Category Archives: The Family

Vegan Banana French Toast = Baby Finger Food

18 Monday Jul 2011

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I’ve been trying to think of meals that Little T can eat on his own with his chubby little fingers. I remembered one of my favorite recipes from my time at the Dr. McDougall 10 Day Health Clinic. It changed my life when I went there because of health problems in 2003. One of the great things about the clinic were the buffets of food they’d have out for each meal. You could pick whatever you wanted to eat and find things you liked so you could make it at home. They also had the names and recipes for all the food. It doesn’t get any easier than that, folks!

When I was thinking of finger food for Little T, I thought of their banana french toast. It’s so easy to make and I knew he’d love it. You can find this recipe in the McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook. You may also be able to find it on their website if you search the newsletter section.

Vegan Banana French Toast by Mary McDougall

We made this for Little T last night to try it out. We had to make extra because the adults kept sneaking bites. :p He gave a happy little foot kick after each bite and ate two pieces of the french toast. I think it’s a winner.

Harry Potter was awesome-until someone blew chunks in my hair.

15 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by in The Family, The Travels

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It seemed like the perfect night. My parents were in town to watch Little T for us, I found my old Harry Potter tie from when I waitressed at the Macaroni Grill, and the movie theater let us in at 6:30. If only I would have known how the night was going to end…

My friend came to meet us at the house all dressed up and ready to go. She is my Harry Potter partner in crime!

We picked up Big T from work and started the long drive to the movie theater at Downtown Disney. It’s our favorite because they let us sit inside instead of having to wait outside in line.

There was a lot of traffic, so it’s a good thing I brought my wand to zap the cars out of the way.

The theater was kind of scary because Lord Voldemort was there.

Voldemort and Umbridge

Luna was more welcoming:

Luna Lovegood

I loved seeing wizards at the snackbar:

Wizard Snacks

When the movie was about to start, I could hardly contain my excitement:

ZOMG ITS STARTING

We sat through the first movie and had a great time. We LOVED the second movie, but five minutes before it was over, the person behind me dropped what I thought was a slushy on my head. Yeah, it wasn’t a slushy. More like the effects of too many Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans. To my horror, the person behind us tapped me on the shoulder and said she’d just thrown up in my hair. She said she’d gotten food poisoning or something and threw up twice during the movie, and couldn’t hold it anymore. My guess is that she felt the urge to throw up, but didn’t leave because it was the end of the movie. I. was. disgusted. I couldn’t even say anything. I mean, how do you even respond to that!? Come on people, I know you love Harry Potter, but if you start throwing up in the theater you should probably leave. I got up and looked at Big T in shock. Kind of like this= 0_0 I had vomit all over me and didn’t know what to do.

Thankfully, two of the people in our group work for Disney weddings and are used to successfully and creatively dealing with bridal day mishaps, or anything else that’s thrown at them. We walked to the Disneyland hotel, they asked for some shampoo and conditioner and a bag for my clothes (thanks Disneyland Hotel for being so understanding), and washed my hair out in the sink (thanks girls), and changed my clothes. I’m glad I brought my pajamas to change into so I’d be comfortable. I’m also glad that I was thrown up on at the end of the movie, instead of the beginning. Erg.

So that’s how my night ended. I got home and took another shower at 3 in the morning and fell asleep with wet icky hair.

I’m going to try and remember all of the good things about the night instead of the end.

Who am I kidding? I’ll always remember the last Harry Potter movie as the film where I got thrown up on. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sit in front of a person at a movie theater again.

Koroneburg Renaissance Festival

14 Thursday Jul 2011

Posted by in The Family, The Travels

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One of our recent trips was to the Koroneburg Renaissance Festival. I hadn’t been to a Renaissance Fair in about ten years, so it was a blast to the past for me. The fair was pretty charming with a permanent village set up just for the Fair (fun fact: they filmed an episode of House there). We met a few friends and walked around and enjoyed the booths. I didn’t find any vegan food, but I did find this fancy mask:

The highlight of our trip was the jousting tournament. I love, love, love photographing events like this.

And here’s Trevor with two lovely ladies that caught his eye.

Hasn’t gotten the spoon figured out yet…

09 Saturday Jul 2011

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Eating on his own...

Today we had quinoa made in water that was boiled with ginger. It had curry, lentils, and broccoli bits in it. We were working on using the spoon, but he definitely hasn’t mastered that skill yet. He ate half of that bowl. I can’t believe how much this kid eats!

How to make: 

Slice up some ginger and boil it in water. Add the quinoa and cook. Once the quinoa is done, add lime, steamed lentils (I use the Trader Joe Lentils), and steamed diced broccoli.

Steampunk at the Labyrinth of Jareth

05 Tuesday Jul 2011

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Big T and I had an amazing time last weekend at the Labyrinth of Jareth. We’d heard about it from a few friends, and were excited to finally be able to go. We decided to go Steampunk, but we’re going to try something a little more spectacular next year because we felt inspired by all of the creativity in the room.

Steampunk Costumes

I remember back in the day, when store bought Halloween costumes didn’t exist and you had to throw a sheet over your head and poke holes in the eyes to be a ghost. Nowadays when kidlets knock on your door for Halloween treats you’ll see 10 identical Spidermen, 5 Batmen, and 2 Ironmen, and then a few Barbies or Disney princesses. I miss the clever costumes! That’s why I was in heaven at the Labyrinth of Jareth. Everyone put so much thought and time into their costumes and they all were stunning. It was a great people watching event and I loved walking around and taking in all of the creativity.

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It was the coolest date night we’d ever had. Everywhere we turned there were performers and musicians and dancers. There were three stages and the shows were constant. We were never without something to do. There were so many things to look at that it was overwhelming at first. We walked around and danced together until our feet were so swollen that we couldn’t dance anymore.

We were sad when we had to leave at midnight, because we didn’t want Big T’s mom to have to stay up much longer with Little T. It was really nice of her to babysit for us when we were staying out so late. On the drive home, we talked about all of the costumes we saw and how great everyone looked and tried to decide which costumes were our favorites. We were hungry and felt like teenagers when we pulled into the Taco Bell drive through to grab something to eat. I don’t think I’ve had fast food for six+ years! I probably won’t have it for six more, but it was a fun way to end the night. We ate in the parking lot, talking the entire time, and were still hungry afterward so we laughed and drove through the drive through again.

Little T wasn’t having any sleep that night, so it was hard when we got home. We were both really tired the next day. It was worth it though, what a night. 🙂