Where's the Beach?

Christmas Dinner As I mentioned yesterday, our Christmas Dinner was similar to our Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed the meal so much, why not make it again, or most of it anyway. Plus, I really want to try to perfect the Wild Mushroom Green Bean Casserole .       So, it was the casserole along with Curried Pumpkin Risotto and Quorn Turk'y Roast topped with Chipotle Cranberry Relish . Some dishes are certainly worthy repeating in my book. It was a nice, low-key Christmas for us topped off with a fabulous dinner, just the two of us (besides Maddie & Heath waiting under the table for food droppage of course). Gym Day Today was back to gray skies and lots of rain. Definitely the kind of day that makes you want to just stay inside in your PJs, even more so since we were both off work. We did manage to get out of our PJs into our workout clothes for the gym though. I started with 15 minutes on the elliptical then did trisets of 3x8 (unless noted) for shoulders, bi...

Family Day Recap Today was the first day since I've been off work (since Wednesday) that wasn't jam packed. In other words, I was able to sleep in guilt free. We had no place to be. The only thing that we actually had planned was to get in a run if the weather was decent. The forecast kept changing, so the last we saw said rain. It was a pleasant surprise to see sunshine and blue skies rather than the dreary, gray skies we had yesterday. Oh, yesterday...that family-filled day. We left home at 10:45 in the morning and didn't get home until after 9 pm. Needless to say, the dogs were very unhappy and we were very worn out. The day started at my sister's for lunch of a brunch menu that consisted of 2 types of frittatas, fruit salad, bagels, sausage (for the meat eaters), and my mom made a gluten-free coffee cake as well.     It was so fun watching the kids open up their gifts. It was definitely a cooking type of Christmas for them. I had found these super cute Curious...

Finally, as promised, here is my vegan Thanksgiving menu (well, vegan minus the turkey mom brought of course). Smashed Sweet Potatoes Wild Mushroom Green Bean Casserole Pumpkin Risotto Apricot Glazed Brussels Sprouts Homemade rolls (wheat and gluten-free) Turkey with dressing (brought by my mom) Faux chicken with chipotle cranberry relish for myself Vegan Gravy (courtesy of Angela at Oh She Glows ) Gluten-free Pumpkin Roulade (from local bakery) I started off Friday morning around 8 am prepping some of the food to make it easier to put together when it came time to eat. Onion rings smell really odd at 8 am I might add. I steamed the sweet potatoes and sat those aside. I knew I could reheat them in the microwave and smash them at the last minute. I reconstituted the mushrooms and put together the green bean casserole ahead of time, leaving the onion rings off of course. I also made the gravy as well so that I could put away all small kitchen appliances. I really was trying...