Happy What I Ate Wednesday. I’m heading on a short trip with the fam today. It’s been a long time since I’ve done New Years Eve away from the city, so I’m curious to see if a change of scenery helps me hate it any less. Does anyone else share my view of New Years Eve? So much hype…

I know that the general accepted thing in the blog world is to be all, like, “Love and peace and I’m sooo happy and grateful alllll the time—oh and hey, look at my awesome clean eats,” and while I certainly feel lucky on a day-to-day basis just to be here, the phrase “home for the holidays” sometimes drives a stake of anxiety into my heart. In my real life, I’m a very calm, considerate person (don’t let that dry sense of humor fool you), but I have this annoying way of regressing into eye-rolling teenager ways when under my parents’ roof. It’s frustrating and embarrassing (I’m freaking 30 years old, for crying out loud!). Though I’ve certainly gotten better at managing it, I always approach holidays with some sense of trepidation, like, “Okay Jess, will you be able to be cool this time?”

Luckily, having a certain fluffy little someone around helps a lot. It is impossible to be in a bad mood around this dog. 

Anyway, let’s do the “what I ate” part of this post. Here’s a look at what I ate over the Christmas holiday.

Christmas Eve

I started my morning with oats I put spinach, avocado, and a fried egg on top of. Later, after a hot yoga class with my sister (I love the “namaste” in a NJ accent) I ate a bowl of soup (turkey meatball/chicken/zucchini leftovers from the freezer). Then the girls got our nails did and soon it was time to start prepping dinner.

Sushi is a Christmas Eve tradition in my family, so we enjoyed that. Between 5 of us, we demolished almost the whole thing.

For dinner we did roasted brussels sprouts, roasted red potatoes, and a ham

#tinacomegetsomeham

For dessert, we had Talenti gelato and dark chocolate red wine brownies I’d made. There was also an apple pie.

Christmas Day

For some reason, I woke up super-early. I think my body was confused about not having to go to work. Since Eli wanted to cuddle with my mom instead of go for a walk with me in the dark (smart dog), I got in a little workout and had something to eat so I wouldn’t be hangry during Christmas morning happenings.

First breakfast: Greek yogurt with cocoa powder and blackberries

After opening presents, we made a delicious brunch: Leftover veggies & potato with egg, a slice of bacon, chicken sausage 

We did a lot of cooking (and polished off the leftover sushi while doing so) until my mom’s family came over in the late afternoon.

Cocktail hour lasted about 3 hours. I enjoyed an assortment of veggies, hummus, smoked salmon, tried out some pate

For Dinner: Salad, brussels, a slice each of turkey and beef with some gravy.

Dessert: Fruit, a mini red wine brownie, and a spoonful each of cannoli cream and homemade whipped cream 

Over the course of the day, I also enjoyed a bourbon and some wine—a glass each of lambrusco and rose. I definitely wouldn’t generally encourage 3 glasses of wine in one day, but spread out over about 6 hours, it was a nice accent to the food and a nice treat.
What did you eat at your last holiday celebration? 
To see more WIAW from other bloggers, check out founder Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons.