Ready. Set. Cook.

It’s almost Thanksgiving :)

Yesterday and today I had some simple eats to prepare myself for tomorrow.

Tuesday

It was also unusually warm yesterday (~60 degree F) so when I went for my run in the early evening, a million bugs flew in my face. It was gross and unexpected.

I also lined up a puppy sitting job for next Sunday. Woohoo for pet sitting :)

Wednesday

Ran my 1.5 again today except this time it was freezing! My brother suggested I get ear warmers and told me I better be running 3 miles by next week. I feel the love haha.

More time spent in the kitchen today. I started off making

homemade cranberry sauce

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

dash or more of cinnamon

dash of ginger

a bit of orange zest

12 oz bag cranberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 –3/4 cup crushed pineapple

1/3 cup honey

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil. Add cranberries and reduce heat to medium. Cook 10 minutes or so. Take off heat and add pineapple and honey. Let cool.

  Jarred and ready to go.

Then I made

Pumpkin Bread using the recipe from Eggland’s Best!

Ingredients:
7 1/2 oz. canned pumpkin
2 large Eggland's Best eggs
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce  I used un-sweetened
1/3 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9×5 loaf pan.
In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, eggs, applesauce, water, and sugar.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. When dry ingredients are evenly mixed, mix into the wet ingredients while stirring.
Stir only until no more dry ingredients can be seen, but take care not to over mix. Pour batter into pans.
Bake until a knife in the center comes out barely wettened, or about 50 minutes.
Let sit in pan for 10 minutes and then remove.

Yield: Makes 12 servings

Nutritional Facts

1 Serving: Calories 123; Fat 1g (8.3% calories from fat); Protein 3g; Carbohydrate 26g; Dietary Fiber 3g; Cholesterol 35mg; Sodium 354mg.

Forgot pictures during the process. But you know how it goes.

My actual meals for today were kind of repetitive until dinner.

Green Monster contents: 1 cup skim milk, 1/2 frozen banana, ~ 2 cups spinach, ~1/4 cup pumpkin butter

Then I made this delicious guy since I was in the kitchen anyway:

Southwestern Stuffed Acorn Squash

Cut open and remove seeds from acorn squash. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. During this time saute up some diced onion and tomatoes (as much as you want or that you think will fit in your squash) with garlic, cumin, and coriander. Add some (rinsed and drained) black beans. Again just add as much as you want of the ingredients. Stuff mixture in squash and cook for about 5 more minutes. You could add some cheese and make it all melty gooey. I on the other hand opted for slices of avocado on the side of mine.

This was such a delicious meal. Something I would definitely make again!

Just realized I missed the first 10 minutes of the Biggest Loser special! Goodnight Everyone!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!