Broccoli All Day

Today in gardening class at school, the kids sampled the broccoli they harvested from their garden plot. It is really rewarding to see these kids enjoying fresh, raw vegetables. Some of the children are from homes where vegetables are rarely served, judging from their total lack of familiarity with our garden's offerings. Yet, they are the very same kids who nibble happily on broccoli stalks without asking for ranch dressing to dip it in, who ask for seconds and thirds!

Dinner was the Cucumber Ranch Bowl with Breaded Tofu, from Isa Does It. Plenty of broccoli there. We are all broccoli lovers in this house.

Broccoli makes tiny ninja strong.

The DoSeum

Over the weekend we took a day trip to San Antonio to visit their new children's museum, called the DoSeum.

We were hungry when we got into town, so we stopped for lunch at Green. We started with chips and salsa and we laughed when our waitress brought us a whole squirt bottle of salsa because we were going through it. We are a family of salsa lovers and it was some good salsa!

We also had some edamame covered in sweet chili sauce. Yum!

I had the Orange Tofu Bowl. Popcorn tofu tossed in orange chili sauce, broccoli, and brown rice. It was incredible.

Tony had the Mediterranean bowl, a tortilla-lined bowl of falafels, dolmas, tabouli, kale, pecan hummus, tzatziki, carrots, tomatoes, and olives. Green is probably Tony's favorite vegetarian restaurant and he loves this bowl.

We were stuffed but wanted just a bite of something sweet, so we shared a vegan chocolate chip cookie.

On to the museum! At the entrance, Olivia was charmed by the wind tunnel where she could flap around in beautiful butterfly wings.

Jackson was drawn to the hands-on experiments.

Olivia followed. It's so cool to see them trying things out and seeing what will happen. Giving those brains a good workout!

Tony, too!

Building together.

Next, Jackson wanted to make some robots battle for supremacy.

Worthy opponents.

Let the battle begin!

It was a gorgeous day so next we checked out the outdoor play area.

Good balance required!

Water play area.

The museum is huge, so the kids were basically flitting from one display to the next, wanting to try everything. We didn't even come close to doing it all. The make-believe grocery store was so detailed, it included a butcher counter with "meat" slicer. Um, ew?

There was also a car for the kids to pretend to be little mechanics.

We stayed right up until the minute the museum closed, and there was still so much more we could have explored. We will have to make another trip some time!

The Quinoa Bowl

The quinoa bowl is Tony's favorite vegan meal. There are lots of recipes available, but sometimes I will just come up with something on the fly. Today, I tossed in artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, roasted garlic, basil, and a lemon-olive oil-oregano dressing.

Olivia and I made our monthly Costco run today. We were offered samples of their new vegan burger and it was delicious, so I bought a box. I also picked up my usual tofu. We eat a moderate amount of tofu and I always like to buy organic, non-GMO. 

Our usual staples. Real maple syrup, real vanilla extract, and organic frozen blueberries. Always a bargain, nowhere else has these items cheaper.

Costuming, roller-skating, and Swiffering. Girl can multi-task.

Recent Eats

Happy November! Here are some meals that didn't make it into my October posts.

PPK Breakfast Nachos! With roasted potatoes, tofu scramble, and cashew cheezy sauce, these are hearty and awesome. I substituted lentils for the black beans. We had them for dinner, shh, don't tell anyone.

Veggie hot dogs topped with red onion, pickles, and mustard. Baked potato on the side. I didn't have any sour cream for the potato, but I made do with Earth Balance, salt, and lots of black pepper.

Oh She Glows' 15 Minute Creamy Avocado Pasta. Jackson and Olivia love this one.

Sushi bowl from More Quick-Fix Vegan. This is so delicious and easy, I may never roll sushi again! All the flavors of sushi -- rice, tofu, red peppers, avocado, bits of nori -- tossed into a bowl and topped with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. I also sprinkled it with wasabi sesame seeds. 

Pajama storytime. I love watching Tony be a daddy.

Kids and Quotes

"What I wanted most for my daughter was that she be able to soar confidently in her own sky, whatever that may be." - Helen Claes

"Prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday, you will be a real boy." - The Blue Fairy from Disney's Pinocchio

Today I was introduced to wheat berries. I'd never used them, or honestly seen them, before.

Well, they are lovely! You need to soak them overnight before cooking them, but they provide a nice chewy textural component, similar to barley, in The Oh She Glows Cookbook's Protein Power Bowl. (The online version of the recipe calls for spelt berries, which I haven't tried either, but the cookbook recipe calls for either spelt or wheat berries.) And as a lover of all things lemony, I heartily approve of the lemon-tahini dressing that coats the wheat berries, lentils, spinach, red bell pepper, and tomato (I also threw in some edamame because I needed to use it up.)  

Library Love

One of the perks of our new home is our wonderful community library, just five minutes away. We hang out there at least once a week, always stopping to greet Ms. Frog on our way in.

The children's section is completely separate from the rest of the library, which means Jackson and Olivia can play and talk with no shushing. There is plenty of seating and it is such a cozy, welcoming environment.

For dinner I made the Enlightened Miso Power Bowl from The Oh She Glows Cookbook. The citrusy dressing imparted such great flavor to this healthy bowl of quinoa, edamame, sweet potato, carrots and scallions.

We also enjoyed homemade PB&J ice cream courtesy of the Vegan Chocolate cookbook. I didn't have all the ingredients on hand to make the fudge topping, so I just sprinkled it with chocolate chips and roasted peanuts. No one complained!

Costco Haul

My new favorite breakfast: oats (made with 1/2 almond milk, 1/2 water), maca powder, peanut butter, cacao nibs and bee pollen. Fortification for the Costco journey that lay ahead.

I thought I would share a typical haul. I go to Costco once a month. I don't always buy the exact same things, but here's what I needed (and impulse bought) this month.

Mixed olives, organic diced tomatoes, salsa.

Amy's bean burritos, Mary's crackers, and organic carrot juice. I thought my kids would love the carrot juice because they are fans of making it at home. Turns out, they are mostly interested in using the juicer. Store-bought carrot juice does not appeal to them at all. Lesson learned.

Organic blueberries, black olives, avocados. I wavered on the avocados, wondering if they'd go bad before I could use them. But then I confirmed that you can refrigerate avocados to slow their ripening. Which is what I did.

Mamma Chia squeeze packets, stevia packets, Alexia sweet potato fries. Olivia requested the chia squeeze. It's like a pouch of jelly with chia seeds mixed in. The kids suck it down, of course, since it's sweet. But it's also very messy. They get it on their clothes every time. Won't be buying again for that reason.

Mama's treats: pistachios, smoked almonds, Sabra hummus.

Organic red quinoa, Brussels sprouts, pecorino romano, and Baby Bel cheese rounds (another request from Olivia, my constant Costco companion.)

I find Costco fun -- I like to see what new products they have and try the samples -- but also semi-exhausting. For dinner I made something simple, the Curried Peanut Sauce Bowl with Tofu and Kale from Isa Does It. I served it over some of the red quinoa. Amazing, thanks to the rich, flavorful peanut sauce. 

My buddy working on his Legos. I love seeing the chimera-like creatures he comes up with.

Thinkery Fun

Another smoothie in a bowl this morning with frozen mango and banana, almond milk, a handful of kale, spirulina, and raw chocolate granola.

We spent the day at the Thinkery, doing some sciencing.

There's so much to do, and the kids are drawn to different areas each time we go. Today it was the machine that dribbles out hot wax, allowing you to make flat sculptures with it.

"T-Rex's Ghost" was Jackson's title for his creation.

"I made an L," Olivia added.

It was warm enough to enjoy the outdoor play area. We could not figure out what these green circles were. Turtle shells was our guess.

Back inside to cook up something good.

Taking a break for real-life nourishment.

We finished off with a visit to the lab, where we learned to play video games using fruit.

Each piece of fruit was a directional key. I can't explain it but it was cool!

For dinner I made quinoa bowls with steamed kale, tempeh bacon, sauerkraut made by Tony's coworker, and a dressing I threw together with tahini, mustard, smoked paprika and a few other things I can't recall.

Have a lovely weekend!