Christmas Dinner in October

I really think I must be getting into the Holiday Spirit or something because I sort of noticed a theme in my eating throughout the day.  I started out with Thanksgiving for Breakfast then I moved onto Christmas for dinner.

I have to admit the concept of adding pumpkin my beloved oats has scared me for a long time. But, I did it!  I finally broke down and braved “Pumpkin Oats”. 

1/2 c Quaker Old Fashioned Oats

1 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 c water

Splash of Vanilla Extract

BIG Dashes of Cinnamon

Sprinkle of Salt

1/4 c pumpkin stirred in at the end

Prepped my oats on the stove.

Toppings:

1/2 Tbsp TJ’s Pumpkin Butter stirred in and 1/2 on top

Unsweetened Organic Coconut Snow

1 Tbsp freshly ground almond butter

It was actually pretty tasty.  When I first dug in I thought hmmmm, pumpkin pie (which I don’t really like), but, it was good.  Towards the end of the bowl though I was getting tired of the flavor.  Maybe these would be better as a pancake?

Mid morning I snacked on an Organic 0% Oikos Honey Greek Yogurt with a sprinkle of Trader Joe’s Low-Fat Granola.  I LOVE this yogurt…might be my favorite Oikos flavor.

The Husband decided to surprise me with lunch today from his favorite sandwich shop Joe’s Buffet.  I LOVE this place too because pretty much everything is homemade.  He made sure to get my veggies in by bringing me a green salad with oil & vinegar & spices.

Then, one of HIS favorite sandwiches ~ called Joe’s Special. He knows I can usually only eat 1/2 of my sandwich since they are totally loaded and he eats the other.  He isn’t big on turkey…but, I am not going to turned down a fantastic roast beef/pastrami sandwich with jack cheese, mustard and veggies.  They give you a gravy for dipping too ~ it was AMAZING!

The highlight of today was FUN mail!  Today I received my new Weight Watchers Magazine, Cooking Light (Thanks ~ Time, Inc!) and Trader Joe’s Fearless flyer.  This is a bad thing when I get TJ’s flyer because I almost ALWAYS find new things that I HAVE to buy 🙂

I absolutely LOVE Cooking Light magazine and often get several of my recipes ideas from their magazine and website.  The really COOL thing about Cooking Light is that you can check out almost ALL of their magazine topics online HERE and you can get all their recipes online for FREE HERE. 

However, sometimes a girl just needs to have pages to flip and pictures to look at versus seeing everything on the computer.  Check out some of the cool features ~ this fits right into my whole farmer’s market obsession!

Plus a few recipes that made me DROOL just by flipping the pages.  I am pretty sure I’ll be making ALL of these….don’t they look AMAZING!

After drooling over all the pictures, I decided I needed a snack. Ok, maybe I didn’t NEED one, but, I wanted one :)  I had picked up these Maple Leaf Cookies for The Husband at Trader Joe’s since he is a total maple donut freak.

I am such a sucker for cookies with FROSTING in the middle.  These are totally packed and worth the entire 110 calories (3 WWP) per cookie!

Janetha got me thinking this past week about trying to work on using what I have in the house.  Ok, so she wants to have less to move, but, I think I just have WAY too much food in our house for TWO people :)  So, I am challenging myself to see if I can use up as much as I can in our freezer, shelves, etc for the next month before our cruise.  I will supplement with staples, fruit and veggies, but, i want to see if I can work down our TWO freezers full of stuff.

This morning I pulled out this Beef Cross Rib Roast that I got awhile back when they were on sale (4 lbs for $5).  The Husband calls these the S&M roasts since they are all tied up in string – ha!  I have only ever used these to make Chimi Changas or Burritos. I decided to just take a basic “roast” beef approach.

I seasoned both sides generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Then, seared them in a little olive oil to get them browned and crusty.

While they were searing I chopped up some fresh rosemary and garlic ~ about 1 Tbsp each.

Then, I put a baggie over my hand (because I HATE my hands smelling like garlic) and rubbed the garlic/rosemary all over both sides.

Baked in the oven at 325 for 1 1/2 hours (medium) and 2 hours (well done).  SO easy, right.  As the roast cooks the pot fills with a ton of juice.  I removed the roast and let it rest for 10 minutes while I made up a graving.  I added 1 Tbsp corn starch with 2 Tbsp milk, 3 Tbsp Merlot Wine and a sprinkle of sugar to make a thick savory gravy to pour over the top.

Thinly slice up and top with your savory herb gravy ~ delish!

The Husband helped out cooking dinner tonight.  I have to remember when I make meals just for him (AKA BEEF), he LOVES to jump in the kitchen to help out – NOTE TO SELF!

When he was cutting up the veggies for our salad, he said our pepper has a BABY!  He felt guilty cutting it up and removing the baby although he said he did ponder trying to eat it too.  He is TOO FUNNY!

FANTASTIC salad a la The Husband with my help a little.

TJ’s Herby Organic Spring Lettuce Mix

Organic Persian Cucumbers

Organic Red Bell Pepper

Organic Avocado

Organic Red & Yellow Tomatoes

Toasted Organic Almond Slivers

I topped mine with Trader Joe’s Low Fat Cranberry Gorgonzola Walnut dressing. I think this is my favorite new combo.

He also decided he didn’t want mashed potatoes but “fried” potatoes.  He cut up 7 taters (he’s crazy!) and I “fried” them up in 2 Tbsp Canola Oil with garlic salt and pepper.

Steamed Green Beans with a kiss of real butter, garlic salt and freshly ground pepper.

All together ~ I was seriously STUFFED after eating all of this.

We shared with his mom and took her a plate too since we had enough to feed an army.  After dinner we were both like we totally just had a Christmas dinner or something.

We have a FUN weekend planned this weekend and I am so excited about it.  Saturday we are relaxing and doing a few house projects before we meet our friends for dinner at Texas Road House!!! LOVE that place but I MUST resist not stealing and eating all their awesome rolls!  Sunday we are heading up to see my parents and go to Apple Hill ~ probably my favorite place on Earth. I only torture The Husband once a year and drag him there 🙂

Have an awesome Saturday all!