Gymnastics and Thai

Olivia has been doing gymnastics for about seven months. She enjoys it, but she would rather play soccer this fall, like Jackson does.  She is finishing her last few gymnastics classes this month. Her last class included a parent showcase. The girls performed a little dance routine, and then everyone was called up to receive a medal. Olivia was very excited because it was her first time getting a sports medal.

After the awards were given out, she was allowed to show us around the gym and show off her moves.

Her balance and confidence have really improved. When she started the class, she would not walk across the balance beam without holding her teacher's hand.

Tony took an extended lunch to come see Olivia's performance. Afterwards he took us out to eat at Thai Cuisine. We helped ourselves to the free appetizer/dessert bar while we waited for our entrees. I had fried broccoli and spring rolls with peanut sauce.

My meal was the tofu ka prow, with spicy basil sauce. So good. And plenty of leftovers.

The kids got a kick out of the day's dessert, an alien green tapioca pudding with coconut milk.

What I Ate

So this is what I ate Wednesday but I'm posting it on Thursday. Woo.

Breakfast: monochromatic oats with maca, mesquite powder, turmeric, peanut butter and dried mulberries.

Olivia and I met Tony for lunch at Thai Cuisine. I started with some spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce from the appetizer/salad bar. They were especially good today.

I shared my pra ram tofu with Olivia. She also ate her weight in cherry tomatoes from the salad bar.

Somehow she still had room for dessert, sticky purple rice with coconut milk.

I had my leftovers for dinner along with some edamame.

Jackson got his school pictures. Haha! This is what you get when you tell him to smile.

Ballerina

Olivia has been taking dance classes for a few months now, but since the dress code is casual, I have always just sent her in leggings and a t-shirt. But the other little girls in her class have been showing up in tutus, the frillier the better. Not wanting her to feel left out, I surprised her with her own dance outfit, and she couldn't have been happier.

Here, she is attempting to pull her hair into the "Princess Elsa side braid" from Frozen.

Smushy face!

Tony was able to meet us for lunch at Thai Cuisine. While waiting for our entrees, we hit up the free soup/salad/appetizer bar for potato-tofu soup, spring rolls, and egg rolls.

I was also craving a Thai iced tea.

I had the Thai Ginger, with tofu, carrots, bell peppers, onions, and plenty of shaved ginger.

We love the crazy-looking desserts, which are also free as part of their lunch special. Today's dessert had pink tapioca balls and sweet corn in coconut milk.

Three Meals Out

Just gonna be lazy here and roll three restaurant meals into one post.

1. Pecan Street Brewing in Johnson City. We stopped here with my parents on the way home from a visit to Fredericksburg. Jackson and Olivia were a fan of the coloring books and lunchbox full of crayons, which kept them occupied until the food came.

I ordered the Pomegranate Salad with greens, almonds, cranberries, red onions, and goat cheese, with pomegranate vinaigrette. I couldn't ask for much more in a salad and the pomegranate was an original choice.

Because I can't live on salad alone, I ordered the day's special appetizer, a giant soft pretzel with honey mustard. It was the perfect companion to my salad.

2. Weekend lunch at Casa Chapala, which has a nice selection of vegetarian offerings. I ordered the Grilled Portobello Mushroom Tacos because they're not something I can get everywhere. The mushrooms were soft but not mushy, and nicely seasoned. I also enjoyed the side of calabacitas (sauteed zucchini and summer squash.)

Remind me never to order another Casa Chapala at 1 p.m.  Lightweight Mama was useless for the next couple of hours.

3. Thai Cuisine, a perennial lunch-with-Daddy favorite because it is A. near Tony's work and B. has a soup/salad/appetizer bar to tide you over while you wait for your entree. The bar usually includes veggie eggrolls, but not this time. That caused a moment of sadness, but the spring rolls with peanut sauce helped fill the void.

I had the Thai Ginger, with tofu, mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, and of course a ton of ginger, thinly sliced into little slivers. A terrific lunch as always.

While in Fredericksburg, we were led by small hands into a toy store that had a child-size drum set assembled in the entryway. You know what happened next.

Rock!

Thai Iced Tea x2

Today Tony was able to meet us for lunch at Thai Cuisine. I love it and I wish I could eat there every week. That's the problem with Austin (if you can even call it a problem) -- too many good restaurants, and there are always new ones to try. 

I started off with a Thai iced tea, so cold and sweet. 

While we were waiting for our entrees, we hit the self-serve soup/salad/appetizer bar. I had some vegetarian potato soup which was heavy on the garlic. Then I went to town on the spring rolls and egg rolls.

I ordered the Garlic Paradise -- tofu and veggies in a garlicky sauce, with brown rice. I was fighting off a cold, so I thought all the garlic might help. I don't think it did, but it tasted great!

Later I tried making my own Thai iced tea with coconut milk. The recipe is from The 30 Minute Vegan's Taste of Asia. Tastes different than the restaurant version made with sweetened condensed milk, but it's still quite tasty and refreshing.

Jackson on cleanup duty. Why do we lose our childhood love of vacuuming?

Thai Cuisine

If not for Groupon, I may have never tried this little Thai restaurant, hidden away in a strip mall off a busy road near my house. Thai Cuisine isn't the most evocative name, after all. But now that I've been, I will definitely be back.

I started out with a Thai iced tea. I haven't had one of these in ages. Sweetened condensed milk is drizzled into the iced tea. It's more like a dessert than a beverage.

The coolest thing about Thai Cuisine is their self-serve salad, appetizer and dessert bar. Unlimited veggie spring rolls and egg rolls, included as part of my $7.95 lunch? Yes, please. The peanut sauce was awesome, by the way.

I had the King's Curry, stir-fried tofu with green beans and red bell pepper, served with rice. Great flavors, and tasted even better when I reheated the leftovers that evening.

I had to sample this intriguing pudding from the dessert bar. Purple rice, swirled in sweetened coconut milk. When I stirred it, the whole thing turned purple. Thick, goopy, and very rich, I could only eat a couple of bites (blame the Thai iced tea!) but the kids happily finished off off their bowls.

And now, because I feel like it's never a true Busy Veggie Mama post without a picture of my kids being goofballs, here is our new puppy, Olivia.