Party Time

A friend of ours had a birthday cookout over the weekend. I made the Mexican Roasted Corn Salad with Avocado from Salad Samurai and everyone loved it. Considering that the hostess and myself were the only vegetarians, I love that I came home with a scraped-clean serving dish.

Party animals love staying up past their bedtime.

Jackson and Olivia were the only children at the party besides the host and hostess' toddler, and I was very proud of their grown up behavior. There were no meltdowns or crazy actions seeking attention. It's nice that they are getting to the age where they can hang out with adults and have fun.

Chisos Grill

Today we had a celebratory lunch at Chisos Grill, in the Bee Cave Galleria. A bit of a trek for us, but we had a Groupon. We started off with a sampler of salsa, guacamole and queso.

The chips were sprinkled with chili powder and minced cilantro. A nice touch.

I had the spinach salad with candied walnuts, goat cheese, and strips of grilled pineapple.

I also ordered a side of grilled sweet corn. I was quite pleased with my lunch.

Since Tony is eating vegetarian this month, I can show his lunch, too. He had the veggie stuffed poblano peppers with sides of grilled sweet corn and mashed potatoes with green chile gravy. 

So what were we celebrating?

Our little man's graduation from pre-K!

Now, because of when Jackson's birthday falls, he will attend one more year of pre-K before starting kindergarten, so this wasn't truly goodbye to his wonderful preschool. I would be in tears while writing this, if that were the case! I admit I shed a few tears during the ceremony, when I saw him looking so grown up in his cap and gown. 

We are proud of you, big J! 

Happy St. Paddy's!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you are all wearing your green and avoiding the leprechaun's pinch. 

Here are my latest testers for Joni's fusion cookbook. 

Esquites (Mexican street corn) -- so creamy, spicy, awesome!

Cotija Style Tofu Crumbles -- these crumbles mimic the dry, salty Mexican cheese known as cotija. I used them to make rajas poblanas, with a side of esquites.

Sweet Chili Tofu Noodle Bowl -- tofu is marinated in a sweet chili sauce, then grilled and served atop miso broth with noodles. Yum.

Tahini Garlic Roasted Cauliflower -- a nutty tahini sauce makes a delicious coating for roasted cauliflower.

Here are a couple of shots from our playgroup's St. Patrick's Day party. Jackson and his buddy battled it out with their light sabers.

Olivia went a more peaceful route and enjoyed the swings.

Little Lebowskis

Do you like to bowl? I think it's fun, although I don't do it on a regular basis. It's one of those sports that seems to get easier, the more beers you drink. Well, no beers were involved on this morning's outing with Jackson and Olivia. Just some silly shoes and a big orange ball.

We signed up for a program called Kids Bowl Free. It's great. They email you coupons every week for two free games every day, all summer. All you have to pay for is shoe rental. This was our first time going. But I have a feeling we will be on a first-name basis with the bowling alley attendants come August, when it's 110 degrees out every day.

Jackson loved bowling. He even loved wearing the silly shoes.  But the lightest ball available was still too heavy for Olivia, so I had to give her an assist. She wasn't happy about that, since she wants to be independent in everything she does. We will figure something out!

After bowling, we picked up Tony from work and took him to lunch. This was another first for us. Usually he is in meetings all day and doesn't have time to leave for lunch. But he said it was so much fun that he will try to make time for it. The kids were really excited to pick him up.

We went to Torchy's. I have heard so many Austinites proclaim their love for Torchy's. I figured it was time to give it a try. We started with some chips and salsa. The salsa had a lot of lime juice in it, which is something I like.

I ordered the Mexican street corn -- grilled corn with ancho aioli, queso fresco and chili powder. It was really rich, and it was a huge bowl. Tony helped me finish it. We both thought it was a pretty clever way to jazz up regular old corn. I will make it at home one of these days when we are using the grill.

I also ordered a taco called the Independent, with avocado and deep-fried portabello mushroom slices. This was also super rich. The mushroom pieces were a bit too greasy for my liking.

Overall, I enjoyed my lunch at Torchy's. But, Tacodeli seems more vegetarian-friendly and health-conscious, and it's also Tony's favorite, so we'll probably just go there next time we scoop him up for a quick weekday lunch.

Tonight's dinner is the same thing it's been for the past two nights -- a giant Greek salad with green leaf lettuce, spinach, garden cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, hemp seeds, and feta. It's too hot to turn on the oven, that's for sure!

Hope you're having a nice evening!