Monday, July 19, 2010

Lentil Tacos


Originally, the recipe came from http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/, but I've made several changes to the original.

It is a really inexpensive meal to make, very easy... and healthy too! My husband, a very picky eater, loves it. We actually prefer it to its meat alternative. Enjoy!

Easy, Inexpensive Lentil Tacos
3/4 cup dry lentils (the brown ones)
3/4 cup brown rice
4 cups water
4 boullion cubes (I use chicken or beef, but you can certainly use veggie... or just salt!)
4 t chili powder
1 t cumin
2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder

Rinse the lentils and remove any debris. Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Give it a good stir, then turn down the heat to medium and put the top on. This will smell wonderful as it cooks! I usually take a peek and give it a stir every ten minutes, and it will take 20 to 30 minutes for the water to be absorbed.

Add your favorite taco fixings to complete the meal. We usually do small flour tortillas with cheese, tomato, and onion, but it tastes great on a crunchy taco or just by itself!

Favorite Family Recipes: Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps


These are the best! They're very easy and sound impressive :). The Thai Sweet Chili Sauce is the only thing that's "specialty," but it's pretty inexpensive. You'll get 3-4 meals out of a bottle, and we have ended up making this recipe fairly often. It's GREAT when you feel like takeout, but don't want to dish out the cash. The original recipe is from the Sun Maid Web Site.

1 pound ground chicken
1 cup onion, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 to 2 T lemon juice
1/4 cup Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (even my rural Food Lion has this)
Cilantro, if you have it on hand, to taste
Bibb or iceberg lettuce

1. Brown the chicken and onion together with desired salt and pepper.

2. Reduce heat to medium/medium low. Add the peanuts and raisins, and cook for @5 minutes, until they've softened up a bit.

3. Add the chili sauce and lemon juice, and cook a few more minutes.

4. Peel off washed lettuce leaves and serve like a lettuce burrito! Yum!

*** Note: The original recipe called for Bibb lettuce, but that stuff is pricey. We've tried different types (romaine, green leaf), but iceberg actually works the best!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

PREGNANT!

Woo hoo!

I thought I was, but we got the positive test today... number two, here we come :)

I'm due March 14th, which will work out really well with my husband's school (he's an assistant principal) and school (he's also a doctoral student) schedule.

Yea!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Pregnant??

I'm maybe pregnant... no positive test yet... just many signs and, the obvious one.

The idea alone, though, has really made me contemplate how things will
change so, so much when another one is around.

Our first one was such... a miracle? A joy? Is there a cliche' that doesn't apply?




How in the world did she go from such a little thing to a walking, talking, independent almost-three-year old?

I'm feeling really emotional about her loss of babyhood... and at the possibility of introducing another whole life to share our time together!

I'm wondering if there are any good books about introducing siblings? Any personal experiences to share?

I have absolutely no attached/gentle parenting friends (boo) and am feeling at a loss for how in the world to cosleep, nurse, etc. with two (Bug is still nursing... although truthfully I would like to at least phase it out some!).We really struggled with Bug to figure things out, and I'm determined to learn from others a bit more this time around!

(Listen to me, I'm such a planner that I'm possibly not even expecting and already trying to create a list and cross it off... ha!)

Monday, July 5, 2010

The Bad News Is...

That my camera is broken (ish)! There's some kind of flash delay that makes all indoor photos dark. Boo.

The good news is, that it is still covered by the Best Buy accident protection plan, the best money ever spent.

I always hear that those insurance plans are a waste of money, but we've earned it back 10 times over with everything we've ever bought there!

I'm not sure if that's a testament to the quality of their products or the clumsiness of their owner.... :)

I'm holding onto my camera for some outdoor festivities of the next few weeks, but am sad that the pictures for the fun that's been going on at our house since my husband is home for the summer (the biggest perk of being a school administrator) have been so dark.

Driving boats at the museum...
Writing in the sand, although combing it proved more fun.


A little watercolor painting...


And more! We made some rose petal beads, which turned out well, but the photos are so dark I can hardly tell what the picture is!