All the Food 2016 (Pic Dump)

I thought posting a bunch of random meals would give an idea of how I am eating in 2016. Not 100% vegan, no. Too prohibitive when I am dining out frequently with a husband, parents, and children who are all meat-eaters. They do not want to eat all their meals at vegan restaurants, and I am not just going to eat a plain baked potato at their restaurant choice when I can eat something healthier and/or more satisfying which may also contain some cheese. I am still cooking all vegan at home. So that's what is working for all of us! Also I have started using the MyFitnessPal app back in December to just be more conscious of portion size and calorie intake/output, and as a result I feel I am making healthier choices overall.

Anyway, here's some food I have been putting in my face!

Homemade pad Thai.

Garlic broccoli with rice and spring roll, Bo Asian Bistro lunch w/my parents.

Spaghetti squash and baked tofu, topped with chimichurri (from Vegan Eats World, the best chimichurri recipe ever!)

Medjool date with almond butter, such a great snack when I have sugar cravings because it actually satisfies me instead of just making me crave more sugar!

Some kind of stir fry with cauliflower, broccoli, chickpeas, tomatoes, peas? I'm sure it was good.

Golden Corral...well, what can I say, this was Jackson and Olivia's choice of where to eat lunch on their very last day of winter break.  We usually eat there with Grandma when we go to Oklahoma at Christmas. We didn't go up there this Christmas due to a number of reasons, so I think this was their way of keeping the tradition alive. So much "brown" food in that place, but I tried to keep my plate as "green" as possible.

Pesto margarita from Roots Bistro in Round Rock. I really wish we had a place like this in our hood! Coffeehouse/cafe by day, bar at night, the perfect anytime hangout.

Simple, whole foods: roasted butternut squash, baked tofu, and gingered collard greens (from The 30-Minute Vegan, it's my favorite recipe for collards.)

A sample kid meal. Tater tots, baked tofu, edamame, blueberries.

Butternut fennel soup. Roast 1 butternut squash and 1 bulb of fennel. Puree with vegetable broth. Eat.

Garden burger patty with kale salad (I just toss the kale with flax oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper) and oven fries.

Tortilla soup, from Happy Herbivore's first cookbook.

More pizza! Buffalo cauliflower pizza from Counter Culture, with vegan ricotta, pesto, and red onions. So amazing. And SPICY!

Best banana muffins (from Plant-Powered Families.)

Overnight oats, soaked with chia seeds, soy milk, and chopped dates.

Ezekial bread with avocado and cherry tomatoes.

Ice skating at Chaparral Ice over the winter break. So cold! But so fun!

Thanksgiving 2015

Feels weird writing a Thanksgiving post after Christmas, but that's life. Thanksgiving dinners are always rather brown, aren't they? We actually had two Thanksgiving feasts this year and they were both heavy on the brown tones. Even the green beans take on a brownish hue when incorporated into the ubiquitous green bean casserole. Thanksgiving alchemy at work.

First we celebrated a few days early with my parents. My mom did all the cooking and would not accept anyone else lifting a finger! For me there was sweet potatoes, corn, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and rolls.

Nice family photo.

Take two.

Then it was off to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving #2 with my mother-in-law. I had my usual car meal, a hummus falafel wrap from Tom's Tabooley.

More brown in the form of corn, mashed potatoes, broccoli rice casserole, rolls, and sweet potatoes.

Schrodinger's Thanksgiving leftovers...is it margarine, or mashed potatoes? WHO CAN KNOW FOR SURE?

And other brown meals followed. Golden Corral? Golden mac n cheese, yes, but also heavy on the brown.

Another brown/gold combination, nachos at Iguana in OKC. Thankfully, our sangria swirls were not brown!

The first part of our visit, the weather was fantastic, so we were able to meet up with my friend Sunshine and her kids. We let them run wild on the OU campus while reminiscing about our college days there.

A storm blew in on Thanksgiving Day, and the cars got covered in ice. Such a novelty for my Texas kiddos.

Scraping (and eating) the ice. Observing nature while also testing and strengthening their immune systems. Win-win.

Hope you had a lot to be thankful for this year. I know I did.

Oklahoma Birthday

Jackson wanted to celebrate his sixth birthday up in Oklahoma at his Grandma Lillie's house, so that is what we did. I picked up some road trip snacks: Late July ranch chips, Hail Merry raw lemon macaroons, Tom's Tabooley hummus falafel wrap, and Harmless Harvest raw coconut water. I have tried many brands of coconut water, but I saw this article about how not all brands are of equal quality, and I decided to try one of the best-rated. It's expensive, but man, it tasted so good!

Our first evening in Oklahoma, my awesome mother-in-law volunteered to watch the kids so Tony and I could have a kid-free get-together with our friends Michelle and Alan. We met them at Whiskey Cake in OKC. The decor made us smile. Fresh sprigs of rosemary in a light bulb vase? Never seen that before. Also, the male wait staff all sort of resembled lumberjacks. White t-shirts, suspenders, beards.

Tony and I decided to share some appetizers, starting with hummus and pita bread and fried green tomatoes. The tomatoes' breading was super light and crisp, as it should be.

I had a sazerac, which featured one large block of ice, instead of ice cubes. Why? I have no idea. I also had a hibiscus gin and tonic, which I liked much better, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Still hungry, we ordered goat cheese "fondue" with olives and sourdough bread. I wouldn't really call it fondue, since it wasn't melted, but it was good and filling.

The next day, we just hung out around the house. Games were played.

Tony was wrestled into submission.

Garden cherry tomatoes were eaten.

The next day, it was party time! Jackson's cousins came over to celebrate with him.

First duck-duck-goose, then freeze tag.

Thought they were gonna knock me down! Haha.

Sweaty and red-faced, Jackson opened his presents.

He requested a Transformer cake this year. It was my first attempt at making and working with fondant. It turned out a little too thick and goopy. My Transformer looked like he had a rough night.

Jackson didn't mind.

We had to come home the next day. Before we left, we had lunch at Golden Corral. Have you eaten at one of these? We don't like the one in Austin because they do a lot of seafood and it smells like fish. The ones in Oklahoma are pretty good though, as long as you understand that your plate will be heavy on the yellows and browns and lacking the other colors of the rainbow. I had broccoli, mac n cheese, fried okra, roll, corn pudding, and carrot souffle. 

Cotton candy for the birthday boy's dessert.

Sister needed her own.

A great visit as always! We love going to Grandma's house.