Celebration – Vessels and Vittles

Turkey Carcass Make-Over

Ha! My title made me chuckle. 🦃🦃🦃

Well, I have never been responsible for a Thanksgiving dinner in my adult life. I’ve had to bring a dish occasionally but never has anyone looked to me for the Thanksgiving Day bird… thankfully. I think I cooked one myself one year just to see if I could do it. 🤷🏽‍♀️

However, I do like getting the carcass. This year I was invited to my friend’s house with her family and it was a wonderful time! After her husband carved the turkey he was prepping it for the trash! Hoooooollldd up!!!

Everyone looked at me strangely when I requested to take the poor carcass home but in my mind I could see the most delicious broth on my stove. I don’t have to plan family meals so I make things that work for me…. soups, sautéed vegetables, chicken/or a little beef burger and fruit make up most of my diet….the rest is occasional ‘cookie, chips, chocolate’…not even gonna pretend to be 100% right all the time… lol…it’s called being human.

Anyway, they wrapped the bird and I carried it home. Today I bought carrots, celery, and onions and made homemade turkey broth. Just for the record, my house smells so good right now.

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I put all the ingredients in a big stock pot I borrowed from my neighbor, added a gallon or so of water, then brought it to a boil. Then let it simmer for a couple of hours, then added more seasonings to suit my taste. I still had all the turkey parts in it. I’m going to let it cool in the refrigerator then strain it and skim any fat tomorrow.

I’ve only ever done this once or twice before and both times came out perfect. You can fund real recipes online for homemade turkey broth.

I plan to sip plain broth as a warm-me-up drink, or use it to add to vegetable soup recipes or simply when cooking vegetables…instead of using plain water I will use the broth. It’s quite tasty.

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Just wanted to share this in case your turkey carcass looked too delicious to toss!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stay safe out there!

Love and hugs!🤗❤️

Hi …It’s Been a While

It has been a while people! Summer rolled on by as I was trying to ‘get things done’ around here. Now it’s Fall.🍁 And just like I wasn’t paying attention to the calendar I haven’t been paying much attention to my food choices. Sooooo, 11 pounds later I sitting here like … what exactly did I eat that equates to 11 extra pounds?🤨🧐😞

Really, it’s all good, well, not really good but … I’m trying to say I reacted so differently than I had in the past… which is growth in more than just my weight. Back in the day, those 11 pounds would have sent me spiraling but this time I KNEW I just needed to readjust and be aware…. stop the mindless grazing…but doesn’t this look goooood?… Warm Peach Cobbler from Brookwood Grill 😊. Tasted good too! Happy Birthday to me.💕

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…for the record, I shared this with another person….too much for me.

I did readjust… and have lost 5 of the 11 pounds so far. I had to change something though. For the past 2 years I’ve used the My Fitness Pal app, which I really liked…. just got bored with it and slowly stopped using it, which means I wasn’t tracking, and therefore was eating more. Uggghh! For me, logging my food, not necessarily every morsel but keeping a general idea of my calorie intake, is a GREAT HELP!

I switched to the Lose It! App. I LOVE IT! It’s colorful, engaging, lots of little tips and applications to play with…and it rejuvenated my desire to log. I only have the free version too. If you want to pay…there are lots of additional things to help you.

I have been eating fun stuff that I love to celebrate my birthday month. That’s over for now…. back to lots of water, lots of veggies, lots …OK, ‘some’ exercise 😂. I do feel better, less dense. I actually did a bit of a detox to get back on track… it helps a lot. I did start eating these….they are healthy, easy, delicious and not too caloric. There are a few different varieties all of them are good.

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Well, that’s all for now.

Lesson learned: The road to healthy living has U-turns, potholes, traffic violations, and sometimes a broke down vehicle but road side assistance comes along in various forms; a motivational article, an encouraging friend, and sometimes just a fun new app. 🤗

Peace and Love! 😘

Just Grateful…Plain and Simple

Unlike most people, I welcome change because change means I am still moving – hopefully forward. The only time I like to be still is during rest and prayer – both which are times of recharge and restoration.

This past week I celebrated birthday number 53! 😳😊. Boy, did it arrive quickly. I welcomed it with anticipation; not for any particular reason, just because I felt incredibly grateful for all things in my life, the good, bad and ugly, because those things are why today I am feeling so grateful. God has truly orchestrated all things for my good.

53 is a big change from, say, 23 or 33, but I have no desire to be anything other than 53 this year, to be all that 53 entails: wrinkles, whiskers, flab, silver hair, experience, wisdom, maturity…all of it. Thank God, my Creator, I also have good health still! So grateful for so many things.

How did I celebrate? Well, I my dear friend wanted to do something fun for the day so I took off work (my rule is to always take off work on your birthday) and we played all day…no real plan, just flowing with the day. For me, just being with friends and family I love is gift enough. My love language is definitely ‘quality time spent’. I’d much rather be with YOU than any of the STUFF you can give me. 😘

We started out early with a trip to Alpha Soda Restaurant. I love their stone ground grits, and since hasn’t been on my food list in the past year, I was excited to go. When the server found out it was my birthday she surprised me with this! So sweet of her! That was my order in the corner of the photo: bowl of grits, eggs with cheese and an English muffin.

From their we headed to Avalon. I’m not even sure what you call Avalon – I guess a fancy mall with stores, restaurants, condos, etc. We lakes all over the place their, got lost in the parking deck a while, walked around some more, laughed a lot, and rested in some beautiful chairs in Crate and Barrel, haha! It’s a beautiful atmosphere there.

After some an afternoon lunch of soup and sandwich at Panera Bread – had to get my bowl of Autumn Butternut Squash Soup, we chilled a bit, just having good conversation.

Believe it or not by evening, we headed to another restaurant. 😂😂. Oh my goodness, one of my fave places, The Village Tavern. I had a new dish, Braised Meatball Skillet …. Yes, more grits. I only tried it because it was such a unique combo – and it was extremely delicious. Wow! Again the server learned it was my birthday and …. Bam! Another desert. 😂😂 …what diet??!

No joke, by the time I finished the day, I thought I would explode! So this little beauty I was gifted was taken home. So fitting though, because I was just plain and simple … thankful. 😌

P.S. I was chicken to weigh-in the next day, but I did, and to my surprise was down 3.4 pounds. I guess I gave my body something to do in digesting all that food. 😏 However, I pretty much fasted the entire next day to give my body a rest.