Hi all! How are you? Hope your weekend is treating you well! Ours has been pretty low key and a lot of fun! I finished decorating up the house:

And we even (finally!) took our Christmas card picture (gotta love Frank’s crazy eyes):

We also attended two Christmas parties. The first was a catered event for our neighborhood and was a good time. The second was a party at one of the other group fitness instructor’s houses. We always do potlucks and this time, I brought broccoli & cheddar mashed potatoes (deliciousness). I used this Rachael Ray recipe as the base and made just a few adjustments to make a bigger batch with a LITTLE more flavor

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of broccoli, chopped
• 4 lbs potato, chopped into 1 inch cubes

• Vegetable broth or water
• 1 1/2-2 cups skim or low fat milk
• 4 tablespoons butter or butter substitute
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk sharp cheddar
• Desired quantities salt and pepper.

Directions:

Place potatoes in the bottom of a large pot. Cover with vegetable broth (for more flavor) or water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for ~10 minutes. Add broccoli and cook until potatoes and broccoli are nice and tender. Drain potatoes/broccoli.

Add potatoes/broccoli to the bowl of a standing mixture(you will need to do this in batches). Add butter, cheddar and ¼ cup of milk. Blend. Continue to add milk until you reach desired consistency (I like mine just a little chunky). Add salt and pepper as needed.

To keep my potatoes warm for the party, I sprayed my slow cooker with non stick spray, add the broccoli & cheddar mashed potatoes and kept the slow cooker on the warm setting.

I was super happy with how this dish turned out!

Now, I’m off to a blogger brunch. I also have a nice walk and LOTS of baking on tap today. What about you?