Thanksgiving in Hartville

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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!

Candles & Cranberry Cookies

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Good morning! How’s your Thursday going so far? It’s dark, cloudy, and raining here in Springfield. Do I wish I could just stay in bed all day with Mac in our pajamas? Yep, basically. But life must go on despite the dreary weather. 🙂

Christmas Candles!

So you all probably think I’m crazy when I get excited over the smallest and silliest things. But when I got home from work yesterday and saw this pretty box on my doorstep, I was beyond excited!

photo(52)I completely forgot that I had ordered some large candles from Bath & Body Works last week on sale.

image(12)I love how they pack them up.  I order these babies each year and keep a few for myself and then give some away as Christmas gifts.

photo(50)Woohoo! My favorite of these four was the Cinnamon Caramel Swirl. It smells like the most heavenly bakery/coffee shop, and I will definitely be keeping this one for myself. My momma loves the Winter Candy Apple, so I’ll take that one to her this weekend as an early Christmas gift. Then I can use the other two as gifts as long as I can refrain from burning them in my own house before Christmas!

If you’re not signed up for the Bath & Body Works emails, you should sign up TODAY. Seriously. They send out the best coupons everyday, and I do tons of gift shopping on their site over the holidays. Plus they almost always offer free shipping deals, so it’ll save you a trip to the store!

Cranberry Cookies

And now onto the really fun stuff: cookies! I was crazy productive last night when I got home from work. I realized it was my last evening at home until Sunday night, so I got some things done! I did laundry, walked and bathed Mac, washed dishes, and then made some cookies with my fresh cranberries!

image(13)I loosely followed two different recipes from Pinterest, which kinda morphed into my own creation. But they turned out pretty well!

cranoatIngredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 3 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp All Spice
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 stick butter/margarine (softened)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar or Splenda
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and begin by creaming together the softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar or Splenda (I used Splenda). Add in the eggs, applesauce and vanilla, and mix well. Next, mix in your remaining dry ingredients: flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and All Spice. Last, mix in your cranberries and chocolate chips.

image(11)Spoon the dough out onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 13 minutes or until edges start to brown. These cookies don’t expand (or ‘grow’) too much while baking, so they may not be the prettiest, but they are pretty darn tasty! Plus, no oil (applesauce instead!) is always an added perk for those healthy eaters out there.

photo(51)The red cranberries make these cookies really pretty – perfect for the holidays! Try ’em out this weekend, and let me know your thoughts. Adding nuts or extra chocolate might be fun to try next time! Craisins would also work with this recipe I’m sure if you don’t have the fresh cranberries on hand. They would probably add lots of yummy sweetness!

Hope your Thursday turns out to be a great one. Mine started with a run (I got rained on again!), and it will end with Jazzercise tonight. Seems like an okay day to me!