One of My Favorite Meals

Thanksgiving 2012 was a success! 

The day started off with a pre-run breakfast of banana with peanut butter and cinnamon and a cup of coffee.

Then off to Hale to the Bird 5k for a gorgeous morning run. It was mid 50’s and absolutely perfect running weather. I ran my fastest 5k ever yesterday and am super pumped about it!

Photos courtesy of the beautiful Amanda 🙂

I was a co-sponsor of the event and Beautifully Nutty made it on the back of the shirts! I was a whole lotta excited about that!

After the race, Dana and I made our way home to get the turkey in the oven, look through the Black Friday ads, and have a couple of snacks to hold us over until dinner.

Dinner Time

Our guests arrived at 2:00 pm and we enjoyed delicious appetizers, drinks, and company. I also opened up birthday presents from my mom and dad and Kevin. Now my birthday is officially over. Bummer! I guess three weeks is long enough. 🙂

The turkey took a lot longer to cook than I expected (ahem 5 plus hours in the oven–are you kidding me?!), so when it finally came time to eat everyone was pretty darn hungry.

But you know what, it all worked out. Here is our lovely Thanksgiving meal…

Ta da! My very first turkey!

Cornbread stuffing, gluten-free (recipe to come!), and cheesy broccoli and cauliflower.

 

Mashed potatoes with a few lumps which is my FAVORITE. One big dog sitting by our feet while we ate just in case something were to drop. Sorry, no luck there pup.

 

My pretty plate. To the upper left of the photo is homemade cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce often gets neglected. It was good though!

I cleaned my plate and then had two more bites of mashed potatoes before calling it quits. I wish I could temporarily grow a second stomach just for Thanksgiving so that I could eat a little bit more of this delicious meal. This is one of my favorite meals of all time.

Birthday Dessert

When dessert rolled around everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to me and I blew out my birthday candles! I feel like my birthday is not complete until that song is sung. I love that my mom always harmonizes when she sings it.

 

For dessert I had a piece of mom’s homemade french silk pie (she made it gluten-free for me) and a small piece of pumpkin pie (minus the crust). Both were delectable!

With only a few minor set-backs during the meal preparation, I would say it was a very successful Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for my family for keeping my stress level under control when things don’t go as planned.

Now it’s time to start thinking about eating up those leftovers! I hope you all had a happy and healthy holiday and were able to enjoy time with family and friends.

Catch up with you all soon! xoxo

 

 

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Hearty Lentils with Spinach

Hello there! Happy Sunday my friends. What’s everyone have on the agenda? Resting and relaxing or running errands and prepping for the week ahead? Whatever it may be I hope it’s a good one so far!

I still have yet to recap the second part of our Colombia vacation but I was really itching to write a “normal” post plus I have a recipe I want to share with you all, so the second recap will have to wait a little while longer. Here’s the Miami recap, and Colombia Part I recap if you’re interested.

I have a little bit of catching up to do from Friday first so we’re going to be starting off there right at lunch time. To celebrate my birthday (a week early) my co-workers and I went out to Houlihan’s for lunch. I received a free $15 coupon for my birthday to the restaurant so that’s why we decided to go there.

I ordered the french onion soup and a caesar salad with grilled chicken and polenta croutons. I was very happy with both of my selections.

Tasty!

Moving on to dinner…

This is your forewarning that the meal you are about to see is one of the most unappetizing dishes ever to appear on BN. However, I promise you that although unappealing to the eyes, it is very appealing to the palate.

Hearty Lentils with Spinach.

After I plated the lentils over the spinach, I stirred the warm lentils into the spinach and decided that I liked it that way better.

Oh yes I am falling in love with lentils. First the Curry Stew and now this.

Hearty Lentils with Spinach
Print
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1½ cups lentils
  • ¾ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. ginger powder
  • ¾ tsp. cumin
  • ½ tsp. curry
  • ¼ tsp. paprika
  • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth*
  • 3 cups spinach
  • *Use vegetable broth if cooking vegetarian
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, saute onions and carrots on stovetop for 3 minutes.
  2. Add in spices and stir.
  3. Add in chicken broth, stir, reduce heat to simmer, cover and let simmer for 2 hours; stirring occasionally.
  4. Before serving, add spinach and stir in until it wilts into lentils.
  5. Serve hot.

It’s such a hearty and healthy dish that I truly enjoyed (and Dana did too).

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Saturday

I enjoyed two cups of Dunkin Donut’s Pumpkin Spice coffee with hazelnut creamer to kickstart my morning.

Have you tried this stuff?! If you haven’t please go buy some. You won’t regret it. NUM.

Next was breakfast. I topped one banana half with Parkers Farm creamy peanut butter and the other half with Peanut Butter & Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. Yes it is a dream how good that stuff is. A dangerous dream. Thanks to Peanut Butter & Co. for sending me some coupons for their heavenly product.

I gave breakfast time to settle while watching two episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Dominican Republic and Maine. Both episodes were great. His humor cracks me up.

Then it was time to lace up and head out the door and face the dreary morning with a run. Moose surely didn’t care that it was drizzly and dreary, he was so ready to go. We trekked through the neighborhood and covered about 4 miles.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house, “helping” Dana dig out the window well to prepare for egress windows so that we can finish our basement at some point, putting the patio furniture away for the season, hanging out with Moose, and baking up a treat for the worker crew.

Recipe to come soon!

I hope you’re having an excellent weekend. Catch up with you all later!

 

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Fallen in Love with Fall: My Comforts

The crisp weather is here. The leaves have fallen, the furnace is on, and the home turned from summery and breezy, to cozy and warm. I love fall.

I am realizing that I am falling more in love with this season as I get older. It brings so many comforts. I thought it would be fun to put together a list of some of my favorite fall comforts…

1. Fires in the fireplace

2. Sweatshirts and sweaters

3. Soup cooking on the stove or in the crock pot

4. Baking and eating warm homemade cookies and treats

5. Coffee

 

6. Warm over-sized bathrobes

7. Walks

8. Dinners in with the hubby

9. Rainy or snowy days where you don’t have to go anywhere

10. A clean warm home

11. My mom and dad’s house

12. Slippers

13. A big soft blanket

14. Reading the Sunday paper

15. Reading a good book

That’s the short list. I’ve said this before but if I had one day this fall where I could do whatever I want with no plans whatsoever to go anywhere, I would get a fire going in the fireplace, bake cookies in my sweats, drinking a big cup of coffee, watch my fair share of Food Network, read my book snuggled in a blanket, do some yoga, and have soup for dinner. That sounds dreamy.

What are your biggest fall comforts??

 

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Cowboy Caviar Mini Bell Peppers

What a great weekend that went by all too fast as always. How about catching you up a bit from the last time we touched base which would be Saturday around lunch time.

In my belly…a harvest pear salad with romaine lettuce, pears, walnuts, feta cheese, and poppy-seed dressing. Complete with fall leaves in the background of the photo.

After lunch I got to work preparing an appetizer for a Halloween party we were going to that evening.

Cowboy Caviar Mini Bell Peppers

I combined tomatoes, black beans, corn, avocado, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper to make a cowboy caviar. I then halved orange and yellow mini bell peppers, took out the seeds and the stem, and filled each boat with cowboy caviar. Delicious, healthy and beautiful to boot!

To the Halloween part-ay we went. We were greeted by this beautiful witch brewing up a secret potion and making snarky remarks at us.

Before I reveal what Dana and I dressed up as, let’s have a little fun and let me give you some hints and see if you can guess.

  1. I am holding our newest child Penelope.
  2. Our son Mason is at auntie Kimmy’s for the night.

Any Kardashian fans out there? I was Kourtney Kardashian and Dana was her boyfriend Scott Disick. That’s alright if you didn’t get it, most of our friends didn’t know either.

Our lovely hosts for the evening were Freddie Mercury (Adam) and Katniss (Stacy). It made me feel better that I didn’t know who either of them were dressed up as either. It was a general theme for the night—no one knew who anyone was supposed to be.

Except for the egg. I knew that Amanda was an egg. 😉

We had a great time as always being with our friends, munching on some great chow, and  laughing at everyone’s ridiculous costumes. We were home and into bed by midnight and I was wide awake at 8:00 am Sunday morning.

Sunday

I made myself a chopped banana with Parkers Farm peanut butter and cinnamon.

I also drank a cup of coffee while we flipped through the Sunday paper. Next, we hit the road for our grocery shopping extravaganza. We will be leaving for our vacation to Colombia in just a few days, but we needed to stock up the fridge for a very special guest who will be staying at our house with the pup.

We got a late start on running our errands so by the time we got home it was 1:00 pm and we were both very hungry. I notice that’s a common theme around our house. I was excited that I had leftover cowboy caviar from the appetizer on Saturday, so we cooked up a few over easy eggs, topped them on top the leftover cowboy caviar with some cheese, and had a protein packed and super tasty meal within minutes.

In the afternoon I made myself change into workout clothes and took the dog out for 2.6 mile run around the neighborhood. I could tell I was tired and dehydrated because it was a pretty difficult run for me.

A very good friend of mine was in town for the weekend so I got to see him and his beautiful girlfriend for a little while, then mom and dad stopped over too! After that we did a little packing and got ourselves ready for the week ahead.

Oh and we ate dinner too…a turkey burger served on top of a salad with onion, tomato, cheese, and green olives.

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Yoga Challenge

Since it’s Monday that means it’s time to check in on the last October Yoga Challenge for the month! I can’t believe the month is over in a couple of days. I kind of feel like October didn’t happen it flew by so fast, but IT DID. Don’t let me fool you.

This past week I got in not one, but two yoga sessions. The first one was a full body session and the second was a session geared towards athletes. I completed the whole month’s challenge using OnDemand yoga sessions. Once again, I loved every second of this challenge.

Yoga is about connecting the body and the mind, and it is good for all of us to take the time to practice that. Whether or not you are lying on a yoga mat, or sitting in your office, take 30 seconds periodically to become aware of your mind and body. Focus on your breathing if you are feeling overwhelmed. Remind yourself to live in the moment.

I said this before but I do truly mean it again, I really hope to continue to include yoga in my life even though this challenge comes to an end. I feel better after every session and it reminds me to stay calm and helps me to control stress. Thanks to Courtney for hosting this challenge once again!

Namaste.

*****Thinking of all of my friends and family on the east coast. Stay safe!*****

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Turkey Meatloaf, Veggie Loaded

I had such a productive weekend I feel like a new woman today. I need to do some catching up from Saturday’s dinner, but I am going to start with Sunday morning first. Excuse me as I jump around throughout the post. Jump, jump everybody jump!

Sunday Morning

It was my last chance for the week to get my yoga on in order to meet my October Yoga Challenge, so first thing in the morning I headed to the living room to set up. The routine before a yoga session is to push all of the furniture aside, get Moose’s toys off of the carpet, and vacuum the area. I love our pup but he sheds like a maniac so vacuuming often is necessary in our house.

I turned the heat up in the house to create a “hot yoga” atmosphere, and got moving to yoga OnDemand. This particular session focused on jump kick-backs aka burpees.

It was a 22-minute session and it really got me sweating! I guess that could have been because I cranked the heat up too. Either way, I was still sweating. I got in my weekly session and it felt SUPER once again.

After yoga, Dana and I took a trip to Caribou Coffee to get our BOGO on. First, yoga, then BOGO. I am still trying to be careful with dairy in my diet so I ordered a french roast with sugar-free hazelnut. I did put a touch of cream in my coffee when I got home. I love the creamy smoothness that cream adds to the coffee. As much as I’ve tried to switch to almond milk, or no milk, or no cream, I just don’t enjoy it as much as I do with the cream. So, I’m sticking with it. It’s my special treat in the morning.

To go along with my coffee I made myself some breakfast: a smoothie with blueberry, strawberry, banana, almond milk, crushed ice, and a tablespoon of hemp protein powder. Fabulous.

Now to recap the weekend’s events…

Saturday was an incredibly productive day. After getting organized at work on Thursday, then seeing a guest on Rachael Ray’s Show demonstrating how to organize your home in no time, I was inspired to tackle my own home.

Throughout the weekend, Dana and I organized: the front closet, the kitchen cabinets, my desk, my closet, the guest room closet, and the dining room cabinets. Not bad right? We also went crazy on the backyard and cut down all of the plants for the winter. Sort of bittersweet.

It’s amazing how good you feel after getting your house reorganized. Now, to keep it that way.

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Now, reverse back to Saturday evening. Let’s talk about dinner. After spending the day cleaning and organizing, I was in the mood for a hearty meal. I took the inspiration from my cute little turkey meatloaves to create this bomb of a dinner, and I mean bomb in a good way.

Turkey Veggie Meatloaf and Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

I included carrots, zucchini, onions, and olives in this meatloaf and it turned out great! Parents, if you have a picky eater and are looking for a way to camouflage some veggies into their diets, this just may be the way to go. The veggies add a bit of a light crunch to the loaf, and all of the flavors from the veggies, seasonings, and meat all meld together to form a perfect combo. Plus there’s ketchup in meatloaf, kids love ketchup. 🙂 As do adults (right, Kev?).

Last weekend, Dana and I stopped at the farmer’s market in our area. We bought a few squash (that I still need to use) and a carton of brussels sprouts. Since I was set back this past week with the stomach bug, we didn’t get around to cooking up those sprouts, so we pulled them out on Saturday.

I washed and trimmed the ends and let them drain. I then sauteéd them in a small amount of coconut oil and simply seasoned with salt and pepper. I only used about half of the brussels sprouts in this side dish, so I froze the unprepared ones for a later time. They freeze perfectly.

Such a cozy comforting meal on a cool fall evening, and so very tasty too. I’m all about that lately. Did you check out my soup from Friday night? NUM!


Turkey Meatloaf, Veggie Loaded
Print
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • Loaf:
  • 1¼ lbs lean ground turkey
  • ½ cup carrots, grated
  • ¼ cup zucchini, grated and drained
  • 1 cup onion, finely diced
  • ½ cup green olives, chopped
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp. celery seed
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • dash of cumin
  • 2 tsp. worcestershire
  • 1 tsp. mustard
  • ¼ cup ketchup
  • Topping:
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1½ Tbsp. mustard
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease standard bread loaf pan; set aside.
  2. Combine all "loaf" ingredients; do not over-mix.
  3. Press into prepared pan.
  4. Mix together topping ingredients. Spread over loaf.
  5. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, then place under broil for 2 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before slicing.

I am off to take on this Monday once and for all. I hope you have an enjoyable day. Check in with you all soon!

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Broccoli White Bean Soup

Hi there! How is everyone’s weekend panning out so far?

Friday was a great day. It began with a perfectly ripe banana with peanut butter that I tossed in the microwave for 20 seconds to make drizzly, and a little bit of honey.

I did a couple of odds and ends around the house while anxiously awaiting Kate’s arrival. Oh yes, my friend who is in town that I mentioned yesterday is the wonderful Kate. She was one of my bridesmaids, we were roommates in college, and our friendship goes back to 8th grade.

She recently moved out of state and I miss her dearly. She’s home for the weekend so we made plans to go for a nice long walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the gorgeous fall weather.

Before we headed out, I snacked on a LARABAR Über Roasted Nut Roll bar. The kind folks of LARABAR sent me these four to sample.

The verdict on the Über? MMMmmm, so good! It tasted like a healthy version of a salted nut roll. Yes, please. I’m excited to try the rest of the flavors! It did a nice job of holding me over for a couple of hours too.

Kate and I were out for over an hour, walking and talking, catching up, and taking in the beautiful sights and smells of fall. It made me so incredibly happy to see her. It was bittersweet saying good bye as always, BUT I will be seeing her again in about one month because I will be journeying out to Georgia to visit her! I can’t wait! I love love love her, my Katie boo boo boo. 🙂

Throughout the afternoon I tackled random projects around the house. I organized the front closet, did some laundry, reorganized our kitchen, and brought up wedding gifts that we still had in the basement that we now have room for upstairs.

Then it was time to get dinner brewing. On the menu: Broccoli White Bean Soup. While I got to concocting the soup, Dana got to work making a fire in the fireplace. Our first one of the season.

So pretty! A short while later, dinner was served and it was enjoyed in front of the fire.

Warm soup in front of the fire in my sweatpants with my hubby and dog. Does it get more comforting than that? The soup turned out fantastic. I am very proud of it and excited to share the recipe with you all.

Broccoli White Bean Soup
Print
Recipe type: Dairy-Free; SCD-Friendly
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups cooked cannellini beans or other white bean
  • ½ Tbsp. dried thyme
  • dash of nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 32 ounces lower sodium chicken broth*
  • 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
  • Parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Diced turkey bacon (optional)
  • *substitute vegetable broth if vegetarian
Instructions
  1. Use olive oil to lightly coat medium soup pot.
  2. Add onion and garlic; saute for 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add beans, thyme,nutmeg, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and broth; mix well.
  4. Use immersion blender to puree onions and beans in the pot.
  5. Add broccoli, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.
  6. Use immersion blender and pulse 1-2x to puree some of the broccoli, but leaving most of the pieces whole.
  7. Spoon soup into bowls, and top with parmesan cheese and bacon (optional).

The rest of the night was spent relaxing with the men of the house, eating some cocoa banana soft-serve, and hitting the hay early.

Now, I am ready to take on another productive day. I hope you all have a snazzy Saturday!

xoxo, M

 

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A Dietitian’s Grocery List & Giveaway Winner

Happy Thursday to all! As you’re all aware, if today’s Thursday, that means tomorrow’s FRIDAY! The best day of the week.

Before I get into the business of today’s post, I wanted to share with you an excellent dinner I made on Tuesday night:

Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce, roasted garlic broccoli and parmesan cheese. Holy cow. A pretty awesome combo and very satisfying.

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I am all about the squash lately: acorn, butternut, and spaghetti. Every Saturday we’ve been going to the local Farmer’s Market and stocking up. LOOOVEE.

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My Grocery List

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How would you like to see what a dietitian has on her grocery list? I compiled two lists: the 1st is a list of items I buy on a weekly or biweekly basis, and the 2nd is a list of items that I almost always have on hand. This list changes depending on if I’m following SCD or not, but for the most part, this is what you will find in my house at any given time!

Weekly or Biweekly Grocery List

  • Creamy Natural Peanut Butter
  • Cheese: Mild Cheddar Block
  • Almond Milk
  • Greek Yogurt (if not following SCD)
  • Raw almonds: We roast them ourselves as use them for snacks, in energy bites, in salads, and almond butter
  • Eggs
  • Raisins
  • Dates
  • Salsa
  • Fresh garlic
  • Onions
  • Avocados
  • Tomatoes
  • Mushrooms
  • Broccoli
  • Zucchini
  • Dark green lettuce
  • Other seasonal veggies: squash, asparagus, bell peppers, Brussels sprouts, etc.
  • Cilantro
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Seasonal fruits: berries, grapes, peaches

 

Always on Hand

  • Frozen veggies: usually peas, corn, edamame or mukimame
  • Frozen tilapia
  • Frozen chicken breasts
  • Veggie burgers: usually Morningstar Garden Veggie
  • Almonds
  • Almond flour
  • Spices and dried herbs
  • Pasta sauce: no added sugar
  • Chicken broth: low sodium
  • Dried or canned beans
  • Pickles
  • Green olives
  • Honey
  • Mustard
  • BBQ (when not following SCD)
  • Heinz Ketchup (when not following SCD)
  • Dressing for salads: love my Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard (when not following SCD)
  • Lean ground turkey or ground beef
  • Lean turkey bacon
  • Frozen berries: blueberries, strawberries, cherries
  • LARABARS
  • Quinoa

It looks like a lot, but once you stock up, it doesn’t take much to restock and keep it up. These are all great staples to have on hand which help me to build meals throughout the week. So there you have it!

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Now, for the grand finale…

The LARABAR Giveaway Winner!

LB_Variety

The winner of the caddy of 16 different LARABAR flavors has been chosen at random, and the winner is (drum roll)…

 Tara!!! “I love Chocolate Peanut Butter. I liked you on Facebook too!”

Congrats, Tara! Please email me at beautifullynutty@gmail.com with your shipping address and we will get those shipped to you! WOOO!!

Thank you to all who participated. I wish I were the LARABAR fairy and could send some to each and every one of you…but of course I’m not. A girl can dream though.

Have a GREAT day everybody. XOXO

P.S. I had such a fun workout last night…excited to fill you in on that soon!

Continue Reading A Dietitian’s Grocery List & Giveaway Winner

Relive the Memories

Wow, we had the most amazing one year anniversary. Thank you for all of the anniversary wishes! We celebrated mostly on Sunday. Here is a run-down of the glorious day.

Morning Massage & Coffee

We headed to Spalon Montage for our 9:00 am couple massage. We were given huge plush robes to wear and then were escorted to our room where two separate massage tables were set up. We each enjoyed a 55 minute full body massage. It was heavenly!

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Afterwards we made a stop at Einstein Bros for a morning cup of coffee. They had a vanilla hazelnut blend which was oh so good.

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Lunch

We made our way home to eat a quick lunch, pack, and bring Moose over to Dana’s parents place for a sleepover. I made myself a mixed green salad with bacon, tomatoes, Muenster cheese, salsa and a runny egg on top.

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Dana’s parents gave us a marital bliss chocolate bar which I had to share with you all. Too funny and too perfect. That sounds about right, huh? Winking smile

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Hike at Ritter Farm Park

Once Moose was all settled in, Dana and I headed over to Ritter Farm Park which is the park we went to after our wedding ceremony to take pictures.

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Of course I asked Dana to play along with my girlish self and reenact some of our wedding photos. The things he does for me I tell ya. BTW this is when the camera battery died. Thank goodness for the iPhone.

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We went for a walk through the park and I remembered it was the last day of the September push-up challenge. I dropped down and did my final 10 push-ups for the month right there in the dirt. Even though the month’s challenge is technically over, I don’t plan on stopping the push-ups. I do plan to continue and progress, I just may not do them everyday. I have a new challenge this month that I will tell you about tomorrow.

Drop it like it’s hot.

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The Holiday Inn

After we were sweaty and smudged with dirt, we made our way to The Holiday Inn which is where our wedding reception was held one year ago. (“Whatchu doin’ ? Nothin, chillin’ at the Holiday Innnn…”).

Upon entering our room we were greeted with this sweet sight: a bottle of champagne, chocolates and a note from the staff including the woman who helped us plan the details of our reception. I thought that was VERY nice of them.

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We decided to pop the cork, pour ourselves a plastic cup of champagne, and head down to the hot tub (no glass in the pool area of course).

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When we first sat down in the hot tub the atmosphere was quiet and relaxing. That lasted all of about 6 minutes because the gates from a birthday party were opened and little ones flooded the pool and hot tub. It’s a good thing we both like kids; we thought it was hilarious. I can’t handle hot tubs very long anyway so it was a short lived visit.

We continued with the relaxed theme the rest of the evening.  We poured ourselves a glass of wine from a bottle that a friend of ours had given us we think as an engagement present; either that or it was a wedding gift. We used our chalices from the wedding.

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Next, off to dinner at Rudy’s Redeye Grill. They catered our wedding and did a fabulous job.

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Excuse the poor lighting, but I started off with a side salad with balsamic dressing (croutons removed and not eaten).

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For my main course I had the almond crusted walleye and their infamous green beans (photo on the left)  which is the same meal I had at our wedding minus the mashed potatoes (photo on the right). I enjoyed my meal a little bit more this time around…a little less commotion and we didn’t have to get up and kiss every 4 minutes like we did during our meal at our wedding reception. Smile

With a little help from Dana, we polished that walleye off in no time. I probably could have polished off the beans too but decided not too feel miserable and saved them for my lunch the next day.

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Next onto cutting the cake top that we saved from the top tier of our wedding cake. We wrapped it in saran wrap and aluminum foil a million times and freezer Ziploc bagged it twice. We stored it in the freezer for a year.

On Saturday we took it out of the freezer, unwrapped it, rewrapped it in loose parchment paper and saran wrap, and let it defrost in the fridge. An hour or so before we were ready to cut into it, we removed it from the fridge and let it sit out on the counter. It was perfect by the time we cut into it Sunday evening.

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It tasted JUST AS GOOD as it did on our wedding night if not better. I have to shout out to the wonderful Ms. Arna Farmer of Arna Farmer Catering & Cakes for doing such an incredible job on our cake. Out of three cake places we taste-tested, hers was by far the most delicious and to top it off, hers was the most affordable of them all. I recommend her to anybody. Amazing.

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We had so much fun reliving all of the beautiful memories of our wedding day. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. I love reliving the memories, yet living life in the present, and am thrilled to see what our future holds. Thank you again to all of you who helped make our day so special. Love you all.

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Back to the grind now….I still need to share a peanut butter banana cookie recipe with you all! I’m hoping tomorrow I will share that with you.

Oh, and in case you missed it, I’m hosting a LARABAR giveaway. Check it out here.

Have a great day friends! Catch up with you real soon.

Continue Reading Relive the Memories

Pumpkin Bread to Warm the Soul

How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was pretty darn nice and I have to admit, I didn’t take too many photos. Here’ the weekend recap!

Saturday

Dana, Moose, and I hit up the neighborhood for a 3 mile run. The temperature was low to mid 50’s so I dressed in capris and a long sleeve wicking top. It was a bit cool run at first, but I warmed up quickly and it eventually felt perfect. The run felt great too and I can confidently say I can comfortably run 3 miles again. Now, it’s time to progress on the mileage!

After our run we made our way to the local farmer’s market to pick up some veggies I needed for an appetizer I was making for a get-together that evening.

I made a white bean dip served with crudités (fancy word for an appetizer with veggie sticks right?). I cannot believe I did not take one photo of this dish, but at the same time I’m not surprised since I was kind of running around like a crazy person trying to get ready.

To make the bean dip I added all ingredients into the food processor (unsure of exact amounts):

  • 1 minced shallot and 1 minced garlic clove sautéed in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 2 1/2 cups white beans (I used northern)
  • lemon juice from half a lemon
  • Olive oil
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • salt and pepper
  • garlic and onion powder

I whirled this up and it turned out to be a nummy and creamy white bean dip. I served it with a tray of veggie sticks: carrots, zucchini, celery, and red bell peppers.

Here is a small plate of it:

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The big dish of it was WAY prettier.

We met up with three of my college friends (one being my bridesmaid Haley), their husbands and two babies. We had a blast hanging out, eating amazing food, playing with the babes, going nuts with Catch Phrase, and seeing Grace’s beautiful home.

I loved every second of it. She lives about an hour and a half from us so we called it a night at around 8:30 so we could make it home in good time. You all know I need my sleep, plus the pup still needed to eat dinner.

Sunday

We ran our standard Sunday morning errands after eating breakfast, reading the paper, and drinking our coffees.

I was thrilled to have had very few plans for Sunday. I need these days to just “be.” I’m struggling with this whole relaxation business however. I find that when I do have time to just relax that I can’t because I feel too guilty about relaxing. It’s a vicious cycle.

I feel like I should be folding the laundry or doing food prep or cleaning or running errands. I am working on getting this idea out of my head because relaxation and doing nothing is important for all of us.

You know what I like to do to relax? Bake.

I actually made this loaf up on Friday when I had about an hour time frame to bake the bread, shower and get ready to go meet up with my mom so that experience wasn’t as much for relaxation as it was I felt I needed to make the bread RIGHT THEN AND THERE! I get so stubborn sometimes. Where are your time management skills, Melanie?! But really, I do enjoy baking.

Either way, I whirled up a batch of grain-free SCD-friendly pumpkin bread. It turned out magnificent if I do say so myself. Once again I forgot to snap a photo of the entire loaf, but here is a shot of about half the loaf. I’ve been eating it for breakfast everyday. I told you I love this stuff….

**Recipe at bottom of post and is now in a printable version!**

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Slather the bread with apple butter, nut butter, honey, a light coat of butter, or eat plain. Any way you have it you’re sure to enjoy! Remember that most SCD breads do not rise well due to some limiting factors in ingredients, so you usually render a more flat, dense loaf. Yes you can be on the SCD and still eat bread! Wooo!

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Let’s see, the rest of the day was spent with some odds and ends around the house and then a bomb dinner. I won’t be sharing it with you until tomorrow but let me tell you it is one you won’t want to miss. My hint is that it involves acorn squash.

Also, I forgot to mention that one of my wonderful readers commented on my post about the cinnamon apple sauce I made the other day and said that she makes apple butter in the crock pot! I just had to try this so on Friday afternoon I started up a batch in the crockpot.

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Come this afternoon, it should be done! I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thank you, Amanda! I even bought the cans to store the apple butter and everything!

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I am off to get a workout in, and then I’ll be out on the prowl in search of a dress for that wedding I mentioned. Thank you for your comments about that orange dress I found but unfortunately they don’t have the dress in my size which of course means I won’t be ordering it. It wasn’t meant to be apparently. Cross your fingers for me that I find one today. I absolutely despise trying clothes on in the fitting rooms. I get so hot and worked up.

One more thing…I bought this amazing coffee yesterday at my favorite store in the whole world, Target.

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I make it last a long time but only adding in one scoop of it to regular coffee. It is so smooth and buttery and I LOVE it. It was a good buy.

Again, this post became rather tangenty. I apologize for that and for the lack of photos. I promise there will be more tomorrow. Have a magical Monday. Catch up with you soon.

Pumpkin Bread to Warm the Soul
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Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
(Grain-free, Gluten-free, SCD-friendly) Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
  • 3 c. almond flour
  • 1½ Tbsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. all spice
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 c. pumpkin puree
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 3 eggs
  • ⅓ c. egg white (or 2-3 large egg whites)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • ⅓ c. honey
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease 2 standard size bread loaf pans; set aside.
  2. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients; set aside.
  3. In large mixing bowl blend together wet ingredients.
  4. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet. Mix until just combined.
  5. Pour batter into loaf pans.
  6. Bake for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.

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Bing Bang Boom BL(ea)T Salad

For some reason, I have been exhausted this week. I guess there could be a number of factors influencing this but I don’t know. I continue to try and listen to my body and allow it some time to rest and recuperate since it seems like that’s what it is asking for.

Weekly Activity (so far):

  • Mon: elliptical; push-ups
  • Tues: walk; push-ups
  • Wed: rest; push-ups

As you can see, simple, non-obtrusive, low-impact workouts. I am still getting my push-ups in every day for the September #dropandgimme10 challenge. I was actually lying in bed the other night about to fall asleep and remembered I hadn’t done my push-ups yet so I forced myself out and did ten. That is a weirdo dedication right there!

I track my workouts right on B.N. to keep me in check, and you can find them under the fitness tab on the top of my homepage, under Weekly Workout Log. I went through a month or so spurt where I forgot to record, but I am back in action and want to keep up with it.

I enjoy looking back and seeing what I have done in the past, especially at times when I was training for a race. This can also help me to see what worked and didn’t work in terms of training for a race, or if any tweaks could be made to help improve my experiences in the future (not that I’m one to truly “race” at a race, but it’s still nice to improve on time).

Speaking of races, Dana and I are looking into registering for one for the upcoming month or so. We are thinking around a 10k distance, but haven’t decided for sure. Any local readers have any recommendations?

****************

B.L.E.A.T. Salad

It’s time to talk food, and we’re going to skip right to dinner.

We all have those days where we get home from work and the LAST thing we want to think about is what to make for dinner. You know those nights where you are so hungry, but can’t decide what sounds good, and you have no energy to waddle to the kitchen and make yourself something?

Last night I had to call on the troops to get me through dinner prep, aka my husband. He is always more than willing to help, but knows how much I enjoy my kitchen time so he usually lets me do my thing, but when I ask for help he is there in a heartbeat.

Together we threw together a B.L.E.A.T.: Bacon, lettuce, egg, avocado, and tomato salad.

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I grabbed four slices of turkey bacon from the freezer, and got those cooking on the stove top. Dana got to work on cooking two eggs over-easy, and I got to chopping up the veggies for the salad. Once everything was ready, we piled it on a plate with a dash of salt and pepper and bing, bang, boom it was done.

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I can’t believe how much I’m starting to enjoy bacon. What is happening to me? Although, I do prefer the turkey bacon sort, but this is still a big change for me. My brother Scotty would be proud.

I finished dinner off with a nice big peach that I had actually packed as an afternoon snack at work but never got around to eating.

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So there’s your proof in the pudding that you CAN put together a nice meal even when you feel like all you want to do is pick up the phone and order take-out. Put the phone down! Go to the kitchen.

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It turns random…

I was clearing out my cupboards last week and stumbled upon a box of Kix Cereal that had been opened a while ago but was still about 3/4 full of cereal. Since neither Dana or I are eating any grains (I am following the SCD), these weren’t going to get eaten. I am not one to throw away food without a fight. I had my taste-tester make sure they hadn’t gone bad, and then got to thinking.

Growing up, mom always kept cereal stocked in the house, and being that there were three teenage boys in the house, you better believe we had many-a-boxes of cereal at any given time. She was finding that when she went to clean out the cupboard, a good chunk of the cereal boxes only had a tiny bit of cereal left in the bottom, not enough for one bowl. She was also not one to let food go to waste, so she got creative.

She threw every last bit of cereal from the remnants left in the boxes into a big bowl, and then melted marshmallows, a tiny bit of butter, and peanut butter on the stove top. She mixed the peanut butter love into the cereal, and made what I always remembered to be the most delicious cereal bars. How could they not be? Cereal…amazing. Peanut butter…amazing. Marshmallows….um yah! Put these components all into one bar and you have a match made in heaven. It was a great way to use up those last bits of cereal.

With these memories, I got to work and made a batch of peanut butter Kix bars to bring in to a work meeting.

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The verdict: my co-workers went crazy over them.

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They were snatched left and right and gone before I could say General Mills and just like that I didn’t have to feel guilty about wasting food. Even though I’m not eating cereal myself,   it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy every second of watching my co-workers enjoy them.

There a million different ways to make this bar. You could add nuts, extra marshmallows, chocolate, omit the peanut butter (What??! No.), toss in some dried fruit, add sprinkles…go ahead and get creative. You’ll feel like a kid again!

That is all for today. Sorry this post is completely every where, but that’s kind of where my head is at this week. I hope you all have a tremendous Thursday. Always excited to catch up with you again!

Love and Kix,

M

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