Thanksgiving Recap

Happy Monday! It's back to reality after a nice long weekend. Sorry that this post is delayed, but it's better late than never! I'm happy to report that my first Thanksgiving was a success! We had a group of 9 that joined us in Chicago, and I was finally able to use all of my serving dishes! On the menu:

• Appetizers:
• Apple Brie Crostini
• Stuffed Red Potato Bites (stuffed with light artichoke dip)
• Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Pita Chips
• Dinner
• Turkey (I ordered it from Honey Baked Ham because I didn't want my oven to be taken up for 8 hours)
• Cornbread and Turkey Sausage Stuffing
• Mom's Mashed Potato Casserole
• Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
• Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Parsnips
• Field Green Salad with pomegranate seeds and feta
• Homemade Orange Cranberry Sauce
• Dessert
• Pumpkin Pie
• Apple Pie

Dad carved the bird. 

Everything turned out as planned, and I even shocked my guests by showing them that traditional Thanksgiving dishes can be made healthy! After dinner, we went to Second City for a holiday comedy show. For those of you in the area, I highly recommend seeing the Nut-Cracking Holiday Revue. You will literally cry from laughing so much!

Only half of our dinner

All in all, I love hosting! I've already been volunteered to host Thanksgiving every year, but we'll see what next year brings!

In the mean time, here is my recipe for the fruit salsa that I made for an appetizer. You can serve it with cinnamon pita chips, graham crackers, or just eat it by the spoonful! Enjoy!

                                                                      Fruit Salsa

Ingredients

1 Pint of Strawberries
1 Large Honey Crisp Apple
2 Kiwi, Peeled
1 T All Natural Raspberry Preserves

Instructions

1. Dice the berries, apple, and kiwi
2. Mix together in a medium sized bowl
3. Add 1 T of raspberry preserves and mix well
4. Chill for 20 minutes and serve with cinnamon pita chips or graham crackers

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Month of Gratitude:
Today I am grateful for our Chicago "family." We moved to this city with no friends, and happened to stumble across a group of people through rugby, and have not separated yet! They are a crazy bunch, but I wouldn't trade them for anything!

Thanksgiving Hangover Cure

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I had an amazing time with some of my family, and happy to say that everyone enjoyed my first Thanksgiving dinner! I'll give a brief recap on it in a later post with the recipes, but first and foremost, does anyone else have a Thanksgiving hangover? I'm not talking about your usual hangover, but instead one induced from eating too much.

Well, I plan on getting rid of it ASAP. A lot of people stay in the holiday mode until the New Year and end up gaining 5 or more pounds and never get rid of the "hangover." That is not in my plans!


I find the best way to get back on track is to start with a healthy breakfast. Give my Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal a try. It's a wonderful mix of peanut butter, whole grains, and protein. You can add several mix-ins to this, but for this one I stuck with flax and raisins, and topped it with a banana and pomegranate seeds.

Give it a try to get rid of the Thanksgiving hangover. Now it's time for me to get a good workout in. Nothing gets ride of the Thanksgiving guilt like a good sweat out. Enjoy, and cheers to a Holiday season of taking control of your health.

                                                         Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal
                                                                         Serves 4

Ingredients

2 1/2 C Old Fashioned Oats
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs, Beat
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 C Peanut Butter (Chunky or Smooth)
1/4 C Raisins (Optional)
2 T Flax Seed (Optional)
2 T Unsweetened Apple Sauce
1 1/2 C Skim Milk (or milk of choice)
1 tsp Vanilla

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 Degrees.
2. Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Pour into an 8 inch square casserole dish.
4. Bake for 35 minutes. The oatmeal should be golden brown and firm in the middle.
5. Top with fresh fruit, and enjoy!

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Month of Gratitude:
Today I am thankful that God gave each of my sisters a different talent. We may be complete opposites at times, but we complement each other well.

Apple and Pear Brie Crostini

I received the best package ever last week! Chobani surprised me with my own custom case of my favorite Greek yogurt: Lemon, Pomegranate, and Plain! Yum!!! I was seriously like a kid on Christmas opening up the box!

It's true, I am a "Chobaniac"

Chobani, I must tell you, you made me one happy blogger! I was tempted to skip dinner and just eat yogurt, but I decided I'd end dinner with a Chobani dessert instead! Best part of my day! What's your favorite Chobani flavor?

Chobani Time!

With Thanksgiving only a week and a half away, I have another healthy recipe for your holiday dinner...Apple and Pear Brie Crostini. I originally got this idea from the Craving Chronicles, and I knew right away that I had to make it for my Thanksgiving party. Craving Chronicles made it with apples, but I also tried it with pears and it was equally delicious. I may even try it with fig preserves next.

This recipe is so easy that I even hesitate to call it a recipe. Basically, you just throw a handful of ingredients together and it's done! Give this a try for Thanksgiving or even for a Sunday snack. Enjoy!

                                                               Apple and Pear Brie Crostini
                                                     Recipe Inspired from Craving Chronicles

Ingredients

1 Whole Wheat Baguette, Cut into thin slices
8 oz Brie Cheese, cut into small pieces that will fit on the crostini
1 Honey Crisp Apple, Slice thin
1 Pear, Slice thin
Honey
1/4 C Chopped Toasted Pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Brush both sides of each bread slice with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 2. Toast the bread for 5 minutes. Half way through the time, flip each slice to get each side extra toasty.
3. Once the bread is toasted, top each slice with a piece of brie. Return the pan to the oven and bake for a 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Make sure you keep an eye on it because you do not want the crostini or cheese to burn.
4. Top each crostini with either a pear or apple, or get crazy and top it with both! Drizzle with honey and a few pecans.
5. Eat immediately, and enjoy:)

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Month of Gratitude:
Today I am thankful for my adorable nephew. He keeps our family young, and is a gift from God. I may live 2 hours from him, but I am thankful that Facetime lets us bridge the distance. I love you Korbin!

Healthy Thanksgiving Cooking

Thanksgiving is two weeks away from tomorrow! Hope that doesn't freak anyone out too much! As stated in my earlier post, I will be hosting for a small group this year. I am very excited to host, but mostly excited to finally use all of the serving dishes that I got from my wedding!

I love Thanksgiving, but I'm always cautious to not eat too much because many traditional dishes are loaded with calories and fat. According to ACE Fitness, the average Thanksgiving meal has around 3,000 calories! Ah, just writing that number makes me feel like I just gained weight. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you to not eat on Thanksgiving. That would just be cruel. Instead, over the next two weeks, I will provide you with some healthier Thanksgiving options that you can serve.

Last night, I tried out my first homemade stuffing. After doing a lot of research, I found a recipe for Cornbread and Turkey Sausage Stuffing. It was delicious! A lot of stuffing recipes are loaded with butter and pork sausage, but this one has no butter and uses Italian turkey sausage. Therefore, the fat content is drastically lower!

I also love this stuffing because it is filled with flavor, low in sodium, and extremely moist. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it's really easy to make? Give this recipe a try for your Thanksgiving dinner or for dinner tonight. Let me know what you think in the comments below, and remember that you can avoid Holiday weight gain with Fueling Strong!

Also, today I am so honored to have my blog featured on Fit Blogger. For those of you who have not checked it out yet, click here to see the feature. Fit Blogger is an awesome community of health and wellness bloggers, who share my similar passion of helping others achieve their fitness goals.

                                               Cornbread and Turkey Sausage Stuffing
                                                           Recipe from Eating Well
                                                          Serves 12 (1 C Servings)

Ingredients

1 Pound Sweet Italian Turkey Sausages (about 4 links), casings removed
1 Yellow Onion, Finely Chopped
4 Celery Stalks, Finely Chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 tsp salt
Ground Pepper, to taste
12 Cups Prepared Cornbread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/4 C Parsley, Chopped
1 T Fresh Sage, Chopped
1.5 - 2 C Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

Start Cookin'

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet, brown the turkey sausage. Once the  meat is browned, drain the fat in a colander and rinse the meat to get rid of any extra grease.
3. Place the meat back in the saute pan and add the onion and celery. Cook this for about 10 minutes until the veggies are tender.
4. Transfer the meat mixture into a large bowl and add season with salt and pepper.
5. Add the cornbread, sage, and parsley and mix gently. Be careful not to break up the corn bread too much.
6. In a small pan, bring the broth to a simmer. Ladle 1 C of broth over the bread mixture and gently stir. Continue to add broth by 1/2 C increments until the bread is moist but not wet.
7. Transfer the stuffing into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

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Month of Gratitude:
I am grateful to have parents who have never held me back from achieving my dreams. They constantly told me to chase my dreams no matter how far from home my endeavors took me. I am grateful that to this day they still support my decisions, and encourage me to fly. Love you mom and dad!