Skip to main content

Vegetarian Thanksgiving, Running, Decorating

Vegetarian Thanksgiving 
So I finally got around to making our vegetarian-friendly Thanksgiving meal last night. I was so looking forward to the menu. We had talked about it all week and finally agreed upon something we both were excited to try:

Apple and Kabocha Kale 
Quorn Turk'y Roast with homemade Chipotle Cranberry Relish
Honey Mustard Roasted New Potatoes
Homemade wheat rolls

Apple and Kabocha Kale
Ingredients:
1/4 cup red quinoa
3/4 cup water
1 small bunch kale, cleaned, rough chop
1/2 honeycrisp apple
1/2 small white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 kabocha squash, cubed and roasted*
OJ
To taste: salt, pepper, agave nectar

Directions:
In saucepan, bring water and quinoa to boil then lower to a simmer, cover, and cook 15 minutes.

In large skillet, saute onions for approximately 3 minutes. Add in kale and orange juice and allow the kale to begin to cook down. Add in apples, quinoa, and seasonings and continue to cook until kale is soft (or to desired texture).

Chipotle Cranberry Relish
Ingredients:
1/2 bag fresh cranberries
1 large chipotle pepper in adobo, finely diced
1 tsp adobo saue
1/8 cup (or less) red onion, minced
Agave nectar to taste
Orange juice (approximately 1/2 cup)
Water (approximately 1/4 cup)
Salt (to taste)

Directions:
In medium sauce pan, add all ingredients and allow to simmer on low until thickened, approximately 1 hour. 

Honey Mustard Roasted New Potatoes
Ingredients:
Approximately 15 new potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3-4 tbsp honey mustard
To taste: sea salt, dried parsley

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix all ingredients in a baking dish and bake approximately 25 minutes then flip and bake another 20 minutes or until crisp

*I roasted the kabocha at the same time I cooked the potatoes and the Quorn Turk'y Roast.
 
 
 

Jason could not stop raving about the Chipotle Cranberry Relish. I will warn you that if you don't like spicy, then you should only use the adobo sauce or use a very small chipotle pepper. For us, the heat was spot on and pared very well with the sweet and tart from the cranberries and orange juice. The potatoes had a subtle mustard flavor, but it was a nice change from a typical rosemary, thyme roasted potato dish.

Running...
Today got off to a super lazy start and it felt great. I actually slept until 8 am and didn't rush down and immediately eat breakfast for a change. I stayed in PJs until 11 am and I am not ashamed one bit. It was another gorgeous day out today, a bit windier, but still wonderful. We have a good friend who has gotten into running and has been trying to work up to what he deemed an adequate point to where he could go for a Sunday run with us at the river trails. This past week he mentioned that he wanted to go this Sunday if we were going. Of course I told him yes! This was also before my injury on Friday.

Well, I hate to admit it, but I did go run today. I got new shoes yesterday after Jason just happened to look at the tread on mine, which was completely gone on the right side after only 3 months of running. What we have determined is that all of my neighborhood runs, in the street, are the likely cause of the injury - IT band. The camber of the road has been causing me to roll my knee inward and totally throwing off my form. I was absolutely shocked when I looked at my shoes. I had no idea it was THAT bad. I mean, I felt the tilt and knew it was causing me to run a bit crooked, but I did not have any idea of how bad it was affecting me physically and it all came to a head on Friday.

Anyway, back to today...no scolding please. I already know that I should not have gone. But it was such an incredible day, I had new shoes, and our friend was going with us. I did promise Jason that if it started hurting I would stop and walk. I even brought my iPod if I had to stop. Did it hurt, sort of, but not like Friday. Should I have stopped? Of course. I should have stayed home. But sometimes I'm a stubborn ass. So I have been icing today. As long as I don't go down the stairs, it doesn't hurt.

But, I must brag on my friend. Today he went the farthest he's ever gone - 4.5 miles and it was under 45 minutes. He thought he was so much slower so this was a great day for him. So proud!

Christmas Decorating
After we got home, I stretched and iced and then we decided to indulge in some Vino's pizza and brews before tackling Christmas decorations. We managed to get the tree done, pretty much the pool room. Jason got the lights on the banister, now we have to get the garland up though. The kitchen was started as well, but not completely done.

I pretty much do a gold and burgundy throughout, but our kitchen is blue so I'm going with blue and silver in there. This is the first year to decorate the kitchen actually. I do need to go back and get one package of silver balls and that should do it as I already have blue chargers and white plates - maybe silver napkins would be a nice finish.

I hope to get the banister done tomorrow and I feel like the foyer is missing something exciting so I may dig through all the decorations left and see what I can come up without having to buy something new. Jason's task is to get the outside lights up next weekend.


Do you decorate all in one day or does it take a week (or 2)?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love in Photos

In honor of Valentine's Day - Love in Photos Husband Family and Furbabies Friends Even if you're not a fan of Valentine's Day - I hope you have a wonderful day and remember the loves in your life.

I Run to Feel Alive

Today is National Running Day . Guess what I did this morning? Cycling? Nope. Lifting? Nope. I bet you thought kickboxing right? Nope. Running? But of course! I actually sort of planned my running days this week just so I could participate this year. I didn't get to run last year and didn't even know about it the year before. But running has become such an integral part of my life and who I am, that I couldn't miss this year. Basically, I run to feel alive . It calms me, it helps me work through life, it's often a reason to get out of bed. No matter how tough a run is, it makes you feel ... period. My plan was to get in 5 miles (got in 5.5 actually). It was about 10 degrees warmer this morning and definitely more humid. That always makes for a tougher run. We decided to take a different route today. Well, it was really only a few streets over different, but still. The point is we took a different street. Sometimes that's good, sometimes not. I did realize th

Vacation Day 2 - Running, Reading, Relaxing

Running This morning I woke up a bit before 7 am. Of course, we had gone to sleep by 9....on vacation no less. I had thought I might try for an outdoor run, but the temps were already a humid 83 degrees by 8 am. So, I took my run to the treadmill. I had the Food Network to keep me occupied for a pretty decent 5 mile run. Running and watching tv isn't so bad ;-) I did 3 miles, then 4 1:00 athletic intervals then finished up another mile to round it out to and even 5. After stretching and rolling (yep, brought my TriggerPoint kit ), we packed up the cooler with lunch and headed down to the beach. Not a bad way to start the day if you ask me. Beach Time & Stair Cardio We set up our little umbrella camp and proceeded to just relax. I was excited to start one of the books I brought along with me: Alice Sebold's The Almost Moon . I've read her memoir, Lucky , and her first work of fiction, The Lovely Bones . . We were out for a few hours before taking a break.