My week...phewww!

Hey everyone...long time, no chat!  This week has been a WHIRLWIND of:

...cookie baking...(Although NO MARATHON sessions for me this year!  I made Scott's favorite Espresso Crinkles & my beloved "Peanut Sitting Pretties" and called it a year this year!)

...finishing off "secret Christmas projects" which took up nearly every. single. moment. of my waking hours...while SOMEONE wasn't around/sleeping!J...

...and squeezing in yoga every. last. chance. I could (even sneaking in ANOTHER "Christmas Yoga class" thanks to a friend!!)

And with one last burst of energy today, I can say all of our presents are wrapped...

...surfaces are spotless... 

...and the entire house is about to go into full blown Christmas relaxation mode!  And not a moment too soon, I might add!!! J  I'm beat! 

In the midst of all of this "week before Christmas business," there was also some cooking.  And while one of my dinners was a nice bowl of Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios, I WILL show you our most decadent AND most healthy dinners of the week.

First up:  The decadent... 

No kids, that's not your Grandmother's Spaghetti with gravy...as this dinner was inspired after watching an episode of "Best Thing I Ever Made."  And as soon as I saw this recipe for Bucatini with Bacon Sauce, I knew I had to make it ASAP!

Especially since I had picked up some huge bacon slices on our trip to Lancaster! 

The sauce starts out how any fantastic dish does:  by crisping up a few (ahem *6*) slices of bacon... 

...along with a diced onion... 

And I figured if I was going to make this dish, I was going to make it RIGHT. (ummm...hence my OVER bacon usage!!)  I even went out to find the "appropriate" canned tomatoes that were suggestedJ 

When the sauce had simmered for over an hour, I cooked up my HEARTY bucatini (can you argue with pasta that 'catches' sauce on the INSIDE??!!) 

And topped it off with that hearty, beauuuitful sauce... 

Served up with some baked meatballs and I fear I may have created a monster with this dinner, as Scott proclaimed that it's gonna hard to have any sort of regular (aka: non-bacon) gravy from now on!  The bacon just gave the entire sauce a smokey, meaty & fabulous flavor.  Not surprising...this dish was too dieeee for! 

But DEFINITELY on the "CAPITAL D: DECADENT" side!  Certainly a "treat" dinnerJ

Annnnddd to balance out all of that bacon goodness, our dinner tonight was on the OTHER end of the spectrum.  Necessary, no?? J

First up were an attempt at Spanikopita burgers.  Buttttt....thanks to a few supplements from my fridge, they sorta turned into a Greek/Mediterranean hybridJ

• 3/4 pounds ground turkey
• 1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
• 1/4 cup Tabbouli
• 1 tablespoon Greek seasoning
• 1/2 diced red onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves

I mixed all of that together, formed them into patties, cooked em on the griddle till cooked through and topped em off with a little more diced red onion and...  

Soooooo good, especially with the Tzatziki.  And much like I might always add bacon to my tomato sauce from now on, I also might always add spinach to my burgers.  It keeps them super moist, creates bigger burgers...and obviously: healthy bonus! 

And we figured a night of 'skipped french fries' in lieu of roasted garlic broccoli might be a better idea for the nightJ hehehhehehe....

Well hope you enjoyed my week long recap!  I'm off to go join Scott on the couch and watch more of the Ghost Adventures marathon.  Yes...that's how we party the day before Christmas EveJ hahahhaaha...have a good night, everyone!  I just may have one. more Christmas oatmeal recipe for you in the AM...stay tunedJ

Ye Ole Amish...

So when I planned this weekend with '2 separate groups of folks' months ago, I failed to notice the nice little running theme:  2 road trips to Pennsylvania in two days!  Oppppsss...hahahahhahahahaha  So after a Mom's Road Trip on Friday, Saturday morning saw Scott & I packed up in the car and headed off to Lancaster, PA...

And much like our trip to Bethlehem, the first stop after our drive was FOOOODDDD.  I was STARVING by the time we got to Lancaster and couldn't get in HERE fast enoughJ 

Oh man, and I have to say this was one of the ONLY times I've played my "eating for 2" card.  Not to mention this place was a pregnant chicks HEAVEN!  We seriously would have eaten here from July to October if it was close by (which, fortunately for my scale, it was NOTJ), but this was pretty much everything I craved for 5 & 1/2 months straightJ 

On my plate?  CARB HEAVEN!  Scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, biscuits with gravy and HOMEMADE BUTTERED NOODLES which I ADORED!  Balance?  NO.  To die for?  YES!  Never fear, as this was our only meal of the dayJ hahahaha

OK, I lied.  Even though I was just about BURSTING at the seams, we couldn't pass up the DESSERT. BAR.  Helloooo??  Who could??? 

Scott had tried his beloved Shoo-Fly pie and I got a couple sneaky bites of his red velvet cake slice, while I went with a few bites of OATMEAL pie and a few spoonfuls of COCONUT BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING & a "pretzel jello" pudding.  Yeeshhhh...we almost had to roll out of there, but everything was just heavenlyJ

Next, it was on to a little shopping at the "Bird in Hand (NO CHAIN!) Bake Shop" where we picked up some treats... 

...and fed some baby goatsJ 

Then we made a swing through the Lancaster Central Market (pretty similar to Reading Terminal)...

And finally, to the little shopping village of "Kitchen Kettle"...

Scott & I had visited here a few years ago and even took an Amish buggy ride around Lancaster.  (very peaceful, as you could imagineJ)

Oooooo...the weather was much more 'seasonally appropriate' that day!J

But this time we just stuck to peeking in all of the little shops & picking up some unique gift items for family & friends...

 

Soon after, we headed home with some presents (shhhhhh!) and a small gaggle of sweets & treats... 

...and an ornament that pretty much sums up my season this yearJ 

Well, we did make ONE more stop on our way homeJ  Tucked into the PARKING LOT of the Lancaster Visitors Center is a littleeeeee truck called:

Any guess to what they had??J

Sunday morning breakfast is SERVED! 

We split a cinnamon roll and a sticky bun and to say these were over-the-top sinful & decadent is an understatement!  I especially loved that the dough was SUPER fresh and sooo light...not thick, heavy & yeasty like some 'buns.  Totally awesome!

And sticky buns for breakfast called for an IMMEDIATE walk in the park with Penny.  Only problem?  Neither of us failed to realize how COLD & BLUSTERY it was outside!!!  Oh man...walking AGAINST the wind and in the shade was ROUGH when you were. not. prepared!  So after that little venture, I decided that the rest of the day would be spent making some Christmas cookies & trying my hand at homemade chicken and dumpling soup...

I followed Kristin's recipe to the letter by making my own stock...

...and my own dumplings... 

Warm, slightly creamy from the floured dumplings and soooo cozy!  This was the PERFECT cold weather day dinner.  (Next time, though, I think I'll go back to making 'biscuit/drop dumplings' though.  These were good, but I like to sink my teeth into the doughy goodness, ya know?J) 

And one last thing for this post?  My Weekly Workout schedule BACK on it's 'original' dayJ hahahahaha...

Monday:  40 minute Bethenny Yoga + Weights + "Booty Blast"

Tuesday:  1 hour Yoga for the Warrior

Wednesday:  30 minutes dance + 2 rounds of weights + 100 kettlebell 'clean & press'

Thursday:  45 minutes DCC Body Slimming yoga + round of weights

Sunday:  45 minute walk

Gotta work off those carbs & sticky buns somehow, right??

Alright, so that about wraps up my Road Trips to Relaxing weekendJ  I hope you guys had a great one!  LESS THAN ONE WEEK TILL CHRISTMAS!  Hope you guys are enjoying & staying safe (I remember the highways this week of the year were crazy town!!!!!)

Have a good Monday!

Follow the star...

...for it will lead you to Bethlehem.  Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that is!J  Also known as the Christmas City for it's world famous Christkindlmarkt, modeled after the ones in Germany & Vienna (the one in Nuremberg is on my bucket list!)  My best friend & I packed up our Moms and headed off for a day of CHRISTMAS funJ

...well, holiday fun in a minute.  FIRST stop was for lunch, of courseJ  We took a little stroll to the main street from the market and headed into here...

"Loopers" was a super cozy sports bar which had a great menu, even better service and really nice dishes.  After splitting a plate of nachos, I delved into my lunch:  A salad topped with fruit, candied walnuts, the most DELICIOUS orange poppy seed dressing and my favorite salad topper of late...a crab cake!  (I'm OBSESSED!)

After our cozy and filling lunch, we headed back to the Christkindlemart tents and shopped till we dropped! 

You immediately got whipped into the holiday spirit upon your first steps into the tent as your head swirled at the sight of all of the red, green, glittering lights & festive touches everywhere you turned... 

My Mom & I especially loved the tent devoted to all of the handmade German decorations, including the nutcrackers... 

...tree ornaments... 

...and holiday treats!

We also REALLLLLY loved the English Toffee Shop with the TONS of free samples!!!  They made it TOUGH to pass up the likes of sticky bun, maple almond & caliente cashew toffee varieties.  (Well...we COULDN'T pass them up...we bought a sampler packJ) 

Next, we headed to the little market set up outside and in the shadows of the old Pennsylvania steel mills... 

Butttttt, we weren't out there TOO long as our next destination was the MARKET tent, complete with a food court.  We all decided it was time for a treat and had decided that nothing sounded better, or more appropriate, than the fresh Strudel! 

Fresh, flaky & delicate, we all split a slice of apple & a slice of cheese and gladly devoured our treats while listening to the Bethlehem CHRISTMAS choir...  

After that, we wrapped up our day and headed for home with lots of goodies, gifts & fun CHRISTMAS memories!     

Soooo that wraps up PART 1 of my "Road Trip Weekend!"  Off to more adventures today...stay tuned...J