Hat Creek Round Rock

Today my friend and I met up at the newest Hat Creek, in Round Rock. I love how they are all designed differently with unique play areas for the kiddos. Jackson and Olivia could barely be enticed to eat, they were so busy exploring the wooden playhouse with its various levels and slides.

Jackson and his friend Mai were tie-dye twins.

I had the usual grain burger with fries. Never a disappointment.

For dinner, something light. Ranch Salad with Red Potatoes and Smoky Chickpeas from Isa Does It. Gotta love that avocado ranch dressing.

Sparkly Loch Ness Monster

This evening I took the kids to the Thinkery, as it had been awhile since our last visit. 

Jackson went straight to work on the gears.

Olivia made patterns with the hot wax machine. 

They managed to hang out in the water room for awhile without completely soaking themselves and everyone around them. Aw, they are growing up!

Making sounds with water.

After the museum closed, we headed across the street to Mueller Lake Park to play for a bit. This sparkly Loch Ness Monster statue is new.

You can't see it in the pics but there's a sign across the sidewalk from the statue that says, in small letters, that children should not climb on the statue. I wonder if it's meant as a joke? Good luck installing a sparkly Loch Ness Monster directly next to a playground and expecting kids not to crawl all over that thing.

The kids wore themselves out on the playground and we headed home for baths and bed.

I had a quick dinner of salad mix, a Costco veggie burger, and Annie's Goddess dressing. Good night!

Vegan Round 2 (Long Post)

I talked recently about how exercising and doing yoga every day was helping me make slightly healthier, more conscious food choices. Now, I'm taking it a step further. I've decided to try being vegan again.

Those of you who've followed my blog since the beginning (thank you!!) know I was vegan for about a year when I lived in New York. But when we moved back to Texas, the lure of chips and queso proved too much and I returned to my vegetarian ways. Well, it's been almost four years and I guess I've eaten my fill of queso. I've also learned to make a damn good vegan version.

Actually, my dorky Game of Thrones obsession is also to blame for this decision! While I was trying to find info on the new season, I came across this PETA video made by actor Peter Dinklage (Tyrion).  I have seen these types of sad images before; we all have. But this is how our brains work: one day, re-exposure to images or words you've seen countless times strikes you in a new light, depending on your mood that day. It seems I just needed a timely reminder of my lifelong love of animals. 

My biggest grapple with eating vegan in Austin is that my omnivore husband and parents all love to eat at Tex-Mex restaurants. That's an easy fix for most vegans...order the bean burrito, right? But I'm allergic to pinto and black beans, so I have to work around that as well.  But, if I'm not being lazy, I should be able to figure something out. Polvos has a wonderful Michoacan salad that's loaded with huge chunks of fresh avocado. Chuy's has blue corn veggie enchiladas, just order with no cheese.  Lazy Smurf has an extensive, helpful list of "safe" taco places. And when I look at the big picture, I realize taking a moment to request "no cheese, no sour cream" is worth the reassurance that I am not tacitly participating in cruel farming practices.

In a happy coincidence, there's a new all-vegan grocery store in town, called Rabbit Food Grocery. I was excited to check it out after reading Lazy Smurf's review. Olivia and I popped in the other day and left with a few little treats. She immediately went for the all-natural Tree Hugger bubblegum, while I picked out some Beanfield's Nacho chips. Now, here's how observant I am...I didn't realize they were made from beans, in spite of being called "BEANfield's" and stating "BEAN & Rice Chips" in large letters on the packaging. Derp! I wasn't able to eat more than a couple of chips, but I passed them on to some grateful kiddos. Tony and I enjoyed the Pacific Northwest pepperoni pizza kale chips; they are very spicy!

Other random eats..."dessert for breakfast" shake with banana, chocolate raw protein powder, cashew milk, vanilla, and dates.

Banana Pancakes from The 30-Minute Vegan's Taste of the East. Jackson ate four in one sitting! Well, they are small.  I've learned that banana pancakes are the most difficult pancakes to cook without tearing when you flip them, since the bananas caramelize and stick to the griddle. Just cook 'em slow and low, and they will tell you when they're ready to be flipped. (Not literally, pancakes do not speak! Or else they wouldn't be vegan!)

Have you heard of Fire Cider? It's supposed to be good for colds/allergies. I'm brewing my first batch in the fridge this month. I consulted a few recipes and ended up tossing onion, jalapeno, garlic, ginger, and horseradish into a small jar of apple cider vinegar. It will either be useful, or disgusting. Or both, possibly.

Tempeh-Pimiento Cheeze Ball from 1000 Vegan Recipes. I'd wanted to try this recipe forever, since I'd never heard of using tempeh as a cheese substitute. Mine was a bit too moist to form into a proper ball, even after chilling in the fridge. So it ended up being more of a pate, sprinkled with chopped pecans. Nice for dipping pita chips and carrots.

BBQ Tempeh 'n' Dilly Salad Bowl from Salad Samurai. Another winner from this amazing book. The spicy-sweet barbecue sauce-coated tempeh is the perfect match for the creamy, dill-accented coleslaw.

Jackson celebrated his 100th day of kindergarten today by wearing a shirt decorated with 100 stickers.

Resolutions (Long Post!)

All my life, I was never one for New Year's resolutions, until last year.

See, back in 2013, I kept track of how many books I read...only 15. I thought that was pretty lame. So in 2014, I resolved to read more. 365 days later...I had read 37 books! So apparently setting a resolution works for me.

So, in 2015, I've set a somewhat loftier goal...to try to get in the best shape of my life. Specifically, I've resolved to work out 30 minutes a day (treadmill or stationary bike), followed by at least 10 minutes of yoga. And I am pleased to report, as February begins, I haven't missed a day so far. I've started attending a wonderful weekly hatha class at our neighborhood rec center. (Just $3 a class! I love my community!) The rest of the time I practice at home. Yoga with Adriene is a great YouTube resource for home practice!

Am I seeing results? Yes. Feeling them, too. 

1. My core is getting stronger, and so are my arms and thighs. I don't weigh myself, but my clothes are fitting nicely.

2. I'm becoming more flexible. Hip openers are supposed to be great for those with anxiety, so I focus on them. I am trying to work towards doing the splits, and I can already get closer to the floor than I could when I began.

3. Speaking of anxiety, well, it was my main motivation for setting this particular resolution. I've had lifelong social anxiety, and panic attacks and mild agoraphobia for the past three years or so. I have done therapy as well as medication. This past fall, I felt that my medication was no longer working. When I went to the doctor, she suggested upping my dose. That did not make sense to me. If something isn't working, you should take more of it? But, unsure what else to do, I followed her instructions and increased my dose. Well, I continued having panic attacks when out in crowded places. It was actually getting worse. So I began to research on my own about mindfulness, about meditation, about using yoga as therapy for anxiety. And I resolved that in 2015 I would get in the best shape of my life, physically and mentally.

I won't say yoga is a magical cure, but I am feeling much better than I did a month ago. I am a busy mama, and it means everything to me to be able to take my kids out and about and not be stuck so much inside my own head all the time. I'm excited to see how the rest of the year goes. I think it's going to be a good one.

I didn't make any resolutions about eating healthier, but it seems that once I get a good morning workout, I instinctively make healthier eating choices for the rest of the day. Plus, I received Terry Hope Romero's Salad Samurai for Christmas, so I've been trying out lots of amazing salads.

The Tempeh Reubenesque salad was my first attempt. Cabbage is jazzed up with tempeh bacon and sauerkraut, and doused in "Galapagos Islands" dressing, Terry's take on Thousand Island.

Jackson and Olivia prefer deconstructed salads.

The Klassic Caesar salad was the simplest of the bunch, romaine lettuce and homemade croutons tossed in a Caesar dressing and topped with hempseed parmesan. (My hempseeds seemed to roast quickly and be on the verge of burning, so I only baked them for 15 minutes.)

The Backyard Buffalo Ranch Caesar Salad was a slight variation, with Red-Hot Saucy Tofu cubes thrown in. The tofu wasn't actually that spicy, but I appreciated the added protein.

The BKT (Bacon, Kale, Tomato) Bowl was my favorite over the Reubenesque by a narrow margin. The massaged kale tasted wonderful all by itself! When you add in two kinds of "bacon" -- coconut and tempeh -- plus juicy tomato and creamy avocado, every mouthful is heaven.

Can't wait to make more salads from this fabulous book.  Some of the recipes are a little fussy, needing to make two or three other recipes first and then incorporating them into the salad, so I'm not sure how practical this book would be for weeknight meals if you work full-time. But for a weekend feast...and yes, salad can be a feast, I've learned! I was a little skeptical that the salads would really constitute a meal for me, let alone for Tony, but we were both full and satisfied after eating all of these salads.

I hope your 2015 is treating you well.

All I Want For Christmas is Space Rocks

Today Olivia and I finished our Christmas shopping. Nature's Treasures is one of the most unique stores in Austin. They sell rocks and crystals. Olivia wanted to climb inside this geode, but she settled for a picture in front of the "space rock" as she called it.

She was so excited to look at all the crystals, it was very hard for her to remember to keep her hands to herself. She informed me she needed to take a break in the salt lamp room to relax a little bit.

For dinner I made the Everyday Quinoa and Chickpea Salad from Appetite for Reduction. I added in some cubed, baked tofu, but even still, this just wasn't super satisfying to me. Like, I would have to eat a lot of it to really feel full, which kind of defeats the purpose.

Captain Olivia Fingerhands

I had barely gotten the words "pirate storytime" out, when Olivia had donned her best pirate threads and was ready to go.

Such an attentive pirate.

She was ready for the interactive portion of the program. Balloon swords were passed around and there was much swashbuckling to be had.

Afterwards we hung out and, of course, she was drawn towards the masks and disguises.

Fingerhands! Kind of creepy, no?

We came home and had lunch. I had a salad with pomegranate seeds, peanuts, and mulberries, topped with TJ's hummus dressing.

We also made another green juice, except this one wasn't as bold green, because I added carrot.

Dinner was noodles with sauteed tofu and steamed broccoli, tossed with Easy Peanut Sauce from Vegan on the Cheap. My go-to peanut sauce recipe. I don't know why I don't make this every week.

Vegan MoFo Day 19: DJ Jackson

For breakfast I made strawberry pecan waffles, using the Sinfully Wholesome Waffles from Isa Does It as my base recipe.

I cut up the extras and froze them, so we can pop them in the toaster for quick breakfasts the rest of the week.

Olivia's lunch: strawberries, carrots, and a tortilla roll-up with Lightlife turkey, Follow Your Heart cream cheese, and grated carrots. 

I had a salad with sauerkraut, pickles, dried cranberries, and Annie's Goddess dressing. 

For dinner we had carry-out pizza from Spartan Pizza. I used a Groupon to try out this pizza trailer for the first time. When I picked up the pizza it was pouring rain, and I was surprised they were open! The owner told me he believes in keeping his set business hours, which impressed me. That is not the case with all food trailers in Austin. Anyway, they offer a vegan pizza made with Follow Your Heart cheese, so we gave that a try. The crust was thin but chewy, and the sauce was quite good. I discovered I don't like FYH cheese any better than Daiya, which is to say not at all, but I didn't know that until I tried it, and it's certainly not Spartan's fault. I'd order from them again and just do a cheeseless veggie pizza.

Jackson won a bead necklace and snap bracelet at school. He exclaimed, "I look like a DJ!" Ha! I'm pretty lucky -- laughter is great therapy, and my kids do not charge by the hour.

Steeping Room Revisited

My parents wanted to get together for dinner over the weekend, so I suggested the Steeping Room, because it's awesome, and I'd only eaten there once before.

I ordered the Tao of Green salad...napa, purple, and green cabbage, carrots, daikon, peanuts, cilantro and scallions in a sesame dressing. I also had them add tofu, pictured on the side. This was a feast of a salad, and I took half of it home for Tony. FWIW, I love it when salad greens are finely shredded like this, rather than chopped in big, unwieldy pieces.

The kids shared edamame (not pictured) and the Mediterranean sampler plate, with hummus, pita, dolmas, feta, and olives. Yay, finger foods.

We also attended a wedding this weekend, and the kids ate cake and cupcakes and thus couldn't sit still at all, but I did get one non-blurred shot of Jackson in his festive shirt.

Hanging at Whole Foods

The kids and I spent about two hours at Whole Food this afternoon. Kind of nutty. But the new WF by our house is super nice, with an awesome outdoor play area. So Jackson and Olivia played for a bit, then we went inside to grab lunch.

The kids had mac and cheese and fresh pineapple. I had a salad with mixed greens, kale, olives, and a falafel patty, dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. I also tried a little bit of patatas bravas. Guayaki mint yerba mate to drink.

After lunch, we headed back inside to pick up a lavender plant to give to my mom on Mother's Day.

My next batch of homemade kombucha won't be ready for a few more days so I picked up a jug of Buddha's Brew peach mint to tide us over. It's good but very sweet; I prefer the mint julep flavor.

A woman was offering samples of local Love Bean raw fudge spread, and it was too good to pass up bringing home a jar. We also grabbed some So Delicious almond milk ice cream to go along with it.

Friday has become ice cream day in our house.

After our frozen treat, the kids got to work making Mother's Day drawings for my mom.

Olivia wrote her name! First time. Proud mama moment.

Hope you have a nice Mother's Day, however you spend it. I was already treated to a brunch at Jackson's school yesterday. I get a kick out of these questionnaires the kids fill out each year. Apparently Jackson thinks I am the stereotypical vegetarian, always eating salad. Salad is pretty good, but pizza is better, haha!