I’m Back!

Okay, I didn’t go anywhere, but I was MIA from the blogworld.  I’m attempting to get everything done before the holidays.  I have a few projects to wrap up (I finished a big one today – wahoo!) and some extra studying.  I’m not sure how I got this busy…  One thing’s for sure – I need to finish things things before student teaching starts. Eeek!  That isn’t far away at all!  🙂

Thanksgiving was wonderful – lots of family, friends and food!  I did pretty well in terms of eating.  Our second Thanksgiving (with my dad’s side) wasn’t as good as the actual day.  But, we did play flag football, which was a lot of fun!  I was in charge of making the apple pie and the mac and cheese.  I promise I’ll post my Mac and Cheese  recipe soon!  (It is not diet friendly!)  Jackson enjoyed the pie-making process.  He was eating the peel of the apple as it came off the peeler.

He’s such a silly pup.  The pie did turn out well.  Not perfect – but still good.  🙂

Overall, I did gain a pound, but I’m not going to stress out about it.  This is another week and I’m going to lose that one pound and then some!

Today was a good start – I started the day off with Banana Bread Oat Bran.  Okay, it’s just my regular oat bran, but I decided to give it a brand new name.

Banana Bread Oat Bran:

1/3 cup oat bran

3/4 cup water

1 banana (mashed)

Dash of cinnamon

1 T brown sugar

1/4 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, etc…) (optional)

Mash the banana in the bottom of the dish.  Add oat bran and water.  Mix.  (It doesn’t have to be perfect)  Cook for three minutes in the microwave – stopping each minute to stir.  Add cinnamon and brown sugar.  Stir.  Enjoy!

The oats smell like banana bread – hence the name.  They are filling and delicious.  🙂

Lunch was leftover Leek-Potato soup from last night.  We had a craving for some soup this week (our plan for eating a little lighter) and it was the first thing that popped into our mind.

It was just as delicious as the first time – especially with a little bit of cheese on top.  🙂

I spent most of the day working on homework.  I had a huge project due for my education class.  I was able to finish it and hand it off to my professor tonight.  It was a nice feeling!  Now, I just have two papers and a few side projects to finish.  I can do it…  I can do it…  I can do it….

My mission for tonight’s dinner was to get rid of the rest of the turkey.  My husband loves my Mom’s potpie recipe and that’s what we used.  It’s super, super simple.  I think she got it off the back of a Veg-All can awhile ago.  We’ve used it ever since – making substitutions here and there when we needed to.

Mom’s Super Easy Pot Pie

1 or 2 frozen/refrigerated pie crusts

2 cans cream of potato soup (we’ve also used cream of mushroom and chicken)

1 can of Veg-All (or a frozen vegetable blend)

1 1/2 cups pre-cooked meat (chicken, turkey – we’ve even used pheasant!)

1 t pepper (use more or less, depending on taste)

Pot Pie ingredients

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  If you are using one crust, grease the bottom of a pie pan.  Combine the remainder of the ingredients into a big bowl.  Mix well.  Add it to the bottom pie crust or the greased pie pan.

All the ingredients in the pan!

Add the top crust.  I’ve started to use the refrigerated dough because it’s easier for me to work with.  With frozen dough, I found myself defrosting the crusts and then trying to line the crusts up.  It resulted in one crust being unequal, cracking – whatever.  The refrigerated dough just seems to work a little better for me (perhaps it’s because I’m not coordinated!).

Everything's together!

Poke some holes in the top with a fork to let steam out.  If you want to get super fancy, make an egg wash (one egg with a little bit of water) and spread it to the top.  It will make the top golden brown and shiny.  🙂

Bake for approximately 45 minutes – or until the crust is done.  Let is sit for about 10 minutes before serving – then enjoy!

I usually make the pot pie ahead of time and throw it into the fridge until I’m ready to bake it.  I think this actually makes it stay together a little better.  I’m not sure yet – I still have to experiment if that’s actually the case.  🙂

So, for dinner we had a one-crust pot pie (didn’t miss the other one!) with leftover turkey, a salad, some applesauce and a figure friendly shake.

How about that Irish Fest cup??

It was delicious!  Now, it’s time to focus on “The Biggest Loser”.  And, although I hate (HATE!) running, I would love to say that I ran a marathon.  I don’t know if I could do it – it might be fun to try – someday.  Has anyone done a marathon?  A half marathon?  How did you decide to do it?  How did you train?!

See you tomorrow!  🙂