Combating the Hefty Holidays

Are visions of sugar-plums dancing in your head this time of year?  I actually have no idea what sugar-plums are, but it sounds like something I could get onboard with!  It's that time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, right in the thick of the holidays.  We're buying gifts, making travel arrangements, attending holiday parties, and chowing down at work holiday luncheons. There is no shortness of shimmering sugary treats; a scavenger's paradise, right? ...Not exactly

See I'm all about the Christmas spirit: I shop for Christmas gifts year-round, I love decorating, I listen to Christmas music, and I can't wait to go home for the holidays.  I always tear up at the traditional candle-light service on Christmas Eve while the community sings carols and awaits the anniversary of the arrival of the Savior.  It's safe to safe I love the holidays!  

The whimsical tree that fits in the trunk of my car and has
traveled with me to my various homes in the last 6 years.

One thing I don't love though, is my belly shaking like a bowl full of jelly!

I'm all for indulging when the time is right, but with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years so close together, it's hard to keep it under control.  One thing that helps and motivates me is jogging.  It's difficult to fit it in when I refuse to buy a gym membership and it's dark by the time I get home from work.  So to combat the hefty holiday season, I've taken up jogging in the morning before work.  It's dark outside at 6, but there's less traffic and hopefully less seedy folk (I think they sleep late).  My mom has been encouraging of my exercise habits, albeit a bit nervous that I've taken to the darkened streets of Memphis.  She geared me up though:

Channeling my inner Buzz Lightyear with my reflective jogging gear

I now jog with a reflective harness-thing and a Road ID strapped to my tennis shoes.  The Road ID has identifying information and contact numbers, so if I were to fall and forget who I was or my Mom's phone number, I could look at my shoe and figure it out.  Or if the good Samaritan found me seeing stars, they could call my Mom, in Alabama, Holt, in Arkansas, or my brother, in Colorado, none of which would be able to pick me up in less than two hours...super helpful.  Now, not only am I a glow-in-the-dark target for the delinquents of Memphis, but when they take my ipod and sneakers, they'll be able to steal my identity too from my handy-dandy Road ID.  I guess I'll just have to count on them sleeping in.

Everyone knows abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.  You have to eat right too.  So I have a recipe for you that feels like indulgence but it's actually a trick!  I very much dislike cauliflower so I was reluctant to try this one.  But I caught a head of cauliflower on manager's special, and I already had everything else.  It's hard to pass up four servings of mashed cauliflower for 96 cents (24 cents a piece).  Boy am I glad I went for it.  This was easy and delicious!  I think I liked it better than mashed potatoes.  

I splurged with a little cheese on top of my mashed cauliflower

Mashed Cauliflower

1 head cauliflower

3 T milk

1 T butter

2 T light sour cream

1/4 t garlic salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Separate cauliflower into florets and chop up the core finely 

Bring a cup of water to boil in a pot

Add cauliflower, cover, and reduce heat to medium

Cook cauliflower about 15-20 minutes, until very tender

Drain cauliflower well, the drier the better

Add milk, butter, sour cream, salt and pepper

Mash with a masher until it looks like mashed potatoes or process a food processor (much less time consuming)

Merry Christmas everyone!