Vegan MoFo Day 10: McKenna Museum

To celebrate Jackson's successful first week of kindergarten, Tony and I took the kids to the children's museum down in New Braunfels. It was Tony's first visit and the kids were thrilled to show him around. First they did a little construction.

Olivia took a break to exercise her muscles.

Tony kept going with the construction.

I can't even describe the dream lab without using the word "trippy." You put together these little plastic puzzles and it somehow makes a story on the screen. Jackson and Olivia could have stayed here all day.

But there were pizzas to be made.

"Thank you, Chef," said Olivia.

While the kids noshed on plastic food (and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches), Tony and I had Vegan Richa's Tempeh-Broccoli-Jalapeno Popper Wraps, which I made that morning and packed in a cooler. I loaded them with extra pickled jalapenos, yum!

After lunch, the fairy bandit was spotted.

Her mild-mannered alter ego, Dr. Olivia.

Always a fun day at the museum. Blast off!

Quick Like a Bunny

I'll try to keep today's post brief, so I can get it done before my computer crashes again! Yeah, the fancy new PC we got 6 months ago is turning out to be sort of a lemon. A few weeks ago it crashed completely and Tony was on the phone with Dell customer service for FIVE HOURS as they determined that we had some sort of virus, because the anti-virus software they sold us with our computer was the wrong one. After "fixing" the problem, it started happening again a couple days ago. Some mornings I can turn on the computer and use it for an hour but then it will crash again. They are supposed to be mailing us some new software and we will probably have to wipe everything and start over. My mother-in-law bought the same model at the same time we got ours, and is having the same problems. Ugh. One lesson I've learned is that the newest version of something is not always the best! Luckily, I already knew another important lesson: always back up your files! I have thousands of pictures of my little family double-backed-up because I am that paranoid.

These guys right here, they are my life. I love documenting our life together and couldn't stand to lose those images.

We cooked out last night, and I made some jalapeno poppers. Some of them lost their little "hats" in the grilling process, but the cheese stayed inside where it belonged, so I was happy. For the filling I used Wayfare Foods' We Can't Say It's Cheese, hickory cheddar flavor.

I made a raspberry-lime dipping sauce by simply thinning out raspberry jam with lime juice until it reached a saucelike consistency. Tony and I were once served jalapeno poppers with a strawberry dipping sauce at a Mexican restaurant, and we loved the way that the fruity sweetness both complements and lessens the heat from the peppers.

We also grilled veggie burgers, and I baked some sweet potato fries. I usually make my own fries, but this time I used the Alexia frozen fries. They're really good. It's hard to get my homemade fries this crispy, so I'll probably buy the Alexia ones from now on, and deal with the crushing blow to my ego that comes with not making something from scratch (kidding...sort of!)

Hope to be back soon with regular posts after we get our technology back in line. Have a good week! 

Happy New Year!

Ah, New Year's Day. Hangovers, clean slates, good intentions.  How is 2011 treating you so far? How was your New Year's Eve?  Did you go out to a fun party, or celebrate at home with family?

Our evening was pretty mild, as you might expect when two little ones are involved.   The only party I attended was a pajama party with Olivia!

The day was eventful, though. Monster, our dog, got to check out a new dog park. According to Tony, this is not just any dog park. It was designed by a guy called Paul Jr., who is on a television show called American Chopper.  Tony is somewhat obsessed with this show. He has already taken Jackson to check out their shop.

Even though Paul Jr.'s dog park is 45 minutes away, it'll be worth it to take Monster there on a regular basis now that we know about it. When we lived in Austin, we took him to monthly Boston Terrier meetups at a local dog park, and he was always so excited to run and run and run with the other Bostons.  Bostons aren't really outdoor dogs -- most of the time Monster is content to lay on the couch with us -- but every so often it's good for him to get a lot of exercise and socialize with other dogs. It makes him so happy.

Jackson had fun, too.

Happy New Year, Monster.

The other excitement of the day was that I got to try out my new toy -- the Tofu Xpress.  It's pretty easy -- you just stick the block of tofu in, place the lid on top, and leave it alone for an hour. I was surprised at how much liquid got pressed out. It works!

Here it is, pressing away.  Strong like Hulk!

For our New Year's Eve snacking, I made a bunch of finger foods from American Vegan Kitchen, which I recieved for Christmas.

First up, Tempting Tofu Dippers with Pineapple-Pomegranate Dipping Sauce. I could definitely see the benefits of the Tofu Xpress here. My pressed tofu sticks were very firm (heh) and held together just fine during the entire breading and baking process.  This was also the first recipe where I used herbes de Provence.  It's got lavender in it, how crazy is that?  I love this appetizer. It's got a lot of exotic flavors going on, but is easy to put together. 

Next, Baked Poppers with Lime Cream.  Of course this was one of the first recipes I chose to try out from my new cookbook.  In my pre-vegan days, I loved jalapeno poppers.  When I lived in Oklahoma, there was a Mexican restaurant that served them with raspberry jelly. You might not think that would taste very good, but you would be totally wrong.  It's the best thing ever. In fact, now I'm thinking I should've bought some raspberry jelly.  Next time!  These jalapenos are stuffed with a smoky, cheesy filling and coated in panko breadcrumbs.  They are superb.  I was a little nervous about the breading process, because it called for three separate bowls and seemed really involved. But you just need to follow the #1 Rule of Breading -- always keep one hand dry. 

Finally, Lettuce Wraps.  Um...I'd never seen a lettuce wrap, let alone eaten one, and I quickly realized I had no idea how to roll a lettuce wrap.  Iceberg lettuce might not have been the way to go.  Maybe romaine would be easier to roll. Anyway, I just ended up serving these as lettuce cups. I loved the sweet, spicy tofu and veggie filling.

This morning, I started off my new year with a bowl of Carrot Cake Oatmeal, courtesy of Angela at Oh She Glows.  Soooo good.  It tastes really decadent, but you know it's good for you, since it's like 2/3 carrots.

Happy 2011!