Thankful

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving!! I loved it this year. We decided to have it at my mom's since we had it at our house last year and she had the day off which is a rare occurrence! It was full of yummy food and some much needed family time. Of course Elliot loved every minute of it!

We had Turkey, yams, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, tabouleh with and without yogurt (my mom and sis made it and I think it was gone on the first serving, it was so damn good!), and I made a green bean casserole using this Pinterest recipe. It came out really good. I wanted to stick to traditional using a healthier version.

My sister makes the best turkey hands down. It was crispy on the outside and super juicy on the inside. Plus it tasted heavenly! She marinated it early that morning and threw it in the oven to let it bake for 5-6 hours.

For dessert I decided to be brave this year and actually bake something instead of buying. I was nervous I'm not going to lie! I've definitely never been a baker, I'm much better at cooking ha! I can honestly say I had so much fun baking these mini apple pies also from Pinterest and when I took them to my mom's, I had Jack try them first to give us a thumbs up or down. He gave them a thumbs up and we all dug in. They were really good and they looked so pretty! Crispy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. I modified the recipe a bit by not adding all the amount of flour and sugar it requested but I made it up by adding a little extra cinnamon. ;) There was also a sangria I really wanted to make but we were running late so I'll be making it for Christmas. Can't wait to try it!

Even though I don't bake, I'm obsessed with cookie cutters, I don't know how many I have but I have them for every occasion! If I go to the store and see one I like, I buy it. If I'm brave enough, I'll use some I got for Christmas last year and this year to bake something festive!

Leaf tops seemed appropriate for these along with wavy edges.

It was a fun night, Jack and I had the day off but everyone else worked the next morning so we headed home a little early. I gave Elliot a bath and he was asleep about ten minutes after that. Jack and I had a few beers and watched a movie. Our plan had been to decorate outside after Elliot went to bed but that went out the window, we were exhausted too! It was a long day of cooking, baking, eating, drinking and family fun.

The next day was leftover day!! This has been a tradition since I was little and we have continued it every single year. I don't think there's been a year that we haven't done this. My mom packed us a good amount of turkey for the next day. We got up bright and early and made some turkey tortas. Seriously, if you're having turkey for Christmas, make these the next day! They are so good. 

I shred the turkey with two forks and sauteed thinly sliced onion on a pan, I then threw the turkey in and warmed it up with the onion. I took some bread rolls, split them in halves and toasted them on a pan for a bit with some olive oil. I spread a little mayo, mustard and a lot of avocado on each. Topped them with the turkey, tomato slices, spinach and baby kale (that's all we had but we usually use lettuce). They are to die for and what a better way to use your leftover turkey! 

We made some coffee and had them for breakfast. Elliot ate the bread with some shredded turkey on the side.

We stayed in the house the entire day on in our jammies and relaxed. We had more turkey for lunch and dinner with the other leftover sides we had on Thanksgiving, watched movies all day and played with Elliot. I am so thankful for having Jack and Elliot and my beautiful family. I don't know what I would do without them. I'm happy and healthy and I couldn't ask for anything more!

Now we are on Christmas mode! We decorated outside during the weekend and we put up our tree about three weeks ago. We already did most of our Christmas shopping and we are set to go! Onto more decorating and shopping now! And lots and lots of Christmas movies!

Have a great week!