My Thanksgiving

It's no secret..Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday.  I really don't know why I dislike it so much, I just do.  I guess it's just been one of those holidays that's never been super traditional to me or meant a whole lot.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for MANY things and I sort of reflect on that each year, I just don't love all things Thanksgiving.  (I do love the HUGE paper full of ads that comes to my door that morning and all the shopping that now starts at midnight though...which many people despise!)  Its mainly the food...I don't love turkey, I really don't like mashed potatoes, I can do without stuffing and rolls and corn and I hate gravy!  Pumpkin pie is ok if you don't have crust and any other pie I can let sit...I'm just not a pie gal.  I like veggies, but up until I came along there were no veggies at my husband's family's Thanksgiving...weird!  Oh wait..corn!  I remember having to explain that corn is not a real vegetable...ugh!  Anyway, I digress.  There are a couple things I like and like I said those are veggies (pretty much anything except green bean casserole...that's making healthy veggies unhealthy!) and fruit!

I also like the sales that come along in the grocery stores this time of year on that produce.  So, I take advantage of those sales and this year decided to create MY THANKSGIVING!  What I would actually prefer to eat on Thanksgiving.  Much healthier (and yes, I know...Thanksgiving is not the day to be healthy...blah blah!)  Everyday is a day to be healthy darn it!  Yes, I eat sweets and treats and not so good food sometimes, so can you,  but it's not necessary to make an entire day out of it!  My hubby does, I just can't.  I'll pay for it for days...just not worth it.  Anyway, so I had some cranberries, sweet potatoes and a boatload of squash in my fridge just waiting to be used.  Tonight, I used them.  I made my pre-thanksgiving, thanksgiving meal :)

I wish I would've taken a pic, it was pretty! 

Turkey Tenderloin:  rubbed with dijon mustard and sprinkled with thyme, rosemary and oregano...baked at 375 for 50+ min.

Cranberry Pear Sauce:  package of cranberries, 2 pears, 1/2 cup (or less) or agave and a cup of water...to deliciousness!  Very good and SO much healthier than those with 3 cups of sugar!  Recipe can be found here!

Autumn Harvest Salad:  that salad I wrote about here and found the recipe here....I think I'm taking this to Thanksgiving this year.  I will eat it all and be full and happy!  That stuff just screams fall and it's still fall next week no matter what the thermometer says!

Anyway, I loved the meal.  Actually everyone liked the meal.  I think it was the first meal in months (besides pizza night) that my kids didn't complain about anything!  They both asked for seconds of the cranberries and finished their plates, in a timely manner!  Perhaps it'll have to be my thanksgiving everyday!

Are you like most people and love Thanksgiving or are you like me and love shopping?

Autumn Harvest Salad and then some..

I just remembered what I forgot to do yesterday.  Share this recipe with you!  I was reminded while I was eating my lunch which obviously was the leftovers from our "halloween supper" last night.  First I'll tell you what we had.  We (well, the kids) had yummy Kraft mac and cheese in halloween shapes (thanks Aunt Laura!) and mummy dogs made with our favorite TJ's Mango Chicken Sausages.  (btw...if you haven't had these you are missing out...BIG TIME!)  and THIS delicious salad...from one of my favorite foodies.   Oh MY...it was more than delicious!  I think I'm going to make more.  like now because I ate all the leftovers...what will I have for lunch tomorrow?

(image courtesy of How Sweet it Is)

Naturally I can't seem to follow a recipe exactly, right?  Well, it's true!  BUT...let me explain.  I couldn't do this recipe exactly because I refuse to pay $2.50 for ONE pomegranate and $5 for one bottle of POM juice!  That is crazy talk!  Talk to me in about a month when pomegranates are $1 each...because I love myself a good pom, but remember, I'm also super cheap!  So...I left out the pomegranate arils and made different dressing because of those reasons.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly!  Make it...now.  Go cut up some squash and sweet potatoes and apples.  You will NOT be dissappointed!  I also used a Whole Wheat loaf of bread that I found at Sendiks.  It was one of those big old thick oval shaped loaves...whatever those are called.  Clearly I don't know! 

So, left out the poms and replaced the dressing with THIS yummy dressing!  Pumpkin Cider Vinegarette...it had me at the name.   I had seen this salad before and figured they were similar enough so the dressing would taste good. I think I was right.  It was very very good!  I made extras, thankfully and now I'll make even more! 

Ok, I won't ramble on about a salad anymore, but I will tell you that I think I will make this until squash and sweet potatoes are not good anymore, which for me means spring when I can't stand to look at winter "fruits" anymore.  Then I'll just replace them with berries or something.  Let me know if you try it... and even more if you LOVE it like me.  What can I say, doesn't take much to make me happy does it?  Salad?  REALLY?!  Man, I need a life!  :)  Happy Tuesday!

It's Hard Being a Mom

This post was inspired by a little 4 year old girl that said those exact words to me this morning.  Here's the kicker...it wasn't my 4 year old girl!  My girlie had her BFF sleepover last night (not because we normally have 4 year old sleepovers but in this case it was pretty much like having family over and because her mom and dad needed a sitter :)  At any rate, I was brushing their hair this morning and the girls were chatty and needing twin hair.  So, admist our conversation she breaks out..."It's hard being a mom."  I said yes, sometimes it is.  And she said, yea, you have to cook supper all the time...and drive a car."  I said, yes, and lots of other hard things sometimes too. After I chuckled at the very grown up comment, I started to think...

It is hard being a mom.  I mean it's also one of the most rewarding jobs in the world as well.  Recently one of my new co-workers asked me if I only worked part time and I said yes and he said what about your husband?  I said he works full time, normal hours.  And he said, oh, so he's the one that brings home the bacon and you sort of just work a little in the morning and then do whatever.  And I thought to myself...kid...if you only knew...but then politely said, well, I work in the mornings and then I go home and run kids around, do homework, make supper, I'm a mom!  and he kind of looked at me and said, oh. and that was it.  Yea, I just screw around for 6 hours in the morning at work and then head to the spa the rest of the day...NOT!!!  It is SO much more than that!  If I could even make it to the spa one day this year that would rock!  and for those moms that work full time...I can't even imagine how hard that is and I probably will have to some day but that just makes your job a a mom even more hard work!  I'm not mad, nor do I have anything against this little 22-23 year old guy who really is a nice guy, just needs a little world reality check!

I'm not sure anyone really knows or appreciates moms until they are one.  I know the minute I became a mom I appreciated my mom ten times more than I ever did.  It's just a new look on life.  It's exhausting, rewarding, crazy, fun, awesome, frustrating, disgusting, surprising, and many other things and the best (or sometimes worst) thing is that it's never the same thing 2 days in a row!  There are many times where I look at my friends or family members that have chosen not to have kids or who don't have them yet and think...ah...smart move.  And then think about those days before we had kids and all I could do was count down the days til we could have kids or dream about having some.  It was just never a thought to me that I didn't want to be a mom.  I don't think I would change my mind now if I could even though I think I've had the worst 2 weeks of my life with my kids lately...I've probably had thousands of good weeks that outweigh the bad! 

So, to all you moms...it is hard to be a mom and that's ok because in the eyes of a 4 year old...driving a car (so all those millions of trips you have to make a day) is hard work!  and as you are making supper tonight, know that at least one child thinks you are working hard!  (even if you are just throwing in a frozen pizza!)  It was nice to hear that someone (other than another mom) understands...even if it wasn't my own children.  (although I did make sure she was listening :)

Happy Birthday?

To you?  Did you know Oct. 5 is the most popular birthday?  I guess if you think about it...you can think back as to why that might be the case and well...I guess lots of couples really do enjoy New Year's Eve, huh?  Anyway, you can listen more about that and the least popular birthday (Feb. 29 of course) here. There are some interesting facts!

So... my birthday is in a couple weeks and I was a couple weeks late according to my mom.........:)  I know...gross...sorry!!  :)

GO BREWERS!!!

photo courtesy of  brewers.com

National League Central Champions!!

Way to go Milwaukee!!!!!

Can't wait to see what happens next!



http://www.brewers.com/

"Leftover Rice" Pudding

Hi Friends.  I have so many things I want to share, I hardly know where to begin.  But I do know where to begin because I don't have a lot of time, that's been a huge problemo of mine.  I have all kinds of ideas in my head and no time to act on them....GRRRRR....  it is beginning to be my very favorite time of year and I want to decorate and shop and make my house into a fall festivity....hopefully I will find time before fall is over to do that!!  In the meantime, I will just share with you a recipe that my boy practically did a dance over.  In fact, his words were.."dad, you have to try this, it's so good.  No, dad, it's not just good, it's REALLY good."  In other words... if you don't have an overly picky kid, they will probably like it and if you are like us, there is always leftover rice after chinese takeout...a perfect ingredient for this!

Leftover Rice Pudding with Cinnamon and Raisins (adapted from Robin Miller)

2/3 cup skim milk

1/2 of an 8 oz. container of light cream cheese

2 cups leftover rice

1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins (actually, apricots would probably be delish too)

2 T honey

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

-In a medium saucepan, stir milk and cream cheese until blended and smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and set over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer, then continue to simmer until the liquid reduces and the mixture thickens...about 10 min.  Make sure to stir frequently!  Serve warm, cool or at room temp.  I served it warm right away and YUM!   Also chilled and served...YUM!  Also, chilled and reheated 2 days later and yep, still YUM!

**  Ideally I would like to make this with brown rice (just so much healthier!) but I can't stand the boxes of leftover rice we get with Chinese food just sitting there so I had to make something.  This was a nice sweet (but not too sweet) snack and side dish.  I cut out some of the sugar and replaced with honey and I think it was absolutely perfect!  A great fall treat!  Let me know if you try it and more importantly if you like it :)

Until I get more time to blog...

Parent's Independence Day!

or..first day of school!

Just wanted to share a little treat that I made for some of my very favorite kiddos!  (yes, my own, but also others...)

Saw these many different places but here is my version and what I used!

Apple Rice Krispie Treats

Followed the "typical krispie treat recipe"

3T Butter

1 bag large marshmellows

6 cups rice krispies

red food coloring (I used Wilton gels)

pretzel pieces

green tootsie rolls cut into leaf shapes or green jelly beans sliced long

-Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat.  Add food coloring when almost melted and stir until all red! 

-Remove from heat, add rice krispies and stir until well coated and everything is red!

-Spray your hands with cooking spray and grab a handful and shape into balls.

-Smoosh a little pretzel stem in there and a tootsie roll leaf (or whatever you decide to use..just make sure it is sticky or it'll fall off!)  Let stand 20 min. or so to "harden"

Serve or dress up in a little bag and deliver to some awesome kids!