Food And Family
Christmas was a great day spent with family and filled with lots of food. Tons!
We spent the morning opening gifts with the daughters, then got to last minute prepping for all our family members that were coming. I did take time out to make a french toast breakfast for the husband and daughters and a bagel and egg sandwich for myself. I paired it with a bowl of strawberries and banana. I’m starting to crave fruits and veggies again instead of sugar!
When all the family arrived, I broke out the appetizers.
Hummus plate…
Pineapple pecan dip, carrots, crackers…
and passed some hot hors d’oeurves (I tried to catch some pics after they got devoured!)…
Scallops wrapped in bacon…
mini crabcakes…
Fried green beans with wasabi dipping sauce…
Lobster tartlets…
Mingling…
After noshing and mingling, we got started on the “big” meal…
Lasagna and manicotti in a bechamel sauce…
Roast pork ..
Meatballs…
Gram’s green beans …
HOT peppers , horseradish and cheese for pork sandwiches…
Pineapple stuffing , rolls , salad and roasted potatoes…
So many delicious things to choose from! I finally sat down with a plate of salad, roast pork, potatoes and pineapple stuffing. I’m a carb-girl all the way…
Dessert is always a big showcase! Our motto seems to be “you can never have too much dessert” 
Cookies galore…
and cakes!
There was also my Mom’s awesome cheesecake, homemade truffles and my MIL’s pumpkin pie that I didn’t get a picture of.
Then, we sang off some of the calories during our traditional 12 days of Christmas songfest! Everyone left around 11:00 p.m. and the husband and I cleaned up for another hour before happily hitting the sack! Whew!
It was a fantastic and fun day spent with everyone we love. And there was much too much food, as always. My healthy eating goals the past couple of days have been an epic fail. I munched my way through tons of cookies and sampled loads of chocolate. I want to say that I don’t feel bad about it, but I do. I want to say that I enjoyed eating it all, but I didn’t. I ate in response to the feeling instead of out of enjoyment. Shoveling food, just to get it in, just in case I might miss eating it, is not enjoying. It’s not savoring. It’s just shoveling and mindless eating. So, it’s not so much the amount of food that I ate or what type of food I ate that bothers me, it’s more about the way I ate it. I know that behavior of mindless eating is something that could get me into a lot of trouble. It’s a hard behavior to break away from and the moment you think it’s gotten easier, here comes another stressful holiday or event to prove you wrong! My number one goal for this coming year is to address this challenge and change this behavior. I’m going to believe that I can do it and I’m looking forward to where this road will take me…
(photo credit: tmoa.com)
Have a great day, everyone!
Questions? Email me! aloserforlife@gmail.com
14 comments
Wow! What an impressive spread of food! It all looks good – I was thinking that if I was there how would I choose what to eat? Then I came to the part of your post about mindless shoveling and realized that is sometimes exactly what I do when presented with a spread like that! I have been trying hard to be more mindful of it, but it’s a habit of thinking I still need to work on too.
Your family spreads tend to be like my family spreads- good food followed by an avalanche of yummy desserts ! Christmas is done , now it’s back to normal for us all! My one saving grace may be holding and playing with “evil babies”- who needs food when you get giggles, smiles and chubby cheeks to kiss !
Sounds like a fabulous time. I’m sorry you feel bad about what you ate. However, know that you have the keys to living a healthy life almost all the time, so the few days that you don’t really are not going to cause you problems in the long run.
Yikes I guess I would also be resorting to mindless eating if I had that spread in front of me. The desserts all look yummy and the cookies amazing.
Looks like you had a fun family Christmas.
WOW! All of that food looks wonderful. Are all of you gourmet cooks?? haha.
I think eating when faced with stressful situations is a very difficult habit to change (and it was definitely the very last bad habit for me to “get rid of” – well, I’m not sure I will ever completely get rid of it, but it’s much better than it used to be). And yes, you CAN change it! We believe in you!
Have a great day!
P.S.: All the food looks fabulous!
yum; it all looks delicious and i love that you all sang too at the end of it all. happy holidays!
*drool x 20*
I am in the same boat as you. I ate just to eat and I feel completely horrible about it!
Man that makes me miss an American Christmas.
I totally know what you mean about eating out of an emotional reaction. Here are 4 things which I’ve noticed
1. I eat because I am ’supposed’ to shove my face during these times. It’s what we’re ingrained with. It’s Christmas/New years/Valentines Day/Memorial Day Weekend/4th of July/Labour Day Weekend/Halloween/Thanksgiving..ohh and St. Patty’s Day and EASTER. The only months that we could even see a foreseeable break is August. I think it’s true we have to acknowledge those things and say..hurm that isn’t going to work for me.
2. I hide behind food. It’s weird. When I am in social situations, especially with potluck/family style food gatherings I notice that I get to epically fail each time. This Christmas I did great until everyone was done and then I just hovered.
3. I think for me I am have to switch from ‘doing great or blowing it mentality’. When I am doing ‘great’ I feel deprived. When I am ‘blowing it’ I feel like a failure. I am going to approach these situations next time with a ‘being healthy’ stance. I may even meditate over it.
4. Those situations bring high levels of anxiety for me. I ace myself out before i get there. ‘Yea, I’ll blow it’. I think that retraining those thinking patterns is so important.
I appreciate your honesty…I really do. Keep your head held high, bounce back to what you know and get on with it.
~Mish
Marisa Reply:
December 27th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Thank you for always understanding and stating exactly how I feel better than I do!
So, can I come to your house next year? Wow! That food looks amazing. Take care and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend!
Marisa Reply:
December 27th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I’d love to have you!!!
What a great spread for the holidays! Looks so yummy!
And I’m with you about the eating…times like these always bring me an unwanted amount of anxiety = mindless eating. it’s ok, we know we’ve done it, now it’s time to fix it. nix it in the butt for good!
DANG GIRL! What a spread! Good food, friends, and family…don’t sweat it!