White Tree

My goodness, how is it February already? It seems like we were just getting ready for Christmas. So...that's how I segue into another old-but-unpublished post about the holidays. Smooth, right? 

Tony really wanted a new Christmas tree this year and he wanted a white one. Our former tree had been with us since we got married but it looked so puny in our current home with its high ceilings. So, off to Home Depot he went, and came home with the white tree of his dreams.

It was so tall, he underestimated the amount of ornaments he needed and had to go back and buy more the next day!  As you can see, one whole side was not covered.

All hail the tree!

It matches her Frozen jammies.

Dinner was tacos with roasted tofu, lettuce, tomato, and salsa.

Dessert was pumpkin chia pudding from Plant-Powered Families, recipe available online here.

Hiding from doing homework, ha!

Olivia's First Field Trip

Although she has accompanied me as a chaperone on a few of Jackson's field trips over the years, Olivia was excited for her very first kindergarten field trip of her own. The destination was Sweet Berry Farm in Marble Falls, over an hour away. Olivia had never rode a school bus before, and she was nervous about that. But, she did fine, and we spent a perfect fall day on the farm.

Entering the corn maze.

Hayride!

Painting pumpkins.

Olivia the goat whisperer.

After being away all day, I didn't really feel like cooking, so we had dinner at Serrano's. I had cheese enchiladas with green chile sauce.

Afterwards, we had to pop into Costco for a few things and I picked up some autumn treats - dark chocolate covered figs, and Hail Merry pumpkin spice mini-tarts. Yum!

Fairies and Beards

Jackson is growing up so fast.

Olivia is slightly obsessed with the Tinkerbell fairies.

Breakfast...Pumpkin Snackles from Plant-Powered Families. Cooking with pumpkin in August, sure, why not? It doesn't only have to be a fall thing. These went quickly.

Summertime lunch...smoked paprika hummus, veggies and crackers. Come and get it.

Dinner...Lasagna Verde from Healthy Happy Vegan Kitchen, with tons of fresh basil from the garden. I omitted the vegan shredded cheese, and it was fine without. Great in fact. The sauteed tofu plus the cashew ricotta make such a rich filling, and of course, I always love pesto.

Indoor Soccer

For breakfast I made Pumpkin Pie Smoothies from Plant-Powered Families. Pumpkin pie in August, why not? Topped with homemade granola because I must chew.

As if I did not love our hood enough already, Jackson and Olivia have been given free indoor soccer lessons for the rest of the summer just for being members of the neighborhood soccer association. These lessons are normally out of our price range, so this is a wonderful perk as well as a great way for them to get their exercise without having to be out in the blazing sun.

Jackson already has a few seasons of soccer under his belt, but Olivia is playing for the first time this fall. She is super excited to be taking lessons in preparation.

A little soccer humor on the wall at the practice center.

For dinner I made a couple of different dishes I came across on Pinterest. Forbidden Rice Salad with sweet potato, pecans, and dried cranberries was too starchy for my taste, but Tony enjoyed it.

Speedy Sriracha-Peanut Soba Noodles with Spicy Maple Chickpeas was speedy indeed, and also very spicy even though I cut down on the spice amounts. Too hot for the kids, but Tony and I ate it up.

I also roasted some asparagus, which Jackson and Olivia ate up before Tony even got home from work! Soccer works up an appetite.

Train Time

I tried to make a pumpkin pie smoothie for breakfast. Frozen banana, pumpkin puree, soymilk, cinnamon, stevia, and pecans. Hit the spot!

Jackson had an early release day at school, so we got to have fun. I took the kids to an art gallery in Round Rock that had a special model train installation.

They both got to take turns being conductors, which was super cool.

I couldn't get over the level of detail in the model village.

This was clearly a huge investment of time and money for the train set owners.

Trying super hard not to touch the trains!

Watching the trains race.

For dinner I made the Not-From-a-Box Mac and Oat Chez from OATrageous Oatmeals. By making the "chez" powder in advance and storing it in your pantry, you can have instant mac n' cheese a la Kraft, only vegan. I really like the convenience factor, and the kids gobbled it up!

Cooking with Natvia and Norbu

The kind people at Natvia and Norbu sent me some more of their natural stevia and monkfruit sweeteners to try out in recipes. First I made Isa's Marbled Banana Bread. (This recipe is also found in Isa Does It, if you own that.) I substituted an equal amount of Natvia for the sugar. It turned out lovely, except I noticed my loaf was done after 45 minutes, rather than 55. I'm not sure if that's due to using the Nativa, or other conditions.  The bread was sweet enough to eat for dessert, had a rich chocolaty flavor thanks to plenty of cocoa powder.

Next up, I used the Norbu to make pumpkin eggnog.

Norbu Pumpkin Eggnog

1 box silken tofu

2 cups nondairy milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup Norbu sweetener

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in the blender until smooth. Enjoy with a shot of rum, if desired.

Inspired by our Christmas tree, Jackson decided to become one himself.

All he needs is a star on top of his head.

Halloween 2014

For us, Friday was a day of major anticipation. Olivia put on her princess costume immediately upon waking, and proceeded to ask me all day long, "How many more hours until trick-or-treat?" Jackson's school does not allow costumes, so he was ready to transform into the Incredible Hulk the moment the final bell rang. But before they could head out to collect candy, we had a quick, two-ingredient dinner.

Harvest-shaped pasta with pumpkin tomato sauce. You can't get much more Halloween than that.

Our first stop was our neighborhood trunk-or-treat. Cars lined the rec center parking lot, some of them decked out with suitably spooky decorations.

Or spooky people, in some cases.

At one car we met Arden, who is apparently something of a local celebrity.

Arden gives high-fives. Also the kids were able to take turns feeding her some sort of dog lollipop.

Other cars had games set up. Knock down pins (or not), and receive candy.

Ring toss, no problem for a Hulk.

Jackson ran into his friend from soccer and they compared their candy hoards.

I tried to corral the kids for a picture, but they were all hopped up on hot apple cider.

After making our rounds at trunk-or-treat, Jackson and Olivia were turned loose on the neighborhood.

Score!

Surveying the final haul.

Hope you all had a fun and scary Halloween!