Colorful Friday

Hey everyone!! I am definitely feeling some guilt for not checking in a bit more and because we didn’t take any cute Thanksgiving family photos yesterday. But then again, I did promise myself I’d live in the moment, so that’s what matters most, especially on a day to spend being grateful for family. We had a great low-key holiday here in Charlottesville at Thomas’s mom and dad’s house.

Birch and I took our first solo trip to Wegmans on Wednesday for ingredients for the few recipes. He slept the whole time in his car seat, and I picked up some hot bar for lunch. I had been craving roasted veggies all week, so I loaded up on them and added a little leftover chicken from our fridge and some kale salad.

One of the recipes on my list was lactation cookies! I used Jessica’s recipe, and they turned out fabulous. I think the inclusion of yeast and oats is what makes them “lactation” but these cookies are amazing regardless. (And you could probably leave out the yeast and not notice.) I added some butterscotch chips in addition to the chocolate chunks – yum! I loved how these cookies didn’t spread out super thin while baking – they have such a great texture. I’ve been eating one in the middle of the night because there is no better time for a cookie than when you’re awake for the third time and hungry at 4 am.

I also made a simple batch of whole berry cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. Gotta have it. And finally, I made Pinch of Yum’s sweet potato casserole! I LOVE that this recipe called for canned sweet potatoes (I used yams in light syrup, drained) because the whole thing came together in no time. The pecan crumble topping was OMG good. I will say that this casserole was very sweet – well into the dessert category of sweet. I loved it, but next time I might cut back on the sugar just a little.

Thanksgiving Day included the essentials: a treadmill workout, a salad for lunch, and a nap!

We headed out to North Garden where T’s parents live around 4. We were joined by T’s brother and his family too. Mazen left on Thursday morning to spend the day with Matt’s dad’s side of the family, so we were just a family of 3.

Apps:

John grilled the turkey, and it turned out so juicy and delicious.

Little bitta everything!!

For dessert we had two pies from the Pie Chest – pumpkin and pecan plus freshly whipped cream.

Birch had fun being passed around and slept most of the evening.

I can’t believe the holiday season is here! Are you ready for the holidays!?