Saltado and Sillies

A hippie coworker of Tony's passed this Ayurvedic Roast herbal coffee along to me because she found the taste too savory. I like it, and I think it does promote a chill, zen feeling.

Olivia and I made another batch of classic Glo Bars from the Oh She Glows cookbook, for weekday breakfasts. This time we subbed pecans for the hemp seeds.

For dinner I made the Seitan Saltado from Viva Vegan. Using frozen Alexia sweet potato fries saved me a little time.

Just chillin' in brother's shirt, what what?

She is super silly. 

Cooking Twice in One Day

Today Olivia, looking fierce in her boots and new romper, was my shopping buddy after we dropped Jackson off at school.

We just had to pick up a few staples, and also re-stock our incense drawer. We had run completely out. Noooo!  We got our usual Nag Champa and Triloka, and I also tried some "Tara Healing Incense" that is supposed to relieve stress and anxiety. But I actually got stressed out trying to light them because they were so crumbly! Ha! Won't be buying that brand again.

I tend towards snacky lunches during the week, but Tony said he wanted to come home for lunch and eat something healthy, so I made chimichurri tofu from Viva Vegan!, served over roasted butternut squash.

Then for dinner, I made the bahn mi sandwiches with savory dipping sauce from Veganomicon. I don't usually cook two actual meals in one day but it was worth it for these sandwiches. Love them so much.

To drink, I made a pitcher of Arnold Palmers - half lemonade, half tea, but in this case I used green mint tea. I am obsessed with mint tea lately! So refreshing.

Mole Enchiladas

Yesterday was a quiet day around the house. Too cold to play outside, and the kids are fighting seasonal allergies. We made a pile of pillows and blankets and cuddled up to watch a good movie (Brave.)

For dinner I made mole enchiladas, using the mole recipe from Viva Vegan. I bought Ibarra Mexican chocolate to crumble into the sauce. I'm excited to use the leftover chocolate disks to make Mexican hot cocoa.

A bed of crispy lettuce provided a nice contrast to the melt-in-your-mouth cheese enchiladas.

Cuddle buddies.

A Girl and Her Dire Wolf

It is August in Texas, which means I will be hibernating for the next six weeks or so, while the worst heat of the year bakes the land.  Indoor activities are a must. Today we visited the Texas Natural Science center. 

The coolest discovery for me was learning that direwolves actually existed. Oh man...does that mean white walkers are also real?

If you ever had any doubts about evolution, I think this picture will convince you.

Dinner was the amazing Tofu Chimichurri from Viva Vegan.  It had been too long since I made this delicious chimichurri sauce. I served the tofu over rice and steamed spinach, with lots of extra sauce spooned on top.

Chimichurri Baked Tofu

When I'm buying fruit, bananas and apples are the staples, since they are Jackson and Olivia's favorites. But I also buy whatever fruits are on sale each week, for variety.  This week it was cherries.  This morning I made oats with cherries, chia seeds, cacao nibs, and a dollop of coconut butter. So good.  The kids ate the rest of the cherries within a few hours of me returning from the supermarket. Guess I'll have to pick up some more!

We had an amazing dinner -- Chimichurri Baked Tofu from Viva Vegan, served with brown rice and sauteed chard. That chimichurri sauce is some good stuff.

Chimichurri is a sauce of Argentinian origin, traditionally used for basting grilled meats. It's made from parsley, red wine vinegar, garlic, crushed red pepper, smoked paprika, and other good stuff. It's just bursting with flavor and it really soaks into the tofu, greens, and rice. I've had the recipe bookmarked for as long as I've owned Viva Vegan, and I'm so glad I finally got around to trying it. Now I want to eat chimichurri on everything!

One of my goals for 2012 was to start doing "school" every day with the kids for at least 15 minutes. We sit at the table and look at flashcards or play educational games. Today I showed Jackson how to play Chutes and Ladders, while Olivia worked on a puzzle. I remembered playing this board game with my dad when I was little. What I didn't remember is that one game can go on forever! We kept landing on the "chutes" and having to start over at the bottom, haha. Oh well...at least we practiced a lot of counting!