Spanish Dinner

Today featured a zoo outing with the grandparents. It was a beautiful day for a train ride, followed by a stroll through the zoo. If I haven't said before, Austin's zoo is actually an animal sanctuary, with all rescued animals. I love that about it!

Jackson is a little skittish about hand-feeding the deer and goats.

Olivia gets right in there. A little deer slobber never hurt anyone.

For dinner I made a couple of Spanish recipes I found on Pinterest. Sopa de ajo or garlic soup, served chilled like gazpacho. Interesting but a bit too acidic for my taste, since it calls for a good deal of sherry vinegar. I was a huge fan of the patatas bravas -- roasted potatoes in a smoky, spicy red sauce. Grapes on the side, why not?

Monkey x2!

Zoo and Paella

Today we visited the Austin Zoo, which is actually an animal sanctuary. Jackson and Olivia were excited to ride the train, as we had never ridden it before.

The petting zoo was our top destination. The kids couldn't wait to hand-feed the hungry goats.

One little goat wasn't feeling snacky. He just wanted to hang out.

This dude, on the other hand, was eager for his share of feed.

The tiger seemed to be posing just for us.

For dinner I made the Artichoke Paella from Vegan Eats World, as part of the PPK Cookbook Challenge. It looked so gorgeous in the pan, making me really excited to dig in!

And the flavor did not disappoint. Tempeh chorizo, artichoke hearts, and an array of veggies are blended with creamy aborio rice. I subbed Spanish green olives for the pearl onions since I had a jar in the fridge. I've only tasted paella once before, at a restaurant years ago that offered a vegetarian version (it's typically made with sausage and seafood.) My memory is hazy, but I think this was better. And it wasn't much harder to make than boiling a pot of rice, if you make the tempeh chorizo the day before (that recipe is also found in the cookbook.)

A Day at the Zoo

This weekend we took Jackson and Olivia to the Austin Zoo. Austin's zoo is a little different from most other zoos, in that it's actually an animal sanctuary. After our great experience at the Woodstock Animal Sanctuary last year, we were excited to go check out another one of these wonderful sanctuaries that provide a permanent home for rescued animals.

This was Olivia, pretty much the whole time we were there. She loved all the animals and wanted to get as close to them as possible.

She really wanted to see the turtles. She was pointing and making little excited noises. So Tony picked her up, stroller and all, to get a good look.

Mr. Turtle enjoying his salad.

They give you little bags of feed at the entrance and you can feed some of the animals. Jackson was super excited to feed the goats.

There were tons of kids at the zoo on this day, and they all wanted to feed the goats. These guys were definitely not going hungry!

These little monkeys kinda reminded me of my own two, haha. I didn't get a good picture of the nearby marmosets, because they were so tiny -- but they are the cutest things ever, take my word for it.

Dinner was Ma Po Tofu from PF Chang's. I would always drool over this dish when the Shenandoah Vegan posted it on her blog, and I finally got around to trying it for myself. Freakin awesome. Give me a giant bowl of broccoli and spicy tofu and I am a happy lady.  Almost as happy as Olivia cuddling up with those goats.