So Much To Be Thankful For!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I am so thankful for each and every one of you! Seriously, the blog has come so far in the past year and really has been such an amazing blessing on my life. I just can’t even picture myself without now and I have met some amazing people along the way and made friends for life. So thank YOU, bloggies, for reading every day and leaving such kind and supportive comments no matter what. There always seems to be some sort of drama going on in my life and yall have no idea how much your comments mean to me. God bless! 🙂

As for my day………………………….PHEW! I made it!!!!!!! I’ll admit, it was a long one….but the time actually went by rather quick once I started working and before I knew it, I was on that road leading me home. This morning I started my day by some powerful oatmeal (at 5:20 am!).

This combo consists of one packet Nature’s Path HempPlus instant oatmeal (made with water in the micro), 1 whole scoop chocolate protein powder, 1/3 cup pumpkin (!!) and 1 tbsp chocolate peanut butter. I was hesitant at first because of the pumpkin/chocolate combo but it actually was quite delish and kept me full for about 4 hours!

Around 9:15, I snacked on the morning snack I brought from home—a banana with another tbsp chocolate peanut butter. I just can’t get enough!!!

And, since there was absolutely NO time for a “lunch break”, I kept on snacking all day long. Around 11:00 I had a gingerbread clif bar and a little later I had a peach chobani….

And when I finally got in the car for my long drive home I had an apple and then about an hour later, a pure protein bar.

I also drank two coffees, two Fuzes and tons of water……..gotta stay hydrated!

When I finally arrived home, around 4:00, my mom was in midst freak out because the oven wasn’t working and the turkey was just sitting in a cold oven. Everyone was huddled near the oven (even my mom’s friend Margaret who stopped by) and no one could figure it out. Brief moment of super high stress and then, magically, the oven started working again. Who knows what happened but at least it started working!

My mom had laid out some appetizers—–homemade blue cheese dip with toasted pecans and cranberries, water crackers, sliced pear and homemade almond brittle!

Despite all my snacking, I could not keep my hands OFF of the almond brittle! I had about two crackers with dip and a few pieces of the brittle. It was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I also had a lovely glass of chardonnay—–much needed!

As for dinner, everything was amazing of course. The menu consisted of turkey (obviously) that my mom had buttermilk brined all day. We also had gravy, cranberry sauce, broccoli souflee and my personal favorite: sweet potato casserole with pecans, brown sugar and a meringue topping (!!!!!). Here was my plate:

LOOK at that amazing sweet potato casserole with a lovely meringue lattice top!

I actually stood in front of it after dinner and picked out all the pecans and also picked at the meringue. Gotta love the holiday! I also had another glass and a half of wine with dinner—this time I tried this red:

After dinner I was completely stuffed but then my mom brought out the dessert she made—spiced caramel apple pecan bread pudding (recipe was courtesy of Southern Living magazine) !!!!!!

Even though I have seen waaaaaaaaay too many desserts today, I still HAD to try this.

As for work today……………..I actually feel accomplished because I can now say I have officially worked as a chef on Thanksgiving day…and I made it! I got in to work this morning around 5:40 and immediately got to work (and downed a huge cup of strong coffee along the way). The club has this “thanksgiving to go” deal going on where families can purchase whole dinners to take home that include turkeys, sides, pumpkin muffins and the pie of their choice. Here are lots of the pies I boxed up!

I couldn’t really pictures throughout the whole 8 hours that I worked today just since everything was SO rushed and things were so crazy with all the turkeys in the oven. However, I have a TON of pictures of the final product—-the dessert table of the buffet!

Danggggg it was a lot of final product. My favorite was the bread table with those amazing whole wheat baguettes I baked yesterday! The mini creme brulees went around the entire table, giving it a really cool look….and chef did the ice carving in the center! I was very very pleased with it all—all of our hard work and long hours definitely paid off in the end.

After all this great food and wine, my eyes are shutting involuntarily. Need sleep now! I feel so incredibly stuffed right now that I want to burst, but my Thanksgiving motto is go crazy because its only once a year. I never ever feel guilty because if you eat healthy the whole year, you can afford to stuff your face for one night. I honestly don’t think one night will make or break any diet, and the best way to get back on track is a good recovery day filled with exercise, water and fresh fruits and veggies!      

As for tomorrow, Ryan is playing golf in the morning so I am waking up and heading over to a spinning class at my parent’s gym (they gave me a guest pass) to kick off my recovery day. The spinning class is at 8:30 and I’m SURE it is going to be absolutely slammed with people looking to shed some turkey day calories and get right back on track.

After spinning I am doing what I have been looking forward to doing for weeks now……………..going to the new Greenwise!!!!!! For those of you that don’t know what Greenwise is, it is Publix’s organic product line. Greenwise stores are the new all organic supermarket owned by Publix and they are sprouting up all over the south. The new store opened up here two weeks ago and is totally state of the art (so says my mom)—it is three stories with a parking garage in the building, has a huge gelato bar and, apparently, is better than Whole Foods. Well, as a true WF connoisseur, I will be the judge of that tomorrow. I’m just sad I missed the grand opening! Anyways, I’m excited tomorrow to relax with the fam, see the boy and stock up on organic goodies.

I’ll check back in in the morning—-have a wonderful Thanksgiving night!