My Thanksgiving menu is set...

After some hemming and hawing on adding extra sides and which appetizers to have, I've finalized the menu for Thanksgiving dinner. Some things are traditional, some aren't. For example, I roast a chicken, not a turkey. When there's just a few people, there's no need to have a 10 pound turkey. Besides, The Aussie doesn't care for roast turkey. The skin doesn't get crispy enough. Other things, like the Pepperidge Farms stuffing and green bean casserole are old school, and I totally love them.

Appetizers:

baked brie in puff pastry

shrimp cocktail

Dinner:

roast chicken

crispy roast potatoes

stuffing

roast butternut squash with cranberries

giblet gravy

green bean casserole

cranberry relish

rolls

Dessert:

creme brulee and coffee

I've never made baked brie or creme brulee before. And I've only ever made soup with butternut squash, so this should be fun! And Yay! We have a cold front coming in, so I'll be able to have a fire in the fireplace! These 70-80 degree days in November are getting old. ;)

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with laughter, great food, and good times with friends and family.

Blessings,

Kyra

One of those days...

I try to be a positive person, I really do. Today, I'm finding it hard.

1. I was supposed to do at least 10 miles today on my long run. My hamstring is bothering me so much I only made it 4.23. Much of that was walking. Oh yeah. White Rock is in 2 weeks. At this point, I'm praying just to finish. Hopefully I can do that, even if I have to walk most of the way. I know it's shallow, but I'd really like a finisher's medal.

2. The person who invited me to go running with her early this morning never called to confirm. No call yesterday. No call today. Disappointed.

3. Friends from down the street are in the midst of a divorce. Today's the day they're moving out. I ran past the moving van at the end of my run. Very sad. I'm going to miss them. Even their five kids.

4. Situation at my husband's office is so stressful. Co-worker and he are supposed to share information on the IT projects they're both working on. Co-worker has refused to "share knowledge" pretty much since he started there. Co-worker is on vacation and husband didn't know what stage other guy's project was at and he got in trouble for it. Doesn't that just figure.

Yeah. Today's shaping up to be a really great day.

Turkey, it's not just for Thanksgiving anymore

I stumbled across a recipe for turkey meatballs recently that sounded interesting. I tweaked the recipe that was there a little bit. Sorry, I can't recall where I first saw it, otherwise I'd give you credit for your adaptation of the Bon Appetit recipe. Since turkey is supposed to be really healthy for you, whether you're a runner or not, I figured I'd give them a try since I'm training for White Rock and I need all the help I can get. I'm glad that I did. They're really good.

Turkey Pesto Meatballs

2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (used Merzetta's Puttanesca and Porchini Mushroom)
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (about 3 slices of bread)
1/2 cup pesto
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 t salt
1/2 t fresh ground black pepper
1/2 t garlic powder (yes, I know, there's already garlic in the pesto. But I like more)
1/2 t fennel seeds

Pour one jar of your sauce into a large pan. Set over low heat while you make the meatballs.

In a large bowl, mix all of the other ingredients together wo that the pesto, breadcrumbs and eggs are well incorporated into the ground turkey. Wet your hands and form meatballs. They should be about the size of a golf ball. You can use a small ice cream scoop to make the meatballs if you want a really consistent size. Place the meatballs in a single layer in the pan and pour the second jar evenly over the meatballs. Over medium-low heat, bring the pan to a simmer and let them cook for about 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. I lightly stirred the sauce over the meatballs a couple of times during the cooking process.


In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to a boil for your spaghetti. Cook your spaghetti to however you like. I'm not an al dente type, so my spaghetti cooked for about 9+ minutes. Drain the spaghetti and serve with the meatballs.


I have to tell you, these meatballs are really good cold too. Right straight out of the refrigerator. Sitting down is optional, but a fork is mighty useful.

A New Challenge

Everyone knows that the holidays can be especially challenging when you're trying to eat healthy and move your butt. Co-workers bringing in cookies they've baked, leftover Halloween candy, companies sending corporate gifts designed to tempt you and fatten you up, office parties, neighborhood parties, family gatherings .... it goes on and on. *pass the eggnog, would you please?*

I was psyched to see that Amanda from twitter has posted a new challenge: The Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge. How can you not love a challenge with a name like that? You earn points for all types of working out and eating all your fruits and veggies. These are things, along with drinking enough water, that we try to do anyway, so it's a win-win challenge. On the plus side, Santa will know you're on the Good List this year for eating all your veggies. You don't want to disappoint Santa, do you?

They keep me going...

I was never much of a gardener. I grew up around gardens, my father's vegetable garden and my mother's multitude of flower beds. To me, it was a chore. I had to weed. I had to pick green beans and zucchini. Heaven forbid. I was lucky enough to have access to fresh vegetables like those my father grew. He had an amazing vegetable garden. One that I wish I had. The carrots and beets in the picture above came from seed. Last February. Go figure. I planted them then, they got harvested today. And I have to tell you, I had wire domes covering the carrots to keep the bunnies out of them. I'd find bunny pellets surrounding the domes, any greens growing outside the domes sheared down. (I think the bunnies were practicing their telekenesis skills on those domes) These are the little carrots that could... I'm not a great gardener, but at least I'm trying.

Last year, the pastor of my church gave a sermon about how great it would be if we could use some of the property owned by the church to start a community garden that would help feed those in need. Some days I don't know what I was thinking, going to those first planning meetings, but I'm so proud of where we've come. To date, we've harvested almost 400 pounds of produce that was donated to a local food pantry and to the church's food share program. We're growing organic produce for the hungry and for our families, and that really makes it all worthwhile. And yes, organic, local, fresh produce is good for you and tastes like nothing other. Would I have stepped up, knowing what would be required of me to see this project come to fruition? I don't know. But I did. The garden, and all it stands for, helps keep me going.

This second picture is of another thing that helps keep me going. In the first few months of our first year here in TX we adopted a wonderful Puppygirl. She had a REALLY awful first few years of her life. She's slow to trust, spooks easily, and is very skittish around strangers and cameras. I can rarely get a decent picture of her. The only reason I got this picture of her today is because she was wondering what I was carrying in the colander (see above) when I came in from outside. I had the camera in one hand and *snap* I got a picture of her with a smile on her face. Her smile is something few people outside of her family and comfortable friends group will ever see. I have to be honest. She is one of the loves of my life. She is an amazing, sweet, loving girl. (So is Shortstuff, my Sous Chef, next to her, don't get me wrong. She's our meet and greet committee who loves nearly everyone.) I love my furry kids. They make my heart smile.

What makes your heart smile and keeps you going?

Way to go Rangers!

I don't actually follow baseball, but I'm very happy that the Rangers won the title last night. (I was never a Yankees fan when I lived/worked in NY. I prefered the Mets.) A lot of my friends are huge Rangers fans, and I'm sure there will be a few AL Champions shirts worn to church tomorrow. From what I've observed since moving to Texas, Texans take their religion and their sports very seriously.

In that light, the following prayer was written in the comments section on a FB friend's post last night after the win by a man named Tony Mc. I don't know where he read it, but I thought I'd pass it along to you.

Our Rangers, who art in Texas, winners be thy name. The Yanks will come, they will be done, in New York as they will be in Texas. Give us this week a series win, and forgive us our bullpen loss, as we cause losses upon their bullpen. Lead us not into the off-season, but deliver us a championship title. For the Rangers are the swingdom, the claw, and the antlers, forever and ever. Play ball.

My second 5K

What a great day! I did my second 5K tonight. Thank you to The Aussie for heading to Plano with me and sitting around while I played. Tonight's race was the Firefly Run, benefitting Children's Medical Center in Dallas. It was a night race, with participants wearing LEDs. I finished in 36:21:43. A five+ minute improvement over my first 5K in May. I was hoping for a sub 35 since my training runs have been going well, but stupid me forgot to bring her iPod. So I'm actually quite pleased that I did as well as I did with NO music.

This was the inaugural year for the Firefly Run. Some things, like starting 15 minutes late, could be better. But what was great? There was toilet paper in the port-a-potty.

It's the little things that count. :)