First Swim

Last summer, I was super nervous about taking the kids swimming by myself. Olivia was terrified of water and clung tightly to me, and Jackson was a daredevil who hadn't taken a swim lesson. Today, when my friend Amy invited us to hang out at her pool, I learned that much has changed in a year.  And I'm thrilled about that. I love to be in the pool, and it looks like my kids -- a little more confident, a little more skilled than last year -- are part fish, as well.

For dinner we had leftover pasta salad and Big Ben's Lentil Burgers from How It All Vegan. These burgers, they sounded so good! Alas, they didn't work out for me. Way too dry and crumbly. Still, when I smushed them onto a bun and doused them in mustard, Veganaise, and pickles, they didn't taste half bad.

Basil, cherry tomatoes, and okra are currently flourishing in the garden. Okra flowers are gorgeous! I had no idea.

Summer Vacay So Far

I haven't loved the past couple of summers in Austin. By May, the temps were already in the 100's. This year is milder, thank goodness. And we are embracing summer. We have lemonade, we have sunscreen, we have pool noodles. We are set.

One evening I made a spinach-mushroom lasagna worth turning on the oven for.

I've noticed quite a few new vegan parmesan substitutes lately. I make my own, it's super easy.

We also tried the jackfruit carnitas tacos from Vegan Eats World. I didn't love the sweetness of the carnitas marinade, but I'm open to using jackfruit as a meat substitute. Just have to find the right flavors for it. I like how light it is; you don't feel stuffed afterwards.

One evening I tried a Pinterest recipe -- Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter. We all adore asparagus, and Jackson and Olivia loved the buttery-sweet sauce coating the pasta.

Raspberry cornmeal pancakes from Garden of Vegan. I'm on a big Sarah Kramer kick lately, giving some love to the first vegan cookbooks I ever owned.

Also from GoV, Aloo Chana, and Indian potato and vegetable soup. I love making soups on hot days because I don't need to turn on the oven and cleanup is so simple -- just one pot! That means more time to relax on the patio in the evening, with a book and a cold lemonade or Lone Star, before the mosquitos come out and try to eat me up!

Oklahoma Love

We paid another visit to my mother-in-law, Lillie, in Oklahoma recently. Our first day in town, we took her to lunch at the always-awesome Pepe Delgado's.

They changed their salsas! Pepe's has had the same trio of salsas for as long as I can remember. But now, two are different. Of course I'm biased toward the old salsas, so I will have to give it time to see if these grow on me. The veggie plate, aside from being a little heavy on the cheese, was tasty as usual.

That night, we heard that tornadoes were moving in. Since the terrible tornado in Moore had happened just one week before, this put us on alert. We set up the kids in the spare room with popcorn and a movie, and we turned on the local weather to see if we needed to take cover.

Bad things were happening west of OKC. The tornado was moving right along I-40, hitting cars that were stuck on the highway. Several people lost their lives. We knew we always had the option to take cover in my uncle's storm shelter, but it was hard to hear about the ones who had nowhere to take shelter. Luckily for us, the tornado lost its power before reaching Shawnee. All we got was a thunderstorm and heavy winds. Here is the damage to a tree in Lillie's backyard.

The next day, it was almost eerie how nice the weather was. My mother-in-law suggested that Tony and I have a date night in the city.

On our way to our destination, we passed one of my favorite buildings in OKC. Yes, that's a giant milk bottle. 

We had a cozy dinner-for-two at Sushi Neko, where we celebrated many a birthday and anniversary before we moved to Texas. Nothing's changed, and that includes the warm hand towels they serve along with the edamame.

Asahi goes perfectly with sushi.

I love their ginger-miso dressing. I need to learn to make this stuff.

Avocado rolls, always.

How classy is Sushi Neko? Here is the entire bowlful of Andes mints we received along with our check.

Thank you, Lillie!

Also thanks to Aunt Emma and cousin Karen, who always come visit us when we're in town and help Lillie watch Jackson and Olivia.

On our way out of town, we stopped at Alfredo's for Tex-Mex, Oklahoma style...which means bowl after bowl of free salsa, queso, and hot pickled veggies.

I had an avocado enchilada with mashed potatoes and spicy creamed corn on the side. My enchi was a little soggy, so I ended up scraping the filling out and wrapping it up in a fresh tortilla.

Free sopapillas for dessert, mmm.

Jackson approves.

Wasota African Cuisine

After spending the morning at the Renegade Craft Fair awhile back, I met up with Tony and the kids for lunch at Wasota African Cuisine. The Yelp reviews mentioned long-ish waits, totally understandable since it's one dude cooking food by himself in a trailer. So I thought there'd be a lot of this...

But actually, our food arrived quickly! The gentleman cooking our food explained that he is from Nigeria, so he offers some Nigerian dishes, but the menu includes foods from many west African countries. I am embarrassed to say I don't know my African geography, and the only African food I'd previously eaten was Ethiopian. After consulting a map, I learned that Ethiopia is on the other side of the continent. That probably explains why our lunch bore little resemblance to Ethiopian food. It is its own thing. And it's awesome!

Wasota offers a ton of vegan options. We tried three different platters. The first came with jollof rice, fritters (tasted like hush puppies), and sauteed plantains, topped with tomato sauce.

The second was black-eyed peas and plantains, again with the tomato sauce. The sauce isn't spicy, it's just very...tomatoe-y. And super good! 

The final dish we shared contained more jollof rice, mixed veggies in a garlic sauce, and caramelized plantains. The caramelized plantains were my favorite out of everything I tasted devoured. But really, it was all fantastic. Can't wait to return!

While we waited for the kids to finish eating, I showed off a couple of items I picked up at the fair. Magic Unicorn salt from Beautiful Briny Sea. How bad can that be, right? It's smoky, garlicky...I'll be using this on everything from potatoes to pizza.

Also, this happened. Yes folks, Guinness jelly, from Naked Goat Farm. I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I couldn't pass up something this unique.

Tex-Mex Kick

I've been craving Tex-Mex constantly. One night I made Elise's green enchiladas. Filled with a blend of rice, corn, and TVP, these are deceptively easy to make. They turned out so, so good. 

Then I made some little tostadas with rice, refried chickpeas, tomatoes, and guac. Again, totally simple ingredients, but they were exactly what I was craving.

Off to get the kids to sleep after a bit of bathtime fun.

Z'Tejas Date Night

Tony and I had a rare and much-appreciate date night last night. We decided to try Z'Tejas. It's a local chain and there's one minutes from our house, so off we went. 

There's only one way to start off a date night at a Tex-Mex restaurant -- with a frosty frozen margarita, rimmed in salt. 

Chips came with three kinds of salsa, all tasty.

Complimentary cornbread was so sweet and buttery, it was almost like a cake!

I had the wild mushroom enchiladas, served with mango guacamole. Instead of the usual rice and beans, I ordered steamed seasonal veggies on the side. "Seasonal veggies" translated as "mostly green beans," which made this girl happy. The whole meal was delicious. Lots of fresh, light flavors and I didn't feel all weighed down by meal's end.

Olivia is a little under the weather today, so we are having a quiet morning, watching TV and drinking Gatorade.

MT Supermarket

Some evenings, when Tony has to do a conference call with his company's overseas offices, I need an activity that gets me and the kids out of the house for a short time. On evenings like this, we often head for the Asian supermarket. 

The Asian market has two main attractions that appeal to my kids. The first is a giant fish pond outside.

What are these flowers? They're huge! At first I thought they were fake. 

The second attraction is the huge assortment of quarter rides in the store's entryway.

Blast off!

Yes, with a baggie full of quarters, I'm all set. 

Dinner was quick, since we knew we would have to get outta the house. The kids had scrambled eggs, and I had an Amy's frozen meal - Roasted Polenta with Swiss Chard. The polenta is covered with some kind of vegetable stew, mainly summer squash and mushrooms. Tasty, but not the most filling. I feel like it would make a better lunch than a dinner.

After returning from the supermarket, I curbed my hunger pangs with some banana soft-serve. Chocolate hemp protein powder added grittiness, but also chocolatiness. It's a trade-off.