Traveling on Thanksgiving. Oh, Nuts.

First, the good news. If you read my post from Sunday after the race, I did not break my foot! The wonderful staff at the Women’s Sports Medical Center at Hospital For Special Surgery was able to fit me in Monday morning to see my doctor and after x-rays and an exam, she declared I had simply sprained my ankle! Such a huge relief! It’s feeling so much better now and aside from the bruise on the side of my foot, it’s almost back to normal. I am taking it a little easy at the gym though, just to be sure.

We’re flying to Michigan tomorrow morning. My hope is that we’ll miss some of the holiday travel craziness. Last Thursday the episode of “Up All Night” was all about not traveling on Thanksgiving. Hopefully our plans will go smoothly! I feel like a 6am flight should be fairly immune to delays.

I haven’t been home on Thanksgiving since 2003. I remember my first Thanksgiving here. Woody didn’t arrive from Michigan until mid-day, so H, a friend/colleague who lived down the street, and I went into our office and hung out with a bunch of our other colleagues and their families watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade go do the street in front of our office! Definitely an interesting view – the balloons were at eye level with us! Later in the day I cooked a turkey breast and made most of our Thanksgiving dinner in my teeny-tiny kitchen. Thankfully H joined us for dinner and brought a few things with her. To this day I’m still not sure how I was able to make so much of the dinner in that kitchen that only one person could stand in and was equipped with a half-oven. I think there’s a picture somewhere – before I got my first digital camera, so it’s probably lost forever. Oh, NYC living!

Anyway… we’re excited to go home and get out of the city for a few days. I think we need a change of scenery and a family holiday that involves a crowd. We’ll enjoy a Thanksgiving feast at my Great Aunt and Uncle’s house as they throw great parties. I want to contribute to the gathering but it has to be something I can make here and take on the plane. Not so easy. Then I thought of roasted nuts. I know, not so exciting, but basically everyone loves to munch on mixed nuts before a big meal. Probably not the best idea, but they do have some health benefits!

I found THIS on Pinterest but had to do a test run. Since our post-storm fridge still is not fully equipped with all the necessary condiments, we didn’t have the maple syrup the recipe called for. We did have honey though, so I decided to give that a try.

Honey Roasted Mixed Nuts

• 1cup mixed nuts (I used raw almonds and cashews; next batch will also have peanuts)
• 1tbs honey
• .5tsp cinnamon

1. Pre-heat oven to 350’, cover a cookie sheet with tin foil
2. Mix honey and cinnamon well in a small bowl
3. Add nuts and coat well
4. Spread nut mix on cookie sheet and place in oven
5. Bake for 20-25minutes, stir half way through
6. Let cool then enjoy!

Verdict: Very tasty but also really sticky. Probably not the best snack to munch on at a party. Well, unless you want to greet someone with sticky hands.

So, I did some shopping and now we have maple syrup.

Maple Roasted Nut Mix

• 1 cup mixed nuts
• 1tbs maple syrup
• .5tsp cinnamon

1. Pre-heat oven to 350’, cover a cookie sheet with tin foil
2. Mix maple syrup and cinnamon well in a small bowl
3. Add nuts and coat well
4. Spread mix on the cookie sheet and place in the oven
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, stir half way through
6. Let cool slightly then enjoy!

Verdict: Much better! This tastes great and doesn’t make your fingers stick together. Definitely the winner.

Both are fine the next day, or a few days later. If you’re able to stop eating them before they’re gone, put them in an air tight container and save for another time!

This is what I’m taking on the plane to share tomorrow – 5 cups of nuts!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

• How are you spending Thanksgiving?
• Do you Turkey Trot?
• What’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving?
• What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?

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Today’s workout -

• 45min bike
• 3x10 weighted side bends
• 3x10 lateral arm raise
• 3x10 lat pull down
• ab exercises
• stretching