| Thursday, December 5, 2013 |
| (Gluten Free) Turkey Pot, Turkey Pot, Turkey Pot Pie... |
I can't even begin to thank you all for the kind words, tweets, private messages, emails, phone calls and texts about our half marathon. What an amazing support system you all are! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I actually didn't even know that it was a record setting cold since 1911. I was probably better off not know that fact at the time…
Yesterday, it was 70 degrees outside! What the heck???
So, how's everyone's week going? We have been working our way through leftovers and I'm happy to announce that we are now done with Thanksgiving food in the fridge. I'm pretty sure you all know by now that you have to get a little creative and change things up to get kids to eat leftovers every meal for a couple of days (especially turkey). I decided to throw together a turkey pot pie on Sunday since I know how much the guys here love pot pie. I normally make my own pie crust, but since I had some Bob's Red Mill gluten free crust, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try it out.
This is a new product for Bob's Red Mill and I'm happy to say that it worked like a charm. The boys loved it!
Flaky, buttery and so easy to work with (which is a HUGE bonus in my book)! Perfect!
This recipe is so easy to put together and it's definitely a crowd pleaser! It's really easy to make vegetarian too (which is what mine was with chickpeas).
Turkey Pot Pie
4 cups frozen mixed vegetables
4 chopped cooked turkey
4-5 cups chicken broth (start with 4 cups and add more if needed to desired thickness)
1/3 cup all purpose gluten free flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup quinoa flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
3/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1 TBSP melted butter (for topping) (I used Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Sticks)
Prepare pie dough according to package directions.
In a large pot (I used a high sided sauté pan), combine all the ingredients. Cook on medium heat stirring often until thickened. Pour pot pie mixture into a 13x9 casserole dish. Top with prepared crust. Poke holes on top to vent the crust. Brush top with melted butter. You can add a little extra salt and pepper to the crust like I did at this point too. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour or until browned on top.
What's your favorite way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers? Ours actually went pretty fast, but turkey tends to dry out with reheating so putting it in things really does help.
I'm sharing this on next week's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.Labels: gluten free, main course, product review, vegetables |
posted by Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen @ 5:00 AM  |
|
|
|
| Monday, December 2, 2013 |
| So, I finally ran my first half marathon! |
Happy Monday to all! I hope that everyone had the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful Thanksgiving with friends and family! I feel so fortunate that I did just that. I really enjoyed having a long weekend with my men. Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I love that it's completely centered around spending time with the people you love. Seriously, could you ask for more? I think not.
Now, for the crazy part of the weekend…the running of my first half marathon on Thanksgiving morning. I, never, in a million years, would have ever thought I would run a half marathon. Seriously, I hated running. I also backed out mentally quite a few times before making the commitment blaming my teaching of fitness classes all along. When I finally decided to close my eyes and just go for it, I totally played it cool in my head. I have a tendency to get a little on the overwhelmed side when I make big decisions (I know, shocker) so I really worked on not focusing on the fact that I signed up to run, not just a half, but my FIRST half marathon on a day I was supposed to cook a traditional family meal for us and our friends…
This is how it went down…
I was smart enough to unintentionally not have group classes on the schedule for the week of Thanksgiving. I don't know what gave me the foresight to do that, but I didn't and I'm so thankful for my unintentional brilliance. I did have my personal training clients, but that was easier on my body to handle. Two days prior to the race, I started backing off of my usual higher protein diet. I didn't do hardcore carb loading, but I was a lot more mindful of trading some of the protein I would usually eat for starchier carbs than I normally would. I did little things like add baked potatoes in, popcorn, cereal and white rice (rice pudding with almond milk is super delicious and oh so comforting! Pumpkin rice pudding is amazing too, just saying'.). I'm not sure if these little things helped me out since it was my first race like this, but I really did feel ready to run on Thursday morning. Side note, wow, tapering and higher carbs are a very strange feeling for someone who's used to a certain workout and eating routine. Talk about stepping outside of your comfort zone!
Anyway, when we got up on Thursday morning, it was below freezing! Seriously, I live right outside of Atlanta and it's rarely THIS cold on Thanksgiving day! Um, 22 degrees when we set out for that run. We had been watching the weather (like it was our job!) and ended up having to run a few errands to get some extra gear for the cooler temps. I didn't have gloves, so I got a pair and on race day, I wore a pair of knit gloves under my running gloves (I wish I had bought the hand warmers too). I also needed to layer my body, so I got some Champion layering gear from Target that worked like a charm. I wore my compression socks and another pair of socks so my feet had a chance of not freezing. I kid you not, my fingers did not thaw out until I took a shower. That is the coldest I've ever been for that amount of time. My core was good while I was running. I was so happy for that and my feet were good too. Though in my mind, I was sprinting in the end, but I swear I was moving in slow motion since I was frozen. It was literally beyond freezing! My fingers just would not warm up. This will tell you how cold it was, normally, in the cold, my nose runs. I swear the snot froze in my face before it had a chance to come out. Oh and Tony, he sweats a lot when he runs…
Yeah, that's a freakin' sweatcicle hanging from his hat! When I hugged the man at the finish line, he crunched from all the ice on him!
Now, for the funny part in all of this, I did not even think one second about how miserable the cold was before, during or after that run. I RAN MY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!! I felt amazing. Sure, I couldn't feel anything, which is probably why I ran without thinking about my body. I even beat the time I was going for in my head! That felt beyond amazing! After all of that, I stood in the kitchen for hours preparing our meal (compression socks and leg warmers were warn, both were lifesavers!). At the end of the day, I felt like a rockstar. Such an amazing day spent with my friends and family!
(My boys cuddling watching a movie after dinner. Love them!)
Now I'm really excited for this holiday season. I really needed the change of pace. I feel charged and ready to tackle new adventures. Last year was hard on me mentally during the holidays, so this really did set a new tone for me! So, yeah…I'm feeling pretty darn Marvelous In My Monday!
Labels: about me |
| posted by Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen @ 10:47 AM |
|
|
|
|
|
Name:
Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen
Home: Atlanta, GA, United States
About Me: Lactose Challenged
See my complete profile
|
Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
|
| Links |
|
|
| Blogs I Like |
|
|
|
|
|
