Murphy’s Law of Vegan Baking:
When you desperately want a new recipe to work out, it won’t.
This is why you got a 1,000 words post yesterday instead of the recipe that Eric and I made!
We made vegan banana bread and while it turned out pretty good, it needs a few tweaks until I am ready to post the recipe. I think I used too much baking soda!
It will be coming soon though. I already picked up some ripe bananas on the drive home.
Yesterday was Boxing Day and boy did we ever have a feast! My mother-in-law, Margaret, always has her big Christmas dinner on Boxing Day and it was pretty much a full day of face stuffing from breakfast until dessert around 10pm. I’m feeling like I have a bit of a ‘food hangover’ today!
As per usual, she rocked the table decor once again. My MIL is the queen of table settings.
Every holiday she does something completely new and it always looks stunning.
I was in charge of the name tags. ;) It has been so long since I have used cursive hand writing though, I felt a bit rusty!
We polished off many bottles of wine! Yes, yes, we did.
And we feasted on incredibly delicious food!
Classic Stuffing, turkey, asparagus..
Caesar Salad…
Brussels sprouts & carrots…
My MIL’s famous Croquettes (her mom’s Irish recipe) are below. We also made a vegan version this year using almond milk and Earth Balance (on the right) and Eric said he could barely taste the difference between the two! I was really happy to be able to enjoy them again.
My MIL also surprised me with this amazing vegan wheat berry and navy bean salad that was TOP SECRET until dinner was served!
It was absolutely amazing and everyone raved about it. If you guys are interested, I will get the recipe and do a recipe post on it.
I was quite hungry when dinner was served and I STUFFED myself until I was literally uncomfortable. I just couldn’t help myself!
I had a huge serving of the vegan salad (plus seconds), croquettes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, asparagus, salad.
I ate every bite!
For dessert I had 2 Nanaimo squares and a couple vegan gingersnap cookies.
And wine.
Too much for my belly!
We worked our dinner off with a couple hours of Kinect, dancing and boxing the night away! It was really fun playing it with a group of 10 adults, all drinking wine. ;) We laughed and laughed and the good times were a rollin’!
I lost a slipper in all the excitement! lol
I win. bahah
That would be the look of defeat on Eric’s face. LOL!
We drove home late this morning and the first thing I did when I got home is 1) Make a Green Monster, and 2) Convince myself that a workout would make all the difference. I hadn’t worked out in 3-4 days and it was really started to hit me and I was feeling so sluggish. I felt so much better after running a few miles, even if it wasn’t all that fun while I was sweating! It is hard getting back into the groove, but I find if I just focus on doing a bit at a time and not setting my goal too high, I am more likely to just do it.
I have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do the rest of the day. See you soon!
The food looks delicious!!! And it looks like the time after dinner was a blast!
Nice! The food looked great :)
What a beautiful table spread!! LOVE the wine glasses!
Looks like such a fun night of food + family. The Kinect photos are HILarious!!! :)
It all looks great!!! And your cursive writing is wonderful :-) Those nametags are beautiful!
And I loved the pictures of the Kinect game!! Hahahaa :-) and I LOVE the photo of your slipper flying off! Thats great!!!
I’m glad you had a blast!! And yes one day at a time and you’ll get back into the groove :-)
I always love reading!
that salad looks aaaaaamzing. recipe PLEASE. you blog is a nice inspiration. i have been having trouble with the people in my life accepting my veganism .. the holidays are especially hard. knowing there are other compassionate people out there is really comforting. BOOKMARKING your blog for sure~
I just had the Little Penguin wine for Christmas and I was really impressed! I think it was a Pinot Noir.
What a fun night playing Kinect! Your family looks like so much fun :-)
I love that you are reading a food mag while on the treadmill! I’m so going to try that! :D
It makes me happy to know that I’m not the only one who has recipes that don’t turn out =)…I’ve been experimenting so much lately and haven’t had any luck! It was really discouraging until I talked to quite a few good cooks who have experienced the same thing!
I have to tell you though…if that vegan banana bread was sitting in front of me I’d eat the whole thing in one sitting! It looks so good! =)
oh and one more thing–how do you control your appetite duing the holidays and even in general? Because I’m supposed to gain weight, I’ve been allowing myself treats and this has caused me to eat way past the point of feeling full…where I feel completely sick. I’ve been giving in waaaay too much lately and have been sliding back into my old habits of binging and this scares me =/ How did you finally overcome your “binging days”? Any advice for someone like me? =)
Hi Danielle,
I wrote two posts on binge eating that may help you!
FAQ Installment 15 (binge eating: Part 1: http://ohsheglows.com/2009/02/04/the-unspoken-issue/
FAQ Installment 16 (Binge eating: Part 2: http://ohsheglows.com/2009/02/05/the-unspoken-issue-part-2/
Thank you so much Angela!!! =)
that is barely anything they were mostly vegetables :) christmas is all about eating!
and i am definitely interested in the wheat berry and navy bean salad!
It is my life goal to come to one of your fancy dinner parties. I want a little bulb with my name card on it :-) just once….
What a gorgeous dinner!
I would love the recipe for the wheat berry/navy bean salad…those are 2 of my favourites!!
I’m like you: Partying is fun and all but after a week, my body craves a workout and some TLC :P I can’t wait to buy some kale so I can finally have a green monster :)
Your meal looks delicious! I love the cookies and the idea of putting the names for each to the table…….You had a party time for an entire week.
What a nice family celebration you all had – those croquettes look pretty good. Pretty table setting too :)
I’m super impressed that you can read a magazine while running! I’ve tried, but I just could not focus on the words at all!
im not very good at it!!
I would love to have the bean recipe! it looks amazing! I love that you get straight to business when you get home! :)
My favorite part is that Granny is doing the Wii – HILARIOUS!
I love that you guys were “boxing” on Boxing Day! :)
That wheatberry salad looks fantastic! Any tips on cooking them? I’ve only eaten it in restaurants and am in the mood to try it out at home.
Wow! I absolutely LOVE those table decorations! I really want to do that for my family next year.