What I Ate Wednesday Thanksgiving Recap

Oh man, oh man! Last week was such a great week. We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving Celebration. We were truly lucky to find such great friends that wanted to have a potluck and took a chance on being crowded in our apartment. Turns out our apartment is bigger than I ever could have imagined with 9 adults and 9 children in attendance no one ever felt crowded, too warm, or like it was stuffy.

The children enjoyed playing cards, playing games with each other on their phones and iPads. It truly was a great experience because even though most of our kids go to the same school none of them are in the same grade, but they quickly became acquainted and all got on famously! The ones that do not go to the same school still jumped right in there and made fast friends. It was such a joyous occasion.

If you haven't checked it out yet, go over and find out how I put together the centerpiece for our table.

Fall Bouquet in a Pumpkin.

But, on to the food!


In the morning, I did a fasting run. I got up "early", well, what I am calling early these days. It was a "sunrise" run meaning the sun now rises at 8:30 am or later so if I want to go on a run through the forest up the street I must go at sunrise since it is creepy when it is dark.

I love sunrise. It is so peaceful and serene. There were a lot of people out too. 

When I got home I concocted this for myself:

Spinach, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes...absolute deliciousness to start off the day.

Lunch isn't pictured because it was lame-o. It was crackers, cheese, and sausage. Very dutchish but very boooor-ing. hehe

We had our guests arrive at 3pm. Due to traffic we held off eating until about 4:30pm which was ok because it took a while to reheat some of the dishes. We did the potluck style so everyone brought a dish or three.

I will start at the beginning.

This is what my walk home from the grocery store looked like Friday afternoon. I got some pretty funny looks, but cannot wait to show y'all what I am planning on doing with those branches! It did leave my left hand free to get extra toasty in my pocket though tucking all those flower bunches into the back of the basket there!

Here is a layout of our feast:

Desserts and meat: from left to right: poached pears in red wine and cinnamon, two pumpkin pies made with REAL cream, turkey and stuffing, a crockpot full of chicken. Turkey's are very expensive so we did turkey breasts and chicken. I bought the chickens rotisserie style from a local butcher. I cut them in half and put them in the crock pot, covered it with foil, and put it on warm, they were amazing when served. 

Here is the main table starting from bottom left: Not Your Mama's Green Bean casserole, corn, sweet potato fries, mashed potatoes, gravy, plates, bowls, etc, sweet potato casserole, and a rice krispie treat turkey. 

I don't have a ton of info on everyone else's dishes unfortunately. I can tell you how I made mine however!

Glühwein I used that recipe. Changes I made were I left out the lime and next time I would leave out the lemon as I prefer a sweeter taste. Otherwise it was perfect and seemed well enjoyed!

This is the rice Krispies Turkey. This was a hit! Everyone loved it. I found a link to just a picture years ago on Pinterest, but it had no instructions. 

• All I did was make a basic rice krispie treat recipe. 
• First, I put down saran wrap on a plate and buttered it with unsalted butter.
• Next, butter your hands...just trust me on this butter those bad boys and keep the butter handy-you'll need it!
•  I then took two large handfuls of the rice krispies mixture and formed the "legs", just use your imagination here.
• Butter your hands as needed.
• Next, I gathered the rest of the rice krispie mixture and just sort of treated it like play dough. I first formed a large oval shape. I then just sort of patted it down and formed what should be the "wings" up in the front. These don't have to be huge.
• Butter your hands as needed. Seriously, don't be shy here.
• Once I felt it was a nice turkey shape I dug some mixture out of the middle and added it to the wings area or the legs depending on what I felt needed more "meat" hehe
• I then threw in some chocolate covered pepernoten and peanut m&m's for the "stuffing".

If you decide to make this for a party though I would highly recommend making a double batch. This was gone in the blink of an eye!

I forgot to photo graph our chicken, but it comes from this great butcher in The Albert Cuypstraat Market. I often will go down there and grab chciken from this place because they are cheap, good for you, and easy. 

The last delicious bit is pears poached in red wine and cinnamon with whipped cream. These were amazing. Our Dutch friend brought them, her mother made them. She hasn't sent me the recipe, but I found this one I want to try for my next get together.

Leftovers

Now, what to do with all those leftovers?! 

I sadly did not take a picture, but I created what I call "thanksgiving in a box" for my daughter's lunch on Monday. What is Thanksgiving in a box? Why it is as many leftovers as you can stuff into the bento box she takes to school! She had a quarter chicken, oranges, sweet potato, green beans, and corn. She ate the whole thing, only brought home bones.

Second, I made what I am coining Leftover Pie.

(please forgive my food photography skillz aren't so amazing lol)

This is how I made it:

• I took the stuffing my friend made (it was done with bread, apples, and cranberries), I honestly don't know how much probably two cups worth or so and combined it with two eggs. Spread in the bottom of a greased pie plate.
• Top with shredded chicken or turkey. Add a little gravy on top. Throw on some leftover veggies (I had corn so in my case leftover starch misrepresenting as a veggie haha).
• Put in a 200 oven (roughly 375-400) for 20 min until the stuffing crust has solidified.
• Take out and top with shredded cheese and a little more gravy. Put back in the oven for about 10 minutes.
• Take out of the oven and serve! My teenager hates stuffing but really munched down on this concoction. 

How do you use up leftovers? Do you still have some to eat?

DIY: Bouquet in a Pumpkin

I knew for our Thanksgiving Celebration I wanted an original center piece. It is hard to find something very fall like still here in Amsterdam since most everything has crossed over to Christmas already with Sinterklaas having made his way through town and that feast coming up at the end of this week.

I found a number of ideas on pinterest so I had to narrow it down. I love this one in particular. So off I went to recreate.

I hunted down a flower stand I knew had pumpkins at one point and they still had two left! I was very excited. I then found the vase I wanted to use inside (I just recycled a two liter bottle). I placed the two liter bottle on top of the pumpkin and traced around it making a cutting line on the top of the pumpkin around the stem. Then, I went to work with a serrated knife and cut the top and scooped out all the seeds and other "guts". You can toss the top as you won't need it. Save the seeds though you can bake those. This is what I was left with:

Once the pumpkin was clean I put the two liter bottle in and traced around where I wanted to cut it off. I slightly tilted the marker upwards so the top would stick out just a tiny bit. I was worried it would tip over if it were too exact and I wanted it to be really stable. This is what it looks like:

Cut the top of the bottle off (be careful so you don't cut yourself the plastic can be sharp). Fill with water.

Fit into the top of the pumpkin.

...and push down so it is secure.

When picking the flowers I knew I wanted mums since it was November and they are big and fluffy, and I wanted roses that felt fall. I was ecstatic when I found the peach and red tipped roses.

I then measured the length I wanted the stems to be. I wanted the flowers to just poke over the top of the pumpkin.

I put all the roses in first, then put the four mums all around to fill in any gaps and really give the bouquet that full feeling.

I think it turned out quite beautifully. This is the first flower arrangement I've ever done so I was extremely excited. For the full centerpiece I added a sheet of wrapping paper I found at an end of the roll sale for two euro and made a "Give Thanks" bunting which I will share on Thursday!

If you want more ideas for next year make sure to follow my Thanksgiving Pinterest board!
Follow Kate's board Thanksgiving on Pinterest.

Menu Plan Monday #63, weekend recap +weekly goals

Happy Monday y'all! How are things? For me, we are cold!!!! We have been so lucky these last few weeks temps have consistently been in the mid to high 40s and low 50s Fahrenheit, but I think winter is finally upon us and we are now having highs in the 30s Fahrenheit. (btw, I misspell Fahrenheit all the time, thank goodness for spell check! ha!)

So this past week was so much fun, but I will just concentrate on the weekend.

Friday the kiddo had a friend sleepover and they wound up doing homework most of the time. Wild nights here. But, Saturday I woke up and managed a sunrise run. That was the best, I was able to do a sunrise run at 8:30 in the morning! I am hating to love winter right now!

So, I took a photo of this because, one, you don't see a lot of water fountains around here; two, when I lived back home for a while and I'd run with my lifelong best friend we would drink out of just about every water fountain we could find. We were never sick for about 2 years...I attribute it to water fountains. So naturally I had to post a photo of this one. Yes I drank out of, yes it was freaking cold! haha

Because this was a "sunrise" run, the colours were beautiful! I loved how there was still just one tree with all it's leaves this gorgeous golden colour.

Saturday afternoon we had 20 people over here, our friends and all their kids for an expat thanksgiving. We even had my daughter's French friend join us and a Dutch friend join us. It was a super unique time and was so glad we were able to host such an event. Everyone had a great time and all the kids mingled together so well and got along famously. Some of them never would have met had it not been for this gathering so I am so glad we did it.

I will post more about all the different foods on Wednesday.

I am also so thankful to everyone who brought a hostess gift. They were completely unexpected and I couldn't be more grateful. I will give more details on that tomorrow.

Sunday was of course our day for cheer. Our Dutch friend stayed the night and drove us to cheer the next day. ...and it was cold. The heat wasn't working in the gym so we were freezing, it was not terribly fun conditions. I did wind up going for a run just to warm up. I am glad I did because I got really warm and saw some great landmarks. Can't wait for my next run out that way I really want to check out the graveyard in depth!

Love how I found the cows today right out back of the windmill. Made my run feel very European.

This windmill is gorgeous. It is very close by a Fort, this whole area was(is, maybe?) part of the Dutch defense system.

Cold but happy to be warm and outside!

How was your weekend? Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

Linking up with Mommy Run Fast and I'm an Organizing Junkie

So, on to the business of the week. I am loosely following the 21 day sugar detox guidelines for myself over the next 21 days. I am doing so well eating all good for me foods and I have a lot of energy so I want to make sure I keep that up. I tend to be the person that feels great so I allow myself a ton of junk, but not going to let that happen. I have a lot of fun activities planned over the next 25 days and on into New Year's so I want to make sure I keep this up!

Breakfast

• Paleo Pancakes (make ahead & freeze)
• Egg burritos
• French toast for the kiddo and fried apples over paleo cream of wheat for me.

Lunch

• Found a salad a day photo challenge on Instagram so will be participating in that each day for lunch. Follow me and join in to see what I am eating up. 
• For the kiddo to take to school:
• Thanksgiving in a box (basically leftovers from thanksgiving in her bento)
• Grilled cheese 2x's with oranges and sweet potato fries (we are fighting off a cold so upped the vit d and vit c fruits and veggies hehe)
• Chicken and cheese sub with apple slices 2x's

Snacks

I'm going to make a few treats to have on hand so that way the kiddo isn't feeling deprived. I don't want her out there munching out on all the high calorie treats the Dutch are putting up on every corner! haha

• Melted Snowman Sugar cookies
• Rice Krispie Treats (these are mostly for the hubby he was sad when all the kids ate up the Rice Krispie Treat Turkey! hehe)
• Pumpkin Granola Bars
• Fall Trail Mix
• Hard boiled eggs
• Mixed fruit

Dinner

• Leftover Pie (this will be a creation of my own. Will report back with how it comes out)
• BBQ chicken roll ups with broccoli and corn
• Tacos
• Teriyaki beef with rice and broccoli
• New Restaurant Friday: Will finally try the BBQ place we didn't get to last week.
• Breakfast for dinner: pancakes, eggs, bacon, and oranges in cinnamon syrup for dessert
• Corn and chicken chowder with side salad. Will get dessert out when we are at the tree lighting in Dam Square, hubby will be out of town sadly.

Workouts and Goals.

So, this week I decided to join in on the runner's world runstreak. Run everyday from Thanksgiving to New Years, at least one mile. I've done a 9 day workout streak already so I figure why the heck not. So, everyday I will run at least one mile.

• One mile run, core cardio and balance
• Two mile run, core cardio and balance
• 4 mile run, core cardio and balance
• One mile run, core cardio and balance
• 5 mile run, core cardio and balance.
• One mile run, core cardio and balance.
• One mile run and stretching.

This week should be an easy week so my goals are as follows:

• Mail out Christmas cards and boxes to family
• Finish cards I want to go up in my etsy store
• Get Christmas put up in the house.

Nothing terribly extravagant this week, but little things to get me there. 

How is your week looking, anything exciting on the agenda?

Sunday Social #7-All about fall!

1. What is your favorite fall activity?

Apple Picking and Pumpkin Picking! Last year was the first time we ever did apple picking and we had a great time. We time it at the beginning of October when we go and pick out our pumpkins for Halloween!

2. Do you follow a football team? If so, which one and why?

YES!!!

This is mine and hubby's Alma Mater. We love the knights and know that one of these days they will be a top contender football team! They are already so competitive in other sports, just need to boost that football team!

In our house we actually prefer NFL to College. We follow the Jags because they are our hometown team. We were both living in Jacksonville and in high school during the conception of the team, so they are near and dear to our hearts!

We follow these guys because my Dad went to college there and I grew up watching the Gators, the husband follows them because they are a great team and his Dad also follows them and is a huge fan.

3. What is something fun about fall in your area?

The changing of the leaves. 

Tree's by the local primary school

Orange, berry-like foliage on a hike along the sea wall.

Being able to go and hike and see all the beautiful foliage. There is also a lot of apple picking and pumpkin patches to be had if you aren't afraid of a little driving.

Trees, sun, and fog on a hike up the Grouse Grind the the Peak of Grouse Mountain.

Evergreen's at the top of Grouse. Normally you can see the whole of the city of Vancouver from here, but this is classic fall weather for Vancouver.

We love apple picking and going to the pumpkin patch at Willow View Farms. We think they have the best farm around and everyone is super friendly.

4. What are your favorite fall staple outfits?

These are my staples for fall. They can all be found on my Fall 2013 Trends board on Pinterest. 

5. What things are you looking forward to most about this coming fall season?

6. What is your favorite fall holiday? Tradition?

My favorite fall tradition is absolutely Halloween!! You can't beat getting to dress up and pretend to be your favorite character or a character from history for a night!!!
***get together a few pictures from halloween's past!

My favourite fall tradition is setting up our Christmas tree and decorating it the evening of American Thanksgiving. It is a lot of work, but is so worth it in the end!

So, that is what our fall will look like in a nutshell! This is such a fun time of year because even though the weather is changing, it is a great time of year to enjoy the outdoors and be grateful there is amazing produce to consume (and I mean real produce not that fake pumpkin crap Starbucks puts out). What are you most looking forward to this upcoming fall season?