Pesto and Hair Combing

Dinner was Orzo, White Beans and Tomatoes with Lemony Spinach Pesto from 1000 Vegan Recipes. I subbed chickpeas for the white beans, and threw a bunch of chopped basil on top because apparently I feel anxious about calling something "pesto" if it doesn't contain basil. It was a little heavy on the oil (1/4 cup in the recipe) so I would cut that down, but the flavor was good.

After dinner we went up to Jackson's school for a little concert put on by the kindergarteners. They sang several songs and were completely adorable. I only shot videos of their recital, so here is a picture of Jackson and Olivia hamming it up in the library afterwards.

Post-bathtime. I think the way Tony combs Olivia's hair after her bath is one of the sweetest parts of watching him being a daddy.

Bad Throat, Huh J-Man?

Jackson was not at full YEAH strength this weekend (if you know what 80s movie I'm talking about, congratulations, you are old like me!) He rallied to play his Saturday morning soccer game.

But by the end, he was looking pretty lethargic.

By evening, Olivia started showing the same signs, of the dreaded springtime cold. They hate being sick this time of year because it's so nice out and they want to go, go, go, but it slows them down.

Fortunately it was short-lived and they were all better by Sunday night. Meals were simple while we catered to them, like this pesto pasta using up odds and ends of various pastas in the pantry.

Spring Festival

I ordered Vegan Pie in the Sky as a "Pi Day" (3/13) gift to myself and the timing was perfect, since Jackson's school had asked for baked good donations for the cake walk at their annual spring festival.

First up, the Pucker Up Raspberry Pie. The edges of my crust got a little overbaked, hopefully nobody minded. I was surprised at how easy the lattice crust was! And it was fun cutting out the little heart shapes. I felt very Betty Crocker-ish.

Next up, Maple Pecan Pie. Looked and smelled wonderful!

We did not donate all our baking efforts, to be honest. I also made a batch of Boston Cream Pie cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World. My chocolate ganache topping was wayyy too runny to dollop on top of the cupcakes. I had to thicken it up with some extra chocolate and coconut oil. There will definitely be a next time and I will cut down on the amount of milk used. Biting into the cream-filled cupcake center is pure heaven.

Anyway, the festival! Unfortunately Jackson had an upset stomach and could not attend, but I took Olivia for a couple of hours. She headed straight for the bounce castles first.

The human hamster ball was a new experience for her. 

. She was stumbling around like a tiny drunk person after the climbed out!

Random dude with a white bird just hanging out on his head. Sure, why not. This is Austin.

Try as she might, Olivia did not manage to dunk the teacher, but enjoyed trying.

Her favorite activity was the foam pit. "I'm swimming in clouds!" she exclaimed.

"This is the best day of my life!" she also exclaimed. Olivia may be prone to hyperbole but you have to appreciate her enthusiasm.

Later, I ran her home and then went back and volunteered for a couple of hours at various booths. That was fun too. I was starving when I got home, and I had a BLT craving. I cooked up some tempeh bacon and piled it on my favorite pumpernickel-rye swirl bread along with tomatoes, lettuce, hummus, and avocado. BLT deluxe!

Jack Allen's Kitchen

We met my parents for dinner last night at Jack Allen's Kitchen in Round Rock. I had noticed a few things on the menu back when I was eating vegetarian that sounded good, but their vegan offerings are pretty slim. I had the portabello veggie fajitas, served with rice and black beans, corn tortillas and guacamole. The fajitas were a little dry, I should have asked for some salsa to pour on them. The guacamole was really good.

I had a vodka with grapefruit juice and sage. It was a refreshing little beverage, although I could not taste the sage, it was more of a garnish.

To sum up, fine for meat eaters and it's cool that they source locally, but nothing special to draw in a vegan. And here is Olivia up a tree.

Gymnastics and Fennel

Really loving fresh raspberries right now. This morning I had a smoothie bowl (banana, soy milk, spirulina, cocoa powder, stevia) topped with coconut, hempseeds and raspberries.

It was parent observation day at gymnastics, so I was allowed to go into the gym and Olivia led me around and showed me everything she's been working on.

She can do a full flip on the rings, little monkey.

On the low bar, too.

Her little arms are definitely getting stronger!

The trampoline is her favorite.

For dinner I made the Chickpea and Fennel Soup from 1000 Vegan Recipes. It was lovely! All the parts of the fennel are used so you get a nice contrast between the wispy fronds, crisp celery-like stems, and the fennel bulb which goes so buttery soft when sauteed, plus a kick from smoky ground fennel.

From the same book, I made chocolate chip cookies, and they were probably the best ones I've ever made! The recipe calls for only brown sugar, which makes them really soft and chewy.

Pretzel Date

Recently my parents agreed to watch Jackson and Olivia for a few hours so Tony and I could have a meal together. We headed downtown to Easy Tiger, a bakery/beergarden.

Literally a wall of bread. Be still my heart.

We each had a giant pretzel. Oh carbs. How I love you.

It was nice to sit and chat with my handsome husband over a couple of beers, about exciting adult topics such as getting our air-conditioning repaired.

Afterwards, walked around and enjoyed the constantly-changing wall art around 6th St.

Aww, friendly wasabi.

We also saw this. Yard art, or hoarding? Sometimes you can't tell.

On our way home, we stopped by Capital City Bakery to pick up some blueberry cheesecake and a lemon bar.

The kids were good for Grandma and Grandad, yay! 

Short and Sweet

We are having our new AC installed today so this is short and sweet. Like Monster!

Homemade pizza with Teese, green olives and fresh basil. My pizza dough rose nicely -- baking practice is paying off!

A few squares of Perugina dark chocolate limoncello for dessert. 

Eating it reminded me of our long ago trip to Rome! We drank lots of limoncello. Has it really been twelve years?