November 13, 2008

Gaining weight and still dreaming of Thanksgiving

Work is crazy – haven’t had a chance to write the second headphone review. If I don’t post by tonight, the contest deadline for a free set will definitely not be until at least Monday end-of-day, because I know the weekend is where posts go to die and I don’t want to exclude anyone.

I am gaining weight like crazy (see how disgustingly much I gained in just the first week of Swap Meet). I’m relying on this weekend’s Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa to fix that, but it can’t undo all the damage I did last weekend for Boyfriend’s birthday. Night of drinking for roomie’s bday + day of eating and drinking for Boyfriend’s roommate’s bday + afternoon eating batter and frosting when my surprise two layer German chocolate cake was falling apart and looked horrendous + night of eating and drinking for Boyfriend’s bday + day of eating incredible brunch with Boyfriend’s family for continued celebrations the next day = one totally failed weekend.

I’ve been working out a decent amount this week – two hours on the elliptical on Tues, one hour last night – but I’m not really going too light with my food. Yesterday I was all set to be good for lunch, but then I got hit with some BS about 5 minutes before, which pushed me to eat pizza to make myself feel better (granted, it was whole wheat crust that I made him go very light on the cheese and very heavy on the veggies, but still). If that isn’t emotional eating, I don’t know what is.

But since I’m so focused on food, let’s talk about my second favorite holiday of the year: Thanksgiving!!! (My favorite is Valentine’s Day, even when I’m single, because I am a total romantic). I’m going to be in Atlanta for Thanksgiving to run the marathon in the morning and then have dinner with my cousins at night. One of them is basically Martha Stewart (she’s perfect in just about every way and I strive to be like her – think Bree Hodge but actually more perfect and without all the crazy), so I’m expecting great things. Then Friday I fly back to New York, and on Saturday I’m hosting Thanksgiving at my apartment for Boyfriend and my mom! Boyfriend’s family is out of town and he’ll prob have to work on Thanksgiving, so this is his only Thanksgiving dinner and I want it to be perfect.

I love cooking for and preparing Thanksgiving. Last year I did most of it for a big dinner at my mom’s house, but was frustrated when other people brought dishes or tried to help (and obviously did it wrong). This year I get to be all power trippy and do it exactly the way I want! Thanksgiving food is my favorite “cuisine” – back at school, I would go to Collegetown Bagel year round to order the “Maggie’s Farm” sandwich, which was roasted turkey breast with spinach and cranberry sauce served on cornbread. Insider tip: it is no longer on the menu but they will make it if you ask.

Anyway, point is I’m obsessed with Thanksgiving food, and I’ve already made a list of dishes I want to include… unfortunately it is way too long for just three people. I’ve starred the items that are absolutely unnegotiable, but the rest are all things I’d still be really reluctant to give up. Assuming I don’t mind having tons of leftovers, how much more do I need to cut this list down? I’ve divided it into categories to make it easier to plan.

Starter:
*Asparagus soup
Butternut squash soup

Main:
*Turkey
*Gravy
*Cranberry sauce

Starchy sides:
*Apple sausage stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Rice pilaf
Cornbread

Veggie sides:
Roasted root vegetables
Collard greens
Green bean casserole

Dessert:
Apple pie
Pumpkin cheesecake
Butterscotch tapioca pudding
Tawny port

After reviewing all that, all I have to say is it’s a good thing I am running a marathon the day before – I may have to run one that night as well. Alternately, with the way I am fattening up, it might be better to stuff and serve myself 🙂

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25 thoughts on “Gaining weight and still dreaming of Thanksgiving”

  1. Hey Laura!!

    Good to hear you’re still coming to Tulsa this weekend. I’m stationed at mile 22 3/4. Just as you are about to enter Woodward Park. I’ll be directing runners there.

    Just an FYI, this is the beginning of the hills. There is a pretty good hill at the entrance to that park.

    Good luck and I hope to see you there.

  2. I do not know how you go two hours on the elliptical!!

    I love Valentines day too (even when I am single) cause its just a day to appreciate everyone you “love” even if its not the gushy mushy I cant live without you stuff.

    You must have mashed potatoes!! and apple pie!!

  3. I was going to say the same thing as J… I just about die of boredom after 30 minutes on ANY cardio machine.

    Your menu has me drooling, and kind of sad that Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone. 🙁

    Good luck on your run this weekend! Safe travels.

  4. Oooooo I LOVE Thanksgiving! Second only to Christmas. I can’t wait to eat. YUM-O!

    Thanks for the linky chica! Love me some deals LOL I’m bummed that you won’t be able to do the Turkey Trot! I think it will probably be the best chance if I’m ever going to Shave My 5k LOL Nice flat course, right?

  5. Did you say 2 hours on the elliptical?? Omg, that is crazy! How do you stay on it for so long? And where do you do it? Not at the gym?!?!?! That would drive me batty! And I did see your results on the Swap Beat and totally puzzled on the 3% gain that you had. It makes sense now! Your Thanksgiving menu looks awesome, btw. How are you going to manage all that with just 3 people??? Good luck with the Tulsa marathon this weekend!!

  6. other than the part where you’re insane (and I share that insanity, I did the same last year for me, my husband & his friend), I would suggest you stick to the following menu – you’ll still have TONS of leftovers:

    Starter:
    *Asparagus soup (I’d actually skip the soup altogether, but you said non-negotiable)

    Main:
    *Turkey
    *Gravy
    *Cranberry sauce

    Starchy sides: – you can’t have T-day without stuffing & mashed potatoes – last year I made mashed sweet potatoes so I wouldn’t have quite so many potato products, and that was awesome (they were great with gravy)
    *Apple sausage stuffing
    Mashed potatoes
    Sweet potatoes

    Veggie sides:
    Green bean casserole – no question!

    Dessert: –
    I’d just do one dessert – and if I were you, I’d do your favorite 🙂

  7. I would keep all of it 🙂 left overs are good. No, they didn’t mention the drinking, I don’t think, but they did show the costumes. Really cute. OMG- I know I HATE Vicky. She sickens me. I hope the whole Blue team goes (except Amy). They are so mean spirited. And why doesn’t Phil deserve to be there as they keep saying? Also for ANTM- I say McKy and Annalee final two, McKy wins. (Doesn’t mean much now, but my husband is proud I’ve been predicting this since the start..) and all those b**ches said Annalee wouldn’t make it far…

  8. Sounds yummy! I totally get the food thing and wrote about it in my blog titled “padlock the fridge”…I bet you will have a great meal! Jessica (www-sole-mama.blogspot.com)

  9. YUMMM that all looks delicious 🙂 my thanksgiving favs are stuffing and green bean casserole! oh and mashed potatoes too 🙂 YUM!!

    i am the same way… i have a christmas party every year and i hate getting help! i want to do it all – control freak!

    good luck this weekend! i didnt realize you were running – yay!!

  10. wow, that’s food overkill. if you make even half of those dishes, no one will want desert. so, just get one desert (besides the port, of course). alchol is always a good call:-) i think you should cut the menu in half.

  11. Yum! How fab that you are doing a marathon on Thanksgiving morning! I’m kind of jealous.

    Also, how the heck do you do 2 hours on an elliptical? Seriously, what is your secret? Do you watch TV? Crank your ipod? I can’t believe you don’t die of boredom!

  12. Update for everyone: I do the elliptical while I watch TV – it forces me to stay on till the end of the show because I want to see what happens.

    Monday is One Tree Hill for an hour. Tuesday was The Biggest Loser night, so that’s two straight hours. Wednesday is America’s Next Top Model and Top Chef, but those aren’t consecutive, so I usually pick one or the other. It was a lot easier when Project Runway followed ANTM. Thursdays I watch Survivor followed by Grey’s, so that’s another two hour block. Most other stuff I just DVR and watch later.

    And now I’m totally embarrassed by all the reality TV I watch…

  13. Boy that menu looks amazing! The only thing I could do without would be the rice pilaf (and maybe the butternut soup ’cause we eat that a lot here).

    It’s a good thing I’m actually eating lunch right now or I’d be totally foraging for food LOL.

  14. Here is a recipe for Cranberry Sauce that I think you will really like. I don’t make it anymore because nobody drinks alcohol (and it has rum in it), but it is absolutely delicious and easy to make. You need to have dried sour cherries though, no substitutions! Here’s a link… Cranberry Sauce with Sour Cherries and Rum
    It is also yummy on vanilla ice cream. The cookbook it comes from is great as well (see link).

  15. Wow, that sure is a lot of food. You are going to have leftovers for weeks!

    I am also cooking for Thanksgiving this year, but I am not nearly making as much – only cranberry sauce, some kind of stuffing (haven’t figured out which kind yet) and glazed sweet potatoes with lime.

    Good luck this weekend in Tulsa!

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