I know what I ate on Christmas Day posts are a little bit predictable for most people, but I always find it interesting to see what people with dietary requirements have instead. Last year I did one of these as it was my first year being both vegan and gluten free. This year, I was only feeding two people and scaled back massively. If you saw my Christmas recipe series this year, you’ll know that I was focused on smaller serving dishes to prevent wastage. Then some of my plans didn’t exactly pan out.
What I Ate Christmas Day 2020
Breakfast – 11am
I started my day with a cup of coffee on the sofa with my furry friend, then made a batch of my peanut choc chip pancakes with a peanut drizzle over them. Then decided to throw a little ice cream on the side because – it’s Christmas.
And a Buck’s Fizz. Because it’s Christmas.
After that
The original plan had been to take Hugo for a walk, get back and prep my mains, then get myself ready when all that’s left to do was put my prepped trays in the oven. Ideally with my glass being at least 50% full the entire time.
Due to wanting to keep numbers small and mixing at a minimum, my grandparents were planning on having dinner at my aunt’s house and we were all going to have a Zoom/ Teams call after she’d picked them up so we could open our presents together.
Things didn’t go to plan
If you saw my tweet, you’ll know the day took a turn. My grandmother fell over on her way to my aunt’s car, and at 3pm with my face 90% ready for our call, I got another call saying that she’d fallen and they’d called an ambulance. My grandparents live approximately 3 minutes from our house, so we rushed straight there.
But that’s pretty much where all of the food plans disappeared.
The ambulance came quickly, they took her to hospital. Obviously, due to covid, no one was allowed to go with her, so we were back home at 4pm. But most people indulge over Christmas dinner in a joyous mood, which was far from the mood at our house.
Dinner – 5:30pm
My mum had decided prior to Christmas that she didn’t want a starter on Christmas day, so the kitchen was already one course lighter.
Had it not been prepped already; we probably wouldn’t have bothered at all. But I put a few trays in while we waited for updates. A lot more ended up in the leftovers’ tubs than I would have predicted on Christmas morning, but I decided to cook as planned. I knew at this point there would be very little chance I would be cooking late evening snacks and nibbles, so we’d likely be grazing on roast potatoes for the foreseeable.
Christmas dinner consisted of:
I made my shiitake nut patties from this year’s Vegmas series, along with the mashed potatoes, which I only had a tiny spoon of to say I’d had some (I’m all about the roast potatoes). Alongside that I made my chilli maple roasted parsnips, then roast potatoes and carrots from using my traditional Christmas side dish recipes, and some tenderstem broccoli.
I used M&S Plant Kitchen gravy, that was my only cheat.
Most of our updates about her getting seen, having x-rays etc came during/ just after dinner. At this point, it was still unclear whether she’d be coming home or staying overnight. So, my prior hopes of a relatively full glass had gone to an almost standstill. And we were essentially trying to fill the time while we waited.
Dessert – 9pm
We finally got the call that her x-rays had been reviewed. She’d broken her knee and needed an orthopedic consult to establish the best treatment plan. That could have still happened that night, but the chances of getting a specialist consult on Christmas Day on a case that isn’t life & death are very slim, so it was safe to assume she was spending the night.
Originally, my grandparents were going to be coming to ours for a drink on their way home, after dinner. I’d originally planned dessert with the idea of that being shared with them. It wasn’t going to involve much prep so I was going to make it after dinner anyway. FYI I was going to make a cherry white chocolate pie with an almond crust.
Any desire to make dessert went out of the window, and I definitely didn’t feel like making something share size when it was definitely just the two of us.
When we were doing the Christmas food shop, I saw these GF vegan apple pies by Kirsty’s. Originally, I’d picked them up to try at some point during the in-between period. We ended up having them for Christmas dessert instead. Thankfully they were good, which is always a gamble with premade free from products.
And that was my day, definitely not what I had imagined it to be. And far less food than I first anticipated too. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, if you celebrate, and your day was less eventful than mine. Did you have a smaller Christmas this year too?
Until next time,
Sophie
OH – in case you didn’t see the tweets, she came home early afternoon on Boxing Day with a lovely leg brace and a walking frame, which she’s absolutely thrilled about.
Loved this!
Sorry to hear you had such an eventful time. Hope your grandmother continues to improve.
Interesting post. The food looks very delicious xx
Oh god that is definitely not the Christmas you’d planned for! I hope your nan is doing okay after her fall! For what it’s worth your Christmas dinner looked really delicious, even if you sadly didn’t get to relax and enjoy it with everyone as planned. x
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Shitake nut patties sound delicious!
Aww I was worried but happy you gave us the update on your grandmother. Things can be so unpredictable but those dishes looked tasty. My Christmas was okay definitely smaller this year as we lost a family member. But it was still special. Great post.
Everything looks so delicious! Hope you had a great holiday
Good post! I love the sound of the pancakes for breakfast! I hope your grandmother is okay!
I’m glad to hear that your grandmother is home and doing well (even if she’s not a fan of the brace – let’s be honest, I wouldn’t be either)! That definitely puts a damper on the whole food/meal plans, doesn’t it? That being said – it still looks like you had a lot of good ‘comfort food’ while waiting for updates and information.
Your day sounds like it went well in the end, though a rush to the ER is never welcome, especially not on Christmas. The desert looks amazing.
I am so, so sorry to hear about your grandmother’s accident, but am happy to hear she is healing! Fate’s strange twists often offer no comforts and give us apple pies instead of family . . .
It was just me and my immediate family for our Solstice celebration this year. We had a jolly time exchanging gifts and cooking together; with seven of us the amount of food is always substantial. 🙂
Ohhh your breakfast choice is amazing. I would go for the same thing! 🙂
I ate so much on Christmas. The food was so good! Happy 2021!
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I hope your Gran is doing okay! Your Christmas dinner looks great, I ended up going to my boyfriend’s parents on Christmas day and we had a Christmas dinner there which was nice. It’s definitely been a bit of a strange Christmas this year not being able to see everyone. We ended up buying a parsnip pie from Sainsbury’s as the main bit of the dinner, and it was actually quite nice! xx
I’ve never seen a “what I ate” post before. But I was delighted when it seemed to involve some day drinking. Sorry about your nana.
Yummy breakfast ❤
Your Christmas table was full of delicious food. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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I hope your grandmother is doing ok Sophie, these dishes look delicious! x
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Sorry to hear about your grandmother’s fall on Christmas Day. My Nan had a fall a couple of months back which resulted in a cast on her wrist (which she was none to thrilled about!).
I’ll have to try Kirsty’s apple pies!
All the best for the new year.
Gosh, I hope your grandma is okay! How has she been since? Is she at home now?
I was really interested to see what you ate for Christmas because I would looove to do more vegan/vegetarian options. Not just for Christmas, but also for Sunday lunches as well.
She’s home! Not very mobile as she had to have a full leg brace so we need to call in a few times a day to make sure she has everything she needs/ get her food but she’s slowly getting there ❤
Looks and all sounds delicious thanks for sharing
So sorry to hear about your grandma, I hope she’s doing well. Even though your day didn’t go as planned the good you had still looked lovely, I’m definitely taking a look at those chilli maple roasted parsnips, they sound amazing! X
Oh, so happy to hear that your grandma was able to come home so soon & that she’s recovering!! I can’t imagine how stressful and up-ended this day turned out to be. <3 Aside from that, the food you had sounds pretty amazing, even though it was less than you anticipated. I wish I had been able to start my Christmas with a cup of coffee on the couch :') I had to scramble a little as we got ready and I still had one gift left to wrap haha! xx
Your food looks lovely but I’m so sad that your day didn’t go as planned! it’s so good to hear she is home now – I hope she is in no pain, how stressful for you all, especially at Christmas time!
Hope that you are enjoying the last day of 2020, knowing she is okay!
This genuinely looks so delicious! I’m so sorry to hear about your nan and I hope that she is on the mend.
I absolutely love the m&s plant based gravy and I’ve really come to love their vegan range x
Oh my goodness! I hope you Grandma is recovering now. I know the stress well of having a loved one ill and in hospital without being able to visit. I’m sorry your Christmas Day didn’t go according to your plans.
Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry to hear about your grandma’s fall. I hope her a quick and smooth recovery, and am glad that she was able to come home. Also, you and your cooking are so impressive! Even for an off-year, I’m impressed. Thank you for sharing!
First of all I wish your grandmother a speedy recovery. The food looks amazing and Happy new year I hope 2021 bring you much happiness, success, health and may all your dreams take flight. Much peace and love your way. Mine was dinner with a friend and a wonderful new year’s eve with my children. xoxo Cris
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Happy New Year!! Love all of the different goodies you ate on Christmas Day! Mmmm, the peanut choc chip pancakes look on point!! I need to look into incorporating the peanut part in my next pancake run!
Oh no, I am sorry to hear about your grandmother’s fall. Hopefully she is a lot better by now. Definitely a scary event. Wishing your family the best.
Love that your meal was loaded with all of the yummy things!! I am not sure if taro is gluten-free, but the potatoes reminded me of it. My fave! Love the courses throughout your day! Glad you enjoyed your time with the family despite of the event earlier.
Nancy ✨ mdrnminimalists.com
It all looks so delicious, thanks for sharing!
I’m not exaggerating but your post made my mouth water! Such a lovely meal that breakfast is a champion. I’m definitely adding ice cream to my pancakes this weekend.