Squash Salad

Olivia and I spent the morning at the park with Ironman.

Olivia and her friend took turns burying each other in the sand.

Babies love my son. They will crawl right into his lap. Although he loves to wrestle and play hard with his friends, he is very sweet and gentle with babies. It always makes me smile.

For dinner, I made a salad inspired by one I saw awhile back on Laura's blog. Lentils, spinach, roasted butternut squash, red onion, and feta cheese, dressed with Better than Balsamic Vinaigrette from Ripe from Around Here. The vinaigrette was a little tart for me, but the salad was lovely. I love how roasting butternut squash makes it all sweet and caramelized.

Dino Dig

Catching up from when Jackson was sick...here's a full day of eats from before the cold front came to town.

First, lunch buffet at Indian Palace. All was tasty except for the samosa which tasted like it came out of a deep freeze. Very rich...I was in a food coma after this meal and I only had one plate (plus gulab jaman for dessert, not pictured.)

After lunch, a paleological dig at the Austin Nature and Science Center.

The dino pit is always well-supplied with shovels, claws, and brushes for young explorers to dust off their "prehistoric" finds.

We followed up with a trip to Trader Joe's to check out their Christmas goodies. I adore pfeffernusse so much that I have a bottle of pfeffernusse-scented perfume oil, so it's appropriate that I eat the real thing around the holidays.

I had to try the Beurre Meuniere popcorn, described as having a butter, lemon and thyme seasoning. It was a little bland, for my taste. Olivia loves it, however.

A new product - dolmas in a tin! I love stuffed grape leaves.

When we finally made it home, Olivia relaxed by playing educational games while I started dinner.

We had the Smoky Split Pea Soup from Appetite for Reduction, an all-time favorite and light enough to enjoy after our Indian feast.

Ghost Tree

This morning we attended storytime at the bookstore. I told Jackson and Olivia they could pick out one toy as a little treat, and they chose the zombie bobblehead...a choice that made me feel like I might actually be doing this parenting thing right!

Since we were near Town Lake, we decided to walk over and see this temporary art installation. The tree floating above the water is supposed to represent all the trees that have died because of the drought here in Texas. A sobering thought, but also a cool-looking addition to the downtown landscape, in a kind of eerie, elegant way.

Sorry for phone pics; left my camera at home.

Ripe from Around Here is a cookbook that came out in 2010, and somehow it's taken me until now to fully appreciate it. The recipes focus on eating local, but they are also vegan.  For dinner, I coated pieces of tofu in the Barbecue Saucy (cute name), baked it, and served it over quinoa and smoky collard greens, spooning extra sauce on top. So good.

Thanksgiving 2013

We had Thanksgiving dinner #1 last Sunday with my parents, before they went out of town for the rest of the month.

I attempted to prepare a homemade Tofurkey, using the Tofu Roast recipe from La Dolce Vegan. It fell apart while roasting. It still tasted fine, but the presentation left something to be desired. I think next year I'll just part with the $7.99 for a store-bought Tofurkey. I've never had one, so it will be something new. And hopefully, it won't explode in the oven.

The side dish of honor was two pounds of Brussels sprouts. I've always kept it simple, roasting them with olive oil, salt and pepper, but this year I did a Dijon mustard-maple syrup glaze. Very nice, and Jackson and Olivia were popping them like candy.

I classily ate off a paper plate, since we only have five dinner plates and there were six of us. Alongside the tofu and Brussels, I had mashed potatoes with Bangers and Mash Gravy from the 30-Minute Vegan's Taste of Europe, only with the onions strained out. I like the onion flavor but I prefer a smooth gravy.



For dessert, I made a cheater banoffee pie; I used a jar of dulce de leche, rather than boiling the cans of sweetened condensed milk to make my own toffee. Still tasty.

After the feast, a visit to Zilker Park to play on the old-timey firetruck.

This natural spring, located just to the side of the playground, is home to an endangered blind salamander. We didn't see any. They are pretty tiny, and you're not allowed to get very close.

Hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Airfest

We recently headed up to Georgetown, where my parents live, to attend Airfest with them. We walked around the airport grounds, checking out all the planes and helicopters on display.

The kids were allowed to test-pilot a few of them.

We saw a flyover.

The flyover inspired Jackson to do a little flying of his own.

All that zooming around (and standing around eating kettle corn, for the rest of us) really works up an appetite. For dinner, we had rotini with basil pesto, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, and some mushrooms Tony marinated in red wine.

We also snacked on the Cranberry Almond Loaf, from Ripe from Around Here. I've had this cookbook for awhile and I'm just now coming to love it. This loaf turned out wonderfully moist and cakelike, with just a slight sweetness to offset the tartness of the cranberries. I'll definitely be trying out more of Jae Steele's recipes in the near future.

Burgers and Soba

Hi guys, sorry for the brief absence. Jackson was sick, and that means more time cuddling on the couch and less time writing blog posts. He's doing fine now, though, so I'm getting caught up.

Yesterday we enjoyed an unseasonably warm 80-degree day by having lunch at Hat Creek Burgers, which we love because of their great play area.

Veggie burger and fries...I love their veggie burger because it's made with wild rice, which has a chewy, al dente texture.

For a light dinner, I made Ginger Bok Choy and Soba from Appetite for Reduction. I think this was my first time eating soba noodles, and I really liked them. And every time I eat bok choy, I always have the same thought -- "I need to eat more bok choy!" The recipe isn't heavily seasoned, but Isa says to serve with sriracha and soy sauce to taste. I opted for sambal oelek, my current obsession, in place of the sriracha. Amazing goodness in this bowl.

See you next week, have a great weekend!

Pizza and Play

Today we met a friend and her little boy for lunch at Austin's Pizza. Jackson and Olivia come for the playscape...

I come for the pizza rolls, filled with spinach, mushrooms, and feta cheese.

They were filling, and so was the black olive pizza that the kids shared. So for dinner, I made smoothies, which we ate in bowls at Jackson's request. In an effort to consume more smoothies, I picked up the book 365 Vegan Smoothies, by Kathy Patalsky. This is the Cinnamon Fudge Shake, made with frozen bananas, soy yogurt, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and almond butter. Tastes just like melted chocolate ice cream.

Have a great weekend!