A Monday Montage

Spring is here, but wintry winds are lingering in Austin, at least for a day or two. We spent a lazy Monday indoors.

Well, I was lazy. The kids got a lot of use out of their new hopscotch rug.

Breakfast was oats with dried cherries, almond butter, and a splash of Almond Breeze coconut/almond milk. I'm trying to get back into the habit of eating oats for breakfast. 

For lunch, I took a cue from Shen and had a sprouted wheat bagel with Sabra hummus and sliced cucumber with salt and cracked black pepper.

I had no idea that cucumbers love black pepper! So yummy. I had more as an afternoon snack.

For dinner, I made Isa's Smoky Tomato Lentil Soup with Spinach & Olives. Guys, make this soup tonight!  I looooove smoked paprika and there's a ton of it in this soup. 

I'm counting the hours until I can eat the leftovers for lunch.

in.gredients

Today the kids and I visited a grocery store with a unique, "green" concept. It's called in.gredients, and the idea is that you bring your own containers. For everything. The majority of the store's offerings are found in bulk bins. You bring in your own reusable jars or bags and fill them with just the amount you need. You can also bring in empty dish detergent containers and refill them from metal tureens. Same with shampoo.  

There's a lovely garden area out front, as well as a playscape.

Some friends joined us for lunch. There's a deli counter offering locally-made pizza, empanadas, bagels, etc.  We watched the kids play while we enjoyed a relaxed meal at a nearby picnic table.

Rosemary sea salt bagel from Rock Star Bagels, with smoked black bean hummus.

Breakfast empanada with egg and potato from Mmmpanadas.

Vegan apple fritter from Red Rabbit Cooperative Bakery.

Pretty pink iced tea to drink.

When we got home, Jackson and Olivia claimed they were still hungry (growth spurt!) so I made one of their all-time favorite treats, Averie Sunshine's chocolate chip protein balls. I used chocolate hemp protein powder, so these were double-chocolate balls. 

And now I'll show amazing restraint by ending the post with nary a ball joke. Have a good day, guys.

Mango Smoothie and Broccoli Dal

Today I remembered to take pics of breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Wooo!

For breakfast, I had a mango smoothie. To me, it's like a mango lassi served in Indian restaurants, but I don't want all that sugar when I just woke up, so I use stevia to sweeten it. Do you use stevia? It's my favorite way to sweeten smoothies, oatmeal, or tea.

Mango Smoothie
(makes 2 small servings or 1 large)
2 cups frozen mango cubes
1 1/4 cups soymilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
10 drops stevia or to taste
Mix in a blender until smooth and creamy.

For lunch I had a multigrain bagel with avocado, hummus, and tomato.

For dinner I made the creamy broccoli dal from Vegan Yum Yum. Very easy and fast to put together. I sliced my broccoli stalks thinly but left the florets on the bigger side, so the soup would have a lot of texture to it. I love broccoli.

And to make this post a tad more interesting, I offer a picture of my cookbook collection. I don't have room for a bookshelf in my kitchen, so I store them vertically in cabinets next to my stove. Works for me! Anyone else have an odd way of storing their cookbooks? Which is your favorite?