What I Ate for Christmas & My New Hot Beverage

I hope you all had a peaceful and healthy Christmas.  I missed blogging on Monday as I just plain ol' ran out of time.  I met a good friend for coffee in the morning and we chatted for a couple of hours before I had to run off to do some last-minute shopping.  (Actually, what happened was I was counting on the Mayans to be correct and didn't want to spend money on gifts that would go unused, so I held out until the bitter end.)  Then it got too late in the day and I figured there wasn't any point to posting anything because nobody would read it Monday or on the holiday anyway. 

I am off work all week and have already started my to-do lists, one for each day until Sunday when we have Hubby's family over for the final celebration of the season.  I will be cooking a pot of chili, a pan of cornbread and a huge salad -- all vegan.  I've caved to the pleading for a traditional Christmas dinner and will also be preparing a bone-in ham and mac-n-cheese.  I'm thinking broccoli would be a nice side dish for either menu option.

The topic of my blog is What I Ate for Christmas so I figure I'd better hit there.  I had this all planned and Alex knew what we were having and he still showed up on time early for breakfast.  On the menu was veggie scramble, tropical fruit salad and black rice breakfast pudding. 

Tropic Fruit Salad - banana, kiwi, pineapple, orange, pomegranate seeds

Veggie Scramble with Tofu.  The guys chose eggs for theirs.

Black Rice Breakfast Pudding with spinach, currants, almonds, vanilla & soy milk.

 After breakfast we hit the presents.  A wonderful day was had just hanging out and talking.  Very quiet, just the three of us this year.  It looks like I will be making a few trips to the Korean Spa in 2013, thanks to my wonderful husband.  I just love to spend the day in heated rooms and pools, then finishing off the experience with a full body scrub and moisturizing treatment.

For dinner we had the "traditional" enchilada dinner.  Well, it's not really a tradition, but it was the easiest thing that I could make that would satisfy the culinary desires of a 19-year-old, ever-hungry man!  It was completely vegan, right down to the cheese.  It was accompanied with a great salad of greens, arugula and tomatoes.  I forgot to take pictures of the dinner, so you'll have to trust me it was good.  Only one piece of enchilada casserole was left.  I think that is a good sign.  Dessert is always fun!  I made a whole-food gingerbread cake.  It's really more like a spice cake.  It's chock-full of healthy ingredients like carrots, beets, applesauce, pineapple, dates, currents.  Oh, yum!

Topped with a dallop of cashew frosting, this was DELISH!  I indulged a little too much and had two pieces.  Oops!  Oh, well.  We finished off the night with a cup of tea and more chatting.  I was wiped out so was in bed before 9 p.m.!  That made it easier to get up and get to the gym this morning.

So my New Hot Beverage is something else I want to share with you.  If you know me well, you know I have gone through many addictions to hot, creamy beverages.  First, it was chai tea lattes.  That went on for years.  Then I converted to green tea (matcha) lattes.  Starbucks and I had perfected the best cup last week, even after I discovered that their matcha doesn't contain just straight-up green tea, it also has <gasp!> sugar in it.  I talked with my personal consultant, aka Hubby, about physical addiction, emotional addiction and why I drink a latte every day.  We decided it was more a habit than an addiction, kind of like a comfort.  I need something in the car/bus with me to keep me company.  He said, "So starting January 1st, give it up."  Instead of just giving up all things warm and creamy, I've decided to make it easier on myself.  There will be no more green tea lattes, I will guarantee you that.  What will substitute, you ask?  A decaf soy latte with nutmeg sprinkled on top.  Oh, my goodness!  It is so good.  So gone is the caffeine from the green tea and gone is the added sugar.  The only sugar is what is in the soy milk.  Making it at home, I can use unsweetened milk, but in the coffee shops, you don't get that choice.  I feel much better now.  I can still be comforted by my drink, enjoy the flavor AND feel better about my sugar intake. 

Well, it is December 26th, so I think that means we are supposed to go shopping, right?  Today will find me doing those things that you can't do when you work all week... like getting your oil changed. Now, doesn't that sound like such a wonderful holiday activity?

Until Friday...