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December 28, 2015 (Updated February 22, 2023)

Christmas 2015 Recap

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

20 comments
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Hello my friends! I hope most of you are still enjoying a nice long break right now! I’m planning to keep up with email and blogging this week, but today is the only day I’m meeting with AnneTheRD nutrition clients. Looking forward to a fun holiday week!

We had a really nice, relaxing Christmas here in the DC area with my family.

cute cat with christmas tree

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We do our big feast on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day, which I love because then Christmas day is really relaxing!

christmas dinner tablescape

Here’s what was on the menu:

  • Kale salad! Thank you for your recipe recommendations – I ended up doing what some of you suggested which was topping the kale with pomegranate arils, walnuts, and feta cheese! But I went with baby kale (instead of regular kale), since I thought it would be more accepted by my audience. 😉 I dressed it with a simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette (<—that recipe minus the garlic). It was a big hit – not a bite was left!

baby kale salad walnuts feta pomegranate

  • Turkey – obviously! My mom baked a turkey and Matt fried one in our new oil-less turkey fryer, which worked really well – highly recommend!

oil free turkey fryer

oil-less turkey fryer

how to fry a turkey without oil

  • Cranberry sauce. I whipped up a batch of my easy homemade cranberry sauce, minus the rosemary since we didn’t have any on hand. It came out perfectly – and the leftovers are really good on top of my Perfect Microwave Banana Oatmeal, or stirred in with plain yogurt or cottage cheese!

easy homemade cranberry sauce

  • Mashed potatoes (my brother whipped these up) and string beans (one of the only veggies I enjoy simply steamed, so that’s how I made them – keeping it classic). My mom also made a homemade gravy – I loveeeee gravy.

homemade turkey gravy

All together now (minus the salad, which we ate first)!

christmas dinner

Does anyone else smush their mashed potatoes into a cup of sorts to put the gravy in? 😉

For dessert, we had pie, of course! Pecan pie + apple pie. Yum, yum! I had a small slice of each. 🙂

pecan and apple pie

Such a delicious night, and fun to spend time with my extended family, too! We also enjoyed some Prosecco (obviously, I’m obsessed) before dinner, and, with dinner, this really good Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon.

sterling vinyards cabernet sauvignon

After dinner, we all hung out for awhile and attempted to get a cute picture of me, Matt, and Zara, but this is what happened. Lol! She does not love being picked up – she’ll tolerate it briefly but that’s about it. Her eyes in the first picture crack me up – oh, Zara!

trying to take a picture with a cat

Ha! We eventually gave up (and also decided flash was a better idea) and took this one instead. 🙂

IMG_8970

What a fun day! We opened all our gifts the next morning, on Christmas Day. Here are a couple gift highlights:

  • A scooter so I can get to and from the metro more quickly! I’m going to be the coolest person ever on a scooter in my business attire – no shame. Any other scooter fans out there? I’ve seen a lot of adults commuting around on them lately! I need to practice before I go anywhere remotely hilly on it – it’s been a loooong time since I was on a scooter! I just bought myself this scooter-specific lock so I can lock it up at the metro, too!
  • These amazing yoga pants. I’m obsessed – so comfortable! They will be perfect for going to/from hot yoga classes (to wear over my small shorts), relaxing at home, hiking… etc!
  • This beautiful sweater – super soft!
  • This vest – so cute.

Matt and I also got some new Sonos wireless speakers to put around our house (they are awesome and I love listening to music while cooking and working), I got two beautiful scarves, we got some new cocktail/highball glasses (I got Matt some cool stone chilling cubes to go with them) and cutting boards, and my brother got me (and set up for me – amazing) a little external server storage unit so if my computer dies (a distinct possibility, since my laptop is really old) I won’t lose all my files. Hizzah!

IMG_8974

Time to get caught up on emails before my client meetings! Matt and I want to squeeze in a run too before we head off this afternoon for a big adventure. Stay tuned to see what we’re up to. 🙂

I’ll be back tomorrow to share more of the eats and exercise we’ve gotten into since I last checked in with you guys. Until then – hope you all had a great holiday!

What was the best thing you ate this holiday so far? Mine was probably turkey and gravy… my fave! We’ve been loving the leftovers, too – more on that tomorrow!

—

Please note there are affiliate links in this post.

- anne
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20 comments
  • Shel@PeachyPalate
    December 28, 2015 · 10:28AM:
    Happy belated Christmas!!! Nice to have dinner together Christmas Eve! Which turkey was best? Fried or baked?
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 28, 2015 · 10:57AM:
      It was a tie! They were both really good. Matt did a delicious cajun seasoning on his fried turkey that I liked a lot - and the skin was amazing - but my mom makes a mean traditional baked turkey - it was really juicy.
      Reply
    • Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
      December 28, 2015 · 11:03AM:
      This was going to be my question too! I've never had fried turkey!
      Reply
      • Anne
        December 28, 2015 · 11:16AM:
        It's DELICIOUS.
        Reply
  • Kris S December 28, 2015 · 10:43AM:
    Looks like a great Christmas! :D Those turkeys look gooood! In my family we do it Italian style and have seafood for Christmas Eve. And I'm very lucky that my Grandmom is still around and makes her Italian escarole soup with wait for it.. 139 tiny meatballs this year! She's 91 and still cooking up a storm to make the holiday favorites ;)
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 28, 2015 · 10:57AM:
      139 meatballs?! That's amazing! Sounds delicious :)
      Reply
  • Kelli @ Hungry Hobby
    December 28, 2015 · 10:48AM:
    Your brave on frying the turkey! Mine was my sisters homemade baklava, wine from local vineyards in Northern California, and tamales! We did it up right this year!
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 28, 2015 · 10:57AM:
      You had me at local vineyards - and homemade baklava, yum!!
      Reply
  • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine
    December 28, 2015 · 11:57AM:
    A scooter, haha! That's awesome! Mmm well the best thing I ate was the cinnamon buns I made with my new kitchenaid on Christmas day!
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 28, 2015 · 12:13PM:
      I loooove cinnamon buns! Enjoy!
      Reply
  • dian
    December 28, 2015 · 12:06PM:
    Hi Anne, If the weather stays this warm you'll be loving that scooter. I don't have one, but my son uses one at the University of Missouri. He thinks it's a great way to get around campus. I'll be on the lookout for your scooter pics! Merry Christmas and best wishes for a healthy NEW YEAR!!!
    Reply
  • Cassie
    December 28, 2015 · 12:17PM:
    Ham breakfast sandwiches the next morning!
    Reply
  • Fiona @ Get Fit Fiona
    December 28, 2015 · 12:43PM:
    The cat photos are funny! She clearly doesn't enjoy getting her photo taken. I think the thing I've enjoyed most over the holidays is getting some time off from work and school. It almost feels weird to not be doing anything.
    Reply
  • Mary
    December 28, 2015 · 2:42PM:
    Oh my gosh. I can not look at your post when hungry. I want all that food right now!!
    Reply
  • Katie @ Adultingdaily
    December 28, 2015 · 2:44PM:
    That's one of my favorite wines!!! Glad to see someone else enjoys is as well. That salad sounds delicious!
    Reply
    • Anne
      December 28, 2015 · 3:20PM:
      I don't think I'd ever had it before - glad to have discovered it!
      Reply
  • chiara December 28, 2015 · 3:50PM:
    Happy holidays, Anne! I am in Italy visiting my parents and family! I am loving every second of it! My fiancé has a Vespa and it made his commute from H street to Dupont way easier: 15 minutes compared to 40-50 minutes by bus/metro. It's a pity that the US capitol has such a dysfunctional (and expensive) public transport system.
    Reply
  • Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola
    December 28, 2015 · 5:39PM:
    It looks like you guys had a nice Christmas! I love the idea of doing a big family celebration on Christmas Eve so that everyone can relax on Christmas day.
    Reply
  • Emily Swanson
    December 28, 2015 · 10:50PM:
    Ham!! We never have ham except for once or twice a year, so it's a treat. I also really like eggnog. :D
    Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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