Category: Home Cooking

Poor Man’s Makeshift Guacamole

As you know, I’m in the process of planning a wedding. And in case you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware that they are money suckers. So, my fiancé and I have been trying to save as much money as possible before our wedding next September. What does this mean? This means trying to be as cheap as humanly possible without making ourselves miserable.

One of our biggest expenses each month is food. So, we’ve been trying to cut back on the more extravagant and expensive ingredients required for some dishes, and sticking to the easier stuff. That’s why I’ve been making things like these $2 Chinese Noodles (which were amazing!).

Yesterday we acquired a avacado from one of our co-workers. He wasn’t going to eat it, so he figured we could somehow make use of it over the weekend. Well, it was gone by about 10:30am Saturday morning. I wasn’t really sure what I could do with the avocado, since we didn’t have much at home to work with. So, this is where I got creative.

Typically to make guacamole you need some diced veggies. Since I didn’t have any, I cheated and grabbed some hot salsa. I mixed this into the mashed up guacamole, added some green chilies I had left over from the other night, and added a few squirts of lime juice. The result? A really good make-shift guacamole! Both my fiancé and I were seriously impressed. We paired it with some Triscuts and enjoyed that along with our uber classy Friday night meal of Elio’s pizza and mozzarella sticks. Don’t worry, we had a salad too!

There was quite a bit left-over this morning, so we had it as our pre-run snack. I can’t say it necessarily helped, but it didn’t hurt! Nothing like some good for you fat to kick start your day!

If you’re ever stuck with an avocado and unsure what to do with it, I say anything goes. Whatever you’ve got can probably work. And it’s a pretty decent and good for you snack! A nice way to be a healthy cheapo!

Poor Man’s Makeshift Guacamole

Ingredients:
1/2 a ripe avocado
3 tbsp chunky salsa
1 tbsp lime juice
1 green chili

Directions:
1. Remove avocado skin, and in a medium bowl smash with a fork
2. Chop and dice green chile
3. Add salsa and lime juice, mix together
4. ENJOY!

Yet Another Quickie: Hormel Chili

In our constant effort to save time and money, my fiancé and I have come up with a few weekly staples that we like to rotate. Aside from the tortellinis and the always delicious burrito [which we had Monday, shh], we also have some Hormel chili on hand. Now, I’m not talking just your regular can of beans and/or meat, I’m talking gourmet style (well, for a can that is).

Hormel’s “Chili Master” line of chili comes in four variations; chipotle chicken, roasted tomato, white chicken, or three bean. Often times they’re on sale at the store, 3 for $5 or something of that nature. So, when they are, we stock up. I’ve had three of the four (no white chicken yet), and they are all really good. Clearly good enough that we keep buying them!

There’s a lot of great things about chili. It can be eaten alone, or on top of a starch; a potato, rice, pasta, or in tonight’s case, whole wheat couscous. I know, I know, it sounds totally weird. But it works! Typically we have the chili with just some long grain rice. Tonight, however, after I got back from my run and was waiting for the man to return from playing soccer, I decided to make it with couscous. Now, this isn’t any type of couscous – it’s whole wheat and from one of my favorite stores, Trader Joe’s! It takes about 8 minutes to make, from boiling a cup of water with butter to then letting it sit for 5 minutes.

Pairing the lightly spiced chili with it’s chunky pieces of black beans, corn and tomato on top of seriously fluffy and buttery couscous was a really great combination. Considering I’m not a huge rice fan, this was a really nice change of pace. My fiancé even made note that it wasn’t anything like he’d ever had before, but in a good way. I never seem to make couscous to serve with “normal” things. I’m a big fan of mixing chunky salsa into it, too.

I like to think I eat decently (most of the time) and I think the chili covers a lot of my dietary needs (served with a salad, of course)! Plus a little bit goes a long way. So whether you’re having it alone or as a topper to a starch, you’ll definitely be full quickly, and it isn’t that type of full that wears off in an hour – it sticks around.

I can’t recommend this enough for a quick and easy meal. Whether you’re in a hurry or just don’t feel like actually making anything, Hormel Chili is a super quick and easy way to enjoy something that would typically take hours. This way, you can let Hormel do all the work for you! It’s nice to take a night (or in my case, week) off from slaving in the kitchen every once in awhile.

Jalapeño Crab Cakes with Slaw & Salsa

I just so happened to super crabby all week, so I thought, what a better way to end the week then with something involving crab meat?! I’ve actually had this particular recipe in my hands for about a year, but never got around to making them. Since I’ve had it for so long, I of course don’t remember where I found the recipe, but when Googling it, it did come up on Epicurious, so we’ll stick with that!

I’ve never really been a huge water-creature fan; eating, swimming with, smelling, etc. I know I grew up loving shrimp and scallops, but at about six or so I swore them off. I guess I had a few bad experiences, like my great-grandmother pointing out a vein in a shrimp to turn me off from all seafood. As I got older, though, I decided to venture back out and sampled some salmon, tuna, crab, and other similar seafoods. Realizing they had some health benefits, I decided I would keep shrimp out, but let everything else in.

Since I don’t really buy seafood that often, I forgot how expensive it is! A pound of crab meat was almost $20! Thankfully the rest of the ingredients were cheap, and I have left overs for tonight’s left-over-arama!

Making the crab cakes was easy; I was just petrified of cutting the jalapeños. When I was younger I played with a pepper in a neighbor’s yard and made the mistake of touching my face afterwards without washing my hands. Believe me, that will never happen again! But then when talking to my mom about the recipe, she told me just cutting the peppers burned her hands so badly she need to put them in ice water. So what did I do? I took two plastic sandwich bags and put them over my hands, and chopped away!

As you all know, I’m impatient, so quick recipes are favorites of mine. Each of the cakes only take about 8-10 minutes, depending on how large you make them. Because my pan only fit 2 at a time, I turned on my oven (only to 200 degrees) and put the cakes that were already done in the oven to keep them warm, while I worked on the others.

We weren’t sure what to have with the cakes aside from the slaw and salsa, so I just grabbed a bag of the steam-fresh redskin potatoes that Green Giant makes. They were okay – I wasn’t a huge fan of the butter sauce, but it worked well enough. It was a huge meal – two crab cakes with slaw, the potatoes, AND a salad?! I was stuffed, in a good way.

The cakes had just the right amount of spice from the jalapeños without being overpowering or not noticeable, and the panko bread crumbs added a really nice crunch. And instead of using a typical mayo-based remoulade to go with them, a nice medium-spiced salsa was perfect.

Jalapeño Crab Cakes with Slaw & Salsa
-Serves 4-

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh crabmeat, picked over, patted dry
1 1/3 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
2 tablespoons chopped seeded jalapeño chiles (I used one)
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
4 large eggs, beaten to blend
1/4 cup canola oil or other vegetable oil
4 cups (about 6 ounces) coleslaw mix [I used Rainbow mix]
2/3 cup purchased salsa
1/3 cup sour cream
Lime wedges

Directions:
1. Line rimmed baking sheet with waxed paper. Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Stir in eggs.
2. Using moist hands, shape mixture into 8 cakes, each about 3/4 inch thick. Arrange cakes on prepared sheet.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in each of 2 medium skillets over medium heat. Add 4 cakes to each. Cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
4. Mound slaw mix on 4 plates. Top each serving with 2 cakes. Serve with salsa, sour cream, and lime wedges.

Happy nomzing!

Crisp Noodle Cake

Happy Earth Day!

Tonight’s dinner was an Earth Day celebration; a nice crisp noodle cake and TONS of veggies!

I had this particular recipe on my radar for awhile, but wasn’t able to incorporate it into my weekly meal planning until today. I was also a bit hesitant about the recipe in general. My fiancé tells me I need more confidence, since I’m always afraid my adventures in the kitchen are going end disastrously. He constantly reassures me that everything I’ve made has been delicious, and the few things that haven’t, have been at least passable.

That being said, I found this recipe on Serious Eats. It is, however, a Martha Stewart recipe. It seemed pretty basic, and really only called for a few ingredients; one of which was ginger. I personally have no aversion to ginger, but I know a lot of people (cough, my dad, cough) that loathe it. Because I don’t care either way, instead of getting the fresh ginger, I went with sushi ginger. That way, I can have it to throw into other recipes in the future, without needing to worry about it going bad as quickly. I’ve been avoiding scallions for no particular reason. Up until this recipe, if I was making something that called for it, I left it out. This time, however, I knew it was an important part of the meal, so I buckled down and bought some.

Once you get past the ingredients and mix everything together, you’re kind of left with a giant slop of egg, ginger, bean sprouts, scallions, and noodles, as you can see here:

I was unsure of the best way to grab the concoction and transfer it from the bowl to the bubbling hot oil. I decided to grab some with a fork, carry over the ends with my fingers, and as neatly as possible (without getting burnt) place the blob into the oil. Believe it or not, I managed to get it into a cake-like shape, without getting burnt!

While the noodles were cooking away, I decided to sauté some typical stir-fry vegetables as a side; broccoli, carrots, and sugar snap peas – yum! I doused them in some soy and teriaki sauces for flavor.

I don’t really know what about this recipe made me so nervous. When I broke it all down, though, it turned out to be really simple. The cakes were super crisp on the outside, and tender on the inside. To agree with Blake Royer over at Serious Eats, it was a kind of like a “noodle frittata, crisp and crunchy and yet still custardy on the inside.” There was just the right amount of ginger without being overpowering, and the scallion added a nice touch. I could definitely see adding some sautéed onion into the mix next time. It was also really great to have Sriracha as a dipping sauce.

If you’re ever in the mood for a basic Asian inspired crispy meal, I would definitely recommend this. My girl Martha knows what she’s talking about, as does Serious Eats!

Crisp Noodle Cake
[Serves 2]

Ingredients:

3 ounces rice vermicelli or angel hair pasta
3 ounces soybean sprouts
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3 scallions, sliced very thin
2 large eggs plus 1 egg white, beaten
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup neutral oil, such as canola or safflower
1/4 cup pea shoots (optional)
Soy sauce and sriracha (or other chili sauce) for condiments

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles until just tender; drain and rinse under cool water. Add to a bowl with the sprouts, ginger, scallions, salt, and eggs and toss to combine.
2. Heat the oil in a large (12-inch) skillet until very hot and shimmering and almost smoking (if it’s not hot enough, the cakes can be greasy), then lower the heat to medium. Divide the noodle mixture into 4 portions, then place each in the pan, pressing to flatten into a cake. Cook until golden brown, 6-7 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Turn out cakes to a plate lined with paper towels, then toss the pea shoots into the skillet to wilt.
3. Blot the cakes with paper towel and serve with the soy sauce and Sriracha.

Happy nomzing!

Our Wednesday Routine: Barilla Tortellini

This might sound ridiculous, by every Wednesday for at least the past six months, my fiance and I have dined on Barilla tortellini without fail. Sure, lot’s of families have different themed dinner nights; maybe Thursday is taco night and Friday is pizza. But I’ve never heard of say “Eggplant Pizza Friday,” something so specific as to the exact flavoring. But my fiancé and I have taken it that far. So, each and every Wednesday night we have the spinach & ricotta stuffed tortellini, smothered in red sauce and doused in red pepper flakes, with a salad. Every once in awhile, we throw in some garlic bread.

They are actually really filling too. The bag says they serve 2 people, and that’s definitely more than enough with a side salad. They offer 4 serving bags as well, but we stick with the 2 servings instead. And, they’re always on sale; we get 2 bags for only $5! They aren’t “bad” for you, but it is pasta stuffed with cheese. So, it probably won’t be the healthiest meal you eat all week (or, it might be). I took a nutrition class in college, and the professor said that if the food is cheap, 99% of the time it’s poor quality and isn’t good for you. I mean, sure, the 99 cents you pay for mac ‘n cheese in a box isn’t exactly a healthy meal. But sometimes you just want that quick, easy, comfort. And if you’re pairing it with veggies and plan to do some type of exercise, who cares?! A cheap indulgence should be allowed from time to time!

I’ve often been the type of person that craves the same type of food for a brief period. I’ll go through a sushi phase where that’s all I want. Or maybe a cheeseburger phase. But every Wednesday, I look forward to my tortellini. The reasoning might be twofold; not only are they delicious, they’re super easy. All I need to do is boil a pot of water, dump the tortellini’s in, and let them cook for 10 minutes. Then, I can heat up some sauce, throw together a salad, and dinner is ready!

Because my fiancé does his weekly radio show on Wednesday nights at 90.3 The Core (you should listen – head over to thecore.fm from 9-10p Eastern), we need something quick and easy by the time we get home from work. We stumbled upon these guys one day in the pasta aisle, and it’s been love ever since.

The possibilities for these tortellinis are endless. Add it to some broth and throw in some veggies you’ve got yourself a tortellini soup. Sauté some veggies and throw them in, you have yourself a tortellini primavera! You can always use this as a side versus a meal too, and pair it with pretty much anything. Not interested in a red sauce? What about pesto? Or alfredo? Or maybe a cool pasta salad? Do you see where I’m going with this? These things RULE!

There are definitely other brands of tortellinis available too (such as Bertoli and Buitoni). However, both the fiancé and I have concluded after trying a few different variations, the Barilla Spinach & Ricotta is the best. We even tried the Barilla Four Cheese and weren’t impressed. But, I’d suggest trying some different varieties to find what you like!

Next time you’re in the pasta aisle and are looking for some quick and easy meal options, check out Barilla’s tortellinis, I think you’ll be glad you did!

Chilaquiles Fritatta – Seriously Delicious

There are a few things that I’m a huge fan of, that if you haven’t gotten by now, I’ll spell out. One of them is Mexican food. The other is the food blog Serious Eats. Combine the two into a recipe, and you know I’m going to try it!

Last week I found a recipe for a Chilaquiles Fritatta. I’m not going to pretend like I knew what that was ahead of time. Sure, I know what a fritatta is. But what the heck are chilaquiles?! Well, it means “herbs or greens in chile broth” and basically combines left over tortillas and hot sauce/salsa. If you’re going to combine something spicy and fried, I’m sold!

The recipe itself seemed easy on the outset, but frying little tortilla strips is tedious. And apparently in my kitchen, also dangerous! While I was transferring some from the pan to my plate with a paper towel on it so some of the excess oil could drip off, I placed the plate to close to the flame, lighting it on fire. I quickly threw it in the sink and put water on it, ruining half of that batch. While I was in the process of making them, I snuck a few to sample. They would be great with ice cream. I picture them with a vanilla ice cream and some sort of apple cinnamon concoction. I’m not sure how, but I know it would work!

Aside from almost lighting myself on fire, my only other mishap was dropping an entire package of eggs. Thankfully, only four broke, and I had another package with three in them. I can’t believe the luck I had! It’s a miracle that I and my fiance got out of the kitchen alive!

At any rate, once the tortillas were done, the rest of the recipe was smooth sailing. It calls for either creme fraiche or sour cream, so I of course went with the sour cream. Whisking sour cream and eggs together makes them super creamy and fluffy. I’m not a huge egg fan, but I really enjoyed these! I also left out the scallions, as I didn’t want a huge bushel and nothing to use them with. I didn’t miss them, either. Also, it notes you need cubed queso fresco. Honestly, I had no idea what that was until I Googled it. It basically just means “fresh cheese.” I just went with some Monterey Jack.

The recipe also says it only needs to bake for 10-15 minutes. It took mine more like 25 minutes to ensure the eggs weren’t runny. I didn’t mind, but I think my fiance was starting to gnaw on his own limbs (and he wasn’t even infected with the zombie virus).

This would be great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. But I suppose that’s only if you’re one of those people that can eat “breakfast” at any time. I used to not be able to mix my meals, but breakfast is slowly making it’s way to later points of my day. Lunch has always been interchangeable for me, but dinner stays comfortably at 4pm or later (and that’s pushing it).

I really can’t recommend this recipe enough. It’s spicy (but you can add/remove spice as you need based on your salsa choice), it has fried goodness, and it’s got some serious Mexican flair! So next time you want to have a little siesta, treat your taste buds to something equally deserving!

Chilaquiles Fritatta
 – Serves 4 –

Ingredients:
Canola oil
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas, sliced into 1-inch strips
1 cup smooth salsa or hot sauce
6 eggs
2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 chipotles chiles in adobo, thinly sliced
1 poblano chile, rib and seeds removed, diced
3 tablespoons cilantro, divided
3 scallions, thinly sliced, divided
1/2 cup cubed queso fresco cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Fill a cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet with a 1/4-inch of canola oil, and warm over medium-high heat.
2. Add tortilla strips to pan, and fry until golden, about 1 minute on each side. Drain on paper towels.
3. In a large bowl, toss fried tortilla strips with salsa or hot sauce until well combined. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of remaining oil in the pan, and discard.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, crème fraîche, salt and pepper with fork until just combined.
5. Pour egg mixture into the skillet, add chiles, 1 tablespoon of cilantro and half of the scallions. Let excess sauce drip off tortilla strips, and add to egg mixture.
6. Evenly distribute cheese on top of the frittata. Bake in oven until completely set, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Finish by garnishing with remaining cilantro and scallions, as well as extra hot sauce. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Happy nomzing!

I Won a Cookbook!

Earlier last month, one of the blogs I follow, Eat to Blog, had a cook book contest. They simply said, post your favorite vegearian dish, and you have the chance to win “The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat,” by Tal Ronnen.

Now, I NEVER win contests; ever. Any fundraiser that has a raffle, any time I re-Tweet something, etc. I lose without fail. But, this time I won!!

As you know, I’m not vegan or vegetarian. I consider myself more of a halfaterian. I eat meat sparingly, and really enjoy vegetarian dishes, but I do still eat meat on occassion. I have a ton of vegetarian recipies, though, because when I wasn’t eating meat at all, I tried to stockpile as much as I could. So, this made my decision of a favorite recipe a daunting task. It took me a few days, but eventually I settled on a recipe from Fitness Magazine, Buddah Stir-fry.

I haven’t made any of the recipes yet because I just received the book this past Monday. I’ll definitely need to make a trip to Trader Joe’s to get myself some of the necessary ingredients, but I’m going to try to make something maybe next weekend. They are definitely more intricate and time consuming than most of the meals I make (I try to make them a half hour or less; hello Rachael Ray!), but I’m willing to give it a try.

Here’s the recipe I posted that won me the book. Give it a try; it’s super easy, really affordable (about $3.04 a serving) and delicious!

Buddah Stiry-Fry

Ingredients
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cup water
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Asian chili sauce, or to taste
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 14-ounce packages firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup snow peas

Directions
Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of the water. Stir in the remaining water, soy sauce, and chili sauce; set aside. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger; cook, stirring, 15 seconds. Add the green beans and red pepper and stir-fry 2 minutes; push them to the perimeter of the skillet. Add the tofu and cook, stirring once or twice, 4 to 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Stir the sauce and pour it into the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the carrots and snow peas; cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Happy nomzing!

A Foodie Christmas

This Christmas couldn’t have made it any more apparent how incredibly obsessed both my boyfriend and I are with food. This is a fact that I am more than okay with. I actually think there are some realms that our obsession is lacking, and I plan to make up for that in the coming year.

At any rate, the abundance of food related gifts were abundant this Christmas. I purchased a first-timer beer making kit for my boyfriend, from Mr. Beer. I’ve been told it’s an average beer making kit, and some of the more seasoned beer makers laughed at my purchase. Not knowing much (read: anything) about brewing beer, I thought it would be a good starter kit. For under $100 my boyfriend is going to get to brew two batches of beer!

As for me, my boyfriend got me two cookbooks. I’ve been pining over both, and apparently made comments about them every time I saw one. The first is a cupcake cookbook, 500 Cupcakes by Fergal Connolly. It boasts to be “the only cupcake compendium you’ll ever need.” I can’t disagree with that statement; not only does it have 500 recipes, it has a plethora of variations for each as well. I also received Hungry Girl’s 200 Under 200 book. This book details 200 recipes each under 200 calories! And let me tell you, there are some seriously impressive recipes in there; cupcakes, pizza, chips and dips, breakfast, desserts, shakes and smoothies… the list just goes on. I’m really looking forward to making them, since I’ve found a few of their recipes on the website and have been more than pleased with their outcome.

For both my boyfriend and I, we received quite a few appliances. One would think we were on a wedding registry! Together, we’ve stockpiled a giant George Foreman grill, a waffle maker, a four slice toaster, and a nice toaster/convection oven. We have so many appliances on our counter that we’re running out of space. While trying to make breakfast yesterday and running the toaster and microwave at the same time, I managed to short the circuit… whoops.

Not directly related to food making or consumption, but I also received a beautiful cupcake necklace on Christmas. When I unwrapped it, I thought it was a cupcake shaped keepsake box. Being inquisitive I opened it, to find a beautiful gold and diamond cupcake on an extremely thin gold chain. Nothing says “I love food” more than wearing a piece of food around your neck. Or, of course, simply writing it across your forehead.

Needless to say I’m starting to see great things in terms of food for 2010. This year really allowed me to delve into my foodie passion, and I hope to explore it more in 2010. Maybe I can even get a group together for more consistent foodie excursions!

I’ll be making Guinness with Bailey’s icing cupcakes for the New Year’s Eve bash I’ll be attending tomorrow, so look for a post in the near future about how they turned out!

Steamed Hamburgers, inspired by Man vs. Food!

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m completely obsessed with food on TV. I watch any and all types of recipe shows, as well as more interesting food show in regards to traveling and food cultures. I often find myself watching the Food Network while running on the treadmill at the gym. Some might say that’s the cruelest form of torture, but I just love food that much.
 
The Travel Channel has an awesome show (Wednesday nights at 10!); Man vs Food. Yes, it is exactly as it sounds. The host, Adam, travels across the country to take on a ridiculous food challenge, while also sampling some of the other local favorites. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
 
Recently, Adam took a trip to Connecticut, where there is a local burger joint that steams their hamburgers. Everyone was raving about how juicy and flavorful they were, and they really did look delicious. My boyfriend and I watched this episode together, and were immediately inspired. So, this past Sunday after a long day of snowboarding, we decided to give them a try ourselves.

I have to admit, we really just guessed and went into it blindly. Luckily, though, they turned out phenomenally! We got ourselves a large pasta pot, and filled it up with about a 1/2 cup of water. We luckily have a strainer that fits pretty nicely into the pasta pot, so we set that inside, but without touching the water line. From there, we brought the water to a light boil, placed the two patties onto the strainer, and covered the pot. We let it steam that way for about 15 minutes, then I placed a slice of cheese on each patty for a few seconds before turning off the burner. We then placed them on a bun with a side of fries, and we were in business.


 
They were seriously some of the juiciest burgers we’ve ever had. My boyfriend went so far as to say they may have been the best burger he’s ever had, and he’s a great proponent of grilling (as all men are)! Needless to say, we were really proud of ourselves. To note, we used patties that were 80/20, which I think was important. I don’t think it would have steamed as well and retained such juicy flavors if they were any less fatty. I will say, though, I refuse to go any lower than 80/20.
 
I would absolutely suggest trying out this method. Especially for wintertime, they’re a great way to still have burgers without standing outside and freezing while grilling. I understand some people are partial to grilling and won’t try things any other way. But give it a shot! You’ll have dinner ready in about 30 minutes, you won’t have to brave the cold, and I promise you’ll enjoy it!

Thanksgiving Round up!

I’m not really sure what we were thinking, but my boyfriend and I
decided we would host Thanksgiving this year. Being it our first
official holiday together, we figured in order to avoid the hassle of
figuring out who is going where, we would make everyone come to us.

Now, in August this seemed like a great idea. As it got closer though,
we realized we might have been in a little over our heads. But we also
knew it was time to suck it up and deal.

We started the prep last Saturday, by picking up our 18 pound turkey,
along with the ingredients for stuffing, gravy, and green bean
casserole. Since the turkey was frozen, we let it defrost until
Wednesday.

On Wednesday, I was able to gut and properly clean the turkey, while
fondly naming him Chaaahlie. I also made the stuffing, which was just
some chopped onion and celery mixed with Pepperidge Farm’s season
cubed bread and mild sausage. After that was done, it was time to
relax for the next day.

We woke up early on Thanksgiving to pop Chaahlie in the oven; that bad
boy took six hours!! We had both our families over, so they each
brought sides; mashed potatoes, turnips, cranberry sauce, breaded
artichokes, corn, rolls, and I made the green bean casserole. We
started with some shrimp cocktail, bruschetta and salad. From there we
loaded our plates and chowed down! Everything was absolutely
delicious! I stuffed my one plate, while my miraculously thin
boyfriend had three plates!

After we put ourselves in a food coma and watched some football we
moved on to dessert; pumpkin bread, coconut custard pie, apple pie,
and pumpkin pie.

I can’t get over how seamless the entire day was. I truly couldn’t
have asked for a better Thanksgiving! I’m proud of us both, and glad
we didn’t wind up backing out. This is a yearly tradition I could get
behind!

Now to lace up my sneakers and get running. All this food isn’t going
to work itself off!