Weekend Eats and Treats

The weekend is almost here but, before I forget, we had some great food last weekend! 

Friday night, it was just me and the kiddos. I made a quick pasta with basil pesto and cherry tomatoes. The garden has been going crazy with all the rain we've had this summer, it's wonderful! I made a big batch of pesto and froze it in ice cube trays, so I can pop out the amount I need. I topped the fettucine with a few shreds of pecorino romano cheese. Pecorino romano is so salty and has such a big flavor -- it's great if you're trying to watch your fat intake but want the richness of cheese, because you only need a tiny bit.

We got our grocery shopping done, then we stopped by the Capital City Bakery trailer for cupcakes. The kids had vanilla with sprinkles, and I had a black forest cupcake -- chocolate cake topped with whipped cream and cherries. Delicious, vegan cupcakes -- a perfect little treat after a week of eating light.

Saturday morning, we had to drop off Tony's car for some maintenance. While we waited to pick it up, we had brunch at Kerbey Lane. I ordered the vegan breakfast platter, which came with raspberry pancakes, tofu scramble, and vegan sausage patties. The tofu scramble was spicy and came covered in chopped tomato and scallions. The pancakes, although they didn't really taste like raspberry or have any visible raspberry pieces in them, were fine. The sausage patties were overcooked, hard and chewy. This has happened before, so I will probably find something else to order next time I eat breakfast there.

Tony ordered the migas. I may try them some time, so I thought I would take a picture. I've never been much of an egg eater, but the urge does strike me once or twice a year. He enjoyed these.

That afternoon, a couple of my friends were running a craft booth at the North Austin Trailer Yard, so we stopped by for a visit. While we were there, we checked out a trailer food competition, part of the Go Texan Restaurant Roundup. Each of the food trailers on the lot was offering free samples of a special dish made from local ingredients. You could try them all and vote on your favorite dish.

 

We were still pretty full from breakfast, so we only got one sample, but it was quite a sample. It was actually a full-sized pecan pie sundae from The Yogurt Experience, made with Texas pecans. It took a lot of restraint to just take one bite and allow Jackson and Olivia to finish off the rest -- it was so good! They loved it. Now I know where to take them next time they deserve a Friday night treat!

On Sunday, I cooked a sort of multicultural dinner. I made a couple of Ethiopian dishes from Appetite for Reduction -- Y'abesha Gomen (gingery collard greens) and Mushroom Tibs. I rounded out the meal with curried lentils and garlic naan bread. A light and healthy meal to make up for the weekend's excesses, but also a spicy and satisfying feast!

Checking In

Hey y'all, I know I haven't been around much. Blame Game of Thrones. Tony and I started watching it and now I'm hooked. Whenever the kids nap or go to bed early, instead of writing blog posts, I've been glued to the TV. I still have a few more episodes of the first season to go and then I'm going to start reading the books.

This weekend I went to the Renegade Craft Fair and blew a little cash on myself. We all need to do that once in awhile, right?

I can't wait to wear my new shirt.

I also bought a mermaid necklace and a hair clippy.

I liked that a lot of the sellers this year were local. I bought a little vial of lovely perfume oil from one of them.

I adore perfume oils. Back when I was employed, before Olivia was born, I spent loads of money feeding my perfume habit. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is my favorite. It doesn't really fit in our budget these days, but luckily I built up quite a stash that I'm still working my way through.

We also cooked out this weekend. While Tony manned the grill, I made fried green tomatoes. Actually they were oven-baked.

We had veggie burgers topped with grilled onions, grilled corn on the cob with Veganaise, chili powder and lime, collard greens, and the fried green tomatoes.

I think this was Olivia's first time eating corn on the cob. She thought it was really fun.

For dessert, I made chocolate mousse using silken tofu and chocolate hemp protein powder. I layered it with organic strawberries.

How was your weekend?

Cupcakes and Coffee

Today Tony's car was in the shop, so he took my car to work. I figured it was a good day to get a lot of cleaning and laundry accomplished, since I couldn't take the kids anywhere. But Jackson was sticking to me like glue. If you've ever tried to mop a floor with a barefoot 2-year-old trailing behind you, you know it's a wasted effort. So I told him, "If you let me clean in peace, you can help me bake something later." He paused to consider the deal I was offering. Then he said, "We not bake something. We bake cupcakes."

The kid drives a hard bargain.

We made the red velvet cupcakes from Quick & Easy Vegan Celebrations, topped with the sour cream frosting from Vegan Bake Sale. I picked that frosting recipe for one reason -- I had a tub of Tofutti sour cream sitting in my fridge. I don't like its super-thick texture dolloped on top of a baked potato or nachos, but it worked perfectly for making a creamy frosting.

I let Jackson and Olivia share a cupcake, and froze the rest. I was in the mood for a different kind of sweet.

Everyone has their own method for making iced coffee. I brew my coffee twice as strong as normal, chill it, and then add ice. I figure the ice cubes dilute the coffee to the point where it all balances it out. I used to just sweeten it with stevia, but then I found out that my liquor store carries all the Torani flavor syrups. Sugar-free hazelnut is my favorite. (The raspberry flavor is good in iced tea, too!)  

I always hated coffee until I moved to New York, and then I started drinking it to stay warm during the long, cold winter. (I also drank tons of hot tea, but it wasn't enough!) When we moved back to Texas, I had a full canister of coffee, so I started drinking it iced, just to use it up. Now I am hooked. Most days, it's my treat when the kids nap. Are you a coffee or tea drinker? Or both, like me? 

For dinner I made Chili Lime Rubbed Tofu and Pineapple Collards, both from Appetite for Reduction, with roasted butternut squash. Everything was delicious. The tofu is fast and easy to make (no marinating necessary) and I always adore collard greens. I peel and cube my squash and roast it with a little bit of olive oil, salt, and dried sage, at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. It turns sweet like candy.