Gobble Gobble Yall

It's be an absolutely Fan-Freakin-Tastic day! I've got so many reasons to be happy and thankful today!

1. I woke up feeling good
2. I LOST WEIGHT (down another 1.6 lb)
3. I spent time with my family
4. We ate good yet healthy food
5. I'm off from work (4 day weekend...YEAH)
6. The weather was nice
7. I didn't spill any food on myself (I live with BIB jokes people)
8. All of my dishes tasted good (even my SAD pumpkin pie)
9. I had wine, this makes me happy....
10. Snuck in another episode of So You Think You Can Dance
11. Didn't have to cook dinner (you'll see why below)

Alright, enough joy sharing. Lets discuss my fabulous day shall we? It started early. I woke up at 7:30, poured myself a GIGANTIC cup of coffee and curled up with Oliver Kitty for a bit.

I love my morning cuddle time with Bubble But. Yeah, I call him Bubble But sometimes, and no, I have no explanation.

A while later I decided to have a little breakfast. Nothing major though. I needed to save ROOM for later. I decided to have a yogurt mess.

• 4oz Oikos Greek yogurt
• 1 banana sliced
• 1 tbs sugar free apricot preserves
• 2 tbs pumpkin puree
• cinnamon
• splenda

And MORE coffee!!!!

It was nearing 9:00 now and Ann was due by 10:00 to help me get the dishes ready for later. We were meeting up with the folks by 2:00 and I didn't want to run late. I told her to come over as early as possible. I quickly slapped myself together and brewed a fresh pot of coffee. HAVE TO FUEL TO FIRE BABY!

Ann showed up at about 10:30. LATE LITTLE DIVA! She immediately poured us a glass of wine to try and calm me down. It worked, however, I still put her ass to work. HA!



She helped me cut up the acorn squash, the butternut squash and the sweet potatoes for my...

Fall Casserole...

• 1 Acorn squash, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 Butternut squash, cut into bite size pieces
• 6 sweet potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbs Xagave Nectar

• Spray Butter to taste

I tossed all of these items into a large bowl and stirred till all of the ingredients were well blended. I sprayed a large casserole dish really well with some Pam, tossed these bad boys in there and turned the oven to 400. They would need a WHILE in the oven, which gave me time to work on my next dish.

Roasted Garlic, Mashed Red Potatoes...

• 1 large bag of red skinned potatoes (cut, boiled and drained)
• 1 packet of roasted potato seasoning packet
• 1 head of garlic (cloves roasted in oven then chopped fine)
• 1 container of Oikos plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 fat free sour cream
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• black pepper to taste
• splash of plain Almond Breeze
• Spray butter to taste

I tossed the cooked potatoes (skin on) into a huge bowl, added a splash of Almond Breeze, the Oikos yogurt cup, the sour cream, spray butter and mashed till the potatoes were nice and smooth, yet chunky. Then I added the roasted garlic, garlic salt, seasoning packet and black pepper. I gave it a good mix and Voila. Ridiculously delicious and creamy mashed potatoes!

We then immediately began on the roasted veggies. I wanted to make a nice and healthy side for Ann and I. Simple yet delicious! :)

Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots with Caramelized Onions & Balsamic Vinegar...

• 6 cups of Brussel Spouts, cleaned and cut in half
• 4 cups of carrots, cleaned, peeled and cut into one inch pieces
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dill
• salt & pepper to taste
• dash of cayenne

I coated the veggies really well with a bit of spray butter and Pam, tossed in the seasonings and gave it a good mix. Then I tossed them on a cookie sheet and into the oven they went for 45 minutes or so.

While the veggies roasted I sauteed two onions. When they were nice and caramelized I added some of the roasted garlic and a splash of balsamic vinegar. When the veggies were done I tossed in the onion mix and gave it a good stir. DONE. Easy enough!

Yes, I love this next dish. I love it because it was the LAST THING LEFT TO MAKE and because it is to die for. Will I be having any though? Heck no! SO BAD FOR YOU!! The folks love it so I promised to make some. The recipe is easy enough. I bet you all know it but here it is anyways.

Classic Green Bean Casserole...

• 8 cans of french style green beans (making a lot, the men want leftovers)
• 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• salt & pepper to taste
• dash of cayenne (I'm sneaky)
• 1 can of French's Fried Onions

Basically, you mix all this in a bowl, pour it into a casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes. When you have about 10 minutes left to go. Add a bit more fried onions to the top. DONE! This one was easy. Now on to the next one! I'M A MACHINE!

Ann also toasted some walnuts, crushed them (real angry like) and we topped my sad little pie with it. We were trying to make it look a bit better. It didn't work. HA!


WHEW! Now I can FINALLY sit for a second and hang out with everyone for a bit. With another glass of wine might I add! SO DELICIOUS! Both of Nicks' brothers showed up a WHILE ago and I haven't been able to hang because I've been a PRISONER in my kitchen. I was being such a BAD host!

After about 30 minutes the last dish was done so we loaded up the car and headed to Mamas' house. They were waiting on us with bewildered and hungry little eyes.


They didn't stay angry for long though. We're too adorable and they can't resist our charms!


HA! We set the table, made a cocktail (Captain and Coke) and then sat down to FEAST!


Everything looked SO good. I was starving!!!


Ann was so excited... She did a little shimmy shake while grabbing her plate.


Here is my plate. I ate almost all of this. ALMOST! I couldn't finish it all though...


A bit later I enjoyed a slice of my SLOPPY little pumpkin pie. It may look ugly but it tasted divine.


After dinner we all gathered in the living room and basically collapsed on the couch for about an hour. I almost passed out! It's been a long day to say the least! I finally made it home at about 6:30. All I had energy for was curling up on the couch. Basically I was being a lazy bum, moving from one couch to another. LAME! I felt very worn out though! I may have passed out for a bit. I'm honestly not sure. HA!

Somehow I actually managed to get hungry again at around 8:00. I blame the wine! At least I didn't have to cook. I came home with a TON of leftovers.

I decided to make a turkey sandwich on wheat with avocado and cran-apple butter from Trader Joe's. With a side of roasted veggies of course. YUM!


Well, it's about 10:00 now and Nick and his brother Dan just got back to the house and I'm going to hang out with them, and maybe put up the Christmas tree. I don't know, it's sort of late to just be starting on it. We'll see... WE'LL SEE!!!!!

Goodnight Yall.

Kiss Kiss....