Vegan MoFo - Day 18 Peak a boo Freezer

I've been really liking this meme where you show everyone the contents of your freezer, and since we went out to dinner and I didn't have any other MoFo ideas, tonight was the perfect night for it.

In the door we have a variety of nuts and seeds including almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews (roasted and raw), pinenuts, pistachios, pepitas, and sunflower seeds.
Top shelf is: chocolate soy ice cream, frozen pasta, frozen pizza, frozen waffles, chia seeds, hemp protein powder, frozen kiwi (any suggestions on what to do with that? we have a bunch and it wasn't very good in smoothies.)
Bottom shelf: frozen peas, frozen corn, the legs of a frozen "boo boo bunny", oat groats, sesame seeds, and some frozen grapes that need to be tossed.

I was feeling like a treat tonight so I whipped up this decadent chocolate shake. Here is what it is made of: chocolate soy ice cream, 2 chocolate chocolate cream sandwich cookies, chocolate hemp milk, and mocha silk. Blend and enjoy. If you don't have a stomach of steel like me, then you better take it easy with this one, even I feel a little sick and it takes a lot to make me feel that way! After I made this and offered Chris to make the same, he went and showed off his will power by having his "dessert" which consisted of bananas and strawberries drizzled with "smoothie oil" (strawberry flavored flax oil). His loss. :)

Vegan MoFo Day 17 - Apple Muffins, Kale chips or "Crispy kale"

This afternoon, Athena and I used up more of our special apples to make a batch of apple muffins. We used the apple/pecan muffin recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking but I left out the pecans because Athena doesn't really like them. This blurry photo gives you an idea of what to expect, cinnamony goodness with chunks of fresh apples. Athena really wanted cupcakes today but we settled on these with the addition of a layer of vegan cream cheese on top for her. She was happy to pretend they were cupcakes and went to bed begging for more, but looking forward to her "cupcake" she can eat for breakfast tomorrow. She said she wants to have 2 of them, but we shall see.
For dinner, I made some kale chips, or crispy kale as we like to call it. Both kids ate it this time. I remember I tried it with them a few months back with little success so I was pretty pleased this time. All you have to do is cut some kale into bite sized pieces, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt, and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. It really tastes quite good, but you'll have to try it yourself to see what I mean.
With our kale, my weekly batch of lemon garlic pasta with lemon garlic seitan. Sometimes I feel like that recipe alone made the purchase of Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan worth it. And if you are wondering what gave my seitan that lovely brownish green color, it was the spinach that I minced up in the food processor. The kids love it like this and it makes me happy to see them eating green or brown or whatever. This dinner always makes everyone so happy and asking for seconds, or thirds.

Vegan MoFo Day 16 - Not again!!!

I couldn't help myself. I was craving more Snobby Joes tonight. I don't know what it is, but I just didn't want anything else for dinner. Last night I used red lentils to make this dish (which I overcooked and turned into lentil mush), so tonight I used regular brown lentils, plus some red pepper since I finally made it to the store. Wow, I didn't know it could get any better, but tonight's batch was fantastic. I served it with a side of roasted asparagus and topped the joes with lightly steamed spinach. Chris and I are never "into" asparagus, but I was determined to convert us tonight. Apparently roasting is the trick, as we both inhaled these little beauties. The kids were not interested at all in this dinner:( They mostly ate grapes, and I made Athena a bagel with vegan cream cheese. I chopped some spinach really small and stirred it in with the cream cheese and told her she wouldn't even taste it. She looked skeptical, but in the end she agreed that the little bits of spinach were just fine. It made me feel good that she got a little bit of greens in her. What is with these picky vegan kids? They eat 10 times better then I did as a child, so I try not to worry, but sometimes I wish they'd eat more variety. Today Athena asked for bread and a bagel twist for lunch with hummus. I tried to explain to her that that was like having bread and bread for lunch and that she would have to choose either bread or the twist. She really didn't like that, but eventually settled on her twist. She finished it and then wanted another twist to which I replied, "you can eat some strawberries and blueberries". But NO, she did not want strawberries and blueberries, she wanted another twist. She was out of luck, although she did score some crackers from her Dad. I think that child would live off of bread products alone if she could. Anyway, I'm rambling, I promise not to make Snobby Joes tomorrow. Chris is polishing off the leftovers with some chips right now. He usually eats a second dinner once the kids are in bed while I fill up on dessert.

Vegan MoFo Day 15 - Snobby Joes

I'd been wanting to make the Snobby Joes from Veganomicon for quite some time. I'm not sure what the hold up was, but alas, they appeared at our dinner table tonight. I couldn't quite follow the recipe because we were out of peppers and only had a red onion, but I added some carrots instead and everything turned out just fine. Chris, Rowan, and I gobbled it up. It was a little spicy for Rowan, but he still loved it. I didn't even attempt to serve this to Athena as she has made it very clear that she does NOT like lentils, or onions for that matter. She got a grilled cheese instead. This would have been the perfect meal if paired with a crisp green salad, but we didn't have any greens so I did the best I could and slapped a few cucumber slices on top. It was a nice addition in my opinion. So, if haven't tried these then go ahead and give them a go. They are veganmomma approved. And now to give you a bit of background on my experience with sloppy joes. Let's just say that growing up we "made it a manwich night" pretty regularly. I never loved them, but I didn't mind them. ew. ew. ew.

Vegan MoFo Day 14 - German Apple Cake

I finally got around to using more of our apples from the apple picking day. I settled on this recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking because it looked really easy and I wanted to whip it up while Rowan was napping. It was a fun one to make with Athena because she got to put all of the sliced apples on top and then sprinkle it with the cinnamon, ginger, and sugar mixture. We brought it to my in laws for dinner tonight (dessert) and everyone loved it. I'd definitely make it again as it is a cinch to make, and pretty tasty. It is light, not too sweet, but still cake like.

I never did make that apple pie and I'm not sure I will. I am leaning towards making apple muffins and apple crisp or cobbler with the rest of our apples. For some reason that just sounds better than pie.

Vegan MoFo Day 13 - sipping chocolate

My friend and I were just trying the Trader Joes sipping chocolate. It was pretty good, needed a little sugar. I miss hot chocolate and am always searching for the right one. Any suggestions?

Vegan MoFo Day 12 - Field Roast

I feel like the last vegan to ever try Field Roast. I had a little trouble finding it when I first heard about it and then just kind of gave up on it. On a recent trip to Whole Foods, I found it just calling my name. I went with the smoked apple sage variety thinking it may be pleasing to the kids (the chipotle one looked good but I thought it'd be too spicy for the kids). I had to make a quick dinner since tonight is soccer practice night so I whipped up a batch of lemon garlic pasta, and then sauteed the field roast in olive oil with some random vegetables (which was all I had). I sprinkled toasted pine nuts and nutritional yeast on top and everyone loved it. The kids went crazy over the field roast, especially Rowan. He wouldn't really eat anything else but just kept begging for more "hot" (we had told him it was a little spicy hot). He kept saying, "Mo, mo, mo, hot, hot, peas, peas" (more, more , more, hot, hot, please, please) It took me a few bites in to get used to the texture, but after that I liked them too.
I'm interested in trying out more of their products, they seemed to be a real crowd pleaser tonight.

Vegan MoFo Day 11 - Tortillas

So how many packages of tortillas do you go through each week? My family is tortilla crazy lately and I can't keep up. I'd love to make my own, but honestly with 2 busy small people under age 5 around, I really like to keep things simple. I *wish* I were one of those moms who could calmly bake such things with her little angel helpers in the kitchen with her, all the while passing down these great traditions to my children, but unfortunately that just isn't what happens when I try to cook with my kids. Athena is getting better, but for awhile I don't know why I even tried because it wasn't enjoyable for either of us. I was too controlling, and she was too free spirited. I had rules like "don't stir fast" and she was like "who cares that it flies out of the bowl, this is fun!". So yeah, back to tortillas. We've been going through about 3 packages a week lately. That is insane. I feel like we eat burritos at least a couple of time per week because we all love them, and I can use different fillings depending on what we have in the house. They are just so versatile. Sometimes I'll turn them into enchiladas, or bake them to make them crispy. Tonight we had rice, beans, rice cheese for the kids, salsa for the grown ups, and oven roasted broccoli and corn. I've never roasted broccoli in the oven until tonight and boy have I been missing out. It was so tasty. Rowan wouldn't eat it, and Athena only ate it in order to get a few chips (I know you aren't supposed to do that but heck that is about the only vegetable she has eaten the past 2 days). Chris and I didn't mind as we polished off the entire tray of it. I drizzled olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup on it while it cooked at about 400 degrees.

Vegan MoFo Day 10 - Applesauce

Granny Smith applesauce. Chris and I liked it, but the kids did not. I guess it was a little tart. It tasted really good warm.
Random dinner. Make quinoa (loosely following the teriyaki quinoa recipe from Eat Drink and Be Vegan) Then use up whatever you have in the fridge (it was zucchini, red onion, chile peppers, spinach, and potatoes. Cook it up nice and crispy in a frying pan or wok, add a can of black beans. Roll up ingredients in a tortilla with some salsa and call it a "burrito".

VeganMoFo Day 9 - I'm Vegan and I Breastfeed

I'm going out on a limb here tonight, but I'm tired and I haven't uploaded the photos from tonight's dinner and my homemade applesauce...so I just wanted to share the most stupid question I've ever been asked, more than once. People have asked me if my babies are vegan, and then after I say yes are like, "oh, except for breastmilk". It is one of the most irritating conversations I have to have. Breastmilk is made for human babies, while cows milk is made for baby cows. That is the main reason I don't feed my kids "dairy" products. It just makes sense. Plus, as a vegan, I am constantly trying to minimize my impact on the earth, and here again breastfeeding just makes sense. I promise to be back with some regularly scheduled food posts soon, but I just kept thinking about this and needed to vent, and hey, it is how I feed my vegan babies.

Bowling

We went bowling Friday afternoon with Chris' work. It was Athena's first time bowling and she really liked it. She had a bumper lane with all of the kids, and was able to roll her ball by herself and knock down some pins. I think she scored a 41 but she could care less about that. She even got to wear bowling shoes. I got to bowl a game too which was pretty fun. I used to love bowling when I was 10, and then again in college when they'd have those $1 nights. Rowan was a little freaked out by the bowling alley. He wanted to play, but then would cry when we rolled his ball down the lane, maybe worried he wouldn't get it back? It was a lot of stimulation. By the end, he didn't seem to mind, but I bowled the 1st half of the afternoon with him on my hip. Now who can say they've ever done that?!
Who knows when we'll ever do this again, but it sure was fun!

Vegan MoFo - Day 8 Cheater's fried rice

Chris had to make a quick dinner last night since we got back from soccer practice and were tired and hungry. Enter, trader joes frozen fried rice. Chris fried up a block of tofu with chopped red pepper, zucchini, onion, and spinach, some tamari and rice vinegar, then add the frozen rice and PRESTO dinner was ready. It is quick, delicious, and pretty nutritious too. We ate it all up although that is nothing out of the ordinary in our household. Why is fried rice so good? Wait, please don't tell me, it probably has something to do with that fried bit.

And just for fun, H\here are some of the apples we picked yesterday.

Vegan MoFo Day 7 - Apples

I took the kids apple picking at a little organic orchard in our local mountain town. My mother in law came along too and it was nice to have an extra set of hands to help out. It took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there, and the kids were great. The kids had a lot of fun running through the orchard, picking apples, eating apples, romping through the dirt, and then they got to help make fresh apple cider! We picked 4 different kinds of apples: arkansas black, red delicious, granny smith, and a mystery variety (the trees were planted by previous owners so they aren't sure what it is). The kids liked the red delicious and mystery apples best, while I enjoyed the granny smith and arkansas black. Now I have 5+ pounds of organic freshly picked apples to play with. Some of them are tiny as the kids really like "baby" apples, so those will just be for snacking, but I am planning to make a pie. Chris loves apple pie. I like it a bit, but prefer cakes and cookies over pie. I am in the mood for it though so I'm giving myself a weekend project of apple pies, and while I am at it, I think I'll make some lemon bars with all of those lemons I still have. The kids are really into cinnamon apple sauce, so I'll probably have to make a little of that too. The best part of the trip for me (other than seeing their smiling faces throughout the day) was that they both fell asleep on the way home. I was pretty tired myself by the time we got home AFTER an hour of soccer practice. Wow, long day.


Athena turning the wheel of the cider press, I'll leave out the part about where I squished Rowan's finger in the wheel when trying to help him have a turn.
Brother and sister under the apple tree.
Apple boy. He was really loving it today, "in his element".

Vegan MoFo - Day 6

My husband emailed this to me today. Granted, I haven't eaten at a CPK in over 5 years, but it is good to know what options are out there if ever in a pinch. It is so hard to get menu lists like this so I was kind of excited. I wish all restaurants broke it down in this way.

Well then, later in the afternoon my brother, sister in law, and their 2 munchkins surprised me out at our pool so we had a little pool party (Chris joined us right at the end) (and it wasn't a total surprise as they were invited, but didn't sound like they'd make it). The girls are such fish right now, and the boys mostly run around the pool, constantly making me nervous and having a blast. They love the "hot pool" though. Oh, whoops, I almost forgot, this is supposed to be about food. So yeah, we all got good and hungry in the pool (did I mention it was in the 90's again!!!) and it was definitely too hot to cook so we decided to try out a pizza chain called zpizza. My brother asked me if it had any vegan items and I was sure they did since we'd received a coupon in the mail last week, which made me check out their website. I hadn't heard much about them, but they do have vegan options. We got the "berkeley veggie" pizza without the pesto (read somewhere it had cheese in it). I meant to order it with marinara, but there was a mixup so it was sauceless. Not bad even without sauce (I got some marinara on the side), but I think it would have been really good with the sauce and all. We also got a cheeseless one since my nephew is sensitive to soy and it was tasty with roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, and crimini mushrooms. We try and make our own pizza most of the time, but tonight was worth it. My brother leaves for a 2 week business trip to India on Friday, so it was nice to spend some time with him and feed us all something that suited all of our preferences.

And while I'm on the subject of food, last night we celebrated at Sipz Cafe for my Father in laws birthday. It was as good as ever. We just love that place. My kids love the baby avocado rolls, and the bbq chicken bowl. It is the best bbq "chicken" I've had. I love that I can get a Vietnamese iced coffee, or chai, or boba tea, and not have to worry about getting it made right. I love the chargrilled veggie salad and the thai fried rice right now, but I go through phases. I used to order the chicken with basil everytime. The banana cake with coconut cream is the best dessert. The chocolate and carrot cakes used to be really good, and then got kind of drier. I'm not sure why they changed their recipe, but it still isn't too bad, just not my favorite cake. Alright, enough of my food ramblings. Have a good night. And if you haven't watched this video yet on Prop 2, then please do. I loved it.

Vegan MoFo Day 5

No, we didn't eat Rowan for lunch today, although he does sometimes look very edible as you can see from the photos. I was just uploading photos and thought these from yesterday needed to be blogged about. I was reading tofu mom's post and thinking about my kids, what they eat, and their health. Rowan is 19 months old now, and eats all sorts of things. Here is what he ate yesterday while sporting his "Herbivore" shirt.

Breakfast: Blueberry Banana Muffin (I used the banana choc. chip muffin recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking but subbed blueberries for choc. chips and cut the sugar down since I was sending one with Athena to school and didn't want her bouncing off the walls. I also added a few scoops of chia seeds just for kicks.)

Snack: Spicy Nori strips, crackers and raisins

Lunch: Bagel with roasted red pepper hummus

Snack: O's, blueberries and strawberries

Dinner: Black bean burritos (whole wheat tortilla, black beans, rice, cream cheese {we were out of our usual cheez substitutes and the kids go crazy over them}) side of peas

To drink, Rowan has mostly water and still nurses when he pleases, usually a couple times per day and a couple more at night.

He is a thriving 19 month old, talking up a storm, happy, healthy and strong. So sock it to you all you non believers. Vegan kids rock!

Vegan MoFo Day 4 (for me) - Lemons

On our weekend trip to SLO, we collected a huge bag of lemons from my Aunt and Uncle's crazy lemon tree. It seems to always have lemons, no matter what time of year we are visiting, and lots of them. Athena loved helping fill up the bag with our freshly picked lemons. So, now we are home and I've already gone through 6 lemons. Now, what to do with the rest? What do you do with lemons when they are in such abundance? Here are my top lemony recipes, feel free to share your own since I may need a few more ideas:
1. Lemon Garlic Pasta from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. Don't forget to double the recipe and cook some seitan with it.

2. Lemonade with stevia from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.

3. Random raw sandwich filling. Today I used the juice of 3 lemons, a mixture of sunflower seeds, pepitas, and walnuts, 2 celery stalks, 1/3 of a red pepper, flax oil, and coconut oil. Pretty tasty and filling.

4. Hummus, of course. I've been making the hummus from Veganomicon, and I actually thought most hummus was created equal. Wow, I was sure wrong because this stuff turns out better than any standard hummus I've made.

Vegan MoFo Day 3 - So Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt

This here is my review of the So Delicious Coconut Milk yogurts. I know a lot of people have already reviewed these and it seems everyone either loves them or hates them. We are in the loving category with the exception of the Blueberry flavor (for me, the kids loved them all). I love the vanilla and strawberry banana best. I really hope they start carrying a larger container of it as I hate collecting all of those useless yogurt containers. I can only find so many uses for them. If you haven't tried these, give them a go. They at least give soy free vegans a chance to try out some of those delicious recipes calling for soy yogurt. This is something I plan on experimenting more with in the future.

Vegan MoFo Day 2 - Peanut butter O bars

I bought a box of those "High Fiber O's" from Trader Joes awhile back, and neither my kids nor I were really digging them. I absolutely hate wasting food so I tried to come up with a way to make them more palatable. Thus, the Peanut Butter O Bars were born. I can't really take credit for this recipe at all though as it is a complete rip off from Vive's "Crispi Squares. The only modifications I made were substituting dried cherries for the dried cranberries, and the high fiber O's for the rice crisp cereal. These are so easy to make, I often turn to these squares when I need something quick (although they do need time to cool in the fridge). Everyone loved these, and now I don't have to keep looking at that silly box of cereal. Any old cereal you have sitting around will do, so get out your copy of Vive le Vegan and get cracking!

*also, just wanted to let all me readers know that I'll be away this weekend, so my daily MoFo posts will be delayed. Have a nice weekend.

VeganMoFo Day 1

So, here it is, a whole month of vegan food (veganMoFo). I'll be blogging all month about the kitchen happenings of veganmomma and the family. Today was absolutely way to hot to cook as it was over 90 degrees and I live just 5 minutes from the beach! So yeah, we had take out, but I do have some catching up to do. The other night, I was pressed for dinner ideas (and time), so I whipped up a batch of pancakes for dinner. I tried to make a meal out of them by using whole wheat flour, almond milk, blueberries, and as an after thought, sesame seeds. I use the pancake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking ever since I discovered how perfect and easy it is. I also noticed a ripe avocado while I was making the cakes, and served up some slices of avo with the pancakes. It sounded like a weird combo to me, but apparently a local vegan restaurant, The Vegan Zone actually has pancakes with avocado on the menu! As you can see by their faces, my kids really gobbled this dinner up! No complaints here.

I also was the proud winner of this veg news prize pack thanks to cafe vegnews. Thanks again VegNews! The cookies are long gone and I'm working on the Rice Dream Chocolate Chai right now.

Mini Me

Chris and Rowan as Daddy finished his final lap of the 8 hour race.

It's back

Here are some photos from the summer that you've been missing out on. We never found the camera cord, but Chris bought a cheap card reader and now we are back in action.
The feeling I got when I took this picture was hard to describe. I just love when my kids are loving and happy towards each other. This was one of those moments where Athena went and helped Rowan off something that was too high for him, and then they came strolling back to me hand in hand.
My brother went all grill crazy at a family BBQ at my Mom's house. I don't think I've been as full as I was that night since. It was a lot of fun.
BBQ/Pool party at Grandma's. Athena and her cousin love their matching "Ariel" cover ups.
Self face painting. Do you think she liked the results?
Every year, Athena's school asks for a family portrait to hang up in the classroom, and each year it is the same story. We don't have any! So, as a family tradition, we took one of ourselves and had it ready for the first day of school.

Remember, Rowan got his first haircut!? He looks like such a little boy now.
Athena often works with Rowan on the art of baby wearing. I'm pretty certain that Athena will make sure Rowan is a good Dad when he grows up since she is always encouraging him to play his part. "You are such a good Daddy!" she'll exclaim. Or he'll walk up and grab her baby stroller out of her hands and she'll say, "Oh, you want to take the babies for a walk." She is such a good sister.

More to come, but that should do for now.

Hurkey Creek

The "Le Mans" start to the race (we had to run a lap).
Listening to directions from the clown.
Kids at camp with bikes.

We went to a bike race at Hurkey Creek yesterday. We camped over night with 100's of other cyclists and their families and friends. It is quite an experience. If you haven't heard of them, they are called '24 hours of adrenaline" races, only this year Chris entered an 8 hour category. For 8 hours, he and his brother took turns riding the mountain bike course, relay style. Athena got to ride in the kids bike "race" as well. She was so excited the entire drive, she kept asking me when her bike race was going to be. They had all of the 4 and under kids line up first and follow this silly clown around. They were riding in the grass so I had to run along side her (while carrying Rowan) and give her a push whenever she got stuck, most of the parents were doing this. The next age group of 5-7 year olds were a little more serious, although they made it really fun and difficult to say who "won". The kids really loved camping. It is so much work to camp with the little ones, but they get so much out of it. Athena even said, "I LOVE nature!", as we walked around the campground. She later exclaimed, "We are having a REALLY good evening Mommy!" Rowan cracked me up with his fire reminders. Everytime we went by a fire he say, "Hot! Hot! No, no! No, no!" I guess my little speech to him worked. He also said a new phrase which I don't know where he picked up, "Oh baby". Rowan LOVES, I mean LOVES, bike helmets. He didn't want to wear his own though, only his Dad's. When we looked at pictures he would get so mad when he saw the pictures of him wearing his hat, and then get really excited when he saw the ones with him wearing his helmet. It was too funny. We are all wiped out, but it was worth it. I think we will all sleep well tonight.

I LOVE when this happens...

I've won a prize, hooray for me! Cafe VegNews hosted a contest asking readers for ideas on how to use some random left over ingredients from their pantry. I had a lot of competition (2 other entries), but my answer won out.

Here is what I had to say:

"Hmm, pop the amaranth so it gets nice and roasty, and then make hemp seed butter bars with pine nuts and molasses and a few other fine ingredients you can scrounge up."

(the ingredients were molasses, hemp seed nut butter, pinenuts, and amaranth)

Now I should probably try to come up with an actual recipe using those. I'll get back to you on that!

Party Crashers

The kids and I crashed a party at the park today. Some friends, and Athena's cousins were having a party with their home school group right down the street from us. I knew a few of the people already, which is always nice when you are crashing an event. It was a super fun day for everyone. The kids got to do some crafts such as making necklaces and painting their faces (that was probably Athena's favorite as she got to paint her own face). There were capes to be worn and ice cream to be eaten...aw, the ice cream. Not just any old ice cream my friends. It was some of the best raw vegan ice cream around. If you haven't had Tomberlies before, then you are really missing out. This stuff is fantastic, made with quality ingredients, and made by some really cool people (the mama behind this stuff is part of the group). I had tried a handful of flavors before today, but now I could review just about all of them. The Orange Cremecicle surprised me as my #1 pick, with close runner ups being chocolate and strawberry. Please, go out and try some for yourself, you won't be disappointed.
Athena is really curious about homeschooling. I was worried she'd beg to be homeschooled, once she knew that it was an option, but so far she hasn't mentioned it. I told her that she does homeschool on the days she doesn't go to school, which is the truth. Sometimes homeschooling sounds appealing to me, but I talk myself out of it for a number of reasons. I'm still planning on sending Athena to school, but not a traditional school as she isn't really a traditional kind of kid. I'm glad I don't have to figure this all out for another year or so.

Picky kid's Potatoes

Tonight I made breakfast for dinner. Nothing sounded good to me at all so I just decided to follow my cravings which were for potatoes. Then I had to think of what went well with that, other than veggie burgers (because I didn't want to make them) and pancakes came to mind. The pancakes were wholewheat/buckwheat with bananas and blueberries, mmmm, everyone loved those. For the potatoes, I wanted to try something to get Athena to eat some greens. I think I tried this before and she didn't go for it, but this time it worked! I cooked 7 red potatoes in coconut oil, and then added about 2 cups of spinach that I pureed in the food processor. Athena immediately questioned their color upon inspection, "Why are they green," she asked. "Why don't you taste them and see if you can figure it out," I replied. "Mmm, I can't taste the green at all when I dip them in ketchup!" Athena exclaimed. "So, do you want to know the secret ingredient...you are eating spinach!" I was tempted to lie, worried that if she knew it was spinach, she might change her mind, but she was OK with it and just continued to gobble up at least 2 potatoes worth, plus pancakes galore. Have I mentioned our food consumption has reached epoch proportions lately? The 4 of us have really been going through a lot of food. I wonder what it will be like when they kids are older and have even bigger appetites?!! Anyway, just thought I'd share about the potatoes. They were really tasty. I'm well aware there are other picky kids out there who wouldn't touch these green potatoes with a 10 foot pole, but you never know unless you try. I was pretty sure Athena wouldn't go for them, and she really surprised me.

On a totally unrelated note, Rowan started singing recognizable songs today. It is so cute to hear his little sing songy voice. He was holding his "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book and singing it just like they do in his parent participation class. He also has been begging to watch this fire truck song on you tube. He says, "hotsa, hotsa", which means "lots of, lots of", as in "lots and lots of fire trucks." It is pretty catchy.

It's coming...Veganmofo 2008

I am excited to participate this year. I'm hoping to get out of this food rut that I've been in since we moved. Now I just need to figure out a way to grocery shop with a screaming 18 month old and an always hungry 4 year old. I did it today and, whew, it was pretty much a nightmare.

Busted

Today a realtor came to show our condo since it is on the market. She was from Russia. She asked me where I was from and continued to tell us that she detected an accent with me. It was so embarrassing...you see, I have this awful uncontrollable habit where I start speaking with an accent when I hear people with an accent. You don't know how many times people have detected a slight accent with me. I've been mistaken as having a 'southern' accent (that one was because I lived with a southerner for 3 years back in college - Hi Roommate!). In an interview once, I was asked if I was from England. So yeah, it can be a bit of a problem. Chris thinks maybe I talk like them because I think they'll understand me better, but seriously, it is not something conscious that I do. I actually hear myself start doing it and try to stop, but it just gets worse! Good thing I find it pretty hilarious. Any other people with fake accents out there?!

The Screaming

Rowan screams a lot these days. I finally realized why it seems he screams sooooo much more then Athena ever did. It is because he is the little brother. He has to share EVERYTHING, and that is really hard for a toddler. Athena got to play with all her toys all the time, and never had someone bigger than her frequently scrambling for her favorite toys. Athena is really good about sharing with Rowan, but he is NOT good at all about sharing with her. He even screams at her if she tries to hold my hand or sit on my lap. It kind of makes me laugh when I think about it but it actually can get pretty frustrating. So yeah, he is a screamer, but he is learning new words every day. Here are some of my favorites:

• "gahguh" - goggles
• "mmuhmmuh" - mixer (as in cement)
• "buhbode" - skateboard (I just heard him calling this word out in his sleep while napping, referring to his new skateboard.) He has been envious of his cousin's skateboard for awhile so we finally picked one up for him at target. I don't think you could even find a used one cheaper then $7.99.
• "rella" - any princess (yes, the disney types, it is really cute but kind of a little gross that my 18 month old recognizes these!)
• "buck lll" - buckle
• "I dooo!" - as in the answer to "who wants just about anything?"
• "breetoe" - burrito
• "mana" - banana
  

While we are at it, some of my favorite Athena words of the week are:

• Painful - she used this word to describe her "hardest fall" in her soccer game. She had a lot of falls but she never cried. She was way more into her game this weekend.
• Lopsided - this word was used to describe the heart she drew. She was trying to learn how to draw a heart.
• Baddest - we took her to dinner at the vegan zone last night and she said, "I thought this dinner was going to be the baddest ever, but it was actually the gooddest!"
  

So much to blog about

I have so much to blog about but the missing camera cord has me in a rut. Over the weekend, Athena had her 1st soccer game of the season. I have pictures but no way of putting them on the computer for now, so just imagine a group of 4 and 5 year olds in neon orange uniforms that are 3 sizes to big, running around chasing a ball, lots of arms around each other (that would be Athena and her cousin who is playing on the same team), really hot weather, Rowan running in the dirt with his own ball having a blast, well, you get the pictures. It was really fun. Athena didn't seem that into it, and yet she was having a great time. She would always come off the field happy and did what she listened well, but she really observed most of the game. She said she loves the games which is funny because last year she liked practices more.

This week both my babies started school. Rowan and I are taking a parent participation class for 1-2 year olds and we had a great time. He was really attentive to the songs and story, and loved exploring the classroom and playing on the playground. He was exhausted after the first day and unfortunately I had a meeting at Athena's school with her new teacher directly after. I barely made it through the 20 minute conference with Ro's tantrums, but I left feeling really good about the new year for Athena. Her teacher seemed liked a good match for Athena.

Today was the official first day of school and it went great. Athena seems so much older this year, so much more READY for school. I don't know how to explain it, but she just seemed so confident walking into a brand new room. She wasn't hiding behind me, but engaged herself right away in the classroom. She even answered her teacher's question right away, which usually takes her awhile to do, especially when I'm there for her to hide behind. I left feeling totally confident that Athena was in good hands, and that she was going to have a great time at school. When I picked her up, she was in good spirits and she told me all about the day. She told me that some kids were doing dangerous things on the playground so her teacher wrote them down when they had a meeting. (She reported a boy was crashing into her on his bike). Hmm, what else did she tell me, oh yeah, and at snack there were little signs telling them how many crackers to take. I thought that was cool but it made me feel bad that she couldn't participate because I pack her her own vegan snack. She said it was fine though, really. She said the girls had to talk to the teacher about something, that there was only 1 princess dress and that her teacher was going to have to buy some more. It was funny what she remembered from the day, and she learned a new song or two. She was super up beat about everything, nothing phased her. She also had a ballet class today which I'm not sure how we feel about it. She said it felt like there was a lot to do. I didn't get to watch much of it because Ro was having a real hard time so I had to stay outside the room. When I asked the teacher how she did she replied, "Oh, great, she's definitely ready for this class but she has a lot to learn!" Hmm, how does a mother interpret that. For some reason I have a feeling Athena wasn't listening very well, but maybe I'm wrong. Next week I may try to leave Rowan home with Chris so that I can watch and see if the class is worth our money. Athena said she'll try it 5 more times and if she still doesn't like it much, then she'll stop going. That made me laugh.

So, the summer seems to be behind us, although we did have our last hoorah last night at the beach. My sister and her BF were camping there so we headed up for an evening of surfing (the Dads), playing, BBQing, and good company. The kids had a blast and were both asleep on the way home. I guess that is enough updating for now. I really hope I find my camera cord soon, it is killing me, or I guess maybe I should look on the sony site and find out how much a replacement cord is going to cost me. Wish me luck! G'night!

The Whole World

Athena in car today:

Mom, when will the whole world die?

Me: Well, I hope that never happens.

Athena: Well, when all the people are dead then the world will die.

Me: If there aren't any people, maybe some of the animals will still be alive?

Athena: Yes, but they will live underground because the world will be gone.

• This child is always asking me such difficult questions!
  

Tomatoes and Birthdays

My friend was away on vacation this week and generously allowed me to pick up her CSA box for her. There were tons of tomatoes and since we aren't huge raw tomato lovers, I quickly wanted to use them up before they went bad. I made a quick and easy salsa without a recipe, and it turned out fantastic. I cut up tomatoes, red onion, and added cilantro, lime juice, chili powder, sea salt and chiles. Then I put it all in the food processor and lightly processed it so that it was still a bit chunky. I could drink this stuff up, so super delicious! I also made some tomato sauce and for the first time I actually peeled the tomatoes (you know where you boil them for a minute and the skins come right off!!!)!. I then cooked it down with onions, zucchini (also from the CSA), garlic, and added ground almonds in the end. The sauce was a really pretty color because of the heirloom tomatoes, it tasted amazing, I know it was because it was so fresh, probably picked that morning. I have to admit I'm reading Kinsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle right now, and it kind of inspired me to cook more from scratch as I had gotten pretty lazy with the move, etc. While she kind of makes some lame arguments against veganism that can be hard to get past, I do enjoy her work and take from it the parts I like. I think she is an amazing author and person. Anyway, so where was I? So on to the birthday...!

We celebrated today with family and it was a relaxing day by the pool. My brother brought Indian food from Punjabi Tandoor which was fantastic as always. He kind of knows the family that runs the restaurant so they seem to understand and respect his requests for "no dairy" and obviously no meat. My SIL made the cake and it was beautiful. My camera is still MIA but she took some pictures that maybe I can share later on. It was chocolate mint, my favorite! We served it with So Delicious Coconut milk based ice cream, what a treat. My belly was so full after all of this. So the day was pleasant, everyone hung out by the pool and got to chat and it was a beautiful day here. I even got surprised by 2 of my cousins stopping by which was nice. My family lavished me with thoughtful gifts, from roses to stainless stir fry pans, hula hoops to hemp shoes. Ah, such a lucky person. My kids gifted me with no major meltdowns, and an all around pleasant day. Rowan took a nice long nap too.

Still alive

I'm still here, survived our first move. There will be another in our future. We our renting a place for now, our house is sold, and now we can just hope to find a new house soon.

Rowan was majorly sick all weekend. Most likely rotavirus. Poor guy was just a limp noodle for about 48 hours. Thankfully he was still nursing or he would have had to be hospitalized I'm sure. Today he is improving, had a good appetite. I'm thinking we've turned the corner, but this illness has had its ups and downs so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Athena is doing beautifully with the move. She wants us to buy a condo. She loves having an upstairs, and swimming with Dad every day. We even got to have lunch with him today right at home. That was nice!

We're moving, 1st haircuts, fevers

The moving truck comes Friday to move us out of this place. We will be staying in a condo for awhile as we continue to search for a home to buy. The condo is right by Chris' work, as in a 5 minute walk, has a pool in the complex, walking distance to Whole Foods/Trader Joes, a playground is nearby as well. It all sounds lovely, but I'm really starting to realize that we are really leaving this house forever. The house my babies were born in. I am really excited to be moving on, I think it will be better for our family, but I know I will miss it here. No, not the crazy ants that invade year around, or the smallness, or the millions of projects we've done to keep this place alive. But I know I will miss my yard. My yard used to drive me crazy, but the kids are finally at an age where they really enjoy playing out there. Rowan wakes up each morning and asks for "eeeeng, eeeeeng" (swing). They love filling up the pool, playing in the sandox, checking the tomatoes ("maaan-oooohhs"), gathering rocks and twigs. It really has been a rather nice summer out there. So yeah, I'm gonna miss it, but I hope we find something that I love even more. Athena has been acting out a lot, I'm sure it is because of the move. I keep forgetting that though in the moment and getting really frustrated with her. Luckily, she keeps me laughing with her random anecdotes.

Rowan got his first haircut today, but then suddenly came down with a high fever so I left my camera at the park in my panicky state. He is OK, and my friend has the camera. She is also the one who cut his hair. I can't stop staring at him. His lovely mullet is gone. It was starting to look like I cut his hair like that on purpose, and while I should be OK with that, due to my roots in the "T", I just couldn't let it go any longer. I'll probably never see those curls again as they looked like those baby ones that never come back. He looks absolutely adorable, but different. It will take some time for me to get used to it. It feels different too. I can't wait to post pictures of it so you all can see but it will probably be a few days until I get the camera back. So, that is all. His fever was up to 104.6, the highest he has ever had (athena got up to 104.9 when she had a kidney infection once though). Looks to be a virus, I even took him to the Dr. as I was kind of panicking.

Well, I should be packing, but I just can't get in the mood for it. Poor Chris will be stuck packing it all (again). The last time I was 8 months pregnant so I used that as my excuse, this time, I don't know what it is. I guess I just don't know where to begin. Luckily, we don't have to be out of here for another week. The house will be termite tented monday though so we'd like to have just about everything out by then.

If you need a dinner recipe, then make this. It was so good. Thanks VeganYumYum.

Kidical Mass

Tonight we took a family ride with a bunch of other families for the first "kidical mass" ride in our city(as far as I know it was the first). It was a lot of fun and I really hope the group continues to grow. The idea is:
"To celebrate the fact that Kids are Traffic Too. For family fun on vehicles that don't hurt the future! Another excuse to pedal with your family."

If you are in the San Diego area, then check it out:
http://pedalmamas.blogspot.com/

http://www.kidicalmass.org/

Midwife cat

While driving today Athena out of the blue asks us:

"Want to know the most funny cat thing?" (we say sure)

"A cat midwife!" (this was followed by lots of laughing from us all, then I ask if it is a person who is a midwife for cats, or an actual cat midwife?)

"It is a real cat midwife!" she says. (we all laugh again and again because it is so funny)

She adds, "She just says 'Meow, Do It, Meow, Do It!" (followed by more laughing)

Athena is one hilarious little girl.

SOLD

There is a SOLD sign on our house now. I can't even believe it. We still don't know when we have to be out of here, but the realtors will be talking this weekend. I'm guessing we have only 2 weeks or so. So much to do...like find another place to live! We are planning on renting in the area we'd like to buy since we haven't found anything we really love yet. So, I'll keep you all posted. Some day I'll be back to cooking regularly and blogging with all kinds of awesome pictures, but for now this will do.