Thanksgiving, Dinner, Troops, Family, Miracles & Thanks... part 1

I have a wonderful story to tell you about an amazing store called Smart & Final.  Without asking for anything in return, they offered to provide everything for our Thanksgiving dinner for 25+ US Service Members.  Such a beautiful story needs every detail, so let me first begin with a little bit of history...

Everything starts at the beginning...

Ever since I was a little girl, I can remember my Father always telling me to be thankful and appreciative to/for our Military.  Anywhere we went, he thanked them, he would buy them little things, like a coffee or something of the sort.  My Father passed away when I was 5 years old, but a lot of his loving nature has stayed with me throughout my life. My wish while in Junior High was to join the Marines when I "grew up", but changed my mind due to severe migraines. In High School, I tried to follow my dream again, but I had to drop out of school to care for my mother. There ended my dreams but not my Love.  Throughout the years I volunteered with anything I could that involved supporting our Military.

In 1999 I met this guy, annoying and silly, a story of which I will tell later ;)  I ended up marrying this guy 2 months later, and 1 month later he left on his 1st deployment.  I had no idea what the lifestyle was like. Then I found out 1 month into the deployment that I was 6 weeks pregnant. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions! I was alone, pregnant, and with my husband in the middle east, I was a wreck!  I got phone calls from my husband telling me about how lonely it was over there, and how the majority of his friends would get no mail; so I started baking once a week and shipping packages to them. It felt so great to hear about how happy my cookies were making everyone. Then I found Soldier's Angels. I signed up, not for my Husband to receive letters and care packages, but for me to be able to make other Soldiers feel some love as well. Ever since 1999 I have been adopting Service members.  I send letters, care packages, and ship home baked goodies.  I have never sent a care package with enough for one Service member, I always make sure I send enough for the entire unit. It's only right, right?!

That year, as my Husband was overseas I decided that I was going to do what I could so that other Service members didn't feel as lonely as him.  I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at our little apartment, I adopted Sailors through the USO and had them enjoy a day of relaxation and food.  Ever since that year, we have always cooked and invited any Service members that we know of, that don't have Family out here, for every Holiday.

Last year was the hardest for us, we couldn't even afford a Thanksgiving day dinner for our Family, the paycheck didn't come in on time. We made the best of it, we ate sandwiches, watched TV, and made crafts. We  still enjoyed ourselves but felt bad that we couldn't invite anyone else from the base. That Sunday after Thanksgiving, we received our paycheck, bought turkey on "clearance", invited a few single Military members we know, and had a double reason to say Thanks; we had our Thanksgiving dinner on a Sunday ;)  This year, my husband and I had already spoken about this Thanksgiving.  With us having to move in 45 days and with absolutely no money for 1st month's rent and a deposit, there was no way we were going to be able to host a Thanksgiving dinner for our Military again. 

This is where it gets "mushy!":

The Friday before Thanksgiving week I got a call.  On the other side was an "Angel"!  What? You didn't know they have phones? They do!   I was told that Smart & Final heard what I did for our Troops and wanted to help me!  Little ol' me!!! I was beyond words, She told me that I was going to be receiving help to be able to host our ENTIRE DINNER!!!  She also told me that they were going to provide EVERYTHING I needed, from food to paperwares!!!!  I cried, I was so happy, I couldn't believe it, what a Blessing!!!  She informed me that it would be enough for me to host 25 Service Members.   She was so lucky, see if this had been a face to face meeting, I would have "professionally" jumped over the table and tackled her with a hug, the same would have happened to anyone that would have been at that meeting ;)

Not being able to have a Thanksgiving dinner at our house with our Family would have been a tiny bit sad but we would have been okay, not being able to give some Service members a home cooked Holiday dinner and just some Family company was the only thing we were ALL concerned with.  I am definitely going to post EVERYTHING about that night and leading up to it, but I had to start from the beginning, after all; every Miracle has a beginning right?

This has been such a wonderful experience to show the world how such a large company can make Miracles happen for the tiniest of people ;) 

Baskets of Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa for our Troops...

Did you know that Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa exists?!?

I was so happy to hear about it, and it happened to fall right into my plans for Thanksgiving.  If you read my previous posts, you know all about my plans for Thanksgiving dinner right?  For those of you who haven't read them, I am so happy to announce that we will be hosting dinner at our house for 25+ US Service Members who have no Family to spend the Holidays with.  I always bake cookies and send them home with our guests as well as ship them to our Troops overseas.  With that being said, I thought it would be awesome if I included some Cold Stone Creamery Hot Cocoa along with their goodies, it's only right!

Here is my shopping trip and our baskets the kids and I made for our guests...

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Now, you didn't think I would just show you the deliciousness and not share right?!? 
What kind of meanie would I be?
Thanksgiving is all about giving Thanks, and as a Thank you for being my wonderful friends, I am giving away a basket to one of you ;)  Now I know it's not a huge gift basket, but it's from the heart ;)

For your chance to win

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(if you don't have a facebook account, you may still enter, just leave a comment below, have you tried Cold Stone Creameries Hot Cocoa?)

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Giveaway ends 12-11-10 midnight PST.  I will notify winner by email.  Winner will have 48 hours to respond with information or a new winner will be chosen.

A classic Thanksgiving dish with a twist

This year is a very special Thanksgiving for us, we are having over 25+ US Military Service Members in our house who do not have a Family to spend it with.  Thinking about my menu, I decided that instead of my usual red roasted potatoes, I was going to try something different for them,

"Roasted red yams with smoked paprika"

It is as delicious as it sounds!!

Here is the recipe:

makes approx. 6 servings

2 medium-large (approx. 3 pnds) red yams "Red Garnet,"
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil

1. Pre heat oven to 425 degrees
2. line your baking sheets with silicone liner or parchment paper.
3. Cut all the yams to approx. dice sized squares
4. in a mixing bowl, toss yams, oil, and smoked paprika.  
5. spread the yams evenly on your baking sheets and bake for 10 mins.
6. using a spatula, carefully flip your yams and bake for approx. 8-10 mins more (depending on your oven) 
7. Enjoy tender baked yams, while the outside is deliciously caramelized.

Serve as a side dish with your Thanksgiving dinner or any night of the week. 
Your Family will thank you!
P.S. You can also add a little bit of rosemary for an even more intense flavor!

I do the majority of our shopping at Smart & Final and I was able to buy the red yams for .49 cents a pound!
Other items on sale are:

1.  Farmer John Spiral Sliced Half Ham, Bone-In, Farmer John Logo @$1.99 PER LB.
2.  First Street 8" Apple or Pumpkin Pie, selected varieties, 24 OZ. @ $2.99
3.  Dreyer's Ice Cream, selected varieties, 48 FLUID OZ. @ $2.99.
4.  Pepsi or 7-UP,  selected varieties, 12/12 OZ., Limit 4 total @ 4 for $10 (+CRV in CA Only). 
5.  Crystal Geyser Spring Water, 35/.5 LT. @ 2 for $8 (+CRV in CA Only).

Do the "Smart" thing, shop at Smart & Final, for us it's our one stop shop for everything from food to tablewares.
Do you have any special meals or dishes you love to create around special occasions?

Thanksgiving day ride...

so today started pretty sad for me n husb. we couldnt afford a thanksgiving meal.

the kids woke up they had breakfast.

football followed and play time. on and off the kids the kids asked if we could cook the turkey already, so finally we told them that we had planned to go to a friends house for thanksgiving dinner.

AS IF....
things never go as planned in this house, and im thinking that the more plans i make the more i should pinch myself because they look so good in writing.....

izeah started screaming and we ran to see what was wrong. he fell down and landed face first into the corner of the dresser. face bleeding, we took a trip to the hosp where we didnt get out until 7-8pm.

i didnt have a phone so i couldnt call Deidra, so after that we went straight home. Izeah was in pain.

now my baby has a scar in the shape of a seven on his face............
DOES THIS MEAN THAT FROM NOW ON HE WILL BE LUCKY OR LUCKIER?!?!?!
lol lol lol

the last few days...

well needless to say, we were home all weekend.
with 6 y.o still having nose bleed issues, and husb having duty , it was the kids and me again at home.


sunday, i finally crashed, my migraines and depression got the best of me, it's on my depression blog; so i dont type it twice.

monday and tuesday were no different from this whole week. i have been with the 6 y.o and his episodes, and alone with all of the kids while husb is at work.

hopefully tomorrow is better than this last week.

i am extremely anxious, 6 y.o has a doc appt at 9am, and i dont know what diagnosis they will have this time. the diagnosis dont change every time, there just seems to be a new one everytime.
how much can a 6 year old handle? even more so, how much can this mother handle?

on a brighter note, my 7 y.o has something amazing happening today (wednesday) in school.....
her WONDERFUL teacher is cooking a thanksgiving day lunch/dinner for the class.
amazing!! she is cooking 2 turkey's and parents are pitching in side items.
7 y.o could not stop bragging about her daddy's red garlic mashed potatoes, so she signed him up for that, lol.

my 6 y.o doc appt is at 9am so i hope so much i can make it back in time to be with her for this event. she is soo excited, and yes, i can finally have pictures up, lol.