Holiday Fun (12.27.2008)

Whew! What a great Christmas...filled with lots of great food, family, friends, and even consistent workouts!

My family celebrated Christmas Eve at my sister's house where we exchanged with her family and had a nice dinner. I brought the appetizers - Chipotle Shrimp Cups - from Cooking Light. They were a hit and a light appetizer to have before our big meal.Sipped on a bud light with lime - which went well with the shrimp cups.Our main meal was a Let's Dish creation called Beef Roulade which is flank steak filled with a mixture of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, cheese and breadcrumbs then rolled up and baked until delicious.

Served with colorful fingerling potatoes that my mom roasted with a little olive oil, rosemary and garlic. It was cool eating mini purple potatoes. My sister also roasted up some asparagus. Perfect meal.We opened presents and the men immediately started putting them togetherwhile us ladies took pictures in front of the tree...Then, we moved on to the important stuff. DESSERT. My mom made a pecan pie, my sister made festive chocolate chip cookies and Santa's Macaroons, and I brought the Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf. The santa's macaroons are not safe around me. Basically you mix corn flakes with the rice krispie treat marshmallow mixture, add almond extract, and sliced almonds to create an irresistible treat.Christmas Morning at my parent's house was a relaxing one. My mom made Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls that we served with fresh raspberries and half a banana.Had a snowman cup of Sumatra blend coffee I brought from my corner coffee shop. Obsessed with that stuff.Also had a clementine.After opening presents, we decided to take the dogs on a hike/run at a park near my parents' house. It was a chilly, sunny morning and felt good to get out there.

Max (my parent's black lab) was not happy I wanted to take a picture before our run...and Oscar looks like the walk from the car tired him out. But after a nice jog through the woods...
Max was eventually tired enough to sit still for a picture.Christmas Afternoon/Evening celebration is always a open house style thing at my parent's house. Family and friends come and go and we always have TOO much food.

Appetizers included pistachio crisps and multi grain tortilla chips served with regular and edamame hummus. This was the first time I tried both of these type of chips/crisps and they were both great. (My mom found them at Costco)What Maryland celebration would be complete without crab balls?! My dad picked them up from Pappas Restaurant in Parkville, MD. His friend's family owns the place. These things are great - made from lump, back fin meat with barely any filler and then dusted with corn meal. Delish.I contributed to the main meal by making Mac & Cheese, roasted brussels sprouts and steamed carrots with brown sugar and butter. We also had a jello salad, green bean casserole, turkey, ham, Rolls, cheesy scalloped potatoes, spinach salad, and a wide assortment of desserts.The view of my plate that I tried to cover mostly with spinach, which I topped with the jello salad. I stuck with all side dishes this year.Dessert was a slice of sweet potato pie. No one minded that I had a slice before hand. :)

Woke up the day after Christmas and went to the gym for a hard work out. Did 45 mins on the arc trainer and then 30 mins or arm, back, and shoulders lifting. I was a sweaty mess, but it felt so good to burn off some of the food!

After the gym, I decided to make some of MacDuff's Chocolate Truffles to take to a party we were going to later at my boyfriend's cousin's house. They were very rich - and one bite probably put back on all of the calories I worked off at the gym earlier. Totally worth it though...:)
Hope everyone else had and is having a great holiday - cant wait to catch up on all of your blogs soon!