Dinner and Celebratory Champagne

About half way through the work day, Ryan and I started talking about shuffling our schedule to pack up and travel to my parent’s house in St. Pete tonight, rather than tomorrow after work.

We figured we could make it work and were on the road by 6:15 p.m. I really wanted to be home to congratulate my mom on her last chemo treatment and my stomach hurt a bit so I wanted to take it easy at home.

We walked in the door and exchanged big hugs before sitting down to a celebratory dinner of pad thai and sauteed squash, zucchini, mushrooms and steamed broccoli.  

Veggies

Pad Thai

Yummy, yummy, yummy I’ve got love in my tummy!

My dad provided a wonderful dessert in honor of my mom. He arrived home with a red rose, two bottles of champagne and a strawberry pie.

Strawberry Pie

Everyone loved the pie, but I think I enjoyed the champagne more. I thought the glaze on the strawberries tasted like medicine, so I just ate lots of pie crust, filling and whipped cream! I have a bit of a sugar headache (along with a bit of a lingering tummy ache) now, but I’m happy to be curled up on the couch surrounded by my family.  

Tomorrow I am taking the day off work and starting my Thanksgiving holiday early! Gobble, gobble. 🙂

Third Thanksgiving and a Milestone

My plate of Thanksgiving goodies at our office potluck was filled with a yummy squash casserole, macaroni and cheese, honey-roasted turkey and ham, fresh veggies and fruit.

Before fixing my plate, I also nibbled on some appetizers including cream cheese pinwheels, crackers with hummus and “non-pig pigs in a blanket” (aka turkey dogs wrapped in crescent rolls).

Third Thanksgiving

The third of my four Thanksgiving meals was very tasty. My favorite dish was the savory squash casserole. I definitely had second helpings of that!

Desserts featured fudge (my fav), cookies, rum cake, my turtle pumpkin pie, my cupcakes, apple pie and traditional pumpkin pie. Once again, the turtle pumpkin pie got good reviews (and earned me a couple high-fives!), so if you’re looking for a tasty holiday recipe, I highly recommend it! It’s super easy, too.

Mom’s Milestone

Today is a huge day for my family. In October 2008 my mom began treatment for breast cancer. (You can read about my mom’s journey here.)

Pink!

Today marks her final round of chemotherapy treatment! I cannot express how grateful I feel to have a mother who was able to successfully battle this cancer and emerge strong and healthy. Through the countless doctors visits, doctors appointments, lymphedema set back and more, my mom has  handled everything with grace and unwavering optimism. She is such an inspiration and I know my family and I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

I love you, Mama! Congratulations on reaching such an amazing milestone. I can’t wait to give you a HUGE hug tomorrow. 🙂 xoxo

Light Breakfast

In preparation for the third of my four Thanksgiving meals I will be consuming at my work’s potluck lunch today, I decided to keep breakfast nice and light.

Monday's Breakfast

I enjoyed a cup of Chobani Greek yogurt topped with homemade cranberry relish. The mix of tart and sweet flavors made this breakfast yum-tastic.

Too Much Turkey?

Is is possible to get sick of Thanksgiving meals? I am on my third Thanksgiving meal in four days and I’m already hurtin’ a little bit. I don’t want to get sick of turkey and other staples by the time the big day arrives! Fortunately I think there’s something to be said for your own family’s home-cookin’. 😉 No one makes better stuffing than my mama!

One thing I am really liked about the various Thanksgiving meal’s I’ve enjoyed is seeing what other people bring. It’s so interesting to see what dishes people consider mandatory in their Thanksgiving meal. My family always has turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas (and maybe green beans), cranberry sauce, stuffing, rolls with butter and pumpkin pie.

I know people that would be appalled that my Thanksgiving does not include sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, baked macaroni and cheese or pecan pie.

What do you HAVE to have on Thanksgiving?

I need stuffing on Thanksgiving. Also, as weird as it is, I need peas, too. My dad and I always make little “pea pockets” in our mashed potatoes before stirring them in and topping everything (and I mean everything) with gravy. I can’t imagine a Thanksgiving meal without my peas!