A Relaxing Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was really relaxing this year, as always.  It is one of our favorite holidays because we spend it at home, with my dad, and aren't driving all over town.  In the past we have gone out to dinner (a little tricky since I became gluten free) or fried a turkey and ordered sides from a gluten free bakery (expensive and not so good), but this year we decided to make everything ourselves.  My dad ended up ordering a turkey from a local cajun place but everything else was going to be made by us and I, for one, was worried about having time to do it!

My dad is a master in the kitchen and loves to cook, sometimes spending a week prepping/preparing one meal, so I knew he would love making new gluten free dishes.  I, on the other hand, don't have a ton of time (school, toddler, sleep training) but still managed to get it all done.  My job was apple pies, mashed potatoes, pineapple stuffing (more like a dessert than a real stuffing, we are not fans of real stuffing) and getting some cranberry sauce in a can.  Not big jobs but big for someone who always feels like she's scrambling to juggle a million things at once!

I enjoy cooking, as well, and actually make pretty good dinners for us during the week so I was looking forward to it.  The hardest part was the cleaning the night before because my Aunt Susie decided to accept our invite and we had to make the house presentable because it wasn't just my dad coming over.  So, cleaning, one nap (a new thing), crying it out, cooking and finishing up school on a Wednesday made for one crazy week!  Hurry up and relax - it always feels like that.

Grocery shopping.

Gluten free apple pies baked the night before.

 Leftovers for dinner the night before, of course!

 Yoga with my bestie Thanksgiving morning.

Gluten free pineapple stuffing (just bread, crushed pineapple, eggs, brown sugar and butter).

And the only picture I ended up taking of the three of us on Thanksgiving - oh well!

I also didn't get a picture of all the food but my dad made some gluten free rolls, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole and his cranberry jelly (not a fan, too nutty for me).  We ate outside on a beautiful 75 degree day in Arizona and although Lemon didn't eat (it was 2 hours earlier than a normal dinner for her) she entertained us, as always.

So thankful for my little family.  So thankful for all of you!