11-11-11

So this morning I tried something new and I really, really liked it.  Some of you may recall the dinner in a pumpkin that I made the other night.  I scraped the remainder of the pumpkin and saved it for future meals.  This morning I decided to try the pumpkin in my eggs.  I had some sage sausage that I cooked up with the pumpkin, spinach and eggs.  It was pretty phenomenal.  The sweetness of the pumpkin was a great contrast to the savory sausage.

Julia even ate them up....actually to really impress you, I should let you know that even ALEX went back for seconds!  To round out the meal, Julia and I made some cloud biscuits.  These are the biscuits that my mother made when I was a little girl.  It's a pretty solid recipe.

Cloud Biscuits

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 beaten egg
2/3 cup milk

Combine ingredients and roll dough 3/4 inches thick.  Cut into desired shape.  Bake at 450 degrees on an ungreased pan for 10 to 14 minutes.

Really, really delicious.  I'm a carbohydrate addict.  I could live on biscuits and jam alone.  There has been more than one occasion when I have gone to Bob Evans with friends and family and cleaned up every one's biscuits.  They love me :)

I'm not great at transitions but I would now like to take a moment now to say what I am thankful for with a little more seriousness than usual.  I have always been in awe of military families and the sacrifices they endure so that we can enjoy our lives here in this great country.  I'm not great at expressing my feelings and gratitude so I will simply say, thank you!

Running, veggies and ball

Good Monday!  Clearly the weekend has zapped all creativity out of me as that is the lamest title yet...I probably have no energy for creativity because this weekend has been a great weekend for running!  On Saturday I unintentionally ran 8.8 miles and on Sunday I met up with the Lake Ridge RidgeRunners and ran another 5 miles.  I have to admit, I feel pretty good!  The run on Sunday was a chill forty-degrees and so the smartwool socks came in VERY handy.  My toes were still cold when I began running but they warmed up a lot faster than with my regular running socks.



Overall, I am very thankful and pleased with my sock purchase.  For dinner last night, I made my mom's recipe for dinner in a pumpkin, which is a seasonal favorite of mine.  Julia was able to decorate the pumpkin while I prepared the "stuffing." 



Only a mother could love that face!

Here's the recipe:

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 medium pumpkin, cleaned out of pulp and seeds

1 small onion, chopped

2 lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 1/2 cups cooked, brown rice

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 can sliced waterchestnuts

1 can sliced mushrooms

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut the top off of the pumpkin and clean out all the seeds and pulp.  Draw a spooky face on the pumpkin and set aside.  Brown the ground beef and onions.  Drain liquid and add in the remaining ingredients.  Once everything in mixed together, spoon rice/meat mixture into the pumpkin and place lid on pumpkin.  Place pumpkin on cookie sheet and cook in the oven for approximately one hour.  Dinner is served once the pumpkin cooked and easily scrapes off when spooning out the mixture.

Mmmm...

I'm so thankful for great recipes like this one that allow me to serve veggies in new and different ways.  I get a little bored with the traditional side salad or green beans.

I am also grateful that I have found a wonderful partner who enjoys being active.  Every Sunday I go out to watch Alex play softball.  It's a lot of fun to cheer for him :)  Julia and I play catch sometimes while he plays too.  I'm even contemplating dusting off my old glove and practicing my swing...I hear there are co-ed leagues out there. Alex and I have done alright being on a bowling league together.  Would adding softball to the mix be too much?

Do you play sports with your significant other?

Thankful Thursday

Julia sleeps with a night light that pretty much lights up her whole room and the hallway to my room.  She woke up at 2am because the beacon went out.  There was some crying and whimpering but eventually she went back to sleep even though the electricity was out.  Even though I was able to go right back to sleep, the quality of interrupted sleep is not nearly as good as as a solid night of sleep and that's why I am thankful for commuter buses (and the government subsidy that pays me to take it).  I love my hour nap to and from work.  LOVE.

It's pretty ridiculous that Alex has asked me questions about how I get to work, like road names etc, and I have no idea what to tell him.  I'm pretty sure that I would start out on 95N but then things get blurry and dark.  Thank goodness for GPS :)  What did we do before?  I don't even own a map.  It doesn't really matter though because me with a map is the same as me without a map.  I'm pretty useless at navigation.

One place I never need directions to is Dairy Queen, especially at this time of the year.  It's a small thing but I'm thankful for their pumpkin pie blizzards.  They are super delicious and if you haven't had one, I highly recommend you go out and try one immediately!

What's your favorite DQ Blizzard?









Running late from lunch....literally....

Good Evening!  I had a wonderful day :)  I teleworked, which was lovely, and even fit in an almost 5.5 mile run.  I didn't get up this morning to get my run done so instead I went out during my lunch break.  I'm so glad that I did because it was an awesome run but I thought the route was shorter than it was and came back from lunch about ten minutes late :( 

I love that I got my run done.  It's true that you will never regret the time you spend exercising.  It's such a mood lifter too.  Even though it was raining, it was magnificent to get outside.  So since I was late coming back from my run, I literally walked in the door and sat at my computer;  I was unable to eat until my next break at nearly four o'clock.  I was starving!

Actually, I'm still starving.  That's the glory of being a runner, I guess.  You get to consume a few extra calories.  I made a weird but enjoyable snack this evening.  I took some pumpkin puree and warmed it up with some sunflower butter, vanilla protein powder, and cinnamon.  I think I need to lay off the pumpkin a little before it wears out it's welcome.  Haha.

Do you over do seasonal treats?

It's like drinking Pumpkin Pie :)

Good Evening Everyone!  I hope your week is going well :)  Today I ran two miles on the treadmill....at least it was something.  I had the hardest time getting out of bed.  I think my body just needs more sleep.  Tomorrow I am teleworking from home so I am planning on doing a four mile run outside before I start work. 

Julia and I had a delicious treat this evening :)

Healthy Pumpkin Smoothie

3 heaping spoonfuls of pureed pumpkin
3 tbsp agave syrup
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp all-spice
2 tsp cinnamon
6 ice cubes

Put everything into a blender, blend and enjoy!

This was definitely a great way to get Julia to eat another vegetable for the day.  I still have pumpkin puree left so maybe we will have pumpkin pancakes tomorrow morning!  Mmmmm!