T-giving recipe radar
Itโs definitely back to the grind over hereโฆ
[Egg sandwich + Larabar taken to work]
and it feels good ๐
I taught two classes (and assisted one) this morning, and am back home for a little lunch break before Zumba and Tubing.
This is what it looks like.. when a refrigerator cries
I scraped the topping off the leftover bnut squash pizza in the fridge onto some arugula, added chickpeas (some for Bella- she goes CRAZY for chickpeas), drizzled with balsamic, walnut oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. Considering what I had to work with, it was pretty amazing.
I knew we wouldnโt have time to grocery shop last night, and was very tempted to just get a โcouple of thingsโ when we stopped at the San Diego Whole Foods on our way home.
But I was good, since I could tell the Pilot was antsy to get on the roadโฆ and Iโm the slowest Whole Foods shopper ever. I like to look at everything just in case they got something new and exciting.
All I picked up was a perfect persimmon
[and a Perrier- I love the bubbles]
and the sandwich of my life.
I couldnโt believe that they had a full-up sandwich barโฆ it was a very legit Whole Foods. The Tucson ones hide in embarrassment.
I hid in embarrassment too because I was so distracted by said sandwich bar, I didnโt notice that they were filming a news segment right in front of my face. I quickly ducked awayโฆ and the Pilot made fun of me.
Worth it? 100%
Gluten-free bread with Dijon and hummus, romaine, lettuce, olives, jalapenos, roasted veggies, and goat cheese.
So crazy that Thanksgiving is exactly one week from today! Itโs a big deal over here, and Iโm so excited that the Pilot gets to have his first Thanksgiving with my family (heโs usually deployed).
Even though my family goes all out (my nana bakes a ridiculous amount of foodgasmic pies), I always like to contribute to the feast, too.
This year, weโll go cheer the Pilot on in the Turkey Trot,
head to madreโs for breakfast
[pumpkin pancakes and egg casserole!]
to my uncleโs house for lunch/dinner
golf
[the girls will usually follow, chat and take pictures]
poker + cocktails (non-alcoholic wine for me! Iโm so glad you guys let me know they actually make the stuff)
and back to our house for dessert.
I know I definitely want to make my favorite raw chocolate pie and millet stuffing,
but here are some other things I have on my recipe radar:
-Emilyโs sweet and sour Brussels sprouts
–Chai-spiked pumpkin shake <โthese would be so fun to have at our dessert party
–Sweet potato and pomegranate salad {minus the frisee. gag}
*I also have a healthified holiday menu on my Food page, and the single-serving pumpkin cheesecakes, too
Now the problem is decidingโฆ
What do you have on your recipe radar right now?
Off to Zumba!
xoxo
Gina
Todayโs workout jam: โPegateโ by Fulanito. This is the song I choreographed in the car yesterday, and while Iโve had it on the iPod for a while, I just love it SO MUCH. Hereโs a snippet if youโd like to dance along ๐
[Iโll try to get my choreo filmed and uploaded for you guys within the next couple of weeks]
My Zumba instructor has been using Pegate for a bit now and it’s such fun to dance to!
Your fridge has some delicious tears.
I’m having serious sandwich envy right now. I wish the Whole Foods near me had a sandwich bar! That looks amazing.
My dog also LOVES chickpeas. We have to be careful she doesn’t eat too many though – they make her kinda gassy. ๐
On my radar is making this gingerbread crust pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving with the fam AND one of the fabulous unique stuffing recipes I saw in the latest Cooking Light. Yuuuum!
I am obsessed with orange scented sweet potato, not too sweet casserole. Obsessed.
http://breakfasttobed.com/2011/10/28/creepy-gingers/
It sounds like you’re going to have a jam packed Thanksgiving! I hope its a blast! I’m making vegetarian stuffing and green beans and shallots!
Whole Foods can be pretty amazing. There is one in Chandler with a full wine and beer bar in addition to the sandwich bar, salad bar, bakery and deli. Pretty sure I could live there ๐
OMG a Whole Foods with a sandwich bar?! That’s awesome! Trust me, I can probably beat your record for being the slowest WF shopper. The employees there must think I’m very strange, but grocery shopping totally relaxes me and I could walk up and down those aisles for hours! We’ve already had our Canadian Thanksgiving, but that totally is not going to stop me from making some Thanksgiving-inspired recipes next week. Have a great afternoon Gina! ๐
Haha, I totally have the same problem as you, once in Whole Foods it is hard to get out! I am loving the persimmons right now too! So sweet and amazing. Looks like you are in for a real holiday feast my friend!!
We’re Larabar twins today! ๐
I’m always so jealous of everyone and their Whole Foods rendevous – none of em around here for me to waste all my money at (probably a good thing though).
This year is my first year cooking Thanksgiving…still working out my final menu. Eeek!
oooh that’s exciting! can’t wait to see pics ๐
xoxo
Love Thanksgiving eats. Last year I made a to-die-for sweet potato casserole but this year I’m thinking of sweet potato cheesecake. Definitely something new and different to try!
Yes! Please continue to post your Zumba songs! Living in Italy I don’t get enough access to Latin music and iTunes’ Latin charts are never a good way to discover danceable music ๐
I live 5 blocks from that WFs!!! I wish I could have seen you!
And WFs is a total timesuck..even when I want to be in and out, it sucks me in. I try not to set foot in it and go across the street to TJs instead. Also a timesuck but better for my wallet ๐
i wish i would have seen you too, friend! our trip was too short :/
We are going to be down south for Thanksgiving this year and are planning a family golf outing on turkey day morning. ๐ And a really nice, long 6-mile walk by the ocean. <3
I cannot wait to make Alton Brown’s sweet potato pie recipe with pecans on top and drizzled with maple syrup.
yes please!
love that the pilot is doing the turkey trot and you guys get to finally have thanksgiving together! that’s something to be thankful for. sounds like you have a fun packed day! I just had a pumpkin cookie my co-worker made… I’m sure you could come up with a Gina-fied version! She used this recipe minus the toffee. http://picky-palate.com/2011/11/14/pumpkin-toffee-chip-and-rolo-chunk-cookies/
Thanks for the new song to download ๐
The Whole Foods in Cincinnati is hiding in shame too!!! I wish my WF had a sandwich bar with gluten free bread. I’m dying to make gluten free ravioli… it’s been on my recipe radar for forever.
We are camping this year for Thanksgiving. It’s the first year living OCONUS that family has flown in for a visit or the husband hasn’t been deployed and we want to do it low key, just have fun with our kids. There’s another section of base housing 30 minutes away with awesome campsites. We’re premaking a few dishes (including whole foods apple/pumpkin combo pie and some sourdough and cornbread stuff with apples and sage sausage) and will cook whatever meats the husband picks over the campfire.
You’re so lucky to have so much amazing stuff near you! Lululemon won’t even ship here since have to utilize and FPO and I haven’t seen a whole foods or Trader Joe’s in over 3 years!
that sounds like a lovely way to celebrate!
I just did a similar post on my blog, and included your invdividual cheesecakes too! They look great! And really- who likes frisee? Ugh.
That veg sandwich sounds AMAZING.
chai spiked pumpkin shake? yes, please! thanks for your awesome meal ideas – i’m such a copycat when it come to your yummy dinners ๐
Smoking Crayolas Blogspot
That made me laugh so much about how The Pilot hates to grocery shop with you. Mine is the same. If we are out somewhere and I say .. something like ‘I need to pop in to the supermarket and get a few things’, the look of PAIN on his face nearly always makes me change my mind. What can I say? ‘A few things’ usually equals a full basket and I AM very slow in the organics section… I’ve done it to myself.
I’m in charge of Thanksgiving knishes (we spice up our feast with some traditional Jewish goodies), pumpkin trifle, and stuffing. Can’t. Freaking. Wait.
I’m glad you, the Pilot and the baby will all finally be together for Thanksgiving!
i need to eat a larabar! i haven’t had one in forever.
As for thanksgiving, ours has pasted, but i would love to celebrate again with lots of food… if only ๐
That is a great Whole Foods, the one in Tustin, CA is AMAZING!!! It even puts the new Flagship in Salt Lake to shame! I have heard that Tucson is getting a new Whole Foods so fingers crossed it will be Epic too. The best part of CA Whole Foods it the organic artisan bread they make… sooo good! I just bought my Thanksgiving things from Whole Foods today, all organic, the usual turkey, sweet potatoes (I make them sweet and savory with a cinnamon sugar butter with garlic salt and paprika and add sour cream and green onion), dressing (stuffing), cranberry sauce, and make spiced cider with vodka for the adults and non spiked for our son. For dessert pumpkin cheesecake, not a pie fan over here.
My WF doesn’t have a sandwich bar either! Why does California always get all the perks? ๐
Woot, that was some ghetto NASTY merengue! ๐ Can’t wait to see your choreo!
I’ve tired the non-alcoholic wine… I just want to caution you… have very low expectations. It’s nothing like the real stuff. Think of it like diet soda compared to the real stuff and your heart will not cry.
This is what it sounds like… when hearts cry…
Now THAT would be some awesome Zumba. I wonder if anyone has ever done it?
There’s a Whole Foods near me, but I’m scared to go in. I think I’ll get hooked! Judging by the looks of that sandwhich, I definitely would!*
uummmm. what does one DO with a persimmon? i would have NO clue how to eat one.
you eat it exactly like an apple! so good
I love persimmons!!!
I’ve been doing the same thing this week, trying to plan out what I want to make for Thanksgiving. There’s so many good recipes out there – is hard to decide what to make. I’m going to do a post tomorrow featuring some of my ideas.
You will love the curried pumpkin soup if you try it – it’s super creamy and delicious. ๐
I like fresh persimmons, but I LOVE dried persimmons. You have to try the “Just Persimmons” if you haven’t before, they look like mini sweet potato fries and they are so good.
A recipe I’m planning on bringing to the Tgiving feast this year is Smitten Kitchen’s Sweet Potato Medallions with Pecans and Goat Cheese. http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/11/sweet-potatoes-with-pecans-and-goat-cheese/
It sounds like it would be right up your alley, and it is soooooo easy and deliciious! I usually make a double batch of the filling and then stuff it into baked sweet potatoes, but the medallions look fancier for a party.
I can’t believe there’s a Whole Foods with a sandwich bar. That’s crazy! Over here, in Canada, one loaf of gluten-free bread can set you back almost $7. I bought a loaf of Udi’s, which really was like real bread, for $6.49.
Our Thanksgiving was a month ago and while it’s just me and my family, we like to go all out too. This year we had a giant turkey with all the trimmings along with a pumpkin pie and apple crumble. I absolutely love Thanksgiving, it’s right up there with my birthday and Halloween.
I love that song! ๐
I would really really like a sandwich bar in one of my WFs. My roommate and I have noticed we both submit to a phenomenon of winding up at Whole Foods for no reason. I used to shop for shoes, now I find myself scanning nut butter aisles and comparing vegan ice cream labels, I need an intervention!!
hahah! i will not be the person to give you that intervention ๐
Hi Gina – just started reading your blog and love it… my dad used to be an A-10 pilot so I know the life well and have a special place in my heart for the Warthog! I might have missed it, but will you be posting the millet stuffing recipe (or even just some of the ingredients)? Thanks!
aww i love that your dad was an a-10 pilot!
will definitely post the recipe ๐