2013 Remnants

New Year's Eve was lazy and indulgent. We were in our pajamas early, and we watched Downton Abbey (almost caught up!) and The World's End (my favorite movie of 2013) and ate junk food until the ball dropped. Then I promptly went to bed!

I made arancini, risotto balls filled with gooey fontina cheese, rolled in panko and deep-fried. Dangerously good.

We dipped them in Costco-brand marinara sauce. Love that stuff.

I also sampled some Trader Joe's treats given to me by a friend. Dark chocolate caramel with black sea salt...this was one messy and decadent chocolate bar. Even better was the Sipping Chocolate. This chocolate drink is thick, almost syrupy, and not very sweet. Instead of sugar, you get true chocolate flavor. It's a great bedtime treat...I can practically feel all the tryptophan entering my system and making me sleepy.

We kicked off 2014 with lunch at Chuy's. 

Guacamole soft tacos, simple and perfect.

After the usual holiday excess, I'm trying to eat right in January. Oats for breakfast most mornings, topped with bee pollen, chia powder, maca powder, you name it.  Sometimes I'll also throw in hemp seeds or chopped Brazil nuts. Maca powder is a new experiment for me. It's an adaptogen, meaning your body uses it as needed to fight stress (not just emotional stress, but anything that's taking a toll on the cells.)  I feel like it definitely gives me added energy.

Goddess Noodles with Tofu and Broccoli, Isa Does It. The recipe actually calls for tempeh, but I subbed tofu for no reason. The more broccoli I get in me, the happier I am, so I give this dish a big thumbs-up.

Jackfruit BBQ, made with the Barbecue Saucy from Get It Ripe Around Here, topped with cole slaw and pickles, served on onion rolls. I whizzed the jackfruit in the food processor first, so there wouldn't be any big, tough chunks. Then I simmered it in the sauce for about 20 minutes and it was good to go! I love how light jackfruit is. It's great to chow down on a big, tasty BBQ sandwich and not feel totally stuffed afterwards.

Christmas and Kome

We heard that Oklahoma was due for some bad weather around Christmas. But, as we rolled into town late on the 23rd, the roads were fine. The next morning, however, we awoke in a winter wonderland.

The trees were covered in ice, and icicles hung from every surface. Jackson and Olivia didn't know what to make of it. We don't get this kind of weather in Texas, and they're too little to really remember New York. Their first course of action was to break off icicles and eat them like popsicles.

Most of Christmas Eve was spent hanging out in the kitchen, cooking and chatting.  I made a broccoli casserole, but I didn't snap any food pics.

Christmas morning, the kids gave us the gift of sleep, not waking up until 8:45. Thank you, sweet children!

Well-rested, they tore into their presents.

They are both majorly into games, and their favorite gift this year seems to be Jenga. Olivia is the Jenga master of the family.

It was a short stay, since we had just done a longer visit at Thanksgiving. On our way home, we stopped in Norman and walked around on the OU campus for a bit. I showed the kids the library, where I worked for several years.

Future scholars right here.

Back in Austin, Tony was still off work for another week, which was awesome. New heights of laziness were reached. And my parents offered their babysitting services one evening so we could go see Anchorman 2 and have a quiet dinner at Kome, a Japanese restaurant in the style of an izakaya, or pub. They serve sushi, but also various little finger foods. Think Japanese tapas. I started with an Asahi, and Tony had hot sake.

I'd only tried sake once before in my life, and I didn't care for it. But I gave it another shot, and was pleasantly surprised. The sake didn't really have a flavor other than alcohol, but it smelled like butterscotch!

We began with tsukemono, a variety of pickled veggies. So salty! You wouldn't want to eat a bowl of them on their own, but they were good combined with the other foods.

Next I had a soba noodle salad with wakame, edamame, carrot, sunflower seed, spinach, radish, and tomato. Light and refreshing.

Kome has the best selection of veggie sushi I've found in Austin. I had one roll with inari (bean curd, like a piece of really chewy tofu), cucumber and avocado. My other roll had pickled burdock root and plum paste.

I wished I had a bigger stomach so I could sample more sushi rolls! Oh well, I'll just have to go back.

Helpers

Today we went to one of Jackson's favorite parks. The playground is cool, but the giant live oak tree is what makes it his favorite. It's so good for climbing. He shimmies right up like a little monkey.

Olivia, being younger, needs a little help.

For dinner, I made cashew cheese and spinach enchiladas, topped with Hatch red enchilada sauce and black olives. I bought a ton of different Hatch sauces after our trip to New Mexico and I'm still using them.

I also made some roasted chickpeas at Tony's request. His coworker had been snacking on a pouch of them. I'm a little bit amazed you can buy roasted chickpeas at the store. They're the easiest thing to make.

Jackson is really into helping wash dishes. He is so proud when he washes them all.

Giving a little help, getting a little help...both good things.

Product Placement

I thought I'd share some goodies I've picked up at the store recently. I wasn't asked to review them or provided any compensation -- they just looked interesting! Some are new; some are just new to me.

Clif Bar has put out their seasonal bars in Gingerbread, Pumpkin Pie, and Pecan Pie flavors. I tried Gingerbread and Pumpkin Pie last year, but Pecan Pie was new to me, so I had to grab a couple. The secret to making Clif Bars delicious is to microwave them for about 15 seconds. Then you have warm, melt-in-your-mouth pecan goodness, my friends.

Alexia onion rings. I've made no secret of my love of Alexia sweet potato fries, so I thought I would branch out. These bake up just right, not too greasy and not too stringy.

Rejuvenative Foods Spicy Kim-Chi. I had never tried the fermented Korean condiment known as kim-chi. It was time!

I was inspired by the Korean BBQ Portabello Burgers from Isa Does It., yet I forgot to buy portabellos. So I settled for frozen veggie burgers. The kim chi made them into something special. I'm all about fermented foods these days, it seems. Fortunately I don't really suffer from digestive problems, but I still believe that when I drink kombucha or eat this kim-chi, something good is going on in my guts, and I feel a bit more energized.

Speaking of kombucha, I spotted GT's lavender-flavored raw kombucha and had to try it. As I discovered at the Steeping Room, lavender in foods and drinks is amazing! I'm partial to ginger kombucha, but this is definitely my second favorite flavor now.

Yogi Tea's Soothing Caramel Bedtime Tea. The caramel flavor isn't that strong, but I don't want anything super sweet at night, anyway. And for relaxation purposes, I prefer this to chamomile tea, whose earthy flavor I just can't bring myself to love.

Kettle Maple Bacon potato chips. That's right, vegan bacon-flavored chips. I couldn't handle the greasy coating these left in my mouth. I fanatically love their Spicy Thai chips, so I don't know...maybe this flavor is made extra-greasy so you get a more realistic bacon-consuming experience.

Chocolove's Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate bar. Dark chocolate is good for you...cherries are good for you...almonds are good for you. So I'm doing my body a huge favor by always having one of these bars on hand, right? 

Coconut Bliss bars. Jackson and Olivia picked these out, but they didn't know what to make of the straight-up coconut flavor. As with the bacon chips, I'm not a fan of the fatty mouthfeel of these bars. Want something lighter.

Still getting through my holiday pics...My sweet friend Sonja hosted a gingerbread house decorating party before Christmas. She had all the fixins set out in little bowls, and Jackson and Olivia went to town, adorning their graham cracker constructions with red licorice, gumdrops, and M&Ms. 

The next morning, Olivia woke up asking if she could eat her gingerbread house for breakfast. I think she was dreaming about it!

Thinkery

Hi! Long time no see! Happy 2014!

So this isn't a New Year's Eve or 2013 recap post...because I still haven't gotten around to that! I'm not much of a procrastinator in real life, I swear. I save it all up for this blog.

Today we made the first of many visits to the brand-new children's museum, re-christened as the Thinkery. It's pretty awesome, even for a non-child like myself. Bright and spacious and new.

When a row of stone pigs greets you outside the entrance, you know it's going to be a good museum. 

When you first go in, you can take a self-portrait that will be added to a revolving photo wall.

Gears and pulleys immediately grabbed the kids' attention.

Physics at work...cranking a pulley that lifts a bowling ball fourteen feet in the air, then drops it, which in turn launches a model airplane. You'd think little biceps would tire quickly, but this kept Jackson and Olivia entertained for an hour.

There's an outdoor playscape, which we didn't spend too much time on thanks to the cold weather, but it looks like great fun for little climber monkeys.

The light room was another area we barely touched on. Honestly we didn't even see half the museum's offerings on this trip, and we spent four hours there.

The kids' favorite activity was painting. Probably because it was also the messiest.

Actually, painting, then spraying their creations with water and squeegeeing the glass clean.

Olivia, you've got blue on you.

My favorite area was the little play kitchen. When you opened the drawers, they smelled like oregano, cinnamon, cumin, and chocolate.

Grilling steaks..."Don't worry, Mom, they're veggie," Jackson assured me.

Drumming with steaks. Why not?

Can't wait to return...and since we bought memberships, I have a feeling we'll practically be living there. 

Dinner was the Festive Chickpea Tart from Let Them Eat Vegan. Because the recipe calls for a store-bought pie crust, it's super easy to chuck together. The payoff -- looks super fancy, tastes like Christmas dinner in savory pie form!

Hope you are having a lovely 2014.