Southern Cookin' & Summer Picnics

My FitBit died a couple Saturdays ago, and my awesome parents went ahead and bought me a new running watch (a Garmin Vivoactive 3!!) as an early birthday gift. I can't really function without a running watch. Even though I'm still not running as my foot heals (soon!!), I need the GPS to track my bike rides. The watch arrived in the mail at their house last Thursday, so I drove over to Arkansas Friday night to pick it up and have dinner with my parents and granny.

My mom made our favorite summer family meal with lots of fried veggies! There are Fried Green Tomatoes, Fried Potatoes, Hoe Cakes (that's fried cornbread), Macaroni & Tomatoes, Purple Hull Peas, Buttered Corn off the Cob.

I forgot to take a picture of the amazing fried peach pies that we had for dessert (with a scoop of Nada Moo vegan snickerdoodle ice cream). But they were SO GOOD.

Check out this awesome meal from the cafe at Crosstown Arts! Massaman Curry with tofu, broccoli, potatoes, peanuts, and rice. The coconut based sauce was so creamy and satisfying!!

Curry was a big theme last week! I also had Jackfruit Curry Noodles made with Upton's Naturals curry jackfruit, carrots, bell pepper, and a red curry coconut sauce over brown rice maifun noodles. Jackfruit's textures always kind of weirds me out, but I eat it anyway.

Sprouts had the new Alpha Foods vegan pot pies on sale last week, so I tried this Chick'n Veggie Pot Pie. It was good! I'd probably never pay full price for it, but it was great for the sale price. This was stuffed with vegan chicken and broccoli in a cheesy sauce. Since I baked it in the oven, the crust was nice and crisp.

For the full moon last Thursday, the Memphis River Parks Partnership hosted a free kayaking event in the Mississippi River harbor. No way we were missing that! My friend Megan and I packed a picnic and arrived really early so we could ensure that we got a free kayak rental. We enjoyed some wine with vegan Field Roast & FYH Provolone Sandwiches, Dolmas, and Olives in the Fourth Bluff Park before the event.

Then we headed out in a kayak to watch the sun set over the river! We lucked into a tandem kayak, so we were able to stick together the whole time.