Snow Day

Spring seems to be taking its sweet time arriving in Austin this year. Hopefully that means summer won't be hot as blazes. Sunny days have arrived for now, but just a couple of weeks ago Jackson had a snow day. Actually it was an ice day, or more precisely, a "fear of possible ice" day. We'll take it.

Popcorn, pillows, and Big Hero 6.

Soup for dinner - the best thing to warm you up. Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato and Kale Soup from Oh She Glows. Oh, this was good!

I also tried my hand at baking some pretzel rolls. I am not very good at baking yeast breads. These came out less roll-shaped than I would've liked. I am not sure how to keep them from spreading. I will try again though.

Mucho Tex-Mex

After some initial qualms about returning to veganism, in particularly the difficulty of doing so when surrounded by a Tex-Mex loving, omnivorous family, I'm happy to report it's going really well. Much easier than I thought. And that includes Tex-Mex. Because we do eat a lot of it.

If frozen margaritas weren't vegan, I would be so screwed though.

At Polvo's, the Michoacan salad, loaded with huge chunks of ripe avocado.

Chipotle sofritas bowl, and a good book.

A birthday lunch at Chuy's for Olivia, who turned 5.

Guacamole soft tacos. The rice is also vegan. The refritos I'm not sure about, because I don't eat them anyway.

Cheers to vegan Tex-Mex!

Sway

Tony and I had a "date lunch" over the weekend while the kids visited my parents. 

We ate at Sway, a fancy Thai restaurant. When I say fancy, check out the restaurant interior by clicking that link. The design is beautiful. Not kitschy like some Thai places. We had the option of communal seating or window bar. We sat at the bar, with a view of the dreary, rainy sky and one of the moon towers.

I started with the po-pea jay, a vegetable spring roll with tomato chutney. I admired the slab-of-rock presentation. The roll was good, a little dry.

Sway brings out dishes as they are ready so I got my side of baby bok choy with toasted garlic, before my entree. I love bok choy and it was sauteed to perfection.

I ordered the green curry with tofu, eggplant, fingerling potato, peas, Thai basil, hot peppers, and more of that toasted garlic that seemed to garnish every dish. The server warned me this was one of the spiciest dishes and I thought, "Bring it on!" Well, it was a challenge! The curry was delicious, but you know how a curry's heat intensifies when it sits overnight? I was actually afraid to bring home leftovers because I wouldn't be able to eat it if it got any hotter! Luckily I was able to eat it all at the restaurant, haha.

Kosmic Kombucha is a local company and they make a special kombucha just for Sway, with Thai flavors like coconut water, ginger, and lemongrass. It was the perfect drink to wash everything down!

Truly out-of-the-ordinary flavors and experience, we'll be back for sure.

Around the World

Olivia saying good morning to Mr. Frog at the library.

Jackson explaining the spaceship he built out of packing styrofoam.

Beer from New Mexico.

Chinese food courtesy of 30-Minute Vegan's Taste of the East. Chow mein noodles, and daikon carrot salad. This was my first time trying daikon. I like it. Crisp and refreshing.

That's all folks.

Playground Fun

Today we visited a newly renovated playground up in Georgetown where my folks live.

It has kind of an "old timey Western town" theme.

As well as the usual playground gear to climb on, swing from, and crawl through.

We also stopped in to visit my parents. Olivia enjoys coloring with my mom.

Dinner was the Monkey Minestrone from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. The best minestrone, I think.

Broccoli Flowers

One of the many things I love about Jackson's school is the fact that the kids maintain a garden and sell the vegetables at a weekly after-school farmer's market. Sometimes parents bring in items from their home gardens as well, so there is always something interesting to sample. This week it was broccoli flowers.

I did not know broccoli plants produced flowers, and I certainly didn't know said flowers were edible. They have a very clean, green flavor, not really like broccoli. More like asparagus maybe? The yellow flowers would be pretty atop a salad. My kids, however, ate them right off the stem.

For dinner I made our favorite pasta salad, the Garden Rotini and Chickpea Salad with Goddess Dressing from Vegan on the Cheap. I always make it when we attend a potluck, but Tony said I should make it at home too, so he can eat more of it. Ha! I also made a batch of kale chips in the oven. I sold my dehydrator while ago because I think they turn out just fine in the oven.

My Little Pony steel cage match. Two ponies enter, one pony leaves!

Lost Tooth

The other night I went out to dinner with some girlfriends at Carrabba's. There aren't a lot of vegan options on the menu at this chain restaurant, but I was there for the laughs and conversation, more than the food. I had a garden salad and spaghetti pomodoro.

While I was out, Tony texted me to let me know that Jackson's first tooth had come out!

It had been wiggly for a week or so, and it slipped right out after he brushed his teeth. He was pretty excited about it. The next morning, he took it to school in a baggie to show his friends. Haha! Then he left it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. 

It was quite a "My kids are getting so big!" moment for me. I remember baby Jackson getting his first teeth, not that long ago it seems! And now he is starting to lose them. A pretty emotional mama moment. As for Jackson, he is just happy that he can whistle now.