Fat Tuesday

Easter has already come and gone...oh well! Forever catching up on here. That is life.

Fat Tuesday is the Tuesday before Lent, the Catholic season of deprivation leading up to Easter. The idea is that you indulge on this one day, before abstaining for the next forty. While Tony and I are seriously lapsed Catholics, we appreciate any excuse to indulge, and we certainly did this year. Tony worked from home and we went to lunch at Pinthouse Pizza for a couple of pints while the kids were in school.

Nachos smothered in queso and avocado, oh my goodness.

Margherita pizza...really unnecessary after that giant plate of nachos! I'd like to say we took most of it home as leftovers, but that was not the case.

Finally, that evening I fried up some beignets using a mix that I bought awhile back in New Orleans. They did not turn out nearly as fluffy as the ones I remember from Cafe du Monde, but once I covered them in powdered sugar there were no complaints. Monster even had one.

I may not have fasted for the next forty days, but I did eat considerably lighter in the days following our wonderful gluttony. No more beignets until next year. (Sorry, Monster.)

Urban Air

A new trampoline place called Urban Air recently opened in our neighborhood. Naturally, Jackson and Olivia dove right in.

Just a blur of unlimited energy.

Dodgeball!

Obstacle course!

They are such monkeys.

After working up an appetite, we met my parents at 600 Degrees Pizzeria in Georgetown. They do pizza by the slice, and there are a ton of specialty pizzas to choose from. I went with with the "Georgetown" featuring smoked gouda, portabella mushroom, tomato, spinach, and pesto. The slices are huge! Look how tiny my fork looked in comparison!

Faces

Jackson and Olivia had the day off school recently for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I read them a book from the library about his life. Their reaction can basically be summed up as "incredulous." Like, what do you mean, white kids couldn't sit with their black friends on the bus? Our community is so diverse and that is all they have known, so it seems fundamentally wrong to them to discriminate based on skin color. It was a reminder that such prejudices are not natural, they are taught. But never in our home.

For breakfast I made them blueberry oat squares from Plant-Powered Families.

Then we spent some time at the bounce house. My camera is not good at capturing motion but I wanted to catch their looks of excitement in the block pit. I always appreciate school holidays to spend a little extra time with these monkeys.

For dinner I made hummus tortilla pizzas, another idea from Plant-Powered Families. The kids loved topping their own pizzas. Jackson, who usually avoids greens, even piled on a bunch of basil! Dreena is so smart about kids.

For dessert we enjoyed some two-ingredient ice cream -- frozen bananas and cocoa powder -- topped with roasted peanuts. 

John, I'm Only Eating Pizza

The other day we had lunch at Via 313, AKA best pizza in Austin. Their arugula salad with goat cheese was a nice starter, big enough for all four of us to share.

Even without the childhood nostalgia that comes with Detroit-style pizza (because he grew up in Oklahoma), Tony loves this stuff as much as I do.

Afterwards, we stopped at Natural Grocer's to pick up a few cold-weather treats. Teeccino herbal coffee, Tazo cocoa mint yerba mate, and some chamomile soaking salts for the bath.

Amber incense, and more tea- Numi's chocolate pu-erh. Confession: I do not know how to pronounce pu-erh. Is it power? I'm going with power. 

Finally, we stopped by the library and it warmed my heart to see a little David Bowie shrine set up, complete with coloring pages. Start 'em young on the path to good music.

Isn't this how you dress to practice reading? I like to think Mr. Bowie would be pleased.

All the Food 2016 (Pic Dump)

I thought posting a bunch of random meals would give an idea of how I am eating in 2016. Not 100% vegan, no. Too prohibitive when I am dining out frequently with a husband, parents, and children who are all meat-eaters. They do not want to eat all their meals at vegan restaurants, and I am not just going to eat a plain baked potato at their restaurant choice when I can eat something healthier and/or more satisfying which may also contain some cheese. I am still cooking all vegan at home. So that's what is working for all of us! Also I have started using the MyFitnessPal app back in December to just be more conscious of portion size and calorie intake/output, and as a result I feel I am making healthier choices overall.

Anyway, here's some food I have been putting in my face!

Homemade pad Thai.

Garlic broccoli with rice and spring roll, Bo Asian Bistro lunch w/my parents.

Spaghetti squash and baked tofu, topped with chimichurri (from Vegan Eats World, the best chimichurri recipe ever!)

Medjool date with almond butter, such a great snack when I have sugar cravings because it actually satisfies me instead of just making me crave more sugar!

Some kind of stir fry with cauliflower, broccoli, chickpeas, tomatoes, peas? I'm sure it was good.

Golden Corral...well, what can I say, this was Jackson and Olivia's choice of where to eat lunch on their very last day of winter break.  We usually eat there with Grandma when we go to Oklahoma at Christmas. We didn't go up there this Christmas due to a number of reasons, so I think this was their way of keeping the tradition alive. So much "brown" food in that place, but I tried to keep my plate as "green" as possible.

Pesto margarita from Roots Bistro in Round Rock. I really wish we had a place like this in our hood! Coffeehouse/cafe by day, bar at night, the perfect anytime hangout.

Simple, whole foods: roasted butternut squash, baked tofu, and gingered collard greens (from The 30-Minute Vegan, it's my favorite recipe for collards.)

A sample kid meal. Tater tots, baked tofu, edamame, blueberries.

Butternut fennel soup. Roast 1 butternut squash and 1 bulb of fennel. Puree with vegetable broth. Eat.

Garden burger patty with kale salad (I just toss the kale with flax oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper) and oven fries.

Tortilla soup, from Happy Herbivore's first cookbook.

More pizza! Buffalo cauliflower pizza from Counter Culture, with vegan ricotta, pesto, and red onions. So amazing. And SPICY!

Best banana muffins (from Plant-Powered Families.)

Overnight oats, soaked with chia seeds, soy milk, and chopped dates.

Ezekial bread with avocado and cherry tomatoes.

Ice skating at Chaparral Ice over the winter break. So cold! But so fun!

Rounders, Our New Favorite Pizza

The other day, Olivia and I celebrated her BFF Halley's birthday with a Book of Life-themed party. If you have seen the film, you know it is absolutely gorgeous, filled with dreamy Dia de los Muertos imagery. The face painter at the party really did the movie justice, painting all the little girls as beautiful muertas!

Afterwards, we met up with Jackson and Tony and had dinner at our new favorite pizza place, Rounders. I think it's just as good as Home Slice, but without the long wait. Plus, patio seating. 

The pizza is awesome, and so is the Greek salad, plus it comes with free garlic knots.

Then it was home and time for a bit of homework and reading practice. Look at what Jackson brought home from the library. This is a children's graphic novel! (Fortunately not too graphic, haha!)

After homework, he was on to more important things, like circling items in the Target Christmas catalog. When I was a kid, it was the Sears catalog. Wishlist making is serious business!

Caramel Apples

We celebrated the arrival of the best month, October, by making homemade caramel apples. I used the A+ Caramel Apples recipe from Plant-Powered Families. I was surprised at how quick and easy it is to make your own vegan caramel! The kids loved this special autumn treat.

While I had the cookbook at hand, I also made the Best Banana Bread to use up a couple of brown bananas. The browner the better, for banana bread!

We also made some spider hats. I have never been crafty but I am slowly becoming a Mama Who Crafts thanks to Pinterest and my kids' love of fun little projects like this one.

Tony got back in town after being in Baltimore all week for business, and we were both craving pizza. So we had a family catch-up lunch at Rounders. We started with a Greek salad and complimentary garlic rolls while enjoying the perfect patio weather.

Jalapeno pizza, so good! Rounders might just be as good as Home Slice, but without the long wait for a table.