed home on Sunday after church with full tummies and lots of leftover pie and sweet potatoes. And now I’m trying to get in the groove to get through 2 more days of work before we head off again to St. Louis. Tonight’s agenda is packing my suitcase…again!

Have a wonderful evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Early Morning Pie Baking

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Happy Friday everybody! Are we all excited for the weekend? We’ve made it through another week, folks, and I must say it feels pretty good.

Well from the post title, I’m sure you can tell what I did this morning. And it didn’t involve a workout!

image(10)I baked some PIES! Yummm!

I woke up at my usual time of 5 AM, but I didn’t rush out the door for my typical run or workout. I had the bottom crust in the oven for the apple pie before I was even out of my pajamas, and I stayed busy right until I hopped in the shower at 6:30.

I baked the bottom crust for the apple pie for about 10 minutes before I added the filling.

image(15) photo(50)I love pie, but I hate when the bottom crust isn’t cooked all the way. Hopefully this solves my problem! I added the top crust and covered this baby with aluminum foil so the crust wouldn’t get burnt.

image(14)I took off the foil 30 minutes in, and let it finish baking with 15 more minutes.

photo(33) image(12)Perfect! Apple pie is Nick’s favorite, so this one will win me brownie points for at least the next month or so. 🙂

And as soon as I got this out of my oven, I put my Crustless Cranberry Pie in!

image(13) photo(32)It also came out perfectly! Or so I think….I haven’t tasted it yet. But the batter I licked out of the bowl was pretty awesome.

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and slightly adapted it this morning to make it work for me! I added around 3 tbsp of milk because the batter way WAY too dry. I also added a pinch of baking soda and used whole wheat flour instead of white.

image(11)I just love that it’s so pretty and turned out fairly well on my first attempt. Win! I can’t wait to try this pie out tomorrow night after our big feast at my parent’s house. Since it’s full of fruit and walnuts, my dad should hopefully love it!

Early Thanksgiving

Tomorrow will consist of an Early Thanksgiving at my parent’s house, and I’m so excited to go visit! This meal will be a small gathering of my parents, Nick and I, and my brother and his wife. Along with our doggies. 🙂

With my pies out of the way, all I have to do is put together my sweet potatoes, and we’ll be set to go! I’ll put the casserole together tomorrow morning and bake it once we arrive in Hartville. Which reminds me, I can’t forget to take the marshmallows!

Aside from my food contributions, my mom will be providing the rest of our meal, from the turkey and stuffing, to the pecan pie. Her food is always the best, so I’m excited to let my inner fat kid run free tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow I’m planning on waking up early and getting in my normal Saturday long run before we leave. I have 9 miles on the schedule, but I’m feeling ambitious, so I think I will just run for 1.5 hours and see how far I can make it. I’m guessing I’ll make it a little over 10 miles before I have to head home. And this will clear out a nice, big hole in my tummy for lotsa eatin’!!

See you all later when I’m back in the land of Internet! I love my family home, but Hartville is so far out in the country that my parents are still on dial-up…I know. So I’ll have lots to share when we make it back on Sunday. Have a great weekend!