I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgiving weekends! Today is a good day to get back on track after a little overindulgence. This is what I will be making tonight for dinner because it's so easy and healthy! Okay, I am going to be honest. I am not even sure you can call this a recipe. Because it's really not one. Basically you throw whatever veggies you have on hand in with some ground turkey or ground chicken, add some tomato sauce and call it dinner! It doesn't take much time at all, and you will definitely have leftovers for lunch the next day (unless your husband eats as much as my husband - sorry Will…I love you and your big appetite!) 

Ingredients:
·       Lean ground turkey or ground chicken -- you can use your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers! 
·       Chicken broth (or veggie broth works fine)
·       Unlimited veggies (I used broccoli, kale, red pepper, and a red onion) 
·       Tomato sauce 
·       Whole wheat pasta (optional) 

Directions:
1.    Cook protein of your choice in 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium high heat until cooked through. 
2.    Add 1/4 cup of broth to the protein with your veggies. (You might need more broth if you have a ton of veggies!)
3.    Put a lid on the mixture until veggies are soft and cooked through. 
4.    Once everything is cooked, add your tomato sauce and season with salt and pepper. 
5.    Serve on top of whole wheat pasta or eat it plain! 

I am so excited to share these Thanksgiving recipes with you, and also thrilled to have my first guest recipe post from one of my favorite bloggers - WeekNight Bite! WeekNight Bite is full of quick, nutritious recipes, mouth watering pictures and adorable videos to show you exactly how to cook the dishes! Lindsay - the creator of WNB - also happens to be a fellow San Diego native! I made one of her first recipes a couple of years ago - the Southwestern Quinoa Lettuce wraps - for a work lunch and everyone was raving about it and wanted to get the recipe from me. It's so good! Check out the recipe box to find other awesome recipes. I am dying to make her pumpkin pie smoothie!

Now...after seeing the picture above I'm sure you are drooling already and just want to get to the recipe so here it is:

Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 Dorot frozen garlic cubes (or 3 chopped cloves of garlic)
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin
1 cup dry red lentils* (rinsed)
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp honey
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) unsweetened almond milk
Garnish: pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds, honey, cinnamon

Serves 4.

- Heat olive oil in a large pot, then sautee onion until it becomes more translucent. Add garlic. Sautee.
- Add pure pumpkin, dry red lentils, water, and vegetable broth. Stir together.
- Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, honey, and salt and pepper. Stir.
- Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover for about 15 minutes or until lentils are cooked through.
- Using a hand-blender, start to puree the soup. Or, you can transfer the ingredients from the pot to a
standard blender, but make sure to do small batches at a time.
- As you puree the soup, start to add the almond milk. Start with a half cup and if you prefer to thin it out a bit more, keep adding more almond milk until you reach the desired consistency.
- Taste test to make sure it is seasoned well. Salt and pepper are very important!
- Transfer to bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds, pomegranate seeds, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey.
- Get cozy and enjoy! :)
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*Tip: Add additional honey or a packet of stevia if you would like your pumpkin soup to be more sweet and less savory*

Are you ready for the salad portion? Introducing the WeekNight Bite's Butternut Squash, Kale, Farro Salad! YUM. This recipe just screams fall to me and it's so pretty and colorful!

I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving soup & salad courtesy of the WeekNight Bite! The holiday season is officially upon us, so I will definitely be bookmarking the WNB recipe box for my healthy fix amidst the indulgences.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

xoxo, Ellen

Happy Thanksgiving week! I can't believe Thanksgiving is here. Will and I are driving to Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday to spend the holiday with his family. We decided to drive (it's gonna be like 10 hours or more) and not fly like we usually do because we are bringing our new puppy Luna to meet the family! I am looking forward to lots of family time, loving on my cute nephews, relaxing, and of course enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving dinner!

​I actually found this picture below of my plate from Thanksgiving at my house in San Diego from a couple of years ago....yum!!! But I think instead of the regular mashed potatoes, some colorful sweet potatoes would have been even better! Sweet potatoes are a health food powerhouse. They are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, fiber, and they taste amazing. Have you ever tried making them into mashed potatoes? If not, I highly recommend it and what better time to make them than Thanksgiving?! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. We all have SO much to be thankful for! 

Here's the recipe (inspired by Fitness magazine) for the mashed sweet potatoes: 
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Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of sweet potatoes (I used this bag of already cut sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's, but if you want to chop up your own it would be roughly 4-6 potatoes depending on the size) 
• 1 cup of coconut milk 
• 1/2 tablespoon of fresh ginger (I think more than that makes the ginger too overwhelming) 
• Salt & pepper to taste