Pre-Thanksgiving Cranberry Joy

Cranberry sauce is one of my favorite dishes on Thanksgiving. It’s also delicious as a spread on leftover turkey sandwiches with cream cheese (if you’ve never tried this, you must).

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

This week I impulsively bought a bag of cranberries at the grocery store when a random idea popped in my head. Rather than wait until Thanksgiving to experience the joy of cranberry sauce, I figured I’d make my own cranberry concoction using the berries and only one other ingredient: sugar.

Since I still have my mom’s food processor on loan, I used the nifty lil’ slicer to chop the cranberries into a relish.

Beautiful Berries

All Chopped Up

I then added just enough sugar so the cranberries lost a little bit of their bite. Much better!

This was so good and so easy. I ate a bunch of my sweet cranberry relish last night but managed to save some to stir into my Greek yogurt for breakfast.

Cranberry Relish and Yogurt

I also used a toasted Kashi strawberry flax waffle to dip into the thick mixture.

Thursday's Breakfast

I loooved this breakfast and the homemade cranberry relish really made it extra special. Woohoo!

Jumpy Morning

Do you ever have those mornings where everything makes you jump and you feel completely on edge?

This morning on my walk with Sadie every little drop of an acorn made her jump which, in turn, made me jump. We were two jumpy lil’ ladies. I hope I relax soon! Though I don’t think this cup of coffee I’m drinking will exactly help me calm down… 😉

 

A Passion for Fashion

Fashion fun to come, but first…

Lunch

Lunch was once again spaghetti squash leftovers with lots o’ zucchini and MorningStar Farms soy crumbles. I’m so amazed at how meaty those crumbles taste!

Third Time's a Charm

I followed it up with a cookie-brownie made by a coworker.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie

Okay, I just blog-lied. I definitely ate the brownie first. 😉

For the Love of Pajamas

Last night after dinner when I changed into my warm and fuzzy J. Crew snowflake pajama pants (I can’t WAIT for the holidays!), I randomly proclaimed “I love flannel pajama pants.”

Sadie cocked her head as if to say, “Well that’s great, Mama. Now go get me a treat.”

It’s true though… pajamas are my favorite. Aside from gym clothes (I have a serious addiction to sports bras), I think pajamas are my second most prevalent clothing item.

Though lounge wear is a favorite of mine, I do love cute everyday clothes, sky-high heels, sundresses and designer jeans. I am not willing to drop lots o’ dollas on expensive clothes though, and after discovering a few neat Web sites, I’ve managed to get some pretty amazing deals on high-end items.

After posting about my love for sales and coupons, I see that many of you share my desire for cheap finds, so I wanted to share these Web sites with you.

These are “boutique” sites that launch a new sale every day at 11 a.m. The boutiques feature a new designer every day (Rock & Republic, William Rast, Puma, Betsey Johnson, Hudson, Vera Bradley and more) and offer clothing, jewelry and shoes at discounted prices. Some of the stuff still costs mucho dinero, but some is a pretty good deal.

Here are the sites (they’re “invite only” and you’re invited!)… Enjoy!

RueLaLa

Hautelook

Gilt Groupe (<– this site seems to be more expensive, but sometimes has decent deals)

Feel free to comment and post any sites with amazing deals you enjoy visiting! I’m always on the lookout for a good bargain. 😉

Free Kashi Bar

Kashi TLC Bar

Click here (then click the box again) to receive a free sample of a Kashi Tasty Little Chewy Bar!

Waffle Wednesday

Food in my freezer is often forgotten as I open and close my refrigerator and pantry doors, hoping something will magically pop out at me and peak my interest for my upcoming meal.

Today I actually opened my forgotten freezer and was instantly inspired by what I found inside.

Kashi Waffles

Kashi strawberry flax waffles! Hooray!

I toasted a waffle and split it in half, using one half to dip into my Greek yogurt and spreading the other half with creamy peanut butter.

Wonderful Waffle

I must admit, the peanut butter half was my favorite (though I’m sure that comes as no surprise).

Waffle and Yogurt

"When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip"

Though the other toasty waffle half tasted great dipped in my Greek yogurt, I wish I had just used extra peanut butter and made a peanut butter waffle sandwich. Next time!

Wednesday's Breakfast

This was one taaaasty breakfast and it got me thinking about all the fun things I could do with those waffles:

• Peanut Butter Waffle Sandwich
• Waffles Topped with Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
• Waffle Pieces in Greek Yogurt with Fresh Berries
• Waffles Topped with Peach or Banana Slices
• Waffles Topped with Honey or Syrup
• Waffles Topped with Whipped Cream and Chocolate Chips

Question: What’s your favorite waffle topping?

Oats and a Lizard Hunt

I’m slowly getting over the fact that fall weather is still avoiding Florida. Though I stare longingly in my closet at my new boots that I have yet to wear every morning, I know the autumn air will come… eventually.

I Love You, Boots

While I wish I could wear a cute scarf or fuzzy sweater some days, I am grateful for the warmth because it makes my morning walk with Sadie much more enjoyable. Walking her with cold air whipping around my face = no fun.

This morning Sadie was in true crazy-dog mode, picking up each and every piece of trash, then looking at me as if to say “Look, Mom! A treasure!” I knew our normal 40 minute loop wouldn’t cut it today, so while I was preparing my breakfast, I let her out back to hunt for lizards.

"Ooooh lizards... Come out, come out wherever you are!"

"Stop taking my picture and come help me, Mom!"

She didn’t catch any lizards this morning. Next time, Sadie!

After a good workout and fun doggie play time, I was ready for mah breakfast! Hot oatmeal sounded perfect and since I’ve had a box of Kashi instant creamy vanilla oats sittin’ pretty in my pantry for months, I decided to prepare a packet.

Kashi Creamy Vanilla Oats

I dumped the dry mixture into my bowl, added water and microwaved it until I got a thick and creamy bowl of oats.

Dry Oats

Cooked Oats

I added a heaping spoonful of pumpkin mixed with a quarter of a scoop of cinnamon protein powder to the oats and stirred away.

Pumpkin and Cinnamon Protein Powder

Vanilla Oats Topped with Pumpkin

Pumpkin Swirl

Eventually I had a vibrant bowl of cinnamon vanilla pumpkin oats!

Cinnamon Vanilla Pumpkin Oats

Last night during our trip to Whole Foods, I picked up a box of Mighty Leaf chocolate mint truffle tea that was anxious to try this morning as part of my breakfast.

Box o' Tea

I love the intricate tea bags!

Beautiful Tea Bag

After admiring the wonderful craftsmanship on the tea bags, I got around to actually brewing a cup.

Hot Chocolate Mint Truffle Tea

My super-hot breakfast hit the spot!

Wednesday's Breakfast

Question: What’s your favorite kind of tea?

My Love for Pumpkin is Thriving

I really hope you wonderful readers out there love pumpkin, because my breakfast today is yet another ode to this seasonal favorite.

Fall's Favorite

On the day of our engagement, Ryan and I stopped by Whole Foods for a yummy lunch from the salad and hot bars. The intention was to only stop for lunch… ha! Naturally I wanted to browse, mainly because Whole Foods offers tons of free samples and I’m a sucker for tasty nibbles.

(As my retirement job one day, I secretly want to be the sample lady at the grocery store.I want to prepare delicious bites for shoppers and I won’t give people weird looks if they want more than one sample. I get it. Samples are awesome.)

While wondering up and down the aisles, I stumbled upon a new bar made by Kashi.

Kashi Pumpkin Pie Bar

Couple Kashi with pumpkin and I knew this was a recipe for success.

My breakfast this morning was topped with a crumbled Kashi pumpkin pie bar.

Pumpkiny Good

I blended a half a cup of cottage cheese with a half a cup of pumpkin, several shakes of pumpkin pie spice and a little bit of sweetener.

Pumpkin Pie "Cheesecake"

I topped the mix (which tastes a lot like pumpkin pie cheesecake) with the Kashi bar for crunch and extra flavor.

Bowl of Pumpkin Fun

Breakfast was mmm, mmm pumpkin-good. I served the pumpkin cheesecake mix with a hot cuppa Yogi tea and a Viactiv calcium chew.

Yogi Green Tea

Breakfast is Served

Gettin' My Calcium

I LOVE these calcium chews and could eat them like candy. Mo’ calcium and vitamin D fo’ me!

Question: What’s your favorite thing to do with pumpkin (& yes, carve it is a great answer)?

*Merri, can’t wait for pumpkin carving on Thursday!!! 🙂