New Year's Day dinner - one day late

I'm not ready for the holidays to be over.  I just can't do it.  The thought of going back to work tomorrow is too much.  Where did the holidays go?  Everything around me is telling me its time to go back... the calendar for instance.  But my brain says no.

I am going through the motions... the Christmas tree is down and the decorations are put away.  I have my lunch stuff ready, my gym clothes packed and I'm cooking steel cut oats for tomorrow's breakfast.  Its going to happen - tomorrow that is. 

Truthfully, my job really isn't something to dread going to.  Its the routine of work, the kids in school and all of their activities, but once I get into the swing of it I'll be fine.  I still have one more week of not making lunches.  So I`ll ease into it.

But tonight I extended the holidays just one meal further.  I mentioned yesterday that I was way to full from the meal at my mother's house to even think about food yesterday evening so I made our New Year's Day dinner on January 2nd.  I made an appetiser, main meal and dessert and served it all on the good china then dined in my sweats.  I couldn't quite muster the effort to go upstairs and change after cooking for a couple of hours.  Nobody at the table seemed to mind.

For our appetiser I made brie bites from Joy the Baker  - mine do not look as pretty as hers, but they tasted great.  I made some with plain cheddar cheese for the girls as I know they don't like brie.

For the main course I made Grilled Portobella Mushrooms with Chestnut Stuffing (I was going to include the recipe, but I wasn't thrilled with it), roasted butternut squash, steamed green beans and Creamy Black Eyed Peas.  The recipe for Black Eyed Peas follows.  This recipe turned out way better than I expected and eating black eyed peas is supposed to bring you luck if you eat them on New Years Day. Note: the Black Eyed Peas are the bottom left of the plate.

Creamy Black Eyed Peas

1/2 cup black eyed peas (soaked overnight) and cooked

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 cup cremini mushrooms chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tomato chopped

2 cups baby spinach chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup vegetable stock

2 tsp dried dill

1/4 cup goat cheese

salt & pepper

Parmesan cheese

Over medium high heat, melt butter and olive oil together.  Add onion and mushroom cooking until onion is transparent.  Add minced garlic heating until fragrant.  Add beans, stock and tomato.  Bring to a simmer and cook until almost all the the liquid has evaporated.  Add the spinach, dill and cheese stirring until the greens are wilted and the cheese has melted.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For dessert, I made Vegan Chocolate Mousse from Vegetarian Times and served it with strawberries. Part way through eating this I realised it would be really good with Bailey`s poured over top.. it was! I adapted this recipe slightly as shown below.

Chocolate Mousse

• 3 Haas avocados (2 cups mashed)
• 1/4 cup plus 3 Tbs. maple syrup
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs.cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoon almond butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons almond milk

Add the above ingredients to a food processor and puree until smooth.