Thanksgiving Roundup

Thanksgiving is one giant contradiction. For every article boasting recipes full of feasty foods, there is an equal article about how to avoid holiday weight gain, eat guilt-free, etc.

Guess which category this post falls into?

Whomp whomp.

For real though- let’s all enjoy our holiday but not leave the table feeling like…a stuffed turkey.

Here are my favorite dietitian tips for Thanksgiving:

-Start your day off right. The whole “I’m going to skip breakfast and lunch so that I save calories/prep my stomach for FEAST TIME” is just a bad idea. Eat a breakfast with protein and fiber, such as steel cut oats + unsweetened almond milk + ½ banana + ¼ cup chopped walnuts to give you slow burning fuel for the morning.

-Keep your day going right. Go for a walk. Getting outside for some fresh air and exercise will help your mindset going into dinner. We’re not talking “burn it to earn it” here- you may only burn 200 calories in a 20 minute walk, but it’s more about getting those endorphins going.

-Drink plenty of water. Yeah it’s tempting to tap into the wine and enjoy sipping while you cook, or have a cold beer while you watch football. Give your liver a break though and do what your body really wants. Try freezing lemon wedges to act as natural flavor enhancers and ice cubes to boot.

-Wear non-stretchy pants. Yeah Joey had his Thanksgiving pants, but really, not a good idea.

-Set out salad size plates for the big meal. You will be much better off eating a smaller amount of food then assessing if you want seconds. Fill up half your small plate with white meat turkey. Hitting the protein first will help your body’s natural satisfaction cues kick in sooner than if you started off with mashed potatoes. Carbs will make your brain screeeeeeam for more carbs.

-Don’t be afraid to use some white lies. Aunty Whatsherface calls you out for not taking a heap of her stuffing? “Oh you’re right- I’ll be sure to grab some in a bit.” Uncle Whoozhisname gives you a hard time for picking that small plate in the first place? “Oh I’ll be sure to come back for seconds.” They don’t need to know you don’t actually follow through.

-Slice up your own piece of pie. YOU get to be in charge of how much you want. You only want a sliver? Go for it. If you want a large piece, well, you get to decide that. Too often we default to eating the amount that other people think we want. 

-Create another focal point of the day. If eating is the only thing on the agenda, that could lead to trouble. Go for a post-meal walk. Consider setting up the Christmas tree. Go to the movies. Put on some music and dance around while you all clean up. Bust out some crafts for kids and adults. 

Happy travels! Happy holiday! Peace, love, and turkey.

The shorts say summer- the pale unshaved legs say fall

YOU GUYS.

Thanksgiving is next week. HOW IS THIS HAPPENING.

I’ve been too busy with wearing shorts outside and being all like “oooh, fallllllll” to pay attention. Now- BAM- gray, rainy, and later tonight? Snowy.

Know what you should do for dinner when a Thanksgiving feast is ‘round the corner? Soup. Semi-homemade soup. Semi-homemade gray-rainy-snowy-night soup.

Potsticker Soup

8 oz low sodium vegetable or chicken broth

1 bag frozen potstickers (~16 potstickers- I used Trader Joe’s shrimp)

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup shredded carrots

½ yellow onion, halved, and very thinly sliced

~4 cups baby (or adult) bok choy, rinsed and loosely chopped (I discard the far part of the leaves- I like the stemmy parts best, but do whatever you like)

1 lb extra firm tofu, patted dry, cut into ½-1” cubes. You can omit this if you don’t feel like fighting me.

2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce

½ teaspoon ginger powder (cool if you’ve got fresh- use ¼ tsp if you do)

½ teaspoon black pepper

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

In a large stockpot, combine broth, onion, carrots, soy sauce, and seasonings. When simmering, add frozen peas, potstickers, tofu, and boy choy. Cover and reduce heat. Serve immediately. Makes 4 heaping bowls.

Per serving: 325 calories, 36 g carbs, 14 g fat, 20 g protein

No election talk here

My friend Shanna and I talk about how it would be great if we could find a way to get paid to look at cute stuff and make good food all day.

Yeah, some talk about how to bring about world peace.

I whine about how I want everything at Nordstrom.

*Sigh*

I’ve been on a meal prep kick this week. I attribute this to baby Fred, whom we’ve been putting to bed early. I find myself with…time…

This is a meal that comes together easily but just takes some time in the oven. Bake all the components the night prior and it comes together quickly for dinner.

Turkey-stuffed Acorn Squash

1 lb marinated turkey breast (I cooked a 2 lb breast and will freeze half for future use)

1 bag fresh Brussels sprouts, stems cut off and quartered- yields ~3 cups before cooking

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 acorn squash, halved*

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix, plus 1 egg and 1/3 cup milk

½ cup chopped walnuts

1 can low sodium chicken broth

Salt and pepper

Order of operations here: 

-Turkey will take the longest so get that in a baking dish and cook away, uncovered, at 350 for ~60 minutes. Internal temp must reach 165 in order for it to be done.

-Meeeeeeanwhiiiiiiiile- acorn squash will take 2^nd longest. I like to pre-cook mine so that I don’t have to hack so hard when cutting them. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the skin and microwave 2 minutes. You should be able to cut in half much more easily. I cut mine in half lengthwise. Scoop out seedy guts and brush with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle a small amount of salt and pepper on each half and bake for ~45 minutes, or until golden and tender.

-Nowwwwwww Brussels sprouts: toss with remaining tablespoon olive oil and another pinch of salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and bake ~25 minutes. You will want to stir these every 10 minutes or so to ensure even cooking.

-Laaaaaastly go ahead and make your corn muffin mix. Only instead of making muffins, just use whatever small baking pan you’d like. I used a loaf pan. Bake until knife inserted comes out clean. Mine took ~17 minutes.

When all this is done, you could shove in the fridge and save for later.

To assemble: combine turkey, Brussels sprouts, cornbread, chopped walnuts, and broth in a large bowl. Cornbread will easily crumble apart. Pour can of broth over mixture. Fill each acorn half heaping full with stuffing. Bake at 350 for ~20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. 

Per acorn half: 476 calories, 46 g carbs, 16 g fat, 21 g protein.

Trick or treat, smell my feet

You know, I’m really glad I did *not* spend $50 on a Pottery Barn kids costume. I mean, yes they’re cute- but I have a kid who is just.not.into.costumes. Gasp. What he WAS really into was handing out the candy. Fine by me.

I would love to start some sort of Halloween tradition where we sit around the table and have a nice meal before the trick or treating starts, but last night was kind of chaotic. I’m glad that I did prep work on Sunday. The twice-baked squash we had was awesome and worthy of a post. Plus it made for a pretty quick meal to reassemble once we got home.

Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Cream Sauce

1 large spaghetti squash

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded and cut into 8 strips

1 fresh garlic bulb (in the pics I have two- I made a second for a future recipe)

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil

1 8-oz block light cream cheese (Neufchatel cheese)

1 ½ cup skim milk

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

To make:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a fork, poke a few holes in the squash and microwave for ~6-8 minutes, or until sliiiiightly softened. This makes it much easier to cut in half (lengthwise). Scrape out the seedy guts. Place cut-side up on a sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Bake for an hour. While that is baking, cut the top third off of the garlic bulb. Place in a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle teaspoon of olive oil over the exposed cloves. Wrap up and bake for an hour as well. When done, extract the golden brown cloves from the bulb and mash up into a paste. Set aside. Meanwhile, use a fork to shred the cooked squash. Keep oven turned on.

To make sauce, cut up cream cheese into ~1” cubes. Add to small saucepan along with milk and Parmesan. Stir in garlic paste and seasonings. Whisk together until mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and grill on the stovetop until internal temp reads at least 165 degrees. Place two pieces of chicken in each shredded squash, top with sauce, and bake for ~20 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling. Each squash half serves two.

Instead of using the oven, you could opt to just microwave the squash. It'd just be...twice microwaved squash. Which is fine. No one would judge.

Per serving: 490 calories, 29 g carbs, 30 g fat, 35 g protein

Counting down the days 'til Santa is the obsession...

Mac has been super into Halloween, which is fun for the most part. We talk about “scary pumpkins” an average of 47.2 times a day. We talk about “scary witches an average of 56.8 times a day. We talk about “scary vampires” an average of 63.6 times a day. And my favorite is when he talks about “Stop Steins”- meaning “Frankenstein.”

Last weekend we went to a Pumpkin Night at a nature preserve one suburb over. The trail was lined with 1000 carved pumpkins and there were spooky decorations all around.

Some of the pumpkins were crazy-impressive.

Others were…this.

It’s pretty cute when your 2 year old shrieks “This one’s my favorite!”

In order to fully pumpkin-fy our weekend, I capped off Sunday night with some pumpkin soup.

Savory Pumpkin Kale Soup

-2 tablespoons butter

-1 small yellow onion, diced

-2 cups pureed pumpkin (I had leftover cooked pumpkin- feel free to use canned)

-1 tablespoon “Better than bouillion” + 6 cups water, or else 6 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth

-3 fresh sage leaves, minced

-1 clove garlic, minced

-1/8 teaspoon pepper

-1 cup heavy cream

-1 bunch fresh kale (~2 cups), washed and torn into small-ish pieces

-1/4 teaspoon grated Gruyere cheese (optional)

Use a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat- melt butter and add onion. Turn to medium-low heat and saute, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Onions should be golden brown and carmelized. Add pumpkin, bouillion or broth, and seasonings. Stir to combine. Cover and let simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender or food processor, puree. Add cream and kale right before serving. Top with a tablespoon of Gruyere if desired.

Makes 4 2-cup servings. Per serving: 375 calories.

Nothing says autumn like a steaming bowl of...tofu.

Oh hi.

It’s kind of sort of absolutely definitely beautiful outside.

I work in a ridiculously charming neighborhood and at least a few times a week I go for a walk during my lunch break.

So…who likes tofu??

...

...

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

And so should YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

It’s cheap. It’s easy. It’s a great source of lean protein. And I promise IT DOES NOT TASTE WEIRD. If you’ve ever felt so inclined as to try it, here’s the dish to try it in.

Tofu bowl with coconut rice and peanut sauce

-1 lb extra firm tofu, with excess moisture patted out (I use a kitchen towel and gently squish it)

-2 tablespoons sesame oil

-1/2 bag shredded carrots (about 2 cups worth)

-1 bag shredded cole slaw mix (about 3 cups worth- can add more or less if you’d like)

-1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

-1/2 cup chopped green onions/scallions

-1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

-1.5 cups jasmine rice

-1 can light coconut milk

-2 basil leaves

-peanut sauce (either pre made or see recipe below)

For rice:

-Combine rice, basil leaves, and coconut milk in a rice cooker and cook according to directions. If you don’t have a rice cooker, cook in a medium pot on the stove.

For tofu:

-In a large shallow pan, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat. Cut tofu in 1” chunks and add to pan to fry. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it gets lightly browned. Add carrots and green onions and cook for five minutes. Add cole slaw mix and seasonings. Stir and cook for ~2 minutes. Remove from heat and serve a scoop over rice.

Peanut Sauce

-1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

-1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek (chili garlic paste)

-1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

-2 teaspoons lime juice (can be omitted)

-1 teaspoon brown sugar

-Water to thin to desired consistency

*If you don’t have Sambal Oelek, add ¼ teaspoon minced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes

Makes four servings. Per serving: 485 calories

If you're not already sick of pumpkin everything...

I have been one busy bee in the kitchen lately. I did something this year that I’ve never ever ever done.

Baaaaaaaked a piiiiiiiiiiiiie from scraaaaaaaatch!

So it all started out with my mom taking Mac to the pumpkin patch/orchard- or porchard, if you will, and he got to pick out a little pumpkin.

I figured, well sure- why not bake up this little guy and see how it tastes. THE PUMPKIN I MEAN GUYS! Not the kid.

Scooped out the guts, and then that lead to “Why not roast these things?” I had never made pumpkin seeds either.

I had both the pumpkin and the seeds in the oven at 350. The pumpkin took about an hour until the insides were tender. The seeds (covered in olive oil, chili powder, salt, and pepper) took about 10 minutes.

Cooked pumpkin led to “Why not make a pie?”

So yeah. Once that pumpkin train got rolling I just couldn’t stop it.

Here’s the recipe I used for the pie.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/suzannes_old_fashioned_pumpkin_pie/

It turned out really really good, and I am so not a pie person. But I dug this anyway.

We call this pie "rustic." 

Annnnnnnnd NOW you are excused to officially be sick of pumpkin everything.