St. Paddy's 2014

Hope you had a festive and leprechaun-free St. Patrick's Day! We wore our green, so we were safe from their pinches.

Dinner was Trader Joe's veggie burgers topped with greens, Veganaise, dill relish, ketchup and mustard on whole wheat buns. This was my first time buying TJ's veggie burgers and I love them! I think they're the best frozen burgers out there.

We also had sweet potato fries, not pictured. But just a few, because we had to save room for dessert -- carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, a tester recipe for Kristy's cookbook. I can't give away the recipe, but these cupcakes contain a lot of grated carrot -- just how a good carrot cake should be!

Chillin', knowing their gold is secure for now.

Goofs

There is a lot to do in Austin, but we're not out and about every day. What goes on when we spend the day at home? Lots of goofing around.

And also recipe testing, for Kristy's cookbook. BLT wraps with homemade tempeh bacon...

...and the most luscious chocolate truffles.

But mostly, goofing.

Cameron Park Zoo

This past weekend we drove up to Waco for the day. After touring the Dr. Pepper Museum, we spent the afternoon at the Cameron Park Zoo.

It's impressive. We saw Mr. Bear, with his many vulture friends.

The aquatic tanks were a big draw for Jackson and Olivia. This time I opted to skip photographing the moray eel, to prevent future nightmares.

Interactive exhibits are always the most fun for little visitors.

Gentle buffalo.

Creepy yet awesome owls.

Capybara, I don't know how to describe you, other than calling you a freakishly oversized guinea pig, but I love you!

The komodo dragon, with its poor dental hygiene. (I learned from a nature show that their mouths are cesspools of bacteria, and that is why their bite is so deadly.)

After all that fun, I got up and made brunch the next morning. The Mediterranean tofu scramble was a tester for Kristy.

I served it with Isa Does It's amazing fluffy pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and maple syrup, and home fries with Follow Your Heart horseradish sauce.

And then we brushed our teeth really well, because we're not komodo dragons

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BBQ Bowl

Spring is my favorite time of year to live in Austin. I want to be outside all day long.

Today we took a walk and stopped to take a few photos and rest some tiny feet. 

Doesn't this sidewalk graffiti look like it could be Super Jackson?

Skeleton horse is a little scary.

Dinner was a tester for Kristy's cookbook. BBQ ranch veggie bowls, topped with oven-baked onion rings. Lots of great textures and flavors all mixed together, yum.

Toybrary and Testing

I'm happy to be testing a few recipes for Kristy's upcoming cookbook! If y'all follow her blog, you know this is good news for both cookbook collectors and my taste buds. To begin with, I made her curried tempeh salad, served on a bed of baby greens. I love the complex flavors of this salad, which includes dried cherries and almonds.

After lunch, I took Jackson and Olivia to check out Austin's Toybrary, a lending library for toys. Paying a monthly membership fee allows you to check out three toys at a time, Netflix-style. We're not members, but they also offer various classes and drop-in play.

We were there for an Olympics-themed craft class, but the kids got sidetracked by all the toys.

So we hung out and played for awhile.

Superhero shoppers.

We did eventually get around to the crafts.

Olympic torches, fun!

For dinner, I made the BBQ Spaghetti from Cookin' Crunk.  Thank you, Bianca, for introducing me to the concept of barbecue sauce on spaghetti. I couldn't get enough of it!