I feel so blessed to have been able to spend last evening with the wonderful women of Gamma Rho. It's been rough not getting to see anyone outside of nursing school and not getting to do anything non-nursing school related...especially Spring Sing. Anyways, our fabulous Chaplin organized a mini retreat for this evening, and it was a blast! It was so good getting to see so many of my sisters. Great games. Great crafts. Great songs. Great devotional. And, of course, great food. As a senior, I was suppose to bring a "healthy" snack. I didn't want to do just a fruit or veggie tray. I wanted to be a little more creative. I hunted around and found a good looking recipe from Chex. (Definitely maybe not as healthy as an apple, but surely better [for you] than cake.) I was actually surprised by how well it turned out. It was definitely a hit. Several gals wanted the recipe, so here it is...more here is what I did:
Honey-Ginger Trail Mix
(Chex Ginger-Honey Crunch)
Ingredients:
6 cups Honey Nut Chex cereal
1 cup dried banana chips (I didn't actually put any in because the grocery store didn't have any to buy when I was there...but I bet they add a nice touch)
1 cup unblanched whole almonds
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries or dried pineapple (I did a 1/2 cup of each)
Directions:
In a large microwave bowl, mix cereal, banana chips and almonds.
In a 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, microwave butter, brown sugar, honey and ginger until mixture is boiling; stir. Pour over cereal mixture; stir. Microwave for 1 minute; stir (repeat this step 3 more times).
Stir in coconut, cranberries and/or pineapple (I cut my pineapple tidbits into quarters).
Spread onto jelly roll pan (lined with wax paper) to cool. Power cool in the fridge, if you want.
Store in an airtight container...if there's any left!
For some reason I am not sleeping tonight, which is always fantastic...said no one ever! I'm not sure if it's the 1-hour rest period I had in the middle of the afternoon or the fact that I apparently put the "energy" variety of Crystal Light in my water that I took to the retreat...maybe a combination of the two. On the plus side, I have breakfast made for the next 6 days (post coming soon), the kitchen is cleaned up, and I have fresh sheets and towels. I really wanted to workout, but I have a feeling that the people who live below me would not appreciate me doing Plyocide right now. I thought about working on taxes, but that seems a little ambitious. Oh, well. Maybe a movie? Or smell the new Scentsy fragrances again? That's always fun. Well, I'm off to find something else to do! Happy Saturday!
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!
