Prepping for a Stress-free Thanksgiving and My Menu

 

Thanksgiving is not usually a family holiday for us.

 

Let me take that back. It is a family holiday, just not the traditional family holiday.

 

Over the past eleven years we have been married, Thanksgiving has transformed into a time when we invite our friends into our home. They are people who have become more family than just friends.

 

This year is no exception. 

 

Since many of our friends in town are young, single men, I am stuck with all of the cooking. Actually, I love cooking and sharing food with friends, so creating a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal challenges me and gives me a chance to brag.

 

But the idea of making a feast for by myself can be daunting.

 

So I'm planning ahead.  Since we are eating a Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws on Thursday, I am hosting our dinner on Friday. Here is the menu and my recipes.

 

Grandma Gladys' Apple Salad

Elle's Easy Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

 

Elle's Orange-Cranberry Sauce

Eldon's Steak and Dressing

Oven Roasted Turkey (I will brine it first)

Mashed Potatoes Made with Plain Greek Yogurt and Gravy

Home-canned Corn

Pumpkin Pie

Cherry Pie

Walnut-Pecan Pie

 

Like last year, I'm also going to spread the meal prep days in advance. 

 

Tuesday: Shop, brine the turkey as it thaws. Make cranberry sauce.

Wednesday: Mix up pie crust.

Thursday: Peel then soak potatoes, assemble steak and dressing, mix stuffing so it is oven-ready. Bake pies.

Friday: Roast turkey, make dinner rolls, boil and mash potatoes. Make apple salad.

Glut myself at dinner.

 

Here are some non-traditional harvest dishes you might want to add to your meal.

 

Easy Butternut Hash Browns

 

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

 

 

What are you fixing for Thanksgiving?

 

 

Where I've Been: Recovery and Repair

On morning after my last post in September, my toddler son's stomach began churning.

At first, it seemed nothing more than an upset stomach. By the late afternoon, as his vomiting increased in frequency to every ten minutes, I knew we had a problem. Since the clinic was already closed, off to the ER we went.

Although his stomach soothed for a while, things went from bad to worse in my house.

Accurate self-portrait of my 5 year-old for about five days.
 



My husband, my five year-old, and the little one were all stricken with sickness over that weekend. My husband was better within a few days, but the boys fought the stomach flu for the next week. They couldn't keep anything down. I think I was washing three loads of sheets, clothes, and pajamas every day.  I was constantly changing my shirt as my little one got sick on me. Blogging about food was the furthest from my mind.

The next few weeks were all about recovering, both my sanity and my home.

Then, our neighbors put their house on the market.  I told my husband by telling him one day that our lack of maintenance on the exterior of our home would likely drop their selling price. He immediately cleaned up the front and back yards. We started scraping, priming, and painting trim. I worked my way to peeling off loose paint on the rest of the house and touching up the siding. My husband peeled of the frayed carpet on our porch. He replaced our front door. We started spending half a day each week in Menards, buying supplies and planning our next project. Last weekend, Mike built new columns and a friend helped him replace the ugly wrought supports on our porch.

We have been busy.

Before and during.
Ignore my crooked camera shots.

So now that my work outside is done for a while and my family is healthy [fingers crossed], I'm going to do my best to get back blogging again.  Thanks for bearing with me.

Friday Vegetarian Potluck LinkUp...Kinda

This week, I made Carmelized Onion and Portabello Mushroom Pizza.  I planned on posting it today for Friday Vegetarian Potluck.

Instead, my 13 month old has been vomiting all day, starting at 6:45am and ending at 7:00pm when he was in the ER after having dry heaves every 15 minutes.  Everything is a wreck here, but at least my son hasn't puked in almost (praise God) three hours.

I will do my best to post the recipe for the pizza soon!


In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for a virtual supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Game Day!

I've read other food blogger posts with glee over the past few weeks. Like me, they get excited about college football season.

Yes, we are football fans, but more importantly we are a family. The weekly football game turns an average Saturday evening into a holiday, a scheduled gathering with my parents.  We laugh, we joke, we tease, and we eat.

My boys watching the game at Grandpa and Grandma's last year.

 

Here is what I ate:

Breakfast: Hurry-hurry-hurry before church. I just grabbed a FiberOne bar. I think most granola bars are candy bars. At least this one has fewer calories and fiber in it.

Lunch: Easy Vegan Caprese Salad that I tossed up for us, followed by cream of potato soup made by Mom and fruit salad for dessert (suggested by my 5 year old).

Supper: Leftovers from lunch!

Do you watch football?  Who do you watch it with?


Come back on Friday for Vegetarian Potluck Link Up!

 

 

Friday Vegetarian Potluck LinkUp & Bruschetta Pasta

What's new with you?

Last week, despite the daily trips to the hospital checking on my dad, I still managed to complete the Lazyman Triathlon one week early.  I've decided to keep doing the triathlon, alternating between biking, running, and swimming to complete 112 miles biking, 2.2 miles swimming, and 26 miles running every five weeks.

I love having a goal and something to motivate me.  This week, I have taken it a little easy, but I know I pushed hard last week to get it done.

Mixing my running routine up with biking and swimming feels great.  I use different muscle groups and they both give my knees and ankles a rest.

Here is what I'm bringing to potluck:

[Print this Recipe]

BRUSCHETTA PASTA

Ingredients:

*3 1/2 c. sliced roma or plum tomatoes
*2 Tb. balsamic vinegar
*2 Tb. olive oil
*3 cloves minced garlic
*1 Tb. fresh chopped basil or 1 tsp. dried basil
*4 oz.  or 1 c. shredded Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese
*14 oz. GF or WW angel hair pasta

Directions:

1.  Combine tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, and basil.  Refrigerate in airtight container for 2-12 hours.
2.  Prepare pasta as directed on the box. While still hot, drain water and combine with marinated tomatoes.  Add shredded cheese and toss until well incorporated.  Serve warm or cold.

How have you been this week?




In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for a virtual supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Hospitals in General

I am one of those strange people who like hospitals.

I'm not a nurse. I'm not a doctor. I'm not any of the various additional specialists, aides, or staff in a hosptial.

But I feel at home there.

When I was young, my grandmother was in the hospital a lot.  She had heart bypass surgery.  She had a stroke with months of rehab.  It seemed like she was always in and out of the hospital for one reason or another.

My aunt was also in the hospital quite a bit when I was growing up, too.  My mom had minor surgery. I was hospitalized with systemic E. coli for a week. My dad went through cancer treatment.  I birthed both of my sons in hospitals.

Hospitals have always been a second home.

A strange thing happens to people in hospitals: they are at their most real.

Some are there for joyous reasons, like to meet a newborn baby and mother. Others come to see a loved one recovering from surgery.  Family members gather in ICUs, hoping and praying someone gravely injured will pull through. 

In waiting rooms I have seen people at their best, offering up to each other a place to stay, a car to drive, a prayer of hope and healing for someone they have never met.

I'm late posting today since I have spent a lot of time this past week visiting my dad in the hospital.  Thanks be to God that he went from the ICU to home in five days and is recovering well.

I'm also grateful to be comfortable in hospitals, in general.

Here is what I ate:

Breakfast: I tried to make my usual a little more unusual by eating half FlaxPlus Multigrain cereal and half FlaxPlus Pumpkin Granola with unsweetened almond milk.

Lunch: I ate an Ezekiel wrap with seasoned tomato paste, Tofutti vegan "cream cheese," and fresh spinach.

Snack: Sliced Golden Delicious apples and Biscoff cookie butter.  Cookie butter! AAH! I ate an entire jar in three days!

Supper: I made Spicy Black Bean Quinoa and ate it with romaine lettuce.

Are you comfortable in hospitals like me or do they make you nervous?


Come back on Friday for Vegetarian Potluck Link Up!

 

 

Friday Vegetarian Potluck Link Up & Penne Florentine

It has been a whirlwind week.

On Tuesday, a very close family member (he shall remain nameless) finally went to the dr.

As we suspected, he had a severe case of pneumonia. His white cell count was 39 (under 10 is normal), his oxygen levels were low, and his blood-thinning medication was too high.  Quite simply, he was on the verge of death.

Today, a mere three days later, his white cell count is normal, his oxygen levels are up, and his blood-thinning medication is where it should be.  He is sitting up for hours at a time, eating normally, and on the verge of being released from the hospital.

I can't believe that three days ago he was admitted to the local hospital, then moved to ICU, then transferred by blaring-siren ambulance 45 miles to the regional medical center.  After only two days in the new ICU wing of the hospital and under the care of a pulmonologist, he is miraculously better.  I am grateful for the help of all the nursing staff and doctors who helped his recovery.  I also know that dozens of people have been praying for him.  I'm thankful to God and those who prayed on his behalf.

I'm on 13 hours of sleep in three days, so I'm reposting a favorite recipe of mine instead of writing a new post and the bruschetta pasta recipe I had  promised. 



Penne Florentine



[Print this Recipe]



   

PENNE FLORENTINE

Ingredients:

*13.5 oz. box of whole wheat penne pasta

*1 pt. grape tomatoes, halved
*14 oz. can of quartered artichokes, drained
*8 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms
 *7 c. of loosely packed fresh spinach
*3 cloves minced garlic
*2 Tb. olive oil
*1 c. alfredo sauce
*1/2 c. pesto sauce

Directions:

1. In a medium stock pot, prepare penne pasta as directed.

2. Heat a large skillet at medium heat. Add oil, tomatoes, artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, and garlic. Stir often and cook until spinach leaves are wilted and mushrooms are soft.
3. Drain pasta thoroughly. Add alfredo and pesto sauce. Stir well.
4. Serve immediately.




In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Breaking the Fast

Most of the time I'm vegan.

I eat high fiber organic cereal and for breakfast almost all of the time. Usually for lunch, I have a wrap with an Ezekiel tortilla, vegan cheese, homegrown alfalfa sprouts, and romaine or spinach.

I keep my snacks healthy, too. I like to have a soy protein shake with unsweetened almond milk and a piece of fruit.

Nearly every supper begins with a salad and dairy-free dressing.  Sometimes the entree is a vegetarian meat-substitute, other times it is something with beans. Whole wheat grains can also be the entree, while there is always a fresh or frozen vegetable for a side.

Dessert is simple.  Three small pieces of dark chocolate.

Holidays are different.  I thoroughly relish eating unhealthy food.  I feel it after I'm done eating and definitely the next day; I am often bloated, sometimes a little nauseated and ready to go back to healthy, whole, vegan eating.

Labor Day was one of those holidays when I broke my fast from simple starches, dairy, and meat.  And I enjoyed it.

The beginning of college football season meant snack foods at my mom and dad's on Saturday afternoon. I ate tortilla chips and cheese dip with enthusiasm.  Mom also made cornbread to go with a big pot of beans.  I finished the day off with some cookies and cream ice cream.  Nom. Nom. Nom.

I also skipped the norm on the Sunday before Labor Day (the day I'm using for my WIAW).

Here is what I ate.

For breakfast, I ate two pieces of cornbread and unsweetened almond milk. I never make cornbread, but this is possibly my favorite breakfast of all time.

At lunchtime, I reheated bruschetta pasta made with tomatoes from my garden and Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella.  I'm going to try to get the recipe written up for Friday Vegetarian Potluck Link Up.

As a snack, I ate a nectarine.  These are so good that I'm eating at least one a day, sometimes two.

Supper was spectacular and totally unhealthy.  I made a BLT salad with tomatoes from my garden, bits of pan-fried turkey bacon, romaine lettuce, olive oil mayo, and croutons.  Then, we ate oven baked seasoned potatoes, peas, and ribeye steak that had been marinating in mesquite seasoning for three days.  My husband grilled mine up to medium-rare perfection. It was all amazing! 

Do you ever allow yourself "cheat days" where you indulge in unhealthy food once in a while?

Come back on Friday for Vegetarian Potluck Link Up!

 

 

Friday Vegetarian Potluck LinkUp & Easy Cheesy Julienne Potatoes (Vegan)

[Print this Recipe]

Several months ago, I bought four cases of Follow Your Heart vegan cheese.

You read that right: FOUR CASES.

So, I have been trying to use the cheese whenever I can.  My husband isn't crazy for it, so usually I give him and my son regular cheese.  I make my own enchiladas, tacos, pizza, etc. with vegan cheese, using it when the guys have real cheese.

Never had I thought of using Follow Your Heart vegan cheese to make cheese sauce.

One of my husband's favorite dishes is julienne potatoes.  I no longer make them since I ditched the prepackaged foods.  I didn't want to make the effort to make a real cheese sauce, plus I knew all of the cholesterol wasn't doing any of us any favors.

After I came up with this cheese sauce, I immediately decided to make cheesy potatoes for my husband.  When I was finished with the sauce, I used thawed, frozen hash browns and mixed them together, then baked them in the oven for 45 min.

They got rave reviews from my husband and son!

Here is what I'm bringing to Friday Vegetarian Potluck:

[Print this Recipe]

EASY CHEESY JULIENNE POTATOES

Ingredients:

*10 oz. pkg. Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar cheese
*10 oz. pkg. Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella cheese
*1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk
*1/2 tsp. garlic powder
*1 Tb. dried minced onion
*16 oz. thawed, frozen hash browns

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Grate cheese or cut into small pieces.  Combine cheese, almond milk, garlic powder, and onion in medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often until cheese is melted.
3. Lightly coat medium baking dish with non-stick spray. Add potatoes and cheese sauce. Mix thoroughly.
4. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid or foil and bake an additional 15 minutes until potatoes are bubbly and edges begin to brown.

Do you have a dish that you have cut out of your diet because it isn't healthy?  Have you made a healthier alternative that satisfies you?

In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)

WIAW: Let Us Eat Cake!

As you may have read in my last post, we now have a young woman living with us, trying to get on her feet.

We are very glad to have her with us.  She helps me make dinner or cleans up after we eat.  My sons love her and she gives them lots of attention.  She is thoughtful and keeps her things gathered up.

She also already landed two jobs the first day after she moved here!

Sunday, the day I use for my WIAW pictures, was her 21st birthday.  I had fun making her a cake while she was at work.  It wasn't my best cake, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

Felicia on her birthday

It was actually the second cake I made over the weekend.  Friday was my five year-old's "half-birthday," so I made him half of a chocolate cake.  I used one 9" round, cut in half, and stacked it on the other half.  (I only iced between the layer and on the outside round part of the cake, so it looked like a whole cake had been cut in half.)

Since I knew I was eating cake after supper, I didn't eat much during the day. 

 

Breakfast:

Nature's Path Flax Plus Cereal

with dried cranberries,

unsweetened almond milk,

and a little Sevita.

 

Lunch:

Ezekiel Bread toast

with homemade peach preserves

and a slice of Follow Your Heart

vegan mozzarella cheese.

 

Supper:

Romaine lettuce salad

with croutons

and sliced tomato from my garden.

3 pieces of Archer Farms pizza with eggplant

(I was too excited for cake and forgot a picture!)

 

Dessert:

A big piece of birthday cake!

 

Even though I had that big piece of cake, I still planned the rest of my meals ahead of time and was able to keep my calories below 1500 for the day.

 

If you would like to see some of my other cakes, click here.

 

Be sure to come back for Friday Vegetarian Potluck Link-up

and see what everyone is bringing! 

I will bring my recipe for Easy-Cheesy Julienne Potatoes. 

They are gluten-free and dairy-free!

 

 

Also, check out the rest of What I Ate Wednesday at Peas and Crayons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fit-spiration of the day

My five year-old ran 1 mile this morning with the Mileage Club at his elementary school.

As you probably know, he's a vegetarian who has never eaten meat.  He also eats very few processed foods (if any).

Who says you need meat to be healthy??

Just had to brag.  That is all.

Friday Vegetarian Potluck & Italian Vegetarian Meatballs

Today, we picked up another young person from Northwest Missouri and moved her into our home.

This is the third time we have moved someone in with us since we moved here.  I come up with these ideas and my husband goes along with me.  What a guy!

Why do we keep "rescuing" people from Northwest Missouri?

First of all, Northwest Missouri is filled with some great people.  I lived there for 5 years and my husband for 10 years.  I met some of my best friends while living there.  Five years after we moved away, we still miss the people we saw in the store, worked with, and had for neighbors.

Unfortunately, having good people in a region isn't enough.  Northwest Missouri (at least where we lived and these young adults lived), there are no jobs.  The economy wasn't good before the economic downturn, now it is really bad.  They have also had three floods in the past five years.  For these kids, there isn't much hope of a better life.

My husband and I were blessed to be born to the right parents in the right part of the country.  Here, jobs are plentiful.  Even in the drought, the irrigated fields above the Ogalala Aquifer receive moisture through pivots and irrigation pipes.  The company my husband works for is expanding.  Many places are hiring in town where the unemployment rate is only 3.3%.  A quarter section of land (1/4 of a mile, squared) sells for over a million and a half dollars.

My husband and I have experienced first-hand the sad truth that many people were not given the opportunities we were.  These are young adults we know and trust, who just needed someone to give them a shot, a ticket out of the poverty they were living in.  We gave them a place to live until they could afford their own apartment.  The living quarters are tight, since now we have two little boys in one bedroom, Mike and I in our room, and Felicia on the couch in our two bedroom house.

The two young men who stayed with us previously are doing well on their own now.  They work hard at the same jobs they started when they were with us.  They never wanted a handout.  They wanted opportunity to work. Now, we are happy to let Felicia have that chance. 

Okay, sorry for the diversion.

Friday Vegetarian Potluck!

This week, I made Italian Vegetarian Meatballs.  These will please any meat-eater (or carnivore, like my 5 year-old calls them). 

(I haven't reloaded the program yet which allows me to make PDF printable recipes. Sorry!)

Italian Vegetarian Meatball with pesto and penne pasta.

For step by step pictures, click here.

Italian Vegetarian Meatballs

by Elle@thewaybyelle

Prep Time: 15 min.

Cook Time: 1 hr.

Keywords: bake entree vegetarian Italian

6050526

Ingredients

• 8 oz. shredded mozzarella
• 1 diced onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 5 eggs
• 1 sleeve crushed crackers
• 1 jar pasta sauce (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup red or blush wine (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine shredded mozzarella, onion, garlic, oregano, eggs, and crushed crackers in mixer. Mix thoroughly. Preheat oven to 350 F. Allow mixture to set for 5 min.

2. Spray medium baking dish with non-stick spray. Use ice cream scoop to drop equal-sized balls of mixture into baking dish.

3. Mix wine with pasta sauce, if desired. Cover meatballs with pasta sauce. Cover baking dish and bake for 1 hour.

Powered by Recipage

Have you ever let someone stay in your home for an extended amount of time?  Why?  How did it go?

In the spirit of a delicious potluck dinner, I’m hosting Friday Vegetarian Potluck. Mix up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring it over for supper. You can bring a main dish, a salad, bread, a dessert, any food you want to share.We do have a few rules for our meal.

1. Your recipe needs to be vegetarian, but it can also be dairy-free, vegan, or gluten-free. Any recipe made without meat will do.

2. Your blog does not have to be about vegetarian food recipes. If you regularly write about gardening, that’s fine. If you usually post recipes with pork and poultry, you are welcome, too.

3. This doesn’t have to be a new recipe post, but I ask that you bring it to the blog only once.

4. Since potlucks are all about sharing, I ask that you post this invite on your blog post. It fits nicely into your html.
<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)




What recipe are you going to share?<

Week 3: Lazyman Triathlon

I'm back online!

With the help of Tom Lanham of PC Medic, I have a new hard drive on my computer.  Apparently, 1 out of every 10 hard drives crash within the first few years.  It seems criminal to me that they don't last longer, but oh well.

Tom did a great job, fixing it within a few days.  The repair price was reasonable and he even delivered it back early to my house before I had to pick up my son from Kindergarten.  I highly recommend his services if you are in Central Nebraska. His number is (308) 999-0300.

I'm also now in the middle of week 3 of the YMCA of the Prairie's Lazyman Triathlon. 

Since my new swim cap and goggles came in the mail today, I did my first day in the pool.  I haven't really swam since college, so I had no idea how much swimming I could do in an hour.  After a few laps, everything I learned about swimming at Union College came back to me.  I remembered all of those mornings I would swim before classes, trying to get the PE credits done.  After 45 min. in the pool, I had completed 24 laps and still felt great!

To complete the triathlon, I have 6 weeks (Aug. 8 to Sept. 16) to

1. Swim 2.4 miles (84.5 laps)

The YMCA pool. We have a really nice Y in town!

2. Bike 112 miles
3. Run 26.2 miles

As of today I have:

1. Swam 24 laps
2. Biked 57.3 miles
3. Ran 17.75 miles

In the next 3 1/2 weeks, I need to

1. Swim 60.5 laps
2. Bike 54.7 miles
3. Run 8.45 miles

I really want that T-Shirt!

Have you ever done a triathlon or other exercise challenge?  This is my second.  The first was Hold It For the Holidays a few years ago, when I joined the challenge to not gain weight over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years.  I actually lost weight during the challege!

I'm doing my best to get a Friday Vegetarian Potluck post done this week! Come back and share your favorite recipe and see what others bring!

 

 

Thanks for hosting the link up, Jill!

It's so hard without a hard drive

I've been without a computer all week. We are pretty sure that I need a new hard drive.
Hopefully, I will have it back by next Tuesday.
I'm still tweeting on my phone though! You can find me @thewaybyelle or by clicking the twitter button on the right column.

Thanks for reading!

Friday Vegetarian Potluck LinkUp & Cardamom Knots Recipe

This week, I am making Cardamom Knots for potluck.

No, the recipe isn't mine, but you can find Tomas's recipe here.

Before you freak out because the referenced recipe blog is in Swedish, let me tell you that there are instructions in English also.

These are easy to make, but they look terribly impressive.

<center> <a href=" http://thewaybyelle.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src=" http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7576556030_011284ffe4_m.jpg "/></a></center>
(For help adding the html code above, click here)




What recipe are you going to share?

Friday Vegetarian Potluck Link Up
 




 

WIAW: To Wean or Not To Wean

My baby turned 1 year-old last week.

I haven't been exclusively breastfeeding for a long time; at six months, we introduced his baby cereal with 1 oz. of formula.  Now, he eats every 2-3 hours and nurses about that often during the day.  He also drinks goats' milk from a cup.

With my other son, I nursed him until he was 15 months old.  I have to admit, I'm feeling a little guilt about ending breastfeeding while the youngest is only 12 months old.

But I have 8 good reasons to stop, 8 sharp, pearly whites that bite.

Granted, he only bites me every few days.  I don't think he even means to most of the time.  The bites are bad, but the constant contact of those teeth on me is killer. 

I am storing up breastmilk in the freezer.  In case he gets sick, I can give it him, boosting his immunities and helping him recover sooner. I decided that when I have six bags of milk in the freezer, I will stop.  I'm at 5 1/2 right now.

So, we are almost ready.

Here is what I ate:

After getting home from the gym, I ate my usual, a bowl of Nature's Path Flaxseed Plus with an extra tablespoon of ground flax.  I changed up my almond milk to unsweetened and now add 1 tsp. of Stevita to my cereal.

Although I nearly always have a wrap for lunch, I decided to eat something different for WIAW.  I made a Follow Your Heart vegan cheddar cheese sandwich with lettuce, sliced tomato from the farmers market, and a smear of Vegenaise on Ezekiel bread toast.

In the late afternoon, I accidentally ate a 90 calorie Fiber One Brownie.  I meant to put it in my husband's lunch, but opened it instead.  I went ahead and enjoyed it.

For my afternoon snack, I drank a protein shake made with soy protein, unsweetened almond milk, and a 2 tsp. of Stevita.

I made eggplant parmesan for supper for my family.  The eggplant is from my garden and I baked the breaded slices on a baking sheet for 30 min. instead of frying them.  After they cooked, I layered them with tomato sauce and shredded Follow Your Heart vegan mozzarella cheese.  I topped it with minced garlic from my garden and basil and oregano that is growing in my windowsill.  I also ate a romaine lettuce salad.

I ate 5 pieces of Dove Dark Chocolate Swirled with Raspberry for dessert.  YUMMY!

Working Out

After taking last week off due to a nasty cold, I started working out again this week.  My intention was to just use the elliptical on Monday morning, but since I felt so good when I arrived at the gym, I went ahead and ran 15 out of 30 minutes on the treadmill. 

The woman beside me, someone whom I see often at the Y, asked me, "Are you doing the triathlon?"

"No, I'm just trying to get through today after having a bad cold last week," I replied.

"You should do the triathlon.  I am and you are here as much as I am," She continued.

So, I went home and signed up for the Lazy(wo)man Triathlon.  I've never done one before.

I'm starting off slowly, but I know I will have to increase my daily totals (and get up earlier) to get it done in time.

1. How are your workouts going? Have you tried anything new lately?

2. If you are a mother, did you breastfeed?  Did you feel guilty when you stopped?

Be sure to come back for Friday Vegetarian Potluck and add a link to your recipe!