Exciting news in the Going household, I’m on for my second year as a NuttZo Ambassador! If you’ve followed the blog or any of my social media pages, you’d know we’re all NuttZo Fanatics over here, and I am looking forward to sharing the #NuttZoLove with everyone in 2016!
Sure, peanut butter is good, but why choose good when you can have out-of-this-world awesome with organic nuts and seeds providing a host of healthy benefits? It’s delicious and something I feel good about giving to my precious little girl, Avery. She definitely has no complaints either.
Actually, I often have trouble getting it back from her.
Since we’re all busy in midst of the holiday season, I wanted to kick off my renewed role as a NuttZo Ambassador by sharing 5 of my favorite quick and healthy recipes I shared this past year. These are perfect for entertaining or making just for yourself.
It’s also good in savory meals like soup. Just stir a little in for that flavor *pow* that’ll have everyone asking for the secret recipe. Or at least saying they like it. 🙂
Yeah yeah, I know, Thanksgiving was last week and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are already in the past. Unless, that is, you count the desperate retailers “extending” Cyber Monday through the week. Ugh……..I love to hate it. Hey, it’s hard to say no to something you want that’s on sale, right?
I’ve enjoyed not worrying so much about getting a blog post out there, but missed it at the same time. Another love to hate thing I guess. Anyway, we hosted a whole two people for Thanksgiving, my mom (G-Ma) and little brother (Uncle Preston).
As you can see, Uncle P was very into the Thanksgiving spirit. He was trying to get tickets to the Cowboy’s game or at least go tailgating at the stadium, but no luck with tickets and the rain stopped any tailgating action. So Plan B (or would it be C?) was our house. Despite being 3rd choice, I’m happy he joined us as I feel we never get enough brother time.
I think it’s best Uncle Preston missed paying to see our Cowboys lose to the Panthers anyway. It was a disappointing game (especially for Romo, ouch!), but that didn’t dampen the spirits of G-Ma and Avery.
These two had a lot of playtime together which, as you can see, made both of them happy. It also wore G-Ma out; it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep that night. So much for watching How I Met Your Mother with us!
I was a little tired too since I wanted to take on making all of the Thanksgiving spread. It’s stressful, but it’s how I like to do things. I looked like this for a lot of the day….
Thankfully, I had these lovely girls to keep me company as they snacked and patiently waited.
Maybe “patiently” is not the best word for Avery. She kept giving me that staredown.
After spending a good hour carving the 14 pound beast of a turkey (hey, it’s a lot for 4 1/2 people) and keeping bones to make slow-cooker bone broth, we were finally ready to eat. If it wasn’t for my awesome wife getting everything heated, set out and setting the table, it would’ve easily been another hour of waiting.
Our Thanksgiving spread, and what I’m hoping will become tradition in our home, included:
A free-range organic turkey roasted in the oven
Goat cheese mashed potatoes
Mashed cinnamon sweet potatoes
Crock Pot cumin black beans
Roasted Brussels sprouts
Sugar-free spiced cranberry sauce (I used a can of Orange Zevia that turned out awesome)
Crustless NuttZo pumpkin pie squares (I used blended steel cut oats and gelatin to thicken)
I was happy with how everything turned out, and judging by how everyone went back for seconds (thirds for Uncle P), I’d say so was everyone else. Can you guess my favorite dish?
Probably a tie between the Brussels and turkey. Although, when paired with the cranberry sauce, I say the turkey was and is my favorite part. Oh, and the NuttZo pumpkin pie squares were up there. So much so that I forgot to take a pic before digging in.
Going Mom had our camera setup with her new tripod and remote shutter release to capture our quaint Thanksgiving gathering.
Oops, that’s one of the 1000 times Avery got a hold of the remote. Here we are actually ready for the shot…..
Avery was a little blurry, but we call it a win just for the fact that she turned around. She kept busy eating turkey and mashed potatoes with her hands on her blue plate.
But she had an important phone call on G-Ma’s phone that she had to take at the table.
Probably already talking to her toddler peers about how to delay going to bed. We’re currently experiencing this part of the toddler phase; I’ll go into more detail later.
It was nothing extravagant, but that’s exactly how we wanted it. Good, healthy food made from scratch being shared with loved ones. I’m forever grateful to be able to spend it with my beautiful wife.
And of course my crazy beautiful daughter, mom, and little (who’s bigger than me) brother.
Thanksgiving 2015
I’m hoping to do the same spread for the fast approaching Christmas meal with the same loved ones too. The only change we’re considering is making a ham instead of turkey. I love turkey, and the bone broth is awesome, but geez, it sure it time consuming for the entire process! I’m not sure yet, but will have to figure it out soon….after getting my gift buying complete. Ahhh!
Do you have large or small gatherings for the holidays?
Hello there! Are you frantically running around trying to get everything ready for Thanksgiving or are you all set / not celebrating? Whatever the case, I have a couple healthy things to share.
Since I’m in the “frantically running around” department, today’s post comes directly from my old healthy foodie blog, Just Add Cayenne, with the help of my good friends Copy and Paste. Seriously, I’m even keeping my pre-parenthood talk as well as carrying over the same font from the original posts. Hey, these are my blogs, so why not?
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Yeah, I know, plenty of you probably have to work today, the eve of Thanksgiving, but I’m complaining on behalf of all of us. Couldn’t you use the day before to prep food do a little extra exercise to prepare for tomorrow’s feast, and just be away from school or work? I’ll go ahead and answer for all of us again….YES!
I’ve seen so many healthy Thanksgiving feast recipes that I want to try but have no time before going to our family gathering. Most of the food is stuff I can’t (gluten reasons) or won’t (health/picky reasons) eat, and I like to bring things I know I will enjoy.
See? I’m ready for the pumpkin famine! Or maybe I just use it a lot.
Confession – I brought roasted brussels sprouts and mushrooms one year knowing that just one other person and myself would eat them. Sorry, but I don’t want premade mixes cooked from a box or food with poor ingredients for Thanksgiving….or ever for that matter!
So I prefer to make my own gluten free, non store bought bread (maybe just a personal Microwave Chocolate Protein Cake) and side dishes. I think I only end up eating an undressed salad and the turkey at most gatherings. Anyone else run into this issue? I don’t mean to complain (even though I am), or tell others what to eat, but I just want to have what I prefer and enjoy.
Not a bad “personal” Thanksgiving treat if you ask me!
If there was no work today, I’d be cooking all sorts of things I’ve wanted to try. Lately, sweet potato, pumpkin, and banana are all ingredients sticking out to me. And of course peanut butter would be in one or all of the creations. Maybe a spin on a no-cook pumpkin banana peanut butter pie? Hmmm, I’ll keep brainstorming and maybe have something to post on for the Christmas feast!
But really, a peanut butter pumpkin pie sounds pretty darn good any time. I have been using unflavored gelatin to make some easy and tasty dips lately, and suggest you try. Still need to get the recipe down before I post it, but here’s another quick, easy, and healthy dip for you to try in the meantime.
Delicata squash is my number one favorite squash (you can use any kind you’d like), and making it into a puree is simply delightful! Have you seen or tried Celestial Seasoning’s Sugar-Cookie Sleigh Ride Tea? It’s a good, caffeine free tea to drink, but throw it in with squash puree, vanilla protein powder, and a little stevia and you will be on Cloud 18. That’s Cloud 9…..squared; because it’s that good.
Delicata Sugar Cookie Protein Dip (Sugar and Gluten Free) Ingredients
2 medium delicata squashes, microwave steamed or roasted until the skin is soft 2 big scoops stevia sweetened vanilla protein powder; I used Vitol Vanilla Egg White Protein 1 T natural peanut butter 2 Celestial Seasoning’s Sugar-Cookie Sleigh Ride Teabags Liquid or powder stevia to taste 1t pure vanilla extract
Directions
Once you have your cooked squash (I microwave steam mine), remove any really hard parts like the stem and throw everything else in a food processor. Yes, include the skin, it’s soft.
Add the rest of the ingredients (just cut the teabags and dump the contents) and process until really smooth. I let my processor run for 2 – 3 minutes. Let chill for the flavors to “intensify” and help everything firm up.
I love having a giant bowl of this to go to when my sweet tooth hits, which is every night. This recipe is very versatile and you can sub your favorite ingredients as you see fit. I think coconut flour or cocoa powder would make for some extremely delicious versions. Try it, eat it, enjoy!
Hello and welcome to WIAW in December! I saw another blogger mention how the first Home Alone movie is now 22 years old! That hit me like a semi-hard brick. Only semi-hard because I’m already a little aware of the aging process. Anyway, who else is in awe at how time flies?
Sooo, I have little time to write today, so I want to share some of my past blog posts on Healthy Food Tips and Ideas. As far as what I ate, it’s been nothing different from past weeks, so please forgive me for not posting.
Healthy Travel Tips – This is good info for those that are traveling for the holidays
Pumped Up Protein Staples – A list of my favorite protein dips and baked items with a link to all of my recipes at the end. Trust me, making these are worth your while!
How well are you managing time for the holidays? I’m already not a fan of going out to eat, but with social gatherings and whatnot, I’m not going to escape it. Speaking of, I’m heading out for dinner at a nice seafood place with co-workers. As a fan of seafood, I’ll get over my dislike of going out if there’s fresh crab on my plate!
Hope you all have a great week and get any shopping done soon; it’s only getting crazier!!
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There’s no post for Thanksgiving, and I’m not sure when the next one will come around, but hope you find value in the healthy food tip links and get to give the recipe a try. I’ve made it for Avery and she asks for more before finishing the first bite. Speaking of, she’s finally getting over her sickness and should be back to her old crazy toddler self just in time for our little family Thanksgiving gathering.
For more healthy recipes, check out the tab on the top appropriately named, *gasp* Healthy Recipes.
Do you plan on trying the recipe?
Were the links to my healthy food tips/thoughts of any help to you?
An at-home dad on a mission to keep it real when it comes to food, fun, and raising a healthy, happy family.
