Well, we know THAT didn't happen.
Still, I did document some of my Thanksgivukkah and can tell you all about it now, after the fact.
Like all good Pilgrims, we boarded our version of the Mayflower. It was JetBlue Flight 590. Two hours and twenty minutes later we arrived at our Plymouth Rock…West Palm Beach, Florida. My bags were stuffed not only with flip-flops and bathing suits, but all things decorative to turn my parents house into Thanksgivukkah central!
Here's a sampling:
The personalized M&M's were from http://www.mymms.com and consisted of a mix of Chanukah and Thanksgiving colors. Blue, orange and silver. Some said "Happy Chanukah" with a Star of David, some said "Gobble Gobble!" and some said "Happy Thanksgiving" with a turkey on it.
The banners were both from Target…my favorite place to shop!
The cornucopia was a real pain to find! We missed the boat at all of the craft stores by waiting until a few days before Thanksgiving. They were all sold out. Fortunately I saw some in the window of a florist and she sold me one. I stuffed with tissue paper (of course in Florida my mother had gold and bronze paper…it goes with the personalized napkins everyone seems to love so much down there!) and put in some chocolate gelt and dreidels that made the trip with me. I paid a quarter a bag for the gelt. At Publix they wanted a dollar! Highway robbery!
My favorite is the wreath. My son decorated with felt and corduroy stickers I got at Michaels, and my husband wove the Chanukah ribbon through it and hung on the front door. I'm sure we were the only family in Florida with a Thanksgivukkah wreath on the door!
Of course we can't forget the Menurkey!!
I had bought a set of four glass turkeys at Willams Sonoma years ago…but needed more to make my Thanksgivukkah menorah complete. Unfortunately WS doesn't sell the tiny turkeys anymore. Seems they've moved on to acorns and pumpkins. Luckily I was able to get a hold of some on Ebay and the menurkey was born.
Now that all of the decorations were taken care of, it was time to shop. Repeatedly. I visited Publix at least three times, Whole Foods, and a specialty market called Joseph's. I cooked for three days, and I loved it.
Now you may be wondering what is going on with the 17 Day Diet. I survived our vacation to Disney as I blogged about last month, and then the return home was a successful return to the program. I lost some more weight in the few weeks before we were to leave for Thanksgiving and decided that I would just do the best I could while away and stay the course, indulging within reason.
It wasn't only Thanksgiving and Chanukah that week…it was my 41st birthday. I made the choice to celebrate it with a healthy dinner at Seasons 52 where everything on the menu is 475 calories or less. We had a beautiful night by the water and everything was delicious…and I didn't feel deprived OR overstuffed. It was perfect.
I did try to make a few healthy recipes for Thanksgivukkah so there were some safe options. I did end up trying everything at the table and it was absolutely worth it. Here is the menu and the recipes:
Auntie Ina's Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette
Sweet Potato Casserole
Unfortunately I did not get a pic of the stuffing and the roasted veggies. I roasted carrots, parsnips, fennel and cauliflower. Both were good!
For dessert we had fresh fruit, and these:
Caramel Apple Bundt Cake from Mel's Kitchen Cafe and Pecan Pie Rugelach
All in all it was a success in many ways. I made it through another vacation, gained two pounds but lost that in two days after I got home. I'm up to 28.5 pounds lost now and hope to get a few more off before Christmas…where I will be cooking Colonial Williamsburg favorites at my mother in law's house! Can't wait to share with you.
In the meantime, I will try my best to share some more 17 Day Diet compliant recipes I've been trying!
No comments:
Post a Comment