Hello there! How’s everyone’s week kicking off so far? I have really been feeling the effects of daylight savings and have been feeling extraordinarily tired lately. This whole getting dark at 4 something bit isn’t working well for me. I need to fight through it or this is going to be one looooonnnng winter.
I will continue to get enough sleep, exercise, and eat well…which brings me to my lunch yesterday: mixed greens, blackberries, half of an orange, feta cheese, walnuts, and Newman’s Own Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette.
In the afternoon I plunked myself on the treadmill downstairs and walked for nearly an hour while watching Ellen. I get so into that show when I watch it!
I am debating whether or not to put a hold on my gym membership because lately I have hardly been going. This is because I have been 1. running outside 2. walking on the treadmill in our basement or 3. yoga in the living room. I’m thinking more along the lines of keeping it, but I don’t know. I like having the option of other activities at the gym, PLUS I really really want to get back into strength training. However, I wouldn’t mind focusing on weight-bearing exercises versus hand weights. Hmm..such a dilemma. 🙂
Yesterday I started preparing the remains of our turkey to be made into soup. More to come on that once the soup is actually made but I think it should be very nummy.The little time I spent in the kitchen yesterday working on the soup wore me out enough so that I didn’t feel like making dinner. Again, it’s got to be the weather and the darkness so early in the day. It’s so not like me to not want to make something for dinner.
We went the easy route and cooked up two Morningstar Garden Veggie Patties with melted Fontina cheese along with roasted asparagus. Simple but tasty.
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Cornbread Stuffing
It’s about time for me to share the cornbread stuffing recipe I made for Thanksgiving. I put myself in charge of the dish because I wanted to make it gluten-free and love to experiment with this kind of stuff. With a few tweaks, I was able to make what I thought turned out to be a great tasting stuffing to accompany our turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.
Step One: Bake the cornbread (recipe below).
Step two: Bake the stuffing!
| Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing | Print |
- For Cornbread:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1½ cups corn meal
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. salt
- black pepper
- ¼ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 egg whites
- 1 Tbsp. sage
- For stuffing:
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- ½ cup chicken stock reduced-sodium (or more if too dry)
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup non-fat half and half
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly coat 2- 9 x 9 baking pans with cooking spray; set aside.
- In large bowl, combine all cornbread ingredients (flour through sage); beat with mixer until combined.
- Pour into prepared baking dishes and bake for 28-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and let cool. Turn oven down to 350 degrees F. Prepare a large casserole dish by lightly coating with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium pan, lightly saute onion, carrot, and celery for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Cut cooled cornbread into ½ inch cubes and place gently into large bowl. Add in sauteed vegetables.
- In a small bowl combine stock, eggs and half and half. Mix well then add into cornbread cubes.
- Use hands to gently toss mixture so that liquid evenly covers the bread. Pour cornbread mixture into prepared casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until the edges begin to turn lightly golden. Serve warm.
I promise the directions look more complex than they really are. There’s just a couple of steps which may make it look a little daunting. If you don’t want to make it gluten-free, you could skip baking your own cornbread and buy some already made from the store or make your own at home using regular flour.
You don’t need to wait until the next holiday to bake this dish, although I will admit that I really enjoyed mixing the stuffing with the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy. Give it a whirl!
Alright I’m off to try and conjure up some energy for a run. I’m going to give my new kicks a whirl. Wish me luck!
Do you take Vitamin D? That may help with the lack of sunshine. I take about 4000IU in the winter. (Which is way above the normal recommended dose, I realize, but most people are so deficient in it that could even be considered on the low side). Or maybe get a “happy” lamp? Never tried those but hear they’re decent!
Hey kalkal! Yup I do take vitamin D daily and last time I got checked my levels were normal so that’s good. I really am interested in the “happy” lamp and want to investigate a little bit to see if it would be worth it or not.
Mel your salad inspired me to go to Trader Joes and get some of the ingredients myself!! That looks super tasty and perfect for winter!
Mmm mmmm!!