Merry Christmas

Happy birthday Daddy!

Happy 32nd birthday Daddy!

Love and sweetness

Seriously, how sweet is this picture? Almost as sweet as seeing them sneak into one another's bed at night.

Halloween- Hatzis style

Halloween came and went, and the candy continues to find it's way into my stomach. Luckily I was able to convince the kids that the best candy comes in an orange wrapper, hence the abundance of Reese's peanut butter cups in their bags. 

Elizabeth as one of her favorite princesses, Snow White

Conner as his own creation- the Recycle Monster

Sweet pumpkins at the pumpkin patch

Someone was all about getting her picture taken today

Lizzie with her pumpkin

Someone really didn't want his picture taken today

And the picture that made the trip well worth it!

J'adore Paris

We all love three-day weekends but recently I had probably the best three-day weekend of my life. I got to spend a glorious Friday, Saturday, and Sunday strolling the streets of Paris with my mom and two sisters. It was a.maz.ing.! Paris is such an incredible city, full of history and beauty on each corner. We spent most of our time doing what every good tourist does- seeing the sights and eating the cuisine. And my two goals for the trip were to eat and take pictures, and I can happily report that both goals were accomplished. I can't wait to go back and hope to take Conner and Elizabeth (and baby sweet P) over there some day. In the mean time we are trying to learn French by reading Bonsoir Lune each night.

Holy crap, I could be a vegan bowl

Do you see that deliciousness in front of you? Are you dying to know what is inside that magnificent piece of art in a bowl? Well if not, you should. That is what my friend Katie would call a harmony bowl, my sister would call a Buddha bowl, and I call it, well, a "Holy crap, I could be a vegan bowl!". I made this for dinner last night after hearing Katie rave about it at work last week. It was so good, almost as good as the caramel ice cream I ate in Paris last week (yeah, don't you worry, I'll be sharing a lot more about Paris with you soon). Y'all really should try it, I promise you can't mess it up.

Holy crap, I could be a vegan bowl:
Package of tempeh
Veggies of your choice (I chose broccoli, mushrooms, stir fried sweet potatoes left over from another incredibly delicious recipe, and Japanese eggplant)
Rice or noodles (I only had egg noodles in the house, which aren't vegan- but you could use rice noodles to keep the dish vegan )
Sauces to put on top of the bowl (I put some Siracha on there, along with a tahini sauce and some tamari soy sauce)

Alright, here's what you do. First, cut your tempeh into cubes and marinate overnight. "Recipe" for my marinade is below. Cut your veggies up into sizes that will fit in your mouth. Get out some peanut oil and heat that stuff up in your wok (or other large sauté pan, but really a wok works best to keep oil splatters contained). Now one by one sauté your veggies and tempeh. Also, during this time cook your rice or noodles. While it sounds painful to sauté your veggies one by one, you surely could do it all at the same time but just adjust cooking time for the different veggies so you don't end up with veggie mush. Then when everything is cooked and ready, assemble the veggies and tempeh on top of your rice and noodles and top with some of the delicious tahini sauce (recipe below), Siracha (for those who like it hot), and soy sauce.

Marinade for tempeh:
*I don't measure things. It seems unnecessary to measure unless baking, which I know is why I will never be a professional food blogger*
Siracha
Tamari soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Hoisin sauce
Really, just mix up whatever sounds Asian in your house. Throw the tempeh in and let it absorb the flavor.

Tahini sauce:
I seriously make this sauce for just about everything. I haven't found one thing that it isn't delicious on yet.
Some tahini, maybe 1/4 cup
Lemon juice (I used 1/2 of a big lemon)
cumin
Enough water to get the sauce to the consistency you desire
Mix all of it up. Easy peasey.