WAIW: The Post-Christmas Edition

Happy day after Christmas, and happy Boxing Day to those in Canada!

We had an awesome day yesterday: I woke up early and baked up a storm in anticipation of our Christmas feast -- a feast that featured (no joke) kosher options, vegan options, highly carnivorous options, and gluten-free options.

It was the most egalitarian Christmas ever, y'all.

I contributed to the effort with a glut of gluten-free baked goods: vegan almond-poppyseed muffins, vegan brownies, and chocolate-peppermint brownies. (I'll post the recipes later - happily, the wonderful Valerie from City, Life, Eats sampled all the vegan offerings and asked for the recipes.) I was sure I'd gained 10 pounds in one afternoon, until...

4:00 this morning, when I woke up with a stomach virus.

So, so uncool.

After the worst was over, I slept until almost 1 p.m. (I only sleep like that when I'm on the brink of death) and have been communing with the couch since then. I finally feel up to doing something other than staring at the TV and being thankful that I got sick before going on vacation, and naturally, the first thing I wanted to do in my gradually-improving state is write a blog post. :)

Wednesdays are usually reserved for a What I Ate Wednesday -- thanks to Jenn from Peas & Crayons for hosting, of course -- but given the circumstances, today's offerings are incredibly lackluster.


All I've eaten today have been gourmet delicacies such as chicken broth, toast, and tea, which I know people obviously want to hear a lot about. (What's that, you say? People don't want to read about chicken broth in painstaking detail? Color me shocked!)

Instead, I'll add some photos of my Christmas Day food offerings, although it's by no means comprehensive! Christmas morning began with a cup of coffee (obviously) -- is there any other way I could start the day?

For breakfast I had a banana and a slice of low-fat, Weight Watchers-friendly, gluten-free (and crustless), turkey, cheddar, and spinach quiche. I've recently gotten into the habit of making a quiche like this on the weekends and taking a piece to work with me during the week for a dose of much-needed lean protein.

 

Our Christmas feast was scheduled for the afternoon, so lunch basically started at 2 p.m. and lasted for a few hours. In addition to the roast beast, I had spinach salad with chickpeas, strawberries, and pecans, topped with home-made balsamic and herb dressing. Valerie brought a lemony quinoa pilaf which was absolutely delicious, and she said it came from Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook (a cookbook that looks amazing, BTW). We also had asparagus with olive oil and almonds, carrots with hummus, and roasted potatoes.

Dessert featured all my baking creations, including two kinds of brownies and almond-poppyseed muffins. Success!

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday and that you're all able to get some R&R before the new year!