I can’t believe it’s December already – November flew by! When Christmas decorations first appear in the store I always think Christmas is so far away…then, BOOM, December sneaks up and Christmas is just around the corner.
My December challenge was inspired by the book The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. Side note, a book overview is coming soon, I promise, November totally got away from me and I spent all month running!
‘Tis the season for fresh cranberries!! I knew after Thanksgiving I wanted to make a fresh cranberry drink but I struggled with what I should use to make it sweet. Cranberries are so tart but I didn’t want to mix it with simple syrup or cranberry juice. I was thinking…orange and cranberry go so well together, why wouldn’t tangerine work? The combination of cranberries and tangerine is actually delectable! And this entire drink is only four ingredients!
Actually, my mom has a tangerine tree outside her house in Arizona. I totally forgot this…. I went to the store to buy tangerine juice. Total side note, but when I was at the store someone in a truck opened their door into ours and left a huge scratch on our car! UGH. Anyways, once I was at the store I realized I could just juice fresh ones using the tree outside. I did have to buy a new bottle of Grand Marnier, which I am excited about. It seems like something I could use over and over again during the holidays.
It is starting to get cold outside and this is a good meal to ease back into cooking inside with the oven. In the summer we seem to grill almost every night – our default cooking method. These stuffed bell peppers have to be one of my favorite meals, EVER! They are so good and so versatile. There are so many versions of this and trust me when I say several different versions will make it on the blog! This ground beef stuffed pepper dish looks fancy too (stuffed anything looks fancy!)! And it’s super easy to make!
We all have so many reasons to be thankful! Obviously I am thankful for my friends and family – they truly are world class. I’m also thankful for these two cute boxer puppies we brought home in October – Mocha & Turbo! They have brightened our lives. And finally I’m thankful for my health and the ability to continuously support my body.
I thought I would come up with a list of 40 things that I am thankful for besides the above. Then I start thinking… I don’t want to come up with 40 literal ‘things’, I am thankful for things but also for activities and places too. I picked the four following categories: places, food/drinks, things, and finally, activities.
I am so appreciative of all the healthy Thanksgiving side options from magazines, my other blogger friends, and, of course, Pinterest. Thanksgiving does not need to be filled with marshmallows and jello salad (yuck!). That said, I love all the Thanksgiving sides… even more than the turkey. However, I can’t get onboard with the canned cranberry sauce. My family always makes everything from scratch – I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Our Blue Basket delivery included fresh cranberries. I wanted to use them for something non-traditional – something other than cranberry sauce – when I came up with the idea of putting them into a smoothie. Cranberries and lime juice go so well together. [So well, in fact, that when fresh cranberries are on sale (after Thanksgiving) I’m going to buy some and make a fresh cranberry margarita for the blog – so stay tuned.]