Salad....with a little Spice....

Sooooo....after all the holiday festivities of pie & pizza, I was BEYOND ready for Monday salads last night.  I know this isn't an uber exciting post...butttttt, sometimes you just gotta jump back on the wagon:)  So last night, our sugar & cheese was replaced with tuna & chickpeas:) ...

We got all of our ingredients together and went to town....

In my mix:

• Italian Blend Lettuce
• Scallions
• Chopped celery
• Tuna
• Blue Cheese
• Craisins
• Carrots
• A sprinkle of tortilla strips
• And the item I forgot till after I took the picture:  Chickpeas...

Anddd...in case your salads needs a little extra KICK, I picked up this can of tuna for Scott: 

I was a little leery (especially since there was an actually chili pepper sitting on TOP of the tuna), but these "Sensations" come in 3 flavors:  Spicy Thai, Tomato Basil & Lemon Pepper.  Just a little something extra to make your ole bed of lettuce (or sandwich) a bit more interesting:)

Well...that's all I got for you today;)  Tonight we're having an old reliable favorite to go along with the Rockefeller Tree Lightening!  Now to stop at Trader Joe's for a "Christmas snack" or not....they have an AMAZING selection this year!  Oh decisions, decisions:)

Have a good Tuesday:)

Holiday Weekend Wrap up...

Well, with a little help from cheesesteak pizza on Black Friday...

Our house went from this:

To this:

And from this:

To that:

Even our scarecrow gets a holiday makeover:)

I sat in our living room last night (one of the FIRST times since the parade on Thursday morning;) and could NOT believe the Christmas decorations were up!  Don't get me wrong, I've been dreaming about this day since....hell, the day we took em down LAST year...but it's still crazy how fast time flies!

Guess we better celebrate all the JOY we can get this time of year!

Anyway....we kept our 'warm & cozy' eats going over the weekend, including Scott's first EVER attempt at 'from scratch' waffles....

And ummm...he may have found himself a new job.  These pumpkin waffles were OUT-STANDING!  I do believe he found himself a hidden talent...YUM!

(Not to mention, it was DOUBLE exciting since it was our first "Christmas-y Sunday breakfast" of the year;)

And after tossing around a few dinner ideas, we decided to delve into our pantry and freezer and managed to pull out this meal, all from food we already had on hand (always helpful;)...

Presented by Santa...of course:)

Scott baked the ham, coated in Dijon mustard, brown sugar and pineapple juice.  This is one of his FAVORITE meals that he gets too far and few between, so he was in his glory;)

As a side, I decided to make some mashed potatoes....but since this was one of Scott's favorite meals (and since he made such good waffles), I figured I'd add a little something extra to kick em up a notch...

And the ingredient of choice...one of our favorites:  Caramelized onions!

Creamy mashed potatoes studded with sweet caramelized onions = Scott LOVED them! (and so did I:)

And finally, some farmer's market steamed string beans.  I'm not a lover of fresh string beans, but these were fine:)  We needed something GREEN after nearly 4 days of CARBS:)

Well...OK...one more carb:)  I finished off the weekend with one last sliver of my sweet potato/cheesecake/maple whipped cream creation.  This baby was SOO decadent that I'm honestly glad to see it depart from my house;)  It's been fun, Pie, but now it's time for you to go;)

So anyway....I hope you had as festive....

...and as relaxing weekend as we (and Penny) did;) ....

And now I can't believe how fast this weekend (year) flew by...but now we have LOTS of things to look forward to now!  I'm already counting down the minutes until we go get our tree on Saturday morning;) hahhahahaha...

Hope you have an 'easy transition' Monday;)  Enjoy your day:)

Parades, Pies, Pajamas & a Puppy...

Hi everyone!  I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!  Here's a recap of our delicious day:)

All of our festivities began the night before....with another trip to "Kenji Fusion" (can NOT get enough of the bestest sushi around!)...

And a trip to see "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows-Part 1"....(I'm now frightened of how hard I'm going to cry for Part 2, since Part 1 *you know what part I'm talking about* was a DOOZY!:) 

After the movie, I came home and got started on my Thanksgiving baking!  I took a little inspiration from "The Best Thing I Ever Ate: That I'm Thankful for" that aired this week.  And as soon as Jeff Henderson mentioned a Sweet Potato & Cheesecake layer pie from Inglewood, California, I knew I HADD to try it.  AND since squeezing in a trip to Cali was a little rough for this week, I decided to do some research and came up with my own version....starting with a graham cracker crust made from my beloved Trader Joe's Graham Crackers: 

...then a layer of basic cheesecake (cream cheese, sugar, egg & vanilla)... 

...and topped with a layer of sweet potato pie.......YUM!  (I think I've officially jumped ship from pumpkin to sweet potato pie...it's just so. darn. good!) 

And, taking inspiration from Tuesday night's dinner, I made sure to season & spice up both layers to give each their own distinctive taste:

After the pie was baked & cooled, I finished it off with a layer of fresh MAPLE whipped cream & candied pecans... 

(Harriet's: You just may have some competition;)....kid, I kid:)

Thanksgiving morning began in it's TRUE "My Tasty Journey" traditional manner:  With Pumpkin Pancakes... 

...while watching the parade.... 

....in our pajamas, along with Penny:) 

(ok, ok...I'm done with the illiterations:)

We also got a GREAT SURPRISE here in NJ this morning!  A WHITE THANKSGIVING!!!  YES...it snowed! 

Not for very long, but just enough to usher in Santa Claus!  I even cried...it was too much magic in one moment;) hahahhahahahaah.... 

After the parade and a Thanksgiving morning photo op....(I literally laughed until I cried *again* when I saw this picture...Scott looks like he's trying for his best Don Juan face , I look like a pirate and Penny's in mid-yawn:) 

:)

...I got busy on my SECOND "Best Thing/Thankful For" inspiration:  Fresh Cranberry Sauce!  Those cranberries were just TOO beautiful at the market this year to pass up trying this one out.  ESPECIALLY once the Neely's proclaimed that it wasn't Thanksgiving without homemade cranberry sauce (and I ALWAYS listen to the Neely's:)  I tried my hand at their favorite version from Portland, Oregon... 

I brought:

• 1 bag of cranberries
• 1 diced apple
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cinnamon stick

...to a boil over medium high heat.  Once it was boiled, I lowered the heat and let it slowly simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sauce thickened up.  I removed the pan from the heat and tossed in (and here's the Neely's favorite!) 3/4 cup of craisins......YUM!

My Aunt proclaimed that this may be my official job from now on.  Seriously, this couldn't have been easier but it was HEADS & TAILS better then any cranberry sauce I have EVER tried.  No, for real: EVER!  Sweet, tart with a nice chewy texture from the craisins, it was just the king of all cranberries:)  I'm definitely adding it to our yearly rotation:)

After that, we cleaned ourselves up and grabbed the treats: 

And headed over to my Aunt's.  I love, love, love dinner there...it is just TRADITION and PERFECTION all rolled into one:) 

We had all our traditional & favorite dishes including turkey, of course...:) 

...STUFFING!!!!!  I HEART THEE!!!!!! 

...and my Aunt's BESTEST Maple Sweet Potatoes.  These have been my favorites since I was little...and I STILL love em just as much:) 

Who doesn't wait all year for this masterpiece??? 

I was STUFFEEEEED after dinner....BUT somehow managed to sneak in a piece of my layered pie:)  Which actually HAD layers!  (I was worried;) 

A sweet and wonderful day surrounded by family & good eats.  It doesn't get much better than that:)  I feel very, very lucky to be so blessed. 

Well...as much as I like those Pilgrims & Indians, I must say that their day of reckoning is tomorrow, as they will be put away for another year.  While most people will be out shopping until they drop tomorrow,  for US Black Friday = Cleaning, Christmas Decorations & Pizza!  hahahahhahaha....we tear apart every INCH of the house to ensure that all of my glorious reds & greens will shine extra bright for their arrival;) hhahahhaha....is this the best time of year or WHAT????  From one great holiday to the next;)

OK...I better go rest for our big day tomorrow!  Hope you enjoyed our Thanksgiving recap and have a wonderful one of your own!  Have a great night and a great (hopefully no work!) Friday:)

It's all in the Balance...

So to counter act all of the turkey, gravy and stuffing stuffing & more stuffing we plan on having TOMORROW (can you believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving!???), we decided to make a super light dinner last night all while using some of our Farmer's Market goodies.  We used spaghetti squash...

and Tuscan Kale...

To create this:

I started by splitting the spaghetti squash in half and removing the seeds, spraying a baking sheet with non-stick spray and placing the squash cut-side down to roast for 40 minutes at 350.  Once the squash is cool, you run a fork through it and the squash comes out in 'spaghetti strands' (hence the name:)  I baked the squash on Monday night, so dinner was pulled together in about 20 minutes last night!

Next was the kale.  Kale has a tendency to be a little on the tougher side, so in order to tenderize it a bit I sliced it into super slim strips and boiled it in a pot of salted water for 3-4 minutes.  It made SUCH a difference in the texture!

Next, I sauteed some garlic & red onion in a little olive oil in a pan for a minute before tossing in the kale.  I added in some salt, pepper and a little nutmeg and let the kale saute for a few minutes.  Then it was time to top THAT with the spaghetti squash...

I threw in a little more salt, pepper & garlic powder (cause there's ALWAYS room for more garlic flavor:) and let it all warm up together.  A little toss with a handful of grated cheese and this was COMPLETE!

Butttttt....this dish needed a little something to fill us up, right???  So I topped the pasta with one of my favvvoorrrite things to add to...well, ANYTHING:  Toasted white beans!  I let them dry roast in a pan on low heat, shaking the pan ever so often, until the beans dry out a bit and begin to split.  That's when you know they're gooooood....

A layer of spaghetti squash & kale topped with crispy white beans and we were in business!

Now, I must admit....as 'happy' as I was that we were having a 'lighter' dish to balance out the week a bit...I wasn't exactly SUPER excited to have this dish last n.  That was until I tasted it!  It really was soooooooooooo flavorful and soooooooooooo good!!!!!  I think the key was layering EACH part of the dish with a little flavor!  A little garlic, nutmeg and grated cheese all went a looong way into making this a HAPPY 'light' meal, rather than a dreaded one!  Love that! 

Sighhhhhh....so is this one of the best days of the whole year or what???  You could almost SMELL the turkey and four day weekend from here:)  hahahahahhahaha...I'm sure I'll have some things to show you here & there over the holiday, but I'll also be pretty elbow deep in turkey & Christmas decorations over the next few days:)  I hope you guys all have a WONDERFULLLLLLLLLLL holiday!  And don't forget to stop for a minute to count your blessings for the day!  We ALL have many reasons to be Thankful!