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!

Nutcracker 2014

This Christmas I decided to start a new tradition of taking Olivia to see the Nutcracker ballet.

She loves to dance and we have watched Nutcracker clips on Youtube many times, so she was excited to see it in person. 

When we walked up to the Long Center, she had to pose on the red carpet.

She loved the life-sized Nutcracker in the hall.

It was a huge theater!

This was our view. Yes, we were up high! But we had a perfect, unobstructed view of the stage. I took this picture before the show started. They showed commercials on a huge screen. At showtime, the screen went away and the dancers took over the stage. I didn't take any pictures then, because I was paranoid about my flash accidentally going off!

It was a beautiful production. Olivia enjoyed the first two acts, but after the intermission, her 4-year-old attention span was being tested. We ended up leaving about ten minutes early. I just found out that there is a more kid-friendly version put on by a different ballet company, so we may try that next year.

For dinner I made the Buffalo Tempeh from Appetite for Reduction, and served it on ciabatta rolls with the Cole Slaw from American Vegan Kitchen. What a combination! I love the lime tartness of that coleslaw, and it provided just the right amount of coolness with the spicy tempeh.

Tonight we will do our usual Christmas Eve traditions of reading Twas the Night Before Christmas and watching Love Actually. 8 is a lot of legs, David! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Indian Paintbrushes

This morning,while out house-hunting (yep, after three years of renting our current place, we're ready to become homeowners), we came across a field of Indian paintbrushes and I had to stop for some quick pics. As far as Texas spring blooms go, bluebonnets get all the love, but I think Indian paintbrushes look just as pretty! 

Came home and chowed on Smoky Split Pea soup from Appetite for Reduction, which I'd made the night before. One of our all-time favorite soups.

I also made a batch of "cheezy" kale chips from Ani's Raw Food Essentials. We preferred them over the spicy ones we made last week. They disappeared quickly!

Later, Olivia and Jackson played a fishing game while I made dinner. Olivia is an extremely focused game player.

Dinner was a treat: Ranch Salad with Buffalo Tempeh, from the PPK. The combination of hot buffalo tempeh and cool, creamy ranch dressing is out of this world. Tony and I did not even attempt to share this with the kids, knowing they'd find the tempeh too spicy. (I fixed them their own salads, along with various finger foods). So we each had a big bowl all to ourselves. I will definitely be making this again soon!

Vegan MoFo Day 2: Jackson's 5th Birthday!

Jackson celebrated his fifth birthday recently with friends and family. We had his party at a bounce house place.

My parents were in attendance. Note the entire Voltron head on the birthday boy's plate. He couldn't finish it, but he tried.

Olivia went down the slide about twenty times in a row. Sugar power!

The next day, we made a day trip to San Antonio to see some dinosaurs. First we stopped for lunch. I wanted to try Vegeria, but they're closed Sundays, so I searched online and found Green. What a great discovery! We loved this cute all-vegetarian (anything can be made vegan) cafe.

We started with chips and salsa.

We also shared a plate of buffalo tofu fingers. Spicy, chewy, amazing. 

Jackson and Olivia had spaghetti, with fruit.

Tony had the falafel bowl with vegan tzatziki. He raved about the kale.

I had the breakfast tacos, made with scrambled tofu. These tacos were huge! I took one home with me.

After eating our fill we headed to the Witte Museum. We were greeted by a rather arrogant-looking pair.

This little elephant was much more approachable.

The Dinosaurs Unearthed exhibit was the main attraction. Giant, animatronic dinosaurs -- the perfect birthday activity for Jackson (and his equally dino-loving little sis.)

I didn't realize some dinosaurs had fur. Thank you, Dinosaurs Unearthed, for teaching me something new.

Feeding baby dinosaurs, Olivia's favorite of the many games included in the exhibit.

My ancestor?

Not scared of T. Rex!

Digging for dino bones in the sand pit.

Next we headed to the Science Treehouse, which is basically a children's museum on the Witte Museum grounds.

Part of it really is a treehouse.

There are lovely views of the San Antonio River.

On the roof, a sound board to bang away on. Olivia wasn't a fan.

The little greenhouse smelled wonderful.

Inside, the kids experimented with physics.

All in all, a fantastic birthday weekend for my little dude, and the rest of us too.