Pre-Thanksgiving Excitement!

So this time of year happens to be my favorite time of year! It's almost Thanksgiving and that in my opinion marks the beginning of the holiday season! I say "in my opinion" because my significant other thinks it starts November 1st. That man loves him some Christmas! He starts listening to Christmas music right after Halloween (even sometimes before). He even works out to Christmas music! Seriously, who does that? I sometimes jokingly call him "Kris Kringle." It is a very endearing quality and I love Christmas as well just not as much him obviously.

I also love this season because there are some many holiday traditions that I really enjoy. Thanksgiving with my family! Recently we have been having Thanksgiving at my Uncle's brother-in-law's house which has been so much fun! There is lots of tasty food, delicious vino and even better company. Oh and we can't forget the very intense men vs. women Pictionary game! Grand prize...bragging rights! In addition, to great family fun there is the once a week Christmas movie night leading up to Christmas with close friends. There is also the annual ladies ornament exchange! Last year, I got a really great Butterfly ornament (which I think was Kelly's). I can't wait for this years! I'm also really looking forward to Dan's "apple pie in a glass" drink! Sooooo goood! Penny wanted to share mine with me last year! Unfortunately, this year I won't be taking part of the Gordon/Henson Family's ladies shopping marathon on Black Friday which begins around 3am and sometimes ends around midnight. :( I'm not sure if I've made it till midnight before...hmmm. At any rate, I'm sure there are many other fun festivities I'm leaving out but it's a fun season!

This year I'll be bringing to Thanksgiving the Iced N Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes! Yum! Oh, which brings me to my latest pumpkin creations! So I decided to try my hand at making Pumpkin Enchiladas. I was very skeptical at first. They didn't seem very appetizing while I was making them but they turned out to be DELICIOUS! Kris loved them too! They are low calorie about 188 calories per enchilada and the recipe is from Hungry Girl (see below).

Ingredients:
2 medium-large corn tortillas (like Mission Super Size)
3/4 cup enchilada sauce, divided
2/3 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese
1 slice fat-free cheddar cheese, halved
1 1/2 tbsp. taco sauce
1 tsp. dry taco seasoning mix
Optional: salt, black pepper, fat-free sour cream, chopped scallions

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bring a pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat on the stove. Add onion and, stirring occasionally, cook until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl.
Add pumpkin, taco sauce, and taco seasoning to the bowl. Mix well. If you like, season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Spray a small baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside. Warm tortillas slightly in the microwave.
Lay tortillas flat on a clean, dry surface. Spread 2 tbsp. enchilada sauce onto each one. Place a half-slice of cheese in the center of each tortilla. Evenly distribute the pumpkin mixture between the centers of the tortillas.
Wrap tortillas up tightly and place them in the baking dish with the seam sides down. Cover with remaining 1/2 cup enchilada sauce.
Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes, until enchiladas are hot. Carefully remove dish from the oven, and sprinkle enchiladas with shredded cheese.
Return to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Plate those babies and, if you like, top with sour cream and/or scallions. Enjoy!
MAKES 2 SERVINGS

Recipe from http://www.hungry-girl.com/week/weeklydetails.php?isid=1800

I also used this delicious pumpkin butter that we get from Eckert's (import from Belleville ;) and mixed it with plain greek yogurt! Tasty, tasty, tasty! I can't take credit for this yummy concoction! This was Molly's creation. It basically can be eaten like yogurt or it reminded me of this pumpkin dip that we made last year for Thanksgiving except less fattening and less calories. I would suggest pairing it with the Cinnamon & Sugar Pita Chips (not so low cal) from Trader Joe's or any other lower calorie alternative. So maybe I will make it again this year except the low calorie version with greek yogurt. I love greek yogurt and you can use it to replace so many things!

Last on this post is the gear up for my first 5K on Thanksgiving! Kris and I are running the Naperville Turkey Trot and I'm so excited! I've been running 3 miles no problem! Alex (my super healthy, super ripped lil bro) even got me to run 5 miles! I don't know how I did it but somehow he kept me going! I think that's the longest I've ever run! In follow up to my last post, I did finally get a new pair of running shoes! I got a pair of the Reebok ZigTech's, the Zig Pulse II to be exact. I read a lot of great reviews on them and in addition, part of my purchase was donated to Breast Cancer so I feel like it was a double win! I tried them out and have been walking around in them to break them in. I've been having a little bit of ankle trouble so I'm hoping that the new shoes help with that as well.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ready to Run and Pumpkin Mania!

So after a couple weeks of training I think I'm just about ready to run my first 5k, the Turkey Trot in Naperville on Thanksgiving day! Kris and I signed up and even though he will have to slow his pace a little so I can keep up with him. He has been every encouraging throughout our runs together and has been a great motivator! I can't wait!

I am actually now in the process of looking for a new pair of running shoes in hopes to break them in before the race. I've never been really that serious about running or for that matter picking out a pair of running shoes. I do realize that I'm at the point where I do need a new pair. You are only really suppose to log 300-500 miles in your running shoes. Well seeing as I use mine for workout and running and I've had them for about 2.5 years I'd say it's about time. In my research to find a good pair of running shoes I never realized how serious this topic can be. I mean I kind of realized throughout experience that there are good running shoes and bad running shoes. I used to be in love with Nike Shox until I started running in them. They are horrible running shoes! Then I got a pair of Asics (must current running shoes) and they are wonderful but I realized while running the other day that's it time for a new pair. So back to my research on how to choose a running shoe there is some much to think about from how much you run and what kind of foot you have including pronation and gait. So this makes me think that maybe I should get educated on what kind of foot I have. My plan is to go visit Dick Pond Athletics that is in Schaumburg. They have great reviews on customer service and fitting runners for the correct shoe for their foot type.

So excited to go out for runs this week as it is in the 60's this week! Yay!

On another note, going back to my pumpkin obsession I plan on trying to make pumpkin enchiladas this week. So I'll have to post later on how those turn out. I have also really come to enjoy Hungry Girl's Iced 'n spiced pumpkin cupcakes. I don't use the frosting that they give in the recipe book because it doesn't turn out that great but the cupcakes are great by themselves are less than 100 calories (without frosting). The recipe for the cupcakes are:

2 cups moist-style spice cake mix (1/2 of an 18.25oz box)
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup egg whites
1/9 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water

Bake at 350 for 15 min., makes 12 cupcakes. I personally like to just double the recipe because I don't want leftover cake mix and pumpkin. Then you can store them and have one for dessert every night! Low calorie and yummy!

This past week I also made my Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup for some girlfriends. Everyone seemed to enjoy and I brought the leftovers over to my parents house and even my "VERY HEALTHY, super ripped, works out all the time" brother loved it! I think he ate three bowls! So here is the recipe for that as well:


1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained
2 cans (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
(optional chopped chives)

*Directions: Saute onions for 5 mins with EVOO or other. Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, black beans and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in curry, cumin, cayenne and salt, to taste. Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and (optional) serve garnished with chopped chives.

*To make it easier I usually just saute the onions for 5 minutes and then throw everything into a slower cooker on low for 4 hours and stir occasionally. Much easier! Enjoy!

No Longer a Blog Virgin!

Where to begin! Well first things first, I'm no longer a blog virgin! Yay! This will be my first official post! I created this blog back in August but haven't done much with it since then. Recently, I was told by an especially important person in my life that I should find a hobby, not like the Bethenny/Jill "hobby situation" (if you watch Real Housewives of NY you'll understand this reference). Basically a hobby to help me bring myself out of the rut that I felt I was in. I was really hoping to learn how to knit (kind of old school I know) but I've always wanted to learn. I'd love to be able to make myself fun scarves and cute hats, etc. I'm sure I could still learn but blogging is a much more convenient hobby for the time being!

I'm also hoping that through this blog I can force to myself to be more accountable for my diet choices and exercising. I'm going to try and post each day if and/or how I exercised and what I've eaten, of course sharing any new and fun recipes!! Plus, we are upon the wonderful fall season (my fav) and I LOVE PUMPKIN!  I've already made my favorite fall dish, Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup! yum yum yum! It's Kris' favorite meal that I make. Well I don't make many but I know its good when Kris goes back for seconds! I can't wait to try out new pumpkin recipes seeing as I cleaned Jewel out of pumpkin! No shortage of pumpkin! NOT UP IN HERE! (hangover reference) Sorry I must mention, as some of you already know, that I have a movie quoting problem! Apologies in advance or not if you enjoy!

Ok so back to the accountability stuff. So hopefully that works out. I would really love to rid myself of eating ice cream, chips, cookies, sweets, really junk food altogether. I mean I'm not a junk food junkie but I would like to rid myself of all of it. BUT I won't be giving up alcohol. Oh no! I love my wine too much to do that! So that won't be happening. Who knows maybe I won't be able to get rid of all junk/unhealthy food in my life but at least I can try. In addition, I would love for anyone to respond with fun healthy recipes or fun fitness activities or whatever! I'm sure my blog will not be entirely devoted to just health oriented topics but obviously is my main objective in making this blog! My real goal is lose about 10 lbs. I feel like I've done pretty well within the last two years of shedding some of that "I got too comfortable in my relationship" weight but I'm not exactly where I want to be quite yet. I'm not unhappy with where I am but I'm not exactly at my goal! I kind of let the weight loss/working out like a maniac take a back seat for the past 6 months because there were a lot of changes in my life but "Rule No. 76, No excuses, play like a champion." So it's time to get back in gear!

Of course I'll also be sharing other exciting details of my day to day! So stay tuned in! Also feel free to yell at me or express words of encouragement if I've been bad ;) Ok ciao for now!