Pirate Ship

Today I took the kids to a public pool that boasts a pirate ship right in the middle of the pool. How awesome is that?

I thought this would be the be-all, end-all of pool experiences for my kids and we would spend the rest of the summer there. Unfortunately it was ruined by packs of elementary-age kids running, splashing and pushing. The lifeguards were standing around but nobody seemed to care. I don't understand letting kids that big into a wading pool with little ones. After Jackson and Olivia both got pushed down while climbing on the pirate ship, we packed up and left. Blah. 

Once we got home, I made lunch. The Eggless Tofu-Olive Salad from Vegan Crunk is fabulous, if you're an olive lover, which I definitely am. Here's the recipe if you are interested. We ate it on toast with a side of sauteed kale.

After lunch we did some crafts. 

For a snack, I made Apple-a-Day Green Smoothies from Let Them Eat Vegan. They're bright green thanks to spinach, but taste like mango and banana.

Sherwood Forest Faire

The Sherwood Forest Faire is held each spring in the woods outside of Austin. This was our first year attending. Jackson is slightly obsessed with knights and sword fighting, so he was thrilled to don his knight costume for the day. His excitement is contagious, and Olivia also wanted to dress up. So off we went with our brave knight and fair princess.

The poor tomato guy. He probably thought he would get a break from having tomatoes smashed in his face when he saw these two tiny people approaching.

No such luck, tomato man! Jackson served up some tomato justice right in his face. 

Next we took our seats in the stands just in time for a jousting match. 

The riders took turns trying to knock cabbages off a pole with their lances. Then, they took turns trying to knock each other off their horses!

Glued to the action.

The food was typical fair food -- deep fried everything! Deep fried olives are pretty tasty, I have to admit.

After lunch, we watched a falconry show.

The falcons were well-trained, swooping over the crowd as they flew from one post to the next.

At the end of the day's quest, Sir Jackson found a ferocious dragon to slay. Or, to sit on and pet gently, as it turned out.

When we got home, Lentils and Rice with Caramelized Onions (from Veganomicon) was the perfect bland, yet amazingly good, meal for tummies needing something more than fried food.

Central Grocery Olive Salad

One of our Christmas gifts was a jar of olive salad from Central Grocery in New Orleans. Several years ago, Tony had a roommate who was from New Orleans, so he got to spend a lot of time there. And apparently this is the olive salad above all others, and you need to have a jar of it if you are going to make an authentic New Orleans muffuletta sandwich.

I'm totally going to make a vegan muffuletta one of these days. But I was curious to try this legendary olive salad right away, so I tossed it with spaghetti and chopped spinach. (Also, since I can never have too many olives, I threw in a few kalamatas I had on hand.)

In addition to green olives, the olive salad contains bits of cauliflower, carrots, onion, celery, pepperoncini, garlic and parsley, as well as some other spices and oil.  It's salty, tangy, olive-y goodness. 

Have you been to New Orleans? We are tossing around places to go for our 10th wedding anniversary this summer, and we have talked about going there. We'll be taking Jackson and Olivia with us wherever we go, so we have to choose a destination that is at least somewhat kid-friendly, to keep them from being bored. There has to be other things to do besides Bourbon Street, right?

Have a great day!

Lazy Saturday

It is a rare Saturday when we have absolutely no obligations or plans, but we just got back from Michigan and we're leaving on another trip later this week, so we thought we better take it easy for a couple days, catch up on laundry, all that fun stuff.

Lunch was simple - pitas with kalamata olive hummus, inspired by the Trader Joes variety that Jackson polished off all by himself. I made sure to make enough so Tony and I could have some, too!

Kalamata Hummus
1 15-oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
10 kalamata olives, pitted
2 Tbsp. tahini
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Puree all ingredients in food processor until creamy.

In spite of my supposed laziness, I guess I did feel like cooking, because dinner got a little fancy. It was the return of the seitan saltado, this time with the addition of guac and homemade sour cream (recipe from Vegan on the Cheap). It turned out just as amazing the second time around.

Another thing I had time for this weekend was to go back and reply to some of your comments. Thank you SO much for coming here and reading about my little kitchen adventures, and for all your kind words!

Linguine Puttanesca

Dinner was linguine puttanesca (or "whore's pasta", as every cookbook ever written will tell you.) I used green olives in this simple sauce because that's what I had, but any kind of olive will work. I made a lot because I wanted to have leftovers for our lunch.

Linguine Puttanesca
1 lb. linguine
42 oz. diced tomatoes(1 28-oz. can plus 1 14-oz. can) -- we like a lot of sauce!
20 big green olives, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Cook linguine until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain. Meanwhile, place the garlic and olive oil in a pan and heat over medium until it begins to sizzle. You want to infuse the garlic scent into the oil. Next, add the tomatoes, olives, salt, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and smush the tomatoes a little with your spoon. This helps the sauce thicken. Pour the sauce over the pasta and serve.