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!

Our Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone had a great and happy Thanksgiving and that your tummies were/are as full and happy as ours! One holiday down two to go!

Were you as excited about yesterday as I was? I loved setting the table, preparing the turkey and all the other goodies we had. I loved the entire day of getting up early, prepping and even cleaning the house a little bit.

We woke up and I made some chocolate chip pancakes and some peppermint bark iced coffee to go with them. Call us crazy but we listened to Christmas music most of the morning. We love love love this CD. If you love Home Alone as much as we do this time of the year go get this one. It has the best of the best classic malt shop songs heard in the movie along with other great ones. We were singing and dancing and Button probably thought we were completely nuts.

I had marinated the turkey the night before and by ten-thirty the next morning it went in the oven to be ready by three.

We took most of the family pictures with a real camera and I don't have any of them! I did however, snap away at my tablescape with my phone. I kept it somewhat simple but pretty and comfortable enough to still be able to eat without having decorations in our way. We needed to be able to get to that food without interruptions ;)

I spent zero money on this since I had all of it already in existence. Well I lie, I did purchase two more of these really cool white candles at Target. So inexpensive but pretty!

I cut some twine I had left over from some other decorations and tied the silverware with it. Everything else was mostly purchased at the World Market including these beautiful napkins we have had for a while but never used! We decided to be fancy and use them in lieu of paper ones. They are fall-ish enough right? I couldn't believe how well my mini pumpkins held, not one of them has rotted!

The house felt so serene as if it were ready for all the festivities. It was such a beautiful day.

Remember those lit branches I got at Target? I went back for more to add as a centerpiece and light up at night. They looked so pretty.



Our family came over early to prepare everything with us and to be able to spend the whole day together. Our menu consisted of turkey (of course) which I marinated with orange juice, lots of garlic, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper & olive oil. I also injected it with this marinade and it turned out so juicy and delicious! I also made a salad with a spring mix, strawberries, pecans, jicama & a raspberry vinaigrette. My sister and mom brought jalapeno cornbread, and they made chipotle mashed potatoes (the bomb), queso with the best homemade salsa, I made stuffing from a box, my mother in law brought yams & deviled eggs (the best) and for desert we had pumpkin pie, vanilla ice cream and a jello that my mom makes with a layer of lemon and condensed milk, which takes ordinary jello to a level I cannot even explain.

The food was set up on our kitchen island with a sheet of craft paper under all the food for presentation and easy clean up! And some fun writing on it.

Elliot couldn't wait for us to start digging in. He loved the turkey and steamed potatoes I took out before my sister added any spices for her chipotle mashed potatoes. He is a potato lover and now an official turkey boy! He asked me for seconds!

I had to dress him up for his first Thanksgiving and this is one of the very few shots I was able to get of him in it! It's getting harder and harder to catch this little one still. I got everything on sale at the Children's Place. He looked so handsome. :)



What is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie? After all of the ruckus of the day, a slice of this goodness was the best way to end the night. I am so thankful to have the best family I could have asked for and the best husband and son in the world!! Elliot loved having all the family around! He had a great time and didn't even want to take any naps and went down hard at the end of the night. This day was all about family, enjoying a day full of laughter and fun and happy bellies. Couldn't have asked for more.

After cleaning up and putting all the leftovers away, Jack and I hugged and thanked God for such a wonderful day. Then high-fived each other for doing such a good job and having everything turn out exactly as we had planned or better. ;)

P.S. I had a major realization just yesterday, I took Elliot's ten month pic with Christmas lights & a Christmas hat. Did anyone care to tell me we are in November and not December? I laughed so hard yesterday at this total and major fail. To Do: retake Button's pic with Thanksgiving gear NOT Christmas. That's supposed to be his eleven month pic! I think I was so excited to put up the tree and decorations that I was so in the spirit and failed to think straight. Ha!!

Happy Friday! :)