Pancakes to Beat the Heat

I don't know about you, but as the temps increase, my appetite seems to be decreasing, as well as my inclination to turn on the stove. The kids have been picking at their food, too. They have more important things to do.

Today, this was lunch.

Between Jackson, Olivia and me, a can of chickpeas doesn't stand a chance. I'm really into smoked paprika lately. Like the name implies, it gives a smoky flavor to whatever you put it on.

When dinnertime rolled around, I found myself avoiding the kitchen. So I acted as the devil on Tony's shoulder and emailed him at work, saying we should go out to eat. I guess I'm a convincing devil.

We went to Kerbey Lane, a cozy, hippie diner that offers a bunch of local and vegetarian/vegan options. I had the vegan breakfast platter -- blueberry pancakes, tofu scramble, and sausage patties. The sausage was a little overcooked, but not too bad. The scramble was really noochy and covered in chunks of tomato and scallions. I was surprised by the blueberry pancakes, which had a noticeable coconut scent. I'm guessing they were made with coconut oil. I don't mind a little coconut with my blueberries, no sir.

 In upstate New York, there are diners as far as the eye can see, and not a tofu scramble to be found at any of 'em. As I cleaned my plate, I thanked my lucky stars yet again that I am back in Austin. 

Have a fun weekend!

Twilight (but not the lame teenage vampire kind)

Hey guys. I'm not sure how coherent my post will be today. I was up until 1:30, and then woke up at 5:30 with Olivia. And yet, I am somehow still functioning. In fact, I am in a great mood! Last night I saw my favorite band, the Twilight Singers.

With two little ones, I don't get out to a lot of shows anymore. But there was no way I was going to pass up this one. They did not disappoint. It was eight years ago that I last saw them play, and if anything, they have only gotten better with age! I've gone to countless indie rock shows where the band acts like prima donnas and the crowd just stands around with their arms crossed, and it's more of a seen-and-be-seen type of thing rather than actually being present to hear the music. Twilight Singers shows are not like that! They rock. Last night they had tons of energy, sounded great, you could tell they were happy to be playing, and the audience was totally into it. I was singing along with every song, I didn't want it to end.

Today -- after a late night on the town, and precious little sleep -- I needed a super healthy lunch to refuel and get my brain cells functioning again. I had just the recipe in mind.

A couple weeks ago, I was the lucky winner of Midwest Vegan's giveaway of Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook. I've enjoyed looking through it and bookmarking some recipes. A lot of them are on the fancy side, requiring complex preparation. I will get to some of those later, but today I made probably the simplest recipe in the whole book, the Mediterranean Chickpea Wraps.

In my zombie-like state, I was too impatient to thaw my tortillas before separating them, and they tore. So I will just show you a picture of what the filling looked like before I rolled it up in my sad, mangled tortilla.

Chickpeas and sun-dried tomatoes are a flavor combination I'm loving right now. I left out the cayenne pepper since I was serving it to Jackson and Olivia. I also omitted the banana pepper because I didn't have one. This recipe is versatile; you could sub whatever veggies you need to use up.

 

In other news, my wee garden is slowly progressing. The cherry tomatoes are going to turn red any day now, I just know it.

And the cherry peppers will do the same...

Behold, future pesto!

Hope your week is rolling along smoothly. Here is Miss Olivia giving me the stink-eye because she thinks I want her graham cracker. She cracks me up with her serious looks.

Darlin Don't You Go and Cut Your Hair

We invited a few friends over and cooked out last night. Tony grilled some veggie burgers and corn, and I made a couple of yummy contributions -- the PPK's Creamy Avocado Potato Salad and a rhubarb crisp.

The instructions say not to let the potato salad sit for more than a couple of hours. I would add, don't let it sit at all, if you can help it! I did, and the tomatoes released their juice, and the whole thing got a little soggy. Fortunately, it still tasted delicious -- like guacamole studded with chunks of potato. If you love avocados as much as I do, don't let anything stop you from trying this recipe!

I want to make some modifications to my rhubarb crisp before posting a recipe. The crust was lacking something -- I will add oats next time to make it more substantial.  I love rhubarb so much. Baked in a crisp, it tastes like a mix between a very tart apple and a strawberry. I toss it with lime zest, which enhances the tartness.

This morning, I went to Target and looked for some clothes, but I couldn't find anything I liked. Driving home, I decided that if I wasn't going to have a new outfit, I would have new hair instead.

 

I was going for a Scarlett Johansson-type jagged bob.  One of these days, I might get around to having it cleaned up by a hair stylist. I would like it shorter in the back.  Or I might just leave it as is. I've never been a spend-hours-in-the-hair salon, mani-pedi type of girl at all. There was only one period in my life that I regularly got my hair cut at a salon, and then they closed down and I didn't try to find another one. I would rather chop it myself when the inspiration strikes. If it doesn't turn out perfect, I guess that's OK because I always seem to wear it up anyway!

How do you take care of your hair? Do you go to a stylist, cut it yourself, or just let it groooow?

Is everyone else having the same problem with Blogger that I've been having for the past few days? It won't let me sign in to post comments or reply to comments. Today I figured out a way around it -- post anonymous comments and identify myself in the comment box itself -- but it's still kinda annoying. I hope they get it figured out soon. P.S. I just realized that if you are having this problem, you won't be able to tell me because you can't comment! Ha.

 Right now I am headed out to enjoy a walk with my little ones. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Splash!

For last night's dinner, I tried to approximate a non-vegan dish that's served at a local diner. They call it Love Veggies and it is indeed very lovable. I melted some vegan butter together with minced garlic and serrano pepper, then I sauteed some veggies in it. I used broccoli, green pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, mushroom, and spinach. I served the veggies over basmati rice.

I was in the mood for some hippie food -- simple veggies and rice. This dinner suited my cravings perfectly. I made a lot! Next time I will omit the mushrooms, green pepper and onion. Then I will be left with only my favorite veggies, and we won't have so much left over.

This morning I took the kids to a splash pad. It was kind of an adventure. We arrived at the splash pad and saw a bunch of kids playing merrily under the water fountains. I took my time putting sunscreen on Jackson and Olivia. Just as I was finishing up, the splash pad stopped working. I waited,  watching all the water drain away, thinking it was just recharging or something. But it didn't come back on. One of the other parents called the parks service and found out that it was going to be closed for the next 48 hours for repairs. Oh no! By now, my kids were hot and sticky (and Jackson was covered in sand, having decided to roll around on the adjacent volleyball court) and I did not want to turn around and drive home.  Luckily, one of the other moms told me about another splash pad not too far away. So we headed over there.

Jackson was soooo excited. Olivia is the Pisces, but Jackson is definitely my water baby.

Olivia had fun, too. She does fine with water -- as long as Mama is holding her! That meant that I had to get wet, too, but since it was a million degrees out, I wasn't complaining.

Now we are just waiting around for Tony to get off work, and then the 3-day weekend will begin! Do you have any fun plans? We are cooking out tomorrow, not sure what else. Hope you have a fun and safe Memorial Day!

Baby Animals, Yay!

Hey guys, how is your day going? Today I took Jackson and Olivia to see some baby animals at the book store. First the "zookeeper" read the kids some stories about animals. Then we were led to an enclosed area containing several large, covered baskets. One by one, she took the lids off and revealed the animals. There were bunnies, ducklings, turtles, a lizard, a hedgehog, and two chinchillas -- "the softest animal in the word!" the zookeeper kept saying. It's true. Once you pet a chinchilla you do not want to stop.

Olivia was totally into it, petting whatever animals she could get her little hands on. The chinchilla was her favorite. Its long whiskers tickled her and made her laugh.

Jackson was not so sure. He thought the animals were "pretty" but "I no wanna touch them." After watching several braver kids take their turn, he did get into the little enclosed area to inspect the animals more closely. He still wanted nothing to do with the bunnies and chinchillas, but he held one of the ducklings.

Afterwards, we went for lunch at Bouldin Creek, a coffee house that has lots of vegan options. I had the veggie burger with chipotle-pecan pesto. It has a sweet, smoky flavor, and it's served on a nice crusty ciabatta roll, just the way I like it.

I am having fun playing with my new camera. I like it so far. It's small and cute, and the view screen is gigantic compared to my old one. I need to order a case so it doesn't get banged up or scratched.  Something I never had to worry about with my last camera -- it was a hulk! Once I get the case, I will feel better about carrying it around everywhere with me. I've missed taking pictures the last few days, but I'll make up for that soon enough!

Weekend Fun

So I'm going to attempt to do a post even though my camera is deceased and my replacement hasn't arrived yet. Because I had such a great weekend and I feel the need to document it. If you came wanting food pics, I apologize, please check back in a few days!

Friday night we got some awesome thunderstorms. I had to run outside and move my plants to shelter because all of a sudden it was pouring. I love a good storm, and we definitely need the rain.

On Saturday, I hung my new bedroom curtains. I love the print so much.

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Then we ran some errands, and stopped for lunch at Hyde Park Bar and Grill.  I had a big salad with ginger tamari dressing and a bowl of lentil soup. Tony was telling me that he eats lentil soup almost every day for lunch at his work cafeteria (aww, look at him eating vegan when I'm not there) and it sounded good. Olivia happily helped me finish it. I guess it's a favorite of the whole family. Here is my recipe for the lentil soup I make at home.

Saturday night, Tony and I left Jackson and Olivia in the babysitter's capable hands and went out on a date. First we went to a neighborhood bar and had some beers. It was nice to be able to enjoy each other's company without having to entertain the kids. Then we walked over and saw Bridesmaids, which was the funniest movie I've seen in years. It's not a chick movie, either. Tony thought it was hilarious. What's the best movie you've seen lately?

We saw it at a theater that serves beer and food. Great idea, right? But I had already snacked on guacamole and chips at home, and Tony ate a big lunch, so we were not that hungry. We had some red pepper hummus and pita. I can always work up an appetite for hummus.

The kids did great with the babysitter, so we plan to make these date nights a regular event from now on. Yay!

Sunday, I made sure to have some girl time with my sweetie Olivia. Just like last weekend. First we went to a very cool craft fair. There were some extremely talented artists and crafters showing their work. I could have spent a lot of money. But I managed to restrain myself. I did buy a couple of prints.

image source

Doesn't he look stylish? There were dozens of different sharp-dressed animals. It was hard to choose only one to take home. But of course I had to go with my beloved sloth.

I guess I felt inspired by all the DIY handmade goodness at the craft fair, because our next stop was Joann, where I bought some fabric to make curtains for the front entry and the master bathroom. It is not much harder to make curtains than it is to hem store-bought curtains, even if you don't have a sewing machine (which I don't) so hopefully I will be able to get 'em done this week. 

When we got home, Tony and Jackson were working in the yard. I've never seen someone who loves yard work as much as Tony. When he bought his new weed trimmer, he was practically giddy. It's pretty cute. As they finished up, Olivia and I made Pad Thai from Vegan with a Vengeance. I love this recipe, it comes together in no time and it's full of my favorite flavors -- lime, sriracha, ginger, peanut, cilantro. I think 2011 is going to be the Summer of Cilantro. I seem to sprinkle it on everything lately. Hmm, I wonder how a cilantro mojito would taste??

Here's a photo from another time I made Pad Thai. This time, I used fatter rice noodles. With the thin (3mm) rice noodles below, you can just soak them in hot water to soften them. If using fat noodles (10mm), you'll want to actually boil the water first before pouring it over the noodles. Hot tap water won't do it. This is what I learned today.

Let me know how your weekend was, if you feel like sharing. Hope you have a good week!

Mmm Sauce and Weekend Plans

Last night I roasted some veggies, chickpeas and tofu at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. I marinated the tofu first in a simple soy sauce/olive oil/garlic powder marinade.

Then the finishing touch...Mama Pea's Mmm Sauce.

Wow, this sauce good. It's like a creamy curry sauce. When you have to stop and remind yourself that food processor blades are sharp and you shouldn't lick them clean, you know it's good stuff.

Again sorry for the wonky pics. I'm hoping my new camera arrives soon. The memory card arrived yesterday but the camera was shipped separately. I hope it comes today because I would like to take pictures this weekend. I have some neat things planned.

On Saturday, Tony and I are going on a date. Amazing. It's been about a year since we went on a real, actual date, at night. We're going to see Bridesmaids at a movie theater that serves food and beer. Have you seen Bridesmaids? I keep hearing how funny it is, and it seems like my kind of humor.  I hope the theater has some good vegan options. Although, as I've said before, I'm not a strict vegan when dining out or at other people's homes (my own cooking is 100% vegan.) That doesn't mean I will go to a restaurant and order cheese enchiladas covered in queso (gross) but I don't ask about every ingredient, either. Some do, and that's cool!  

On Sunday, Olivia and I are having girl time. We are going to check out a craft fair. I love our new weekend tradition of spending one-on-one time with my little lady.

What fun things are you doing this weekend? Have a good one!