Weekend

We kicked off the weekend with a birthday party for one of Olivia's kindergarten friends. As she proudly tells me, her class is nicknamed the Amigos, because they are all such good friends. I teach gardening with the class once a week and can confirm, they are all total sweethearts. I am swarmed with hugs each time I enter the classroom. So grateful for her fantastic teacher who places such an emphasis on kindness and friendship.

Rides, games, we love Mt. Playmore!

Jackson and Olivia had never tried out one of these dollar massage chairs. I admit I was also curious. Would the 3-minute massage be worth the dollar? Only one way to find out.

It was worth it. I want one of these things in my living room please.

The rest of the weekend, we kicked it around the house, finally taking down our Christmas decorations and doing a little spring cleaning. (Since winter seems to be cancelled here in Austin.) I made the Fettucine Alfredo from Plant-Powered Families, one of the few recipes that both of my kids love.

Sunday morning I made some chickpea flour omelets from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food. The cookbook title is a mouthful and so was my omelet. I may have overdid it on the fillings: cashew cheeze, avocado, baby spinach, black olives, and scallions.

From the same book, I made granola for Tony to take for breakfasts during the week. He has a long commute so he likes to have something he can munch in the car.

And today I am having a big bowl o'veggies for lunch with a dollop of leftover cashew cheeze.

An up-to-date post, wow! It is a Monday miracle my friends. Hope you had a nice weekend.

Groceries

I like seeing other people's grocery hauls occasionally, so I figured I would post mine. Not all the groceries I bought this week, just the fun stuff I guess.

Four pounds of strawberries! Oh, Costco. You know my children's hearts.

Freaky Siamese twin strawberry!

Jackson was ready to tear into the strawberries, but we had some blueberries and watermelon in the fridge that needed to be finished off first. 

Other Costco goodies include green olives, maple syrup, smoked almonds, and chia fruit/veggie pouches.

Next stop, Natural Grocers: cashew butter, almond butter, Earth Balance, sunflower seed crackers, red lentils, medjool dates, spelt flour, and oat flour.

We also popped into the Indian market to get some spices: whole fenugreek, whole coriander, cardamom powder, cardamom seeds, kalonji (nigella), and ajwain. I was making Ethiopian food, not Indian, but the two cuisines share many spices in common and I was able to find everything I needed even though there is no African market here in Austin.

After putting groceries away, a little baking happened. I made a big batch of granola (from 1000 Vegan Recipes) for Tony to take to work in the mornings. Homemade is so much cheaper than buying it at the work cafeteria!

I also made Apple Spice Hemp Muffins from Dreena Burton's newest, Plant-Powered Families. I can already tell that I will treasure this cookbook as much as I do all her others. She feeds her family the way I want to feed my family, you know? These muffins will be Jackson and Olivia's breakfasts this week.

Hope you have an awesome day!

Aztex and Teacher Appreciation

Awhile back (before the field you see below, completely flooded during the May storms, yikes!) Jackson and his soccer teammates attended an Austin Aztex pro soccer game and had the honor of walking the team out onto the field.

We watch soccer on television, but this was Jackson and Olivia's first time at a live game. They were pumped!

The kids also got to have a scrimmage on the big field during halftime.

The Aztex ended up winning, yay!

My handsome husband chillin in the beer tent.

Prickly pear beer! I support this.

Slushies for the kiddos.

It was also around this time that we had Teacher Appreciation Week at school. One morning a bunch of us moms made breakfast for the teachers. I made chocolate chip banana bread pudding...

coconut almond granola from 1000 Vegan Recipes...

and blueberry muffins!

The granola is now my go-to granola recipe; I have been making big batches of it for Tony to take to work in the mornings.

Also, I didn't have any overripe bananas lying around, so I tried baking some unripe ones, and it totally worked! They look ridiculous, but on the inside I assure you they are soft, sweet, and ready to throw into some delicious bread pudding.

Another day, we catered a lunch for the teachers. I made my favorite pasta salad, the Goddess Rotini Salad from Vegan on the Cheap...

and the Arabian Lentil and Rice Soup from Appetite for Reduction. I got so many comments on this soup! It is so good. I think the key is using lots and lots of lemon juice.

Phil's Minus Grackles

Started off the morning with another smoothie in a bowl. This time it was frozen blueberries and cherries, vanilla, and soymilk, topped with Go Raw chocolate granola. I meant to also add protein powder, but I had just woken up and my brain wasn't braining.

While Jackson was at school, Olivia and I met some friends for lunch at the new Phil's Icehouse location. Since we got there a little early, Olivia got the spinning flower all to herself. Spinning flower spins fast, y'all. Olivia apparently does not experience dizziness like the rest of us.

We love Phil's so much, but I do have one small complaint about their Burnet Rd. location...it is overrun by grackles. If you are not from Texas, grackles are evil crow-like birds that hang out in swarms near restaurants with outdoor patios and wait for the opportunity to swoop in and steal your french fries right off your plate. It is crazy how aggressive these birds are. Well, it seems the grackles have not discovered this newest location yet, and I was able to enjoy my veggie burger and mix fries without fear.

Not a grackle in sight!

Public Art, Protein, Po'Boys

On other food blogs I follow, I've noticed that "smoothies in a bowl" seem to be a popular breakfast. I'm not  a morning smoothie person, for one practical reason...I get up an hour before Tony, so I don't like to run the blender while he is still sleeping! However, we all got up at the same time today, so I fixed myself a smoothie with mango, almond milk, and chocolate Garden of Life Raw Protein powder, sprinkled with Go Raw chocolate granola. 

I can't remember where I heard about this brand of protein powder, but I really like it. Its protein comes from a blend of sprouted foods such as rice, quinoa, chickpeas, and lentils. 17g per serving, pretty good! And I like the deep chocolately flavor. This breakfast kept me feeling satisfied until well after noon, which is amazing for me (I'm already snacky by 10 a.m. when I eat cereal for breakfast!)

It was a beautiful spring day, so I brought Jackson and Olivia to Big Stacy park where they happily climbed all over an art installation. 

It's part of Austin's TEMPO, temporary public art program. We love public art!

We spent some time at the little playground.

Olivia is following in her monkey brother's always-climbing footsteps.

The kids led the way down to the creek.

It's nice to see actual water in the creeks this year. We have been getting a good amount of rain.

Olivia randomly discovered an old toy car. Beep beep!

For dinner we had veggie po'boys with roasted cauliflower, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and Veganaise. The kids ate deconstructed versions. They are still in a phase where different foods should not be touching each other.

Bella

Last night I made a batch of maple-pecan Alternative Granola from The Urban Vegan. The "alternative" is that this granola includes atypical grains such as quinoa and amaranth. Well, to be honest, there's no amaranth in mine, because this was a spur-of-the-moment craving satisfation and I had no amaranth in my pantry. I had a bowlful this morning with Greek yogurt and sliced peaches.

For dinner I made two Going Vegan tester recipes. First, Summer Squash Veggie Sloppy Joes, served open-faced on whole wheat buns, sprinkled with nooch. These unique joes have a distinctly Italian flavor, rather than the traditional smoky BBQ flavor I frequently associate with sloppy joes.

Herb Roasted Potatoes on the side. The spice blend coats the potato cubes and bakes into a crispy, flavorful shell.

Today I ventured into IKEA to look for a bookshelf for the kids. No luck there, but I picked up a milk frother for $3. This produkt is going to revolutionize my coffee experience...just as soon as it gets cold enough to drink latte's. I'm hooked on iced coffees at the moment.

Afterwards, I stopped in to see my parents, who are all settled in to their new home along with their two cats, Bailey and Bella. Little hermit Bailey was hiding under the bed as usual, but Bella came out to say hi. She is so tiny, barely six pounds.

She's really sweet, although you wouldn't guess it from these photos. Every time I aimed my camera at her, she shot me a glare that clearly said, "Put down that stupid camera and pet me, human!"

What Bella wants, Bella gets.