Thanksgiving Y'all!

Friends and Family,
 I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday! I felt so blessed to share it with some great people yesterday! Seriously, I haven't eaten that much in one sitting in years. Thanksgiving is the one day a year where I don't necessarily "practice what I preach" as a dietitian! Ha. Since we were all Memphis transplants from across the US and abroad, the table conversation was so entertaining! There was definitely some time spent defining the terms "hot mess", "djeetyet" (did you eat yet?),  "bless her heart", and the many meanings behind "mmhmm" (it's all about inflection!). Geneveive and Stanton were such gracious hosts. I had a wonderful time!

 

The Menu...

The table is set!

Yum!!!!

My favorite part of any meal... dessert!

I do need to brag on Will. He made traditional roasted red pepper chile sauce for the turkey which everyone just raved about! It complemented the smoked turkey perfectly. (That's right, I ate a little turkey this year - I can have one cheat day. Plus I had never had smoked turkey before... it was delicious!) Hope you all had a tasty Thanksgiving!

Current Obsession: Winter Squash and Kale

Have you all been enjoying this glorious Fall weather as much as I have? I hope so! Do you know what else is glorious? Farmers market fresh kale and winter squash of course! I can't even recall how many people I have seen blog about the versatility and wholesomeness of kale. No wonder, it is quite a nutrition powerhouse packed full of fiber and vitamins A, C, and K! I picked up a huge bunch of it at the market this past weekend and immediately made a "massaged kale salad" inspired by this "Go-To Kale Salad" by Oh She Glows. It turned out really well! I "massaged" about half of the bunch of kale I bought and kept it in the fridge in my salad spinner. Whenever I wanted another salad, I just added toppings to that kale base. Yum!

Massaged Kale Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 Large bunch kale, rinsed and patted dry
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 apple, chopped
- 5-6 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/4 cucumber, chopped
- 1 oz. cheddar cheese, cubed
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- Pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Chop the kale and toss with olive oil and vinegar in a large bowl. Rub the oil into the leaves a bit with your hands.
2. Take out a handful of the kale and toss with the other ingredients. Serve!
3. Store the rest of the massaged kale in the fridge; lasts about 2-3 days.

Sunday, I was in the mood to finally tackle the chopping and roasting of all of the winter squash I had. Again, I was inspired by the Oh She Glows blog to try out this squash called, delicata. Apparently you can eat the skin on these ones because it softens so much when you cook them. What?! I had to try them, so I was excited to see that they had them at the farmers market on Saturday. Yipee! I'm totally going back this week to buy at least 5 more. Haha.


From front to back: Delicata squash, acorn squash, and butternut squash!

Roasted and ready to eat!!!

These roasted squash were so simple and delicious! My will-power was sure tested as I tried not to eat the entire plate at one sitting! The butternut squash isn't in this pile because I cubed it and roasted it separately to add to some lentils I made later. However, you could have used the same method to prep it as the others.

Roasted Winter Squash
Ingredients:
-1 Delicata squash, seeds removed and sliced
-1 Acorn squash, seeds removed and sliced
-1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
-Salt to season
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Toss squash, oil and syrup in large bowl. Once sqaush covered well in olive oil, spread in single layer on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt.
3. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until squash is soft and starting to brown around the edges. Serve warm as is or chilled and tossed onto a salad.

I've begun to really enjoy baking and prepping lots of big dishes on Sunday afternoon so I have food to easily just heat and eat or pack in my lunch the rest of the week. Now, go out and get yourself some kale and winter squash!

Healthy Thanksgiving Survival Guide

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! I know I'm looking forward to it. :-) In order to get yourself ready for the holiday eating frenzy, I thought I would share this helpful little article I wrote up for a work newsletter!

Photo courtesy of myrecipes.com

"Just imagine, the dining table is set with the best china and the tastiest dishes of the season.  The turkey is roasted to perfection and flanked by creamy mashed potatoes and green bean casserole;  crunchy, sweet potato casserole sits beside the cranberry sauce; homemade pies like pumpkin, apple, and decadent pecan are all piled high with clouds of creamy whipped topping. Are you drooling yet? The holidays are such a wonderful time of the year! With so much delicious food around, it is no wonder weight loss is at the top of everyone's New Year's resolutions. Is it possible to enjoy all of our favorite, festive holiday foods without adding inches to our waists? YES! Here is a guide on how to savor the flavors of the season without falling off the diet band hay wagon.

• Before heading to the table to "dig in", drink a glass of water. Drinking a full glass of water can make you feel less hungry at the start, so you keep your portions in control.
• Try starting your meal with a large salad. Filling up on low calorie vegetables means you are less likely to overeat the rich foods at the rest of the meal.
• Control your portions! By serving yourself appropriate portions of your favorite dinner dishes, you can save yourself a lot of calories. Try using a smaller plate so it looks full without distorting portion sizes.
• Make only one trip to the dinner table. Fill your plate with all of your holiday favorites. Eat slowly and enjoy each bite.
• Skip the dinner roll! You will save yourself up to 150 Calories (roll + butter) by doing just that. Just think, to burn that extra 150 Calories you’d have to walk at a brisk pace for at least 35 minutes!
• Bring your own healthier versions of side dishes to share. For example, a cup of steamed green beans seasoned with garlic and pepper have only 44 Calories and no fat. Compared that to the 110 Calories and 8 grams of fat in only 2/3 cup of green bean casserole.
• For dessert, go ahead and enjoy a slice your most favorite homemade pie. However, just limit yourself to one slice. The one pie to watch out for? Pecan! One slice (1/8 of a 9" pie) contains 503 Calories and 27 grams of fat compared to the 316 Calories and 14 grams of fat in a piece of pumpkin. You can save almost 200 calories by choosing the pumpkin!

Now, here's an example of how to implement these tips for the actual Thanksgiving day meal.

The Usual	The Improved Healthy Twist
6 oz. Roasted Turkey = 230 kcals, 1.2 g fat 1 cup Mashed Potatoes = 237 kcals, 8.8 g fat 2/3 cup Green Bean Casserole = 110 kcals, 8 g fat ¼ cup Cranberry Sauce = 110 kcals, 0 g fat ½ cup Turkey Gravy = 125 kcals, 5.7 g fat 2 oz. Stuffing = 320 kcals, 2 g fat 1 cup Sweet Potato Casserole = 235 kcals, 11 g fat 1 Dinner roll = 84 kcals, 2 g fat 2 pats butter = 72 kcals, 8.1 g fat	1 ½ cup tossed salad = 33 kcals, 0 g fat 2 tbsp Italian dressing = 86 kcals, 8.3 g fat 3 oz. Roasted Turkey = 115 kcals, 0.6 g fat ¼ cup Cranberry Sauce = 110 kcals, 0 g fat ½ cup Green Bean Casserole = 57 kcals, 4.2 g fat ½ cup Sweet Potato Casserole = 117 kcals, 5.5 g fat ½ cup mashed potatoes = 119 kcals, 4.4 g fat 1 oz. Stuffing = 160 kcals, 2.9 g fat ½ cup Turkey Gravy = 125 kcals, 5.7 g fat
Grand total for meal = 1523 kcals, 46.8 g fat	Grand total for meal = 922 kcals, 31.6 g fat

 As you can see, starting your meal with a large salad  will help you eat less of the more rich dishes in the meal without feeling deprived. In the end, you can eat up to 600 calories less at the meal; that's equal to a double bacon cheeseburger!

One more thing to keep in mind? Don’t let all this calorie counting get you down. Remember, the real reason for the season is to enjoy quality time with family and friends and reflect on the things in your life that you are truly thankful for; not worrying about every calorie that you eat. :-)"

Views from the Weekend

I was happy to have a long weekend - many, many thanks to my friends, family, coworkers, and patients who are Veterans! The weather was just gorgeous this weekend here in Memphis so, I made sure to enjoy it as much as possible! Lots of running and bike riding for sure. :-) Our bike ride on Sunday with our friend, Geneveive, turned into quite an adventure when a rain storm popped up! I was happy to be home again in warm clothes for my introduction to Battlestar Galactica. I can't say that I'm hooked yet... but maybe in a few more episodes I will be!

Downtown Dining Week at South of Beale - Apple Cobbler with
Jack Daniels sauce. Yum!

Biking through Overton Park to the Victorian Village event!

Classic Souther Picnic Foods at the Victorian Village!
Catfish, hush puppies, coleslaw, potato salad and
cobbler!

The Main Event - Newly Remodeled!
It's gorgeous!

Fall truly is my favorite time of year! I've been so happy to finally welcome skinny jeans, hot oatmeal, chai tea, and scarves back in to my life. That's not to say I haven't learned to love summery dresses since I've moved down South! (Which I seem to have started to accumulate more of than anything else in my wardrobe - haha!)
The work week has started off well so far with a fun Memphis Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics meeting on Social Media this morning and a baby shower for my coworker Jackie this afternoon. I tried my hand at making buckeyes for the first time for the shower. Gosh, I had forgetten that they are so delicious!!

Photo compliments of: http://partyinthepantry.blogspot.com/2009/11/buckeye-candy-good-stuff.html