2009 November 27

Archive for November 27th, 2009

Thanksgiving Full of Kale

Nov 27

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 5 Comments

Hello again blog buds! Hope you have had a productive “Black Friday”! I have, but I’m still WAY behind in my xmas shopping!

To recap our Thanksgiving, it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day! It started a little too early for my taste shortly before 4:00 AM, but sometimes that’s just when my body decides it’s time to get up. I spent the early (and QUIET) morning hours writing yesterday’s blog post, then catching up on my recorded chick-shows while the rest of the household members were sleeping.

We started the morning with the SOYsage Gravy and Biscuits (recipe in the Build-A-Meal tab if you didn’t see the post). Then because it was over 60 degrees outside we went out for a hilly power walk. It was only 3.26 miles, but since the hills were steep we felt like we got a great workout (at least that’s what my glutes and calves told me!)

I had a green smoothie when I returned. I’ve been missing these the past week! Some days when I feel chilly, a green smoothie just doesn’t always sound good because the idea of it makes me feel chillier! Luckily it was warm enough yesterday to crave one. Still rockin’ the festive green & red thanks to the cranberries.

Later I made a BIG batch of baked kale chips. Two trays of kale. And guess what I did? I ate it ALL!!! Every last bite of kale! I didn’t INTEND to eat all of it – I INTENDED to make it for something to snack on during the Broncos game. When it came time to actually sit down to our Thanksgiving meal, I wasn’t very hungry – I’d eaten THAT much kale! I guess if you are going to overeat something, nutrient-rich kale would be the food to choose!

We each had some time to relax for a bit, then it was time to make phone calls to family members & time for me to get busy in the kitchen (with cooking, that is!)

Finally time to eat our holiday meal! Wahooo!

Here is MSP’s Thanksgiving plate: roast turkey breast and mashed potatoes, both covered with gravy, along with some mac-n-cheese spirals, cornbread and unpictured Crescent rolls (because truly it’s not Thanksgiving without Crescent rolls!) Oh, and a side of beer!

And here is my plate (or bowl, I should say): Heavenly Ginger Curry Squash soup, with a side of 1/2 baked sweet potato. And a glass of Riesling on the side. It doesn’t look like much, but it definitely filled me up.

I had also intended to make a sweet & savory broccoli salad, but to be honest I was so darn full after eating the kale that more greens just didn’t sound appealing at all! We both had PLENTY to eat and were soon relaxing on the couch to take in some football and a movie. (FYI “Funny People” with Adam Sandler is anything but FUNNY — just a heads up.)

Even the puppies got a little GREEN action in their bowls for the holiday – here’s Rascal chowing down on chopped organic cucumber and sprouts:

Overall I had a VERY healthy Thanksgiving. My only real ‘splurge’ for the day was a piece of apple pie. It clocked in at 580 calories, so rather than flood my system with more calories in one sitting than it should handle, I cut the pie into two pieces. I had one-half late afternoon, and the other as an evening snack.

You know your “Healthy Holiday Eating Plan” was a success when you hop on the scale the day after Thanksgiving to find that your weight is down 3/4 of a pound from what it was the day BEFORE Thanksgiving! Now that is something for which to be thankful!

– Shari B. =)

Tags: baked kale, Blended Salad, exercise, Green Smoothie, weight loss

SOYsage Gravy and Biscuits

Nov 27

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 3 Comments

Hello there FitFeat friends! I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I know we did! I’ll write a separate post to recap our holiday, but wanted to put a recipe out for you vegetarians/vegans who would like to make a tweaked version of Sausage Gravy and Biscuits.

MSP loves the original recipe. Because it was so high in bad fats and flour, we only made it on a holiday, once or twice a year. I didn’t want to have to sit out on the fun, so this year I decided that I’d try to substitute some ingredients to make it something I would eat too.

SOYsage Gravy & Biscuits

1 tube of Gimme Lean non-meat ‘sausage’
1/4 cup flour
2 cups almond milk (or soy, skim, whatever you drink)
sea salt & black pepper to taste
6-8 biscuits of choice

If you are using biscuits that require oven time like we did, start those first as the rest goes really fast. Our biscuits took 9 minutes in the oven.

Brown the Gimme Lean in a pan sprayed with olive oil over medium heat, crumbling as you go. It gets easier to crumble the more it cooks.

Once the ‘sausage’ is fully browned, sprinkle the flour into the pan until the ‘sausage’ is well coated.

Add the first cup of almond or soy milk (still over medium heat) and stir well. The ‘sausage’ and flour will soak it up really quickly.

Add the second cup and continue to stir well. Now the gravy will really start to build. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Keep stirring until warmed through and at a consistency you like. If you like a thin gravy, you’ll want to remove it pretty quickly and/or add more ‘milk’. If you like it thick, stir longer over the heat and you’ll find that it gets really thick really fast.