Flower Power

Tony brought me some hot pink daisies to brighten up the kitchen. I always love a pop of color!

Jackson made a drum at school, like from Karate Kid II. I don't know what you call it. To me it's just "the drum like from Karate Kid II." Because I am old and 80's movies are my frame of reference.

He was excited to show Tony the minute he got home from work.

For dinner I made the Classic Sesame Noodles from Vegan Eats World, soba noodles topped with a peanut-tahini dressing and pickled cucumbers. Tasty and fast.

Jackson's preschool teacher told me a long time ago to get some kid-friendly scissors and let them go to town, because it is good for their fine motor skills. Sometimes I will give them old magazine pages and they will snip them into pieces. I think they find it relaxing. Tonight they decided to cut out and tape together new outfits for Olivia's Elsa doll.

Mueller Fall Fest

Fall festivals are a big thing in Austin. Strange, considering how we live a part of the country that doesn't really experience fall weather. Most of the festivals occur in October, when it's still in the 90s. Something feels intrinsically wrong about painting a pumpkin while getting sunburn at the same time. However, this past weekend we attended a fall fest in the Mueller neighborhood and the weather was nice and cool, like an actual fall day! Amazingness.

Bouncing and bowling!

Olivia won a whistle. OH, GOOD.

Petting zoo.

Little ponies. They looked tired.

Taking a break by the lake.

Looking for fish.

Photo booth fun.

Dinner was Spicy Drunken Noodles from Vegan Eats World.  My red chiles were not spicy at all. I don't buy red chiles often, so I guess I don't know how to pick the hot ones. Sriracha prevented the recipe title from becoming a misnomer. Whew.

Ethiopian At Home

After a recent excursion to Aster's, I decided it had been far too long since I prepared a homemade Ethiopian feast. So I spent a leisurely Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.

First I made niter kibbeh, a spiced oil blend. Watching it simmer on the stove with all those vibrant colors, you just know it's going to add great flavor to your dishes.

Clockwise from top left: gomen wat (collard greens), atakilt wat (cabbage stew), mesir wat (spicy red lentils), and but'echa. The but'echa recipe came from Vegan Eats World. I was so excited to see a recipe for this dish, made from chickpea flour. I had only eaten it once before, at an Ethiopian restaurant in Montreal. It was like a thick hummus with a strong garlic flavor. This version of but'echa turned out quite different. It was more like scrambled eggs! We still enjoyed it even though it wasn't what I was expecting.

Random thing I learned when I set out to make my own injera bread: Austin is experiencing a teff flour shortage! In the past, it was easy to find at the health food stores. Now, according to a guy at Whole Foods, they're having trouble sourcing it. You can still get the teff grains, but they're so hard and tiny, there's no way my cheapo food processor would be able to grind them into flour. Fortunately, I was able to buy a big bag of readymade injera from an Ethiopian restaurant near my house.

I frequently post pics of Jackson or Olivia enjoying food, but rarely Tony. He eats, too.

Jackson is all about zombies these days. Today he created a zombie repellant for our backyard.

Did you know zombies are allergic to black pepper? He also rubbed his bare feet on the rock, explaining that the "stink" would drive the creatures away. (He may have a point there. Oh, how I miss the days when his feet had that sweet baby smell!) The device seems to work -- no zombie invasions to report.

Glow Bowl

Today we did a little glow in the dark bowling. The fluorescent colors and loud 80's music couldn't break my girl's concentration.

But Jackson gets a little loopy when the lights go out.

Afterwards we stopped in to visit my parents. Olivia enjoys her coloring time with Grandma.

Dinner was Masala Potato Soup from Vegan Eats World, served with garlic naan. It was tasty but I have had Indian soups which are just as good and take less time to prepare, so we'll see if this one makes a return.

We picked up these GoodPop Watermelon Agave popsicles for dessert. 

Jackson-approved!

Pho Sho

Today I made the Sizzling Seitan Pho from Vegan Eats World, only I made it with baked tofu instead of seitan. Look at all those greens! Baby bok choy, Thai basil, mint and cilantro. I kicked up the flavor with a dollop of sambal oelek.  Pho is always time consuming, but the end result is worth it. I have my own vegan pho recipe if you're interested.

The kids received free bike helmets.  Partay! The bowling alley was doing a giveaway and had hospital volunteers on hand to measure heads and make sure the helmets fit properly. If they're this excited over the helmets, just think how pumped they will be when they get bikes. They won't have to wait too long; we are going to surprise them with new bikes on Jackson's birthday.

Busy Day

My latest challenge is finding an activity to occupy Jackson and Olivia while I'm on the treadmill because they want to be right there with me in the bedroom. Today, I put out my jewelry box and let them go at it. I loved pawing through my mom's jewelry and trying it on when I was their age, and they are no different. 

Later, on our way to swim lessons, I tried out a new hair salon for a quick trim. Birds is fantastic and I never want to go anywhere else. Their old-school video games captivated my kids the entire time. Not a peep.

We picked up popcorn tofu po-boys from Wheatsville for lunch.

Dinner was Flying Massaman Curry from Vegan Eats World. Massaman curry is my favorite Thai dish, but it's proved difficult to find in Thai restaurants without added fish sauce. Solution: make it at home!

Winding down, working on puzzles. So proud she can do it herself.

Watery Wednesday

We started out the day with a water balloon fight.

Then headed to a splash pad downtown for more watery fun.

Vegan Eats World's Sweet Autumn Toasted Pita and Kale Salad isn't only good from September through December. Exotic ingredients like sumac powder and pomegranate molasses make it an out-of-the-ordinary treat, while toasted pita and roast sweet potato make it filling enough to eat as dinner. Which is what we did.

Summer Vacay So Far

I haven't loved the past couple of summers in Austin. By May, the temps were already in the 100's. This year is milder, thank goodness. And we are embracing summer. We have lemonade, we have sunscreen, we have pool noodles. We are set.

One evening I made a spinach-mushroom lasagna worth turning on the oven for.

I've noticed quite a few new vegan parmesan substitutes lately. I make my own, it's super easy.

We also tried the jackfruit carnitas tacos from Vegan Eats World. I didn't love the sweetness of the carnitas marinade, but I'm open to using jackfruit as a meat substitute. Just have to find the right flavors for it. I like how light it is; you don't feel stuffed afterwards.

One evening I tried a Pinterest recipe -- Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter. We all adore asparagus, and Jackson and Olivia loved the buttery-sweet sauce coating the pasta.

Raspberry cornmeal pancakes from Garden of Vegan. I'm on a big Sarah Kramer kick lately, giving some love to the first vegan cookbooks I ever owned.

Also from GoV, Aloo Chana, and Indian potato and vegetable soup. I love making soups on hot days because I don't need to turn on the oven and cleanup is so simple -- just one pot! That means more time to relax on the patio in the evening, with a book and a cold lemonade or Lone Star, before the mosquitos come out and try to eat me up!

Zoo and Paella

Today we visited the Austin Zoo, which is actually an animal sanctuary. Jackson and Olivia were excited to ride the train, as we had never ridden it before.

The petting zoo was our top destination. The kids couldn't wait to hand-feed the hungry goats.

One little goat wasn't feeling snacky. He just wanted to hang out.

This dude, on the other hand, was eager for his share of feed.

The tiger seemed to be posing just for us.

For dinner I made the Artichoke Paella from Vegan Eats World, as part of the PPK Cookbook Challenge. It looked so gorgeous in the pan, making me really excited to dig in!

And the flavor did not disappoint. Tempeh chorizo, artichoke hearts, and an array of veggies are blended with creamy aborio rice. I subbed Spanish green olives for the pearl onions since I had a jar in the fridge. I've only tasted paella once before, at a restaurant years ago that offered a vegetarian version (it's typically made with sausage and seafood.) My memory is hazy, but I think this was better. And it wasn't much harder to make than boiling a pot of rice, if you make the tempeh chorizo the day before (that recipe is also found in the cookbook.)