Bun Buns

Today we went to a storytime at Book People that featured some special guests.

Tiny Tails to You is a local "traveling petting zoo" that visits birthday parties, schools, and storytimes.  Their staff educates about the various animals while letting the kids get some hands-on time.

Jackson and Olivia discussed the relative cuteness of their bunnies, and proudly pointed out how gentle they were being.

Bunny love!

Afterwards, we swung by Central Market for lunch with my friend Jacqueline. While our kids played on the playscape, I had tomato-red bell pepper soup with a ciabatta roll. This soup was spicy! Someone had a heavy hand with the black pepper today.

Later in the afternoon, my parents came over and were good sports about getting relentlessly beaten at Candyland.

Once Tony arrived home from work, we headed out to ZuZu for an easy dinner. I'd never been, but Tony goes there for lunch occasionally, and assured me I would like it. He was not wrong. We sampled a few different kinds of salsa from the fixins bar. I love restaurants with fixins bars, by the way. I make multiple trips.

I had spinach-mushroom quesadillas with sides of roasted potatoes and grilled veggies, a cheap and plentiful dinner. My quesadilla was stuffed to bursting with greens, and overall their food seems pretty healthy compared to your standard Tex-Mex fare.

Bonus pic: Pug Olivia.

Ballerina

Olivia has been taking dance classes for a few months now, but since the dress code is casual, I have always just sent her in leggings and a t-shirt. But the other little girls in her class have been showing up in tutus, the frillier the better. Not wanting her to feel left out, I surprised her with her own dance outfit, and she couldn't have been happier.

Here, she is attempting to pull her hair into the "Princess Elsa side braid" from Frozen.

Smushy face!

Tony was able to meet us for lunch at Thai Cuisine. While waiting for our entrees, we hit up the free soup/salad/appetizer bar for potato-tofu soup, spring rolls, and egg rolls.

I was also craving a Thai iced tea.

I had the Thai Ginger, with tofu, carrots, bell peppers, onions, and plenty of shaved ginger.

We love the crazy-looking desserts, which are also free as part of their lunch special. Today's dessert had pink tapioca balls and sweet corn in coconut milk.

El Sol

Today we used a Groupon for lunch at El Sol ya La Luna. We ate there a few times, years ago, when they were in their South Congress location. We had not been back since they moved to 6th Street because we are hardly ever on 6th. But, with the enticement that only Groupon can provide, we made the trek downtown.

It's a cute restaurant, with interesting murals and paintings adorning the walls. 

I had the tofu veggie tacos on whole wheat tortillas. I don't know of any other Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin that does tofu tacos, so it's pretty neat. The tacos were served with an intriguing dark sauce. It tasted like it contained molasses and hoisin sauce, maybe? Anyway, we all enjoyed our lunch, and I really should take the time to say so on Yelp, because they have such bad reviews! I don't know why...maybe their service genuinely sucks in the evenings. But our lunchtime waitress couldn't have been sweeter and our meals arrived quickly.

Later, Olivia helped me make cinnamon rolls.

I hadn't had cinnamon rolls in literally years. Why would I be so cruel to myself? I made the Savory Cinnamon Rolls from The Garden of Vegan. As you can see from the frosting slathered all over them, these guys are not savory, but sweet. Maybe savory means something different in Canada.

Goofs

There is a lot to do in Austin, but we're not out and about every day. What goes on when we spend the day at home? Lots of goofing around.

And also recipe testing, for Kristy's cookbook. BLT wraps with homemade tempeh bacon...

...and the most luscious chocolate truffles.

But mostly, goofing.

Wafflewiches

Last night I wanted something fancy for dinner. You know, something that involves a little more work than standard weeknight fare, but you don't mind, because it's a treat. And so, Fried Tofu Chicken Wafflewiches with Maple-Dijon Sauce (from Cookin' Crunk) came to be.

Glorious! If you wanted to, you could just prepare the fried tofu 'n' waffles, slather in in maple syrup, and call it dinner. I guess that's the way most restaurants serve it (well, you know, except with gross chicken in place of the delightful breaded tofu). But I like Bianca's unique spin, turning it into an actual, savory sandwich. She even manages to squeeze in a couple of veggies!

The leftover fried tofu makes a fab salad topper for the next day's lunch. In this case, romaine and spinach with kalamata olives, hempseeds, and cashew tamari dressing.

I picked up a metal easel for my young artists. 

Painting while mama cooks.

Cameron Park Zoo

This past weekend we drove up to Waco for the day. After touring the Dr. Pepper Museum, we spent the afternoon at the Cameron Park Zoo.

It's impressive. We saw Mr. Bear, with his many vulture friends.

The aquatic tanks were a big draw for Jackson and Olivia. This time I opted to skip photographing the moray eel, to prevent future nightmares.

Interactive exhibits are always the most fun for little visitors.

Gentle buffalo.

Creepy yet awesome owls.

Capybara, I don't know how to describe you, other than calling you a freakishly oversized guinea pig, but I love you!

The komodo dragon, with its poor dental hygiene. (I learned from a nature show that their mouths are cesspools of bacteria, and that is why their bite is so deadly.)

After all that fun, I got up and made brunch the next morning. The Mediterranean tofu scramble was a tester for Kristy.

I served it with Isa Does It's amazing fluffy pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and maple syrup, and home fries with Follow Your Heart horseradish sauce.

And then we brushed our teeth really well, because we're not komodo dragons

.

Lil Peppers

One day I was looking for fun day trips and I came across a Groupon for admission to the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco. Now, Tony loves his Dr. Pepper. So we decided to check it out.

It's in a cool old building in downtown Waco, right by the zoo.

Inside, you can look at the old bottling machines and learn about the history of Dr. Pepper.

Like, for example, its winning business model based on discrimination against us southpaws.

Or this proud fact. USA! USA! USA!

OK, maybe I think it is a tiny bit silly to dedicate a museum to a soft drink. But some of the random stuff on display made me giggle.

The kids were entertained by games, and excited to receive a small sample of the carbonated goodness when we finished our tour.

Afterwards, we hit nearby Ninfa's for lunch. Chips, salsa, and avocado dip were complimentary.

I had the veggie fajitas, which could've easily been shared by two people. Underneath that rainbow of grilled veggie sticks lay a giant mound of darkly caramelized onions.

After filling our bellies, we concluded our day in Waco with a visit to the zoo, which I'll post tomorrow!