Cherry-Chipotle Turkey Street Tacos

Thanksgiving always brings massive quantities of leftover turkey.  I only roasted a 5.5 pound breast this year, and we still have plenty left.  Of course, the traditional thing would be to make a sandwich out of a dinner roll, mash potatoes, stuffing, gravy and turkey...however, our Thanksgiving meal didn't exactly qualify as traditional, so the mom got creative.  She decided that street tacos would be a great idea, and she was totally right!  She was kind enough to make homemade flour tortillas (you could definitely do homemade whole wheat to be even healthier), shred some of the cherry-chipotle turkey and an apple.  It was SO good!  The apple gives it a nice sweet crunch to offset some of the fire from the chipotle.  I also recommend some plain Greek-style yogurt.  Yum.  Just some Alexia sweet potato fries on the side.  Easy.  Simple.  Delicious. 

 

Turkey Day

This year's Turkey Day was somewhat (or a lot) more laid back and simple than last year's.  The brother skipped town to go to a football game, so it was just the mom and me.  Also, the mom had to work all day, so it really was Thanksgiving dinner versus lunch.  I'm still having stomach troubles, so I kept things pretty light.  And, there was no dessert.  It was all very delicious!  Here is my little plate (yes, that's a salad plate, and I was stuffed):

The Menu:
Cherry-Chipotle Turkey Breast (Rachael Ray)
Rustic Rosemary Bread Sticks (Eat 80/20)
Gingered Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup (Women's Health)
Sauteed Mushrooms with Green Beans & Garlic (you really shouldn't need a recipe for this)

Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without me burning a chunk of my right ring finger off... I just grabbed the handle of my make-shift roasting pan.  Oops.  It's looking really lovely at this point.  

Usually, I would also spend Thanksgiving Day planning for Black Friday.  I'll admit it's ridiculous to spend a day being thankful and then go crazy shopping the next.  I just like the rush, the excitement.  However, since Black Friday is now apparently Black Thursday, I didn't really go shopping.  I take issue with having that on Thursday evening.  I think it should be for the committed, willing to stay up all night or wake up really early, people.  Not to mention, people really should be spending time with their families on Thanksgiving Day.  Just my opinion.  Kohl's literally had ALL their BF specials online with free shipping, so I hit that up.  Victoria's Secret also had their sale online with free shipping on Thanksgiving too.  Then, I'll confess, I'm an Amazon addict...so I had alarms set for "Lightening Deals" all day.  Those kind of give you a rush...for like 5 seconds.  Not quite the same, however it was super nice not waiting in lines.

Since we opted to skip Thursday evening shopping, the mom and I took a couple of movie passes to AMC and saw "Skyfall."  I actually really liked it.  Also, the Adele song is great.  We were pretty crazy and went to the 2110 showing, so it was really late (or early) by the time we got home and to bed (for a equivalent of a long nap).  I did get up a little early to hit up Express, Famous Footwear and Pet's Mart.  That's what happens when you need new jeans, cross training shoes, and have four dogs.  Ah well.  It was successful.

I hope everyone else was able to enjoy Thanksgiving and the related festivities! 

Artwork for Mom

In addition to the extremely delicious cake I made for my mother's birthday, I made some art.  She had seen something similar on Pinterest that she really liked.  However, it wasn't exactly the right colors and, as much as I love my mom, I didn't want to pay an arm and a leg to buy it off the Etsy shop it was linked to.  So I got my craft on.  I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to put the thing together.  I new I needed a canvas, paint, some kind of twig thing and paper flowers.  Obviously, I hit up Hobby Lobby to get the canvas (I literally got the cheapest one in the size I wanted...I think it's actually for water colors...but whatever), scrapbook paper for the flowers, craft glue, and (fortunately) there was a small branch thing that fit perfectly on the canvas.  Score.  In my head, the paint I needed for the base color was on the paint shelf in the garage.  To my surprise, it was not there.  I panicked a little...or a lot (I was literally doing this the day before her birthday).  Then, I got the idea to mix the paint from her bedroom walls ("Barefoot Beach") with the paint from the laundry room walls ("Polished Turquoise").  It couldn't have turned out better.  Seriously.  I managed to impress myself.  The color I mixed matches my mom's bed stuff perfectly.  After I painted the whole canvas with that, and let it dry, I started working on adding a couple other colors.  I wanted to just paint them on with like a brush, but it wasn't blending well.  I broke down and used my hands, which is a REALLY BIG DEAL.  I don't get my hands dirty.  Not as a kid.  Not now.  Never.  It really freaks me out.  But, desperate times call for desperate measures or something, right?  Once it was all dry, I glued on the branch and flowers I made with a hot glue gun.  Here it is: 

Mom, of course, loves it.  I would be happy to never make another paper flower ever again...but I think it's going to happen anyway!

Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake

My mother's birthday was last Saturday, so I made this cake I found on Pinterest.  I knew it would be a good one because it calls for weird things like sour cream and distilled white vinegar.  Also, who doesn't enjoy chocolate ganache?  The cake turned out well.  Super moist.  Super delicious.  Totally unhealthy.  Unless, you want to count the raspberry jam and juice as fruit and the chocolate as an antioxidant.  But seriously, the thing weighed 12 pounds.  Seriously.  I did 1 1/2 times the ganache recipe, however this baker knows her stuff, and, really, not making extra ganache would've worked well.  (There may or may not be a bowl of what was left currently hanging out in the kitchen.)  The cake was definitely a hit though.  I'm actually kind of surprised that the brother enjoyed it as much as he did.  Get the recipe by clicking here!

It probably would be prettier with fresh raspberries on top, but I forgot to get those!

It's so moist it doesn't stay together well and chocolate gets everywhere.  It reminds me of the chocolate cake on "Matilda" except probably tastier.

I promise I don't only eat cake.  I have mostly just been snacking lately though, since my stomach hates me.  I'll get to have like one bite of everything on Thanksgiving, but hopefully I'll be good to go for Christmas.  In other news, I was doing the splits last night when there was a loud ripping/popping sound.  Weirdest feeling ever.  And now my right hamstring is super messed up, which complicates working out even more.  I'm sure I should chill out and relax, but I don't really do either of those!  Hopefully, it will heal itself up extremely soon.  Like, in the next 5 minutes would be great...

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

One of my favorite fall things is baked treats that involve pumpkin.  I love pumpkin.  Except for pumpkin pie.  I made this pumpkin sheet cake for my Gamma family night, and then took the leftovers to class the next day.  I thought it was really pretty good.  Very moist.  I think the only things I did differently than the original recipe were adding a little extra cinnamon and basically doubling the cream cheese frosting recipe.  (I generally double frosting recipes just on principle.  I would rather have too much than be skimpy. I like frosting.)  Also, I elected to not put nuts on top.  Get the recipe by clicking here!

Not much else going on, except obviously nursing school is taking over my life.  However, I am done with clinical for the semester!  And I've got Thanksgiving break from last Wednesday afternoon through the 27th...then just a week and a half before finals!