bottomless (thanksgiving) pit

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love the colors, I love the warm sweaters and I love curling up with a mug of hot chocolate, but most of all, I love the food.

Lately I've been doing really well with the working out/Jillian thing. I'm seeing huge results in my stamina and my breathing while working out. My legs feel strong and controlling my breathing while running is not a problem at all. 3 mile run - easy peasy

Enter, Fall, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Needless to say, the scale is still not my friend. All I want to do is make and eat delicious food! Here are just some of the things I've been making - much more to come, I'm sure!

a little twist on apple crisps!

sweet and salty pumpkin seeds

creamy sweet potato soup

pumpkin bread

What do you crave in the fall? What are some of your favorite fall recipes?! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The hubs and I just experimented with spaghetti squash. I had never seen it in the grocery store and come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever actually heard of it. Boy, were they right on when they named this vegetable!

I think I'm in love. I was a little worried at first about what it would taste like and if it would resemble spaghetti in the least. Not only did it taste similar to spaghetti, I would argue it may even taste better! We combined the squash with butter, basil, chives, sage and garlic, after cooking the squash (cut in half longways) for 45 minutes. We threw in some tomatoes as well and gently tossed all of the ingredients over low heat in a skillet and topped it with parmigiano reggiano. It is so so soooo good! I found a few recipes from mothers who use the squash as a way to get their kids to eat vegetables without realizing they are actually eating vegetables! Ingenious and fairly simple!

grab your sombreros!

I love to eat. I love seeing my family and friends. I also love having parties that involve my family, friends and eating. So, in an effort to see family and friends more often (it's been difficult recently with people away at school), my mom and I decided to start an Around the World Potluck Dinner Party series! We figured this would be a great way to try some new dishes and get together with family and friends more often!

Because I've recently been craving some good Mexican food, I decided that Mexican would be our first order of business in the series. I mean, who doesn't like margaritas?

Does anyone have a favorite Mexican dish, drink or recipe they'd recommend? I'm always looking for new things to try!

more delish!

 In my quest to find healthier food options (that actually have flavor), I mentioned that I stumbled upon Gina's WW Recipes and I'm completely and utterly obsessed. Gina is bound to singlehandedly make me the most awesomest wifey in all of history!

Tonight's food experiment:

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast

Click here for full recipe!

blogspot and dinner.

I promise I didn't post all of these posts today, despite the date at the top of each of them. I had previously been using Wordpress and determined that it didn't allow me as much flexibility with my blog as I think I might like. I'm still new to this blogging thing and I'm hoping to learn enough, and quickly, to make my blog a bit more visually representative of me! Any tips are greatly appreciated!

In other news, it's pouring and there is a tornado watch, so it doesn't appear that a run or a couple matches of tennis is going to happen tonight... but I think I'm more than ok with that. Lounging around and making dinner with the hubs seems like a much better option.

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Tonight we made a really yummy recipe: Baked Chicken and Artichokes - highly recommend it!

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 1/4 cup soya powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 pound button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 package (9 ounces) frozen artichokes, thawed and drained
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped 
 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Place bake mix, salt and pepper in a shallow plate. Dredge chicken in bake mix, tapping to remove any excess. In large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned, turning once, about 4 minutes. Transfer to baking dish.Add onion to pan and saut until softened, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saut until lightly golden, about 3 more minutes. Add garlic and saut until aroma is released, about 30 seconds. Stir in wine, artichokes, rosemary and red pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Pour artichoke mixture over chicken, cover and bake 40 minutes, until chicken is tender and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and stir in oregano before serving.

delish!

So I recently stumbled upon this blog in my search for healthy recipes. I’ve just about had it with our typical weekly dinners and was ready to try some new things!

I’m absolutely in love with this blog and all the recipes she’s posted! Definitely worth a look or two!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

and so it begins...

If you’re reading this, then you’ve most likely stumbled across it in your google search related to food, cooking, baking, ovens, buns and the like. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately as the case may be, this blog will be less about baking (though I’m fairly certain there will be no shortage of discussions related to food) and more about buns and ovens.

Yes, that kind of bun and that kind of oven.

I’ve never blogged before, and honestly I’m not quite sure how or where to begin or whether I will attract any followers. What I am looking forward to however, is having a place to share my thoughts, feelings, joys and sorrows as I begin my journey into mommy-hood and I can only hope that those of you who are reading this will continue to do so and join me and share your thoughts and experiences.

“It takes a village…” reads an African proverb and while this dates back a few decades, I’m fairly certain that the term village was meant to include those of the virtual kind.