Tortillas and Tiredness

This week I have been an exercising machine! Halfway through the week I am sore and sleepy! Seriously, I am laying in bed typing this on my phone (ah technology). I'm trying to be extra quiet and hope the kids sleep late...yeah that's gonna happen. Anyway, so I went to kickboxing Monday (and I'm STILL sore today). Then, yesterday, I trotted a mile and a half. I am pretty sure I almost died. And early this morning I went to the gym and pedaled my hiney off. I came home, took a shower and just crawled back in bed. I'm sooo not a morning person!

I am trying to prepare myself for a 1 mile "Fun Run" in November. Whoever named it that needs their head examined. But I promised my son I would do this with him. The things we do for our kids. So far I can run the length of the street. Then I have to walk and recover for a while. Because I almost died.....

I would like to talk to you today about last night's supper. Why? Because it was fully awesome. Chicken, spinach and white bean quesadillas. Yes, yes, I know....tortillas again. I do not know why in the world I can't seem to stay away from dishes involving them. But for this dish? I was so okay with it. Everyone ate it like it was going out of style. They are so so so yummy. Protein and veggie packed. The recipe came from theothersideof50.com. The app on my phone won't let me link up but be watching the recipe tab for the recipe because that site is next to impossible to search!

Did I say already that I'm tired??

Veggies, Veggies Everywhere!!

I have three meatless meals planned this week...3! Yesterday, for me, was a completely meatless day. Mostly because I found a new smoothie recipe that I liked so much, I decided to have it twice. Mmm smoothies. This was was suspiciously dubbed the "Green Monster". This made me slightly wary. Then I saw the blogger's picture of it and was downright frightened. I had already committed though so I dove in. She describes this smoothie as tasting like a guilty treat. And it really does! Your penance for indulgence? Staring at a glass of bright green liquid. If you can get past the color, it's awesomely delicious. And you know what? I can get past the color. My sister-in-law was over yesterday at lunchtime when I made the Green Monster for the second time. She was just as disturbed as I was the first time, but I mean who wouldn't be disturbed by something that looks like blended up grass? She tried a sampling though and was impressed with the fact that you can't taste the spinach....and there's LOTS of it in there. But it tastes like a peanut butter banana shake. I think I'll be having one again for lunch today...

Yesterday's dinner was a Mexican Lentil Stew that I got by stumbling across a blog called Budget Bytes (link ALL the things!) I think my lucky "Pin It!" button and I will be further exploring this blog for meal ideas. Yes, I know. Mexican food again. At least this time there are no tortillas. The blogger suggested dipping tortilla chips in this stew but I'm sure you can guess that I did not take this suggestion. I have started logging calories so I was excited to find that this stew is extremely low calorie. We served it over rice....because we're Cajun. My kids said "beans and rice!" and ate it like it was going out of style. My husband made lots of yummy sounds and said multiple times that it was really good. I thought it was excellent too. It had a smoky flavor from the fire roasted tomatoes and all the spices. Don't leave out the lime juice. I think it really needs it to brighten up that heavy smokiness. So, I'm guessing I've added a new recipe to my collection.

Speaking of, I've really got to go through the recipes in my box. There are so many pieces of copy paper crumpled up in there that I can't hardly put the lid on anymore. It's ridiculous. I'm sure that there are recipes in there that I'll never make again. Those need to go away. Then, the ones that I'm going to keep should be transferred to cards that actually fit inside the box...yeah...that's gonna happen soon...

Tonight, we're having hamburgers and fries. I really should have put that on a day when I go to the gym...Thursday and Friday though are going to be meatless dinners too! Thursday is veggie lasagna (the recipe for that is posted on my recipe tab). And Friday is baked potatoes. I may cheat Friday though and sprinkle some bacon on my potato. Bacon.....

All my clothes are too big. While most think of this as a good problem, I can't afford to replace them . I guess I know what I'll be asking for for Christmas. Maybe I should take to Craigslist too. Seriously. My wardrobe is pitiful.....

The Good, The Bad and The Tortilla

Ok so my title is bad and I feel bad....

We had veggies in a tortilla for the third week in a row. This time it was sweet potato and black bean flautas. I am really tired of tortillas. I am going to be scouring the Internet for something...anything!....meatless that does not go anywhere NEAR a tortilla! Any suggestions?

I just finished my first kickboxing class. I thought the other class I was taking was hard! This one may kill me! It's only once every week though, and then I can only come every other week because of other schedule conflicts. I've lost 20 pounds though and I hope to keep it going. I'm seriously considering coming at the crack of dawn to get on a bike! I'm officially crazy!

Tomorrow is my Dad's birthday. Or it would be. If he was still here. I don't think about it too much but last week in our Bible study discussion we talked about unfulfilled longings. We talked about how some longings will never be fulfilled this side of Heaven. Somebody told me it was easy for me to say that. And it hit me like a ton of bricks. Dad. I had asked God to let him stay here longer but God's will was different. It was a long road to the place where I accepted that I can't see the big picture like God can and He really does know what's going on. But I got there. Then last week it slapped me in the face again. A fresh wave of grief. It kinda dragged me down. But I'm shaking it off and remembering why I'm here.....to be a daughter of the King. To raise my kids to love Him, and hopefully be light to somebody else along the way. Dad's turn is done. He's "graduated" as my friend says. It's my time. I don't intend to disappoint.

So there you have it. The good, the bad and the tortilla (not in that order).

Tacos, Tacos Everywhere...

I missed posting last week because I was so incredibly busy! This week we had the unexciting textured vegetable protein tacos. So I won't talk to you about THIS week's tacos. I'll talk to you about LAST week's tacos. My family, if I put it on a tortilla they will try anything. We tend to have Mexican food often. My husband loves it. My oldest child loves it. Frankly, I could take it or leave it. These tacos though, the ones of which I am about to tell you, I will take any day!

Vegan & Gluten Free Sweet Potato Tacos With Spicy Cream Sauce  <------- There it is. The taco recipe that makes me say "Yum! More Please!" Go to it. Read it. Make it. Eat it. This way you also may experience the yummedness. I altered the recipe to what I had on hand or could easily find. The store I chose to shop in this week did not have silken tofu. I used a soft yogurt cheese instead for the sauce. It came out okay but it was still missing something when you taste it by itself. Add it to the taco though and it was all good!

My kids loved this taco. Well, my youngest kind of said "I don't want carrots and sweet potatoes." Then, I handed her a taco and she was like "oh a tortilla" and ate it. She liked it too, but she would not pick up any veggies that fell out of the tortilla onto her plate. Without their tortilla coat apparently they are not nearly as good and she promptly declared "I don't like that." She has also moved into the stage of childhood where she likes nothing. Even if she has eaten it before she says "I don't like it." We say "tough" and sit her down with it and she eats what she just said she didn't like. Therefore, I do not trust her judgement when it comes to food. My son, the tiny gourmet approved of this dish and said he'd gladly eat it again! This made me happy. My hubby even liked it, but he absolutely adores anything in a tortilla and he loves sweet potatoes. I was pretty sure that when I combined the two I would be hitting a home run.

Come to think of it, we had several successful dinners last week. One of the more interesting ones was a "pasta" dish I made. I used squash cut into ribbons instead of pasta noodles to go with a parmesan cream sauce. My son asked if we could always have "squash noodles" instead of "regular" ones. My daughter, however was not as intrigued. She didn't even finish what was on her plate. So we probably won't have that one as regularly.

Last week was a week of culinary "wow". This week has just kind of been meh. And there's been a lot of meat so far this week. I don't like that. Red meat too. I have to be careful to balance it out. My IBS does a lot better without so much meat. AND I lose weight a little easier too. I'm slowly but surely losing weight. People are starting to notice, which is both nice and awkward. What DOES one say when someone says "you look like you've lost weight"? Because I've taken to saying "yes, thanks for noticing." Maybe that's rude? I don't know....

A New Recipe...or Three!

I specifically waited to write my blog post until today because I was planning on trying several new recipes this week and wanted to tell you about them all!

So first thing's first. Monday our meatless meal was Easy Pad Thai. I was pleasantly surprised! I wanted Asian food; something I'd never tried before. I pinned this recipe onto Pinterest bout 7,000 years ago but forgot about it until the other day when I was meal planning and searching for a meatless meal. I have always been a smidge afraid of "pad Thai" but this person promised it wasn't very authentic. This gave me hope! No looking for impossible ingredients only found in a store where they surely don't speak my language! Of course I left out ingredients that didn't suit my tastes. These ingredients are probably what make it Pad Thai. Oh well, I'm excited because it was really good! (Even if it wasn't really Pad Thai...) I stir fried some veggies to go along with my faux pad Thai. The kids loved it. Mom and Dad thought it could maybe use some more sauce. It was a little dry. But oh that flavor was pretty yummy!

The same day I made the pad Thai, I made dessert. "Cake Batter Pudding Cookies". Another pin. This one was just "Meh." I actually deleted the pin because I didn't feel I'd make it again.

Then there was this morning. The whole reason for my delaying my blog post another day....phenomenal breakfast of breakfasts!.....The breakfast of the pumpkin. We've been having some fall like weather. I am excited about this. Therefore pumpkin and spices have invaded my kitchen.

First, I made Baked Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts. Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar straight out of the oven...oh man! Then, I made Pumpkin Pie Smoothies. I think it could have used a little more sugar and spice but the kids loved it as is. Oh man oh man! I had a child wake up with a sick stomach this morning. I felt bad for her because I thought she'd miss out on the yummy pumpkin, fall-y breakfast. While she had no appetite for the doughnuts she guzzled down some smoothie and promptly went back to sleep. An hour later she woke up wanting to eat and put away 2 doughnuts before I called it enough!

The pumpkin recipes are sooo good! I can't wait to buy more nutmeg so I can make another smoothie with the leftover pumpkin.

I had some reservations about the exercise class I had been attending so I'm trying to find a new one to try. In the meantime I figure I'll spend some time on the bike. Yesterday I managed 13.38 miles in one hour. I was kinda proud of myself. I would have done a little strut, but my legs fell off at mile 12....

Revelations....and Soreness

Our family has gone back down to just four of us. As quickly as our foster children came in and turned our home on its head they are gone again; leaving memories, lessons learned and stains on my walls...

I have spent the last week recovering. Recovering from the whirlwind of foster parenting. Recovering from a cold. Recovering from realizing that I, in fact, do not have all the parenting skills to be the parent God has called me to be.

This first foray into foster parenting, while it did not give me the children meant to forever be in my family, gave me insight into the type of parent I am....and the type of parent I must pray and study and strive to be. God abruptly brought me to the realization that I am not necessarily an exceptional parent. He has just blessed me with exceptional children.

That's not to say I had nothing to do with how my sweet babies have turned out thus far, but learning this lesson will absolutely determine how they continue to grow. I realized that, while I have common sense parenting skills, I have failed to really dig into The Word and ask God how He would have me parent. I have been parenting on instinct. It's time to parent while standing on God's Word. I've found resources and begun reading in my daily quiet time and already God has shown me weak areas I can strengthen. When I work to apply the things I am learning I see my children bloom before my eyes! It's amazing what God will do when we are obedient.

So I am finding myself. As a parent, as a teacher (help me Lord my second grader hates to read!). I'm finding myself as a wife. As a woman of God.

I am still struggling with rebellion in the form of eating and drinking things that I should not. I have actually started delving into that through a Bible study I am going to at church. Because God knows what I need. Monday I was SO very sick all because I craved a soda. I know caffeine in any form aggravates my digestive system. But I drank it anyway. If I can kill that devil I'll be doing pretty good. I have lost 15 pounds. So now I have to start saving to buy myself new clothes. Sigh. I actually loathe clothes shopping. Last year I dragged a friend along with me and she dressed me. She'll probably hide if she hears me talking about doing that again!

My life in a nutshell.....homeschooling, housecleaning, praying, hiking my pants up. It. Is. Good.

Oh. And being STINKING sore! This exercise class is kicking my rear! But it's the reason I'm down 15 pounds. So back I go. As a matter of fact I just got done. Excuse me while I whimper.

The Accidental Meatless Day

Yesterday was a fail of epic proportions...on one hand. On another hand it was a win. Unfortunately the win was much smaller. It actually took me aback when I realized my little win this morning. Let me 'splain...well it's lengthy...let me sum up.

Yesterday was our first day of the new home schooling year. Yay right? Not so much apparently for my foster children. These are unstructured, undisciplined children who were already pretty much incapable of adapting to life in our house. THEN I had the nerve to ask them to do coloring sheets and quiet activities while my second grader completes his work. Well, that's what I thought I asked them. Apparently, they HEARD "and now we're going to cut off your toes." Every step, every activity all I got was an "I don't want to" and lots and lots of screaming. They, quite literally, cried for two straight hours. I feel bad for them because they are going through so much. Then I feel bad for my kids who have to endure it all. Then I feel bad for me because I am so weary it's not even funny. Today I have a cold that I caught from the kids. I feel like I have been run over by a small Japanese vehicle. I was chafing at the bit to go to my usual aerobics class. I am pretty sure I almost died. My head nearly exploded. But now, I am calm, I feel balanced.

This is where my big little win came in today. I realized I'm slowly, silently slipping from a slothful lifestyle to becoming a doer. I sent the animals (I mean children) out to recess today and was thinking "oh yes! 20 minutes of peace! I'll sit down and read a little!" Then I saw it. The patio and porch littered with debris. And I didn't sit. I quietly swept the back patio. Alone with my thoughts and the sunshine while the children laughed and played a few feet away. And I thought, "when did this happen?"

And now for the reason for my title, the other small win. I, one, managed to have a meatless Monday ON Monday (thanks to the hubs who was off for the holiday.) We had Veggie Chili. I was gonna do some awesome sounding vegan sweet potato tacos to try something new, but the kitchen got a special request.

Two? I accidentally ate no meat yesterday. I mean, meat isn't bad, but when you're trying so hard to consciously make better food choices that's a pretty big deal! I was kinda nauseous yesterday morning so I just ate a bowl of unsweetened applesauce. Why they put so much sugar in it I'll never know! Then, for lunch I had a really yummy and diverse salad. Then the veggie chili. Today as I was making breakfast it hit me...no meat at all yesterday! I chose fruits and veggies and beans over carbs and meat and fat! This made me excited. Maybe not you, but I did a small dance.