I realize that I'm a little late and out of order with this, but I wanted to share a few highlights from our "Traditional Non-Traditional" Christmas dinner. After Thanksgiving has passed, we're usually pretty burned out on standard holiday fare. For that reason, we have created a tradition in our family of serving a Christmas dinner made up of foods that are not of the mashed potatoes and gravy variety.

Being a California native, I am a big fan of fresh foods that are grown close to home. I love combinations where I can taste each ingredient, so I tend to keep it simple. This year, while it was rainy and cold outside, we had a hot and spicy (and super fresh) Mexican meal complete with margaritas made with fresh-squeezed lime juice!

Here are some highlights, in photos:

We started the day with homemade cinnamon rolls. These are a vegan version (I used Earth Balance instead of butter and flaxmeal and water instead of egg) of a recipe by 101 Cookbooks and they were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Our main meal was homemade tacos served with fresh-squeezed lime juice margaritas (I'm not a fan of the commercial mixes). 

Here are the stars of the show:

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Pinto beans simmered all day with onion, garlic, New Mexico chile powder, bay leaf, epazote, and Mexican oregano.

A simple guacamole made with avocado (of course!), cilantro, fresh lime juice, and sea salt.

Homemade pico de gallo (organic tomatoes, red onion, garlic, lime juice, jalapenos, cilantro, and sea salt).

We used these lovely fresh things to make some seriously delicious tacos.

With warm cilantro lime brown rice on the side.

After our tacos settled, we had homemade Mexican chocolate and orange cake with Grand Marnier mousse.

Feliz Navidad!