What I Ate

I've never been one to post everything I eat in a day. While I find that type of food diary interesting, I always feel like my personal diet is too boring to merit chronicling.

But just for today, what the heck.

Breakfast was frosted mini-wheats with flaxmilk.

I just recently started branching out from soymilk, and learned that I love the creaminess of almond milk. This made me think I should see what other milks are out there, so I picked up this flaxmilk at Whole Foods.

Flaxmilk is the opposite of almond milk -- not creamy in the slightest. It's grayish and watery. So I didn't like it on my cereal. But I've also used it to make smoothies and banana soft serve ice cream, and it's just fine in those capacities.

For lunch, I made Nigella Lawson's Pea and Pesto Soup, one of my very favorite soups, a favorite of my kids as well, and such a snap to make.

For dinner, I made a four-ingredient pasta dish.  My recipe is barely even worthy of being called a recipe, but we all enjoyed it, so I'll share it with you.  How can you beat just four ingredients?

Creamy Rotini with Basil (serves 4)

1 lb. rotini pasta

1 jar chunky marinara sauce

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, room temperature (vegan cream cheese works great)

1 cup fresh basil, thinly chopped

1. Boil pasta 7 minutes in salted water until al dente.

2. While pasta cooks, pour marinara sauce into a saucepan and heat gently. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and stir in the cream cheese. Stir vigorously to combine.

3. When pasta is done, drain it and return it to the cooking pot. Pour in the creamy marinara and stir to coat. Add the chopped basil, reserving some to sprinkle on top of each serving. Serve.

Whew, recording all these meals has worn me out! Time to go relax on the couch. Olivia has the right idea.

Fizzy Fun

While Olivia napped this afternoon, I helped Jackson do a fun little science experiment that I saw on Pinterest.

You shake some baking soda onto a tray, and pour vinegar into a couple of little bowls. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl of vinegar. Show your little one how to dribble vinegar onto the baking soda with a spoon, creating fizzy little explosions.

Jackson thought it was pretty neat.  Yay, science!

I conducted a little science experiment of my own, as I attempted to clone a salad I had last week. Sean and Melissa, being the awesome house guests that they are, babysat the kids one night so Tony and I could go see Damsels in Distress at the Alamo Drafthouse. In the darkened theater, I was thankful no one could see how quickly I devoured my salad with walnuts, dried cherries, and goat cheese medallions.

The recreation was a success.

I also made flatbread topped with za'atar, a Middle Eastern spice blend that I picked up awhile ago, unsure of what I would use it for. My flatbread got really crispy, and I ended up breaking it into pieces to use as croutons in the salad.

It's been ages since I have posted a recipe! Hope you enjoy this one.

Salad with Goat Cheese Medallions, Walnut and Dried Cherries (serves 4)

Salad

1 bag spring mix salad

1 bag baby spinach

1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Medallions

8 oz. log goat cheese (sometimes called chevre)

1 egg + 2 Tbsp. water, whisked together in a small bowl

1/2 cup flour, in a small bowl

1 cup panko breadcrumbs, in a bowl

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. agave syrup

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Half an hour before making the salad, slice the log of coat cheese into 8-10 disks and lay the disks on a small cookie sheet or tray. Place the tray in the freezer for 30 minutes. This will firm up the cheese so it doesn't fall apart when you are breading it. 

2. Prepare your breading station, setting out the bowls of flour, egg mixture, and breadcrumbs. Dredge each goat cheese disk first in the flour, next in the egg mixture, and lastly in the breadcrumbs. Place each breaded disk back on the tray. When all the disks are breaded, place the tray in the refrigerator while you prepare the vinaigrette and salad.

3. For the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a small jar or other container with a lid. Place the lid on and shake until well combined.

4. For the salad, combine the spring mix, baby spinach, dried cherries, and walnuts in a large bowl.  Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss with tongs to combine.

5. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Saute the breaded goat cheese disks until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Keep a careful watch on them so they don't get too hot and melt. When they are finished to your liking, take the pan off the heat and set aside.

6. Divide the salad into four bowls and top each serving with 2-3 warm goat cheese medallions. Serve right away.

Zoo Friends

One day during Sean and Melissa's visit, we took Jackson and Olivia to the Austin Zoo. We visited last fall and it was definitely time to go see those cute animals again.

This picture is terrible because you can't get very close to their cage, but the marmosets are my favorite. So tiny!

The lemurs are pretty cool, too.

Jackson and Olivia couldn't take their eyes away from the tigers' feeding time. I didn't really want any pictures of the tigers gnawing on their hunks of raw meat, but it was exciting for the kids.

These two turtles hated each other. The little one kept hissing at the big one, who would retract his head into his shell and kind of flail his front legs. I think the little one was saying, "Get out of my personal space!"

Olivia enjoyed watching this drama play out.

There were giant tortoises, too. They look like they could be hundreds of years old.

I liked this mural on one of the storage buildings. Roar!!

Finally we came to the best part, the corrals where you can feed the goats. There weren't a ton of zoo visitors on this day, and the goats acted really hungry! They crowded against the fence and stuck their faces through, trying to get at the feed pellets. Not a single pellet was wasted!

As we were about to leave, we saw a peacock attempting to court a peahen by showing all his feathers. So pretty! Unfortunately for him, the peahen did not seem impressed. She nonchalantly groomed her feathers while he put on his display. Playing hard to get, maybe.

When we got home, I made some quick panini sandwiches with pesto, mozzarella, red pepper, and tomato.

We were all sad to see Sean and Melissa go...I hope they can come back soon!

Day Trip - San Antonio

We had some house guests this weekend. My brother Sean and his wife, Melissa, came to visit from Detroit. Molly Monkey also made a return trip to our home.

We welcomed Sean and Melissa with Tex-Mex at the always-reliable Maudie's. I had spinach mushroom enchiladas, served with rice and a side of zucchini.

I also had a very pink, very tasty frozen hibiscus margarita.

Melissa had never been to San Antonio, so we went down there for a few hours on Saturday. First we visited the Alamo.

All the wreaths and flowers were on the lawn (and there were many more inside) because it was Fiesta weekend.

Jackson and Olivia's favorite part was the fish pond.

There is not much to the Alamo itself. If it's your first time visiting, you will probably be surprised by how small it is. But the grounds are really pretty.

Next, we headed over to the Riverwalk.

You can take a boat tour...

But Jackson and Olivia were content to sit on the edge and take it all in.

Well, I should say, they were content to sit on the edge for a few minutes. Then they wanted to get in! We had to explain to them that it's only for looking, not for getting wet.

Other times I have visited the Riverwalk, it was super crowded.  But we were lucky this time -- no crowds. And it was a perfect, overcast day, not too hot.

We stopped to eat at a Tex-Mex place called Rita's on the River. There weren't many vegetarian items on the menu. I ordered the Texas River Fries, covered in melted cheese, pickled jalapenos, and pico de gallo. They were fine. Not bad, not great? It took an hour for our food to come out, even though the restaurant didn't seem busy, and I was so hungry I would've eaten almost anything at that point.  I was craving something junk-foody and these fries definitely fit the bill. But most of the cheese wasn't melted. I would have asked the waiter to stick it under the broiler again, but he kept disappearing for long periods.

 

If you have any suggestions for good places to eat in San Antonio (not necessarily on the Riverwalk) please let me know. I'll probably be back down there soon, and I want to eat well! I know I need to check out Green and Vegeria for sure!

After our meal, Tony and I herded our tired kids back to the car, leaving Sean and Melissa to explore on their own a bit longer. Jackson was tuckered out! Molly, on the other hand, seems to be a bit of an insomniac. 

Girly Girls

For lunch today I picked up a hummus tabouli wrap from Tom's Tabooley. Tom has a little sit-down restaurant by the UT campus and he also sells these wraps in health food stores all over town.

Delicious! Tom makes the best tabouli (OK, tabooley.)

Later, I attempted to make the Live Mango Gazpacho from The 30 Minute Vegan. It got off to a gorgeous start. All those bright colors, how could it be bad?

It wasn't bad! But it also wasn't soup. It was more like a salsa. A chunky, delicious salsa that walked the line between sweet and hot. We ate it with tortilla chips and called it dinner.

My lunchtime wrap got me thinking about hummus (it doesn't take much.) So I also made a bowl of chipotle lime hummus. Chipotle powder is one of my new favorite pantry staples.

Miss Olivia got her nails did for the first time today. My daughter is a tomboy who plays firetrucks with Jackson and tries her best to climb trees, but she also has her girly-girl moments. She is thrilled with her new manicure. I don't have a picture, but I painted mine to match. I guess I have my girly-girl moments, too. 

April Roundup

The month of April has flown by! We have been busy, busy, busy. Here are some meals I didn't get around to posting at the time.

From Vegan with a Vengeance, BBQ Pomegranate Tofu with Coconut Rice.

I didn't feel like the coconut rice added anything, since the subtle coconut flavor was drowned out by the bold flavors of the BBQ sauce. It was fine, but next time I would just use brown rice. The rice recipe makes a lot. I only needed half of it to eat with the BBQ tofu. We made rice pudding out of the leftovers.

The BBQ tofu, baking in its sauce. You might think it looks like there is too much sauce, since you can barely see the triangles of tofu in there. But this sauce is so fantastic, you will be glad there's a ton of it.

Pomegranate molasses was a new thing for me. It's like a syrup. Not sweet like pancake syrup, though. Kind of sour. It sure does make a delicious BBQ sauce.

One afternoon, we ate an early dinner at Shady Grove, known for its huge outdoor dining area that's shaded by pretty pecan trees. I love a good patio, so this restaurant would be a favorite of mine, if only their food wasn't consistently mediocre.

I ordered a frozen margarita swirled with sangria. Instead I got one that was swirled with a too-sweet strawberry syrup. The server kind of mumbled something about their margarita machine being broken and that was how they were coming out. It was really sickeningly sweet.

Our server was not really on the ball. We never got the basket of chips and salsa we ordered as an appetizer, and then my veggie burger came out without the fries that I ordered. Maybe he was actually trying to do me favor by omitting the fries., because when he brought them later, they were overcooked. The veggie burger was perfectly fine. I was just hoping for a better overall experience. I don't think we will return.

I always have mixed feelings about posting negative reviews of restaurants, but sometimes I feel like, "Why am I paying for this meal when I could do better at home?" That's not me bragging -- I'm certainly not a chef, and that is my whole point. When I go out to eat, I want something as good or better than what I can make in my own kitchen.

I would love it if a restaurant offered this dish -- it's a "Deconstructed Banh Mi" salad from Robin Robertson's Quick-Fix Vegan. I love all the flavors of a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich -- marinated tofu, shredded cabbage, scallions, cilantro, ginger, crusty baguette -- and they are all represented in this lovely salad. I will say that for me, it wasn't a quick fix -- it took almost an hour to prepare because there were a lot of veggies to cut/shred, as well as the tofu to saute and the baguette to cut up and slather with Veganaise. But it was worth the effort.

Finally, teriyaki burgers. These were inspired by a recipe in Peas and Thank You but I used frozen veggie burgers rather than making my own. I used Gardenburger Asian veggie patties, which are spicy and awesome. I topped them with Veganaise, teriyaki sauce, and pineapple chunks. So good! If you are bored with regular old lettuce and tomato on your veggie burgers, try this! We had Alexia sweet potato fries on the side.

So long, April! May, I hope you are awesome.

Doctor's Orders

We have been putting the blender to good use lately. Jackson and Olivia will drink a smoothie like it's a milkshake, so we've been having fun coming up with new combinations.

Blueberries, spinach, frozen banana, almond milk, vanilla and stevia. The frozen banana makes it thick and creamy.

This one was more of an agua fresca. Seedless watermelon, ice cubes, mint, lime juice, stevia, and just enough water to make it sippable.

I splurged a little and ordered a couple of smoothie mix-ins that I was excited to try.

Manitoba Harvest Dark Chocolate hemp protein. I like the nutty flavor of hemp protein powders.

I made a "smoothie in a bowl" with frozen strawberries, almond milk, vanilla, stevia and a big scoop of the protein powder. It was so yummy and chocolaty!

Spirulina powder. "Nature's Multi-Vitamin," it claims. Haven't tried it yet.  I'm curious if it will give me more energy. That would be nice.

Four out of five doctors recommend smoothies for optimum cuteness.

What are your favorite things to put in a smoothie?