Mealplan Monday #222

I am cleaning out the freezer yet again this week and using up dabs of stuff

Monday - Roast, mashed potatoes, green beans (need to cook up some potatoes before they go bad)
Tuesday - Pot o' beans with turkey legs, biscuits (also adding in some mire poix that's been in there a while..)
Wednesday - Thanksgiving dressing with pork sausage added, Sunshine Corn, carrots
Thursday - One Pot Pasta (using up some bell peppers, 1/2 a package of elbow macaroni, sketti sauce), zucchini
Friday - Chicken and rice bowls with 1/2 a bag of frozen peas added, Hawaiian crescent rolls
Saturday - Who knows - I'm on call unless someone will take it for me, then I will go to a winery pick-up with Hubby and eat fajitas!
Sunday - Ba$tard BBQ, sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows (baked too many sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving), turnip greens
Dessert this week will be Cranberry oat bars as I have oodles of cranberry sauce left!

Gina

6 thing Friday - headwear, marmalade, Westcave, deer, Adelbert's, kid tree

I ordered a cute headband for The Girl and I to wear for the turkey trot:

 Silly and colorful and fun!  Hubby wore a turkey hat.  We three were stylin'.

On one of my favorite blogs, the author talked about making jam out of peach peels - sounded very depression era and intriguing.  So after I squeezed all of the juice out of my mandarin oranges for cranberry sauce, I boiled down the tiny strips of peel and pulp, added sugar, and made my own delicious orange marmalade! 

We took The Girl to Westcave Cellars last Sunday for Pig Pickin's and wine to enjoy along with a live band. They had a firepit that kept us warm and everyone was so friendly.  Tomorrow is their wine club pick-up party and the menu of bacon wrapped smoked tenderloin makes my heart skip a beat.

 A minivan loaded with field-dressed deer on their way to processing...only in Burnet.

 

 Hubby and I took ourselves out last Saturday and bought some fish and chips from the food trailer parked out front of a brewery.  Hubby also struck up a conversation with the master brewer who happened by and managed a pull of their soon to be released Cuvee coffee porter.  It was smooth and delightful and I'm sure we will be back when they release it.  They feature local art, too:

See that shape of Texas made of corks?  I want to make one.

We were dog tired at the end of Sunday, but while the turkey soup was simmering along we managed to get the kids' tree decorated.  Lucky for me I figured out the secret of storing this tree:  keep it in the garage with all of its light still attached.

And here we are, at yet another weekend!

Gina

The tree is up!

The looks on my peeps faces would suggest they did not enjoy this annual tradition of going to the tree farm on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  But they weren't coerced, and they love a real tree!

We arrived around 11 a.m., and just like the day before, it was cloudy and cool, with no rain which was great.  Teddy is the most excited member of this tree-hunting team!

We found the perfect tree in record time, and though it was their absolute busiest day of the season, the lines and crowds weren't terrible.  They shake the tree out, bag it, and give you a ticket so you know you are getting the tree you cut down.

We took it home, got it trimmed and in water, ate leftovers, then the decorating stalled.  Everyone was so tired, though, so we let the front room sit like this for a while while we took naps and generally did nothing.

But later on, we got it done and the front room was ready to usher in the holidays.   

It's not as big a tree as last year's, but still fairly full and pretty and smells amazing.  We also got the kids' tree up, too. Camp Rustown is a pretty and calm place to land at the end of our workday!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #221

Monday - Chicken Mole, rice, green beans
Tuesday - Beefy Shells Pasta, peas and carrots
Wednesday - Grilled Havaarti and salami with knock-off Chik-Fil-A Superfood Salad
Thursday - BBQ Skillet Pork Chops, mac and cheese, broccoli
Friday - Tilapia, 7 grains, Asian chopped salad
Saturday - Crockpot Beef Stew
Sunday - Eggs, biscuits and cream sausage gravy, fruit cocktail salad

Gina

Turkey Day re-cap

I'm feeling a little pooped after yesterday's fun and frolicking - sometimes Thanksgiving wears me out!  So, while Hubby is currently fixing some kind of scrambled eggs for us to enjoy with leftover birthday cake and other desserts, here is the re-cap:  

After putting the bird in the oven, and having coffee and bagels, we went downtown for Turkey Trot along with 20,000 of our closest friends.

 

 A little cloudy, cool, no rain.

Waiting for our start time on the Lavaca Street bridge, I took a shot of the thousands of humans behind me.  Then after that, I paid attention to navigating through the ones in front of me as I started. After you get past mile two, the crowds thin a little - the serious runners are far ahead and every now and then a small group would run zig-zagging through the crowd.

 I paused now and again to get a shot.  The above photo is shortly after the three mile mark, when I thought I would never make it another 2 miles.  The below photo looks out over Mopac.

 I thought Town Lake was really pretty and Fall-ish:

 We finished up around 1145, and were home by noon!  

I took one photo of my humans in the kitchen as I made side dishes for lunch.  We had some really good sangria and an apricot and brie appetizer that I will definitely make again!

 

 I lit the candles, we decanted the wine, and proceeded to have a lovely Thanksgiving meal.  We each said what we were thankful for, Hubby said grace, and we spent the afternoon napping, taking a walk to the greenbelt for photos, and playing cards.  Somewhere in there, we also managed to enjoy a firepit, but I had put my phone down, opting to live in the moment, not the photos.

And today, if we can get moving,  we will get the Christmas tree up and enjoy some pulled pork.  
Happy beginning of the holiday season!

Gina

Simple 2018 Thanksgiving table

I hadn't really planned out the Thanksgiving table until this morning.

I just figured I would throw it together and not stress it...and you know what?  It worked out great!

 

 Done.  I think that with all of our smiling faces lit by candle glow, it will be a beautiful dinner scene!  And now I'm off to bake a pie or two and munch on some chex mix, 'cause it's also my birthday today!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #220

Monday - Grilled Cheese sammies, soup
Tuesday - Texas style pork chops, mac and cheese, peas
Wednesday - Ordering pizza out so we can prep Thanksgiving meal*
Thursday - ALL OF OUR FAVORITE FOODS!!
Friday - Pulled Pork in the crockpot with potato salad, chips, etc.
Saturday - Turkey Soup, rolls
Sunday - Oven Baked Chicken, mashed potatoes, salad

Gina