Not-your-Grandma's Deviled Eggs

My husband requested deviled eggs as part of our Thanksgiving meal. I always thought deviled eggs were more of an Easter thing, but they are easy to make, so I threw some together.

Ingredients:
12 hard boiled eggs
4 oz of Neufchatel cheese
3 Tbsp mayo
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp paprika

1. Cut eggs in half lengthwise. Remove yolks; place in medium bowl. Add cheese, mayo, mustard, vinegar and sugar. Mix until well blended (I whip in stand mixer).

2. Spoon mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Snip a small opening in one of the lower corners of the bag.

3. Use the bag to pipe the filling into the egg whites. Sprinkle with paprika.

Super yummy. The kids just can't get enough of these. I usually end up making two dozen at a time.

$100 Cranberry Apricot Pie

Okay, so this pie doesn't cost $100 to make. But I did make it for a fund raiser for the Christian School in Kodiak, Alaska, where it was sold on auction for a winning bid of $95. Yes indeed, it was one of the highest priced deserts that night. Funny thing is that I donated the same pie to another auction the following weekend, and the same family won the pie again, this time for around $70. It really is that good!

Ingredients:
1 double pie crust
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
3 (16 oz) cans of apricots - drained, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 egg white
1 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1. Roll pie crust out in pie plate.

2. Combine sugar, corn starch, 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, salt in mixing bowl. Add apricots and cranberries, stir to combine. Pour into pie crusted pie plate.

3. Roll out top crust. Paint 1/2 crust with egg white mixed with milk, brush the other half of the crust with the remaining sugar mixed with pumpkin pie spice. Use mini-cookie cutters to cut shapes out of both sides of pie crust.

4. Brush edge of bottom pie crust with egg white mixture to act as a glue for dough shapes. Alternate egg white painted shapes with pumpkin pie spice/sugar sprinkled shapes around the pie crust. Decorate center of pie with any remaining shapes.

5. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes.

This is my husband's favorite pie. Ever.

Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

3 c. flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

6 large mashed bananas

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2/3 c. melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all wet ingredients. Mix all dry ingredients. Mix both mixtures together. Really, it's that easy.

3. Bake for 25 minutes.

Makes 48 mini muffins.

Blackberry Coffee Cake

Grandpa got back in town on Sunday night bearing gifts of fruit. He brought back a big container of blackberries and tells me they were sent with love from Aunt Oida in Atlanta, Georgia. This morning for breakfast, I stirred the blackberries with strawberries in some vanilla yogurt and granola. The kids were thrilled. But I still had a small mountain of blackberries to use.

Ingredients:

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 tsp. butter

1. Sift together first five ingredients, and put in large mixing bowl; cut in butter until mixture looks crumbly.

2. In another bowl, mix together eggs, milk and vanilla, pour over flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

3. Spread in greased baking dish (I used an 8x8 square dish), top with berries.

4. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and 2 tsp butter, mix with fork until crumbly. Add nuts to mixture. Sprinkle on top of cake.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*Important to note here, I accidentally used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour. I still thought the cake came out fantastic and probably would use bread flour again in the future - it was nice and light, not a heavy/gluey cake, but more of a light cake.

30 Day Shred and other stuff

I'm hopping the bandwagon filled with fabulous women I know that are all doing the 30 day shred workout by Jillian Michaels. I purchased the DVD yesterday after my "woe is me" moment of being angry at the world. With the help of some great comments both here and a Coast Guard spouses message board, I realized a few things...

Most importantly, the blessing to see in my possibly husbandless Thanksgiving is that after all we've been through the past many months, I actually care enough to be upset that he's not going to be here. That might not make much sense to many other people that haven't been to that scary place that we once were at. Clarissa's comment really brought that to my attention, so thank you, Clarissa for clarifying that very important point.

Another issue is that I deserve to treat myself better. I really fell into some unhealthy habits when Keith got sick. I was eating hospital food for weeks at a time which meant things like spaghetti or grilled cheese and french fries. Mostly because by the time I would feel comfortable leaving Keith's bedside, he would be asleep and the healthier options in the hospital cafeteria would be already closed down for the night. I'm sure if the kids were with me at the hospital, I would have worked harder to find better meals, but when it's just me, I tend to be fine with a granola bar and coffee. And by eating very little all day, meant I was so ravenous by the evenings, that I ate really bad things and lots of them.

Anyway, while picking up a few Christmas presents at Target yesterday, I realized I had a some money left in the budget to buy the 30 Day Shred. Funny how I was thinking the same thing that Amber posted on her blog - there's about 30 days between now and Christmas, I'm going to start the workout now and my Christmas gift will be the results. Surprisingly, even though I am rather vain and would like to stop tucking my belly into my pants and watching my arms flapping in the breeze when I play basketball with my oldest. The real present is actually taking the time to do the work out. Will I actually be able to block out the crazy world that is my house every other day for 30 minutes to spend some time on myself? Gosh, I almost feel guilty, but then I remember how worth it I am.

And I did try the workout today. I think I maybe completed 2/3 of the first 20 minute workout, because I did have to stop to rest. A big thank you to everyone who recommended it. I really like the different style of this work out.

Put down the Oreos

Let me start by saying that I don't ordinarily buy Oreo cookies. I purchased them to crush for the base of a dessert that I was making, and so I had some left over in the pantry. Usually such delectable things don't cross our thresh hold.

I'm just having one of those days that I could stand in front of the pantry and eat, eat, eat to try to feel better. Hubby was supposed to be on medical leave until December 1st. However, he got a call today from the base telling him that he's basically had enough time to heal and that he needs to report back to work on Wednesday. That would be the day before Thanksgiving. While I do agree that he's probably in okay shape to return to some working conditions, I think the timing of it pretty much sucks. I mean, really, if one of the base docs writes for him to be home until Dec 1st and that time includes a traditionally big family holiday, wouldn't you think we'd make plans as a family? So Wednesday the hubby has an appointment on base to get his "going back to work paperwork" squared away by a different doctor than that one that has been following him.

I guess I'm just bothered that we made plans actually following the rules. I actually allowed myself to get excited that we were going to spend Thanksgiving together as a family. This was/is important to me. We just bought our "forever" house, we are finally near extended family and we are finally functioning as a normal family unit after our dang-near divorce last winter. It's kindof like the first big holiday in our new not-falling-apart life. I let myself get excited about the holiday and I got let down big-time. Usually how the holidays work is that I don't get excited. I adapt a mindset of "if he's here, then he's here". But this year it was in the bag - he had the paperwork that said he was going to be here and we had made plans to cook together, do crafts with the kids together, go for a family walk...you guessed it...together.

I'm also bothered that there is now a new doctor in the mix of this medical mess. Really? Do we need one more person trying to get involved in this? I realize that his case is pretty cool and that there are a lot of higher ranking people going out of their way to help us probably because they, too, get a little recognition for their efforts. Not to sound too cynical, because we have gotten quite a bit of genuine help, too. But I can't help but wonder why someone who has not been a part of this medical case in the 5 months that it's been going on, is all of a sudden trying to take charge.

I applied for a job that I was pretty excited about. Except for the hubby, I didn't tell anyone about it. Today, a human resource person called me to let me know that she thinks the job is being filled but that she is passing my resume and cover letter along because I am a great fit for the job. Yeah, I know I'm a great fit for the job, but it doesn't do any good if the job is filled. *sigh* I'm feeling really grumpy.

I did stand in front of the pantry and eat 3 Oreos before I made dinner. I put them away because it's not worth undoing everything that I'm working so hard to do. Plus, I'd rather save my points for the wine I'm sure I'll be drinking tonight after the kids go to bed.

Sweet Potatoe Casserole

I didn't get a picture because I was running out the door! If I take pictures again on Thanksgiving you'll get a delicious peek at this yummy southern dish.

I calculated this dish at 5 points for 1/2 cup serving size. And that's when I decided that it really will be okay if I just forget about WW for one day. Since I mostly eat good anyway, it's more the exercise portion that I really need to emphasize and I plan to try to sneak more exercise in this week surrounding the food frenzy (er, I mean Thanksgiving holiday).

Ingredients:
6 med sweet potatoes
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. melted butter
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1 c. packed dk brown sugar
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. melted butter
1 c. chopped pecans

1. Cover sweet potatoes with one inch water. Boil for 20 minutes, drain, allow to cool, remove skins.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 quart dish.

3. Place potatoes in mixer (I *heart* my mixer!), beat on low until potatoes begin to break up. Increase speed to medium high and mix until smooth.

4. Reduce speed to low, add sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, eggs and salt. Mix well.

5. Pour into casserole dish.

6. Prepare topping in a small bowl - I usually double the ingredients and make lots of topping. I also like to use the butter cold and chopped into cubes and cut into the flour mixture to make a crumbly topping that I can sprinkle over the sweet potatoes.

Bake for 40 minutes.

It is not Thanksgiving for my husband unless we serve this dish. I'm not sure how close to his mother's recipe this dish is, but it's definately delicious!