It's beginning...
...to look a lot like...
...Christmas!!
Sighhh...bliss! I can't believe a whole year flew by THAT fast...BUTTT that does not mean that I'm not ECSTATIC to get into the holiday spirit. Look, even Penny's feeling rather festive...
...orrrrrrr maybe that's just exhaustionJ hahahahahahahaha She had a 'busy' weekend following us around and being nosy as we got the whole house ready to bring in the comfort & joyJ hehehehehhee
The one thing that was NOT around this year: Our yearly cheesesteak pizza! Can you believe we just were NOT in the mood for it this year?? Don't get me wrong: we had our fair share of treats from a few reheated cinnamon bun breakfasts...
...but the rest of the weekend we were just interested in sparing our waistlines AND our wallets by making our own quick meals even though we spent our days being busy, busy, busy.
It would have been SUPER easy to reach for the phone for take-out on Friday after spending sun up to sun down scrubbing the house from top to bottom...but instead, we reached into the freezer & pulled out this little number I had picked up from Trader Joe's a few weeks ago..
I had always wanted to try spanakopita and figured this would be a good way to try it out before I found myself elbow deep in phyllo doughJ
50 minutes in the toaster oven and we were met with a piping hot and cheese FILLED phyllo pie...soooooooo flavorful & tangy! Lemon juice was the second to last ingredient on the list, but you could certainly taste it throughout the pie! Very good find and great for a quick dinner night...
Saturday night I threw together a quick gravy with meatballs. Gravy DOES take over an hour to cook, but really only about 10 minutes to throw together. The rest of the time you just let it simmer on the stove. Another total no-fuss meal on a busy day...
And OK...Sunday night's dinner was a bit more 'intricate' than those other 2, but sooooooo worth it! We made Sweet Potato Latkes with roasted cauliflower...
This dinner isn't complicated AT ALL...it's just time consuming. First you have to shred up 2 sweet potatoes, a white potato & an onion into a bowl. Then you season the potatoes thoroughly with chili powder, coriander & cumin to give it a little SPPPICCEEEE...
Mix the potatoes with a few tablespoons of flour and enough Eggbeaters (or 1 egg) to gather the potatoes together to form patties.
Drop the patties in a canola oil covered pan...(I use 2 pans to make quicker work of things. I HATE standing over the stove FLIPPING things)...
After they brown up on both sides, I had both a 'oil blotting' station and a cookie sheet lined with foil to catch all of the cooked pancakes before I tossed them in the oven to keep warm...
While the potatoes were working, I had cauliflower roasting with a little olive oil, salt & pepper for about 40 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Scott was NEVER a fan of cauliflower, but ROASTED cauliflower?? He'll eat. Try ANY vegetable roasted...it's always betterJ
Once cooked, we served it up the 'cakes some fresh guacamole. We made these last year, but were lacking in guac'....but this year we got to try it and couldn't be more pleased! The coooooooool guacamole went so well with the slightly spiced sweet potatoes. But then again, is guacamole really bad on ANYTHING?? J
And after a weekend of cinnamon rolls & sweet potato pie (which, thankfully, have ALL exited my kitchen!), I decided to make us a dessert a little on the 'lighter side' last night. All with the help of...
Ever have "No Pudge" brownie mix?? It's one 'diet' product that gets the total thumbs up from me (and Scott!). They are delicious, easy to throw together (just add 2/3 cups of unsweetened applesauce to the mix) and best of all?? They are made with a FEW NATURAL ingredients!!! Not a list of 40 synthetic ones that you can't pronounce...
35 minutes in the oven and you have decadent & delicious brownies...sans the guilt! And who couldn't use a little of THAT this time of year??J
Alright...well that about wraps up my weekend! OH....and what is missing from this Monday post: My workout schedule.
And why??
Shamefully: because there WAS NO workout schedule from last week....EEEEEE! We did sneak in a few 45 minute park walks here & there, but my whirlwind days of cooking, cleaning & decorating will hopefully 'hold me over' for last week! But I'm DETERMINED to get back into it today! As soon as I hit 'publish post,' I am gettin down to some yoga this morningJ hehehehehehehe
Have a great day, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment