You may like it

I talked about recently making a switch to eating Vegan, but haven't been able to share much of my food with you so I figured I would share it with you tonight! Tonight I made something that doesn't look great at all but really taste pretty good!
Jeremy's words were "We need to write on the recipe, this is something that taste great, but looks TERRIBLE!"

So we have been eating Vegan on my part, not too strict (yea I admit I ate cheese but it wasn't the same as it used to be) anyways :p the kids and Jeremy have had cheese because they are not ready to give it up yet but we have given everything else up and haven't had any mean since the big change! I guess it has almost been a month! I am going to start to share more of my meals because it is truly crazy all the different things we have eaten since we have started this!

The other day my mother someone who either eats out or eats out of a box, took Rileigh and I out to lunch. It was the first time we had eaten out since the change and it was a challenge for me to find a dish that we wanted to eat but we found something! During finding the meal my mother made the comment "what do you eat sprouts?"

It amazes me at the comments that I get from people when they ask about it, because I don't offer up the information to just anyone just to avoid all the comments! I also got asked how I was going to be able to handle being a Vegan and a part time working mom!!! WTH all I could answer back was "I will make it work"

So here is tonights dinner!
It is Loaded Black Bean Soup+tofu!

Ingredients
SERVES 4
4 corn tortillas, crisped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 15 oz cans black beans
3 cups water
1/2 cup salsa
1 tbsp lime juice
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro(optional)
hot sauce(optional)
green onions,sliced (optional)
4 potatoes
16 oz broccoli
I added a little bit of tofu to this as well, or you can add some meat
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350
Bake, boil, or steam potatoes and set them aside. Meanwhile, crisp tortillas in the oven for a few minutes, until they are crisp (5 min), then crumble into broken chips. Saute onion in a thin layer of water over high heat until translucent, about 2-3 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin, and stir to combine. Then add beans, water, and salsa. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, let it simmer on low for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. Transfer half of the mixture into a blender and puree until mostly smooth. Mix back in with soup. Place cooked potatoes in bowls and mash with a for. Add broccoli then black bean soup. Top with chips, cilantro, green onions, and hot sauce. Alternativerly, eat soup with a side of vegetables (potatoes and broccoli). I mixed them all together in on big bowl!
Get past the looks and try it if you like soups it is tasty! You can add some meat in it if you are a meat eater or try it with out :) Ours has tofu in it!

Ry of course had some cheese on hers :) but Im ok with that!
I had mine with some chips, and it was very yummy!
Like I said it really doesnt look all that great but you may like it if you try it! Now I sound like my grandparents used to sound telling me that ;p

I messed up the meal, I put more than half of it in the blender so to fix it we added more black beans to the pan...ooppss! Mama messed up :/ bahaha you live and you learn! This Vegan things is for sure a learning experience for a girl that grew up eating hamburger helpers and drive threw food!

Who doesn't love pictures

Today I thought that I would share some pictures of the kids and tell everyone about their appointments that we just went to! Rileigh finally had her 2 year check up and she weighed in at 24 lbs and 3 oz and is 33 in tall!!!! She finally gained a pound! This is big news for us because we have had her drinking pediasure for year now and she only gained 1 pound...she is just a skinny mini!!

The doctor was amazed that Rileigh could say the things that she was saying, I was thinking well you should hear the girl at home! She is a chatterbox that can definitely put together more than a 2 word sentence!

On to Lliam, we are having Eci come out. I haven't blogged much in the last weeks because I have been in and out of testing with everyone. I had to have blood work down with both kids, a swallow study done with Lliam, and a upper GI study done with Lliam! We are finally to the point with him where we have decided that we are going to start feeding therapy, start reflux meds (again), and then retest his swallow study in 3 months to see where that is at!



So here are some pictures of my crazies :)

Rileigh now loves putting on make up :)

We always have to spend time outside and of course Jemma loves to give the kids kisses! Rileigh wasn't too happy about sharing the car with Bubba but she did good with it!

Giraffe got left in the car which is a scary thing around here! IF we can't find him it is like turn the house upside down until you do! He has been with Rileigh since day 1!!!

I went back to find some pictures in my phone and show you just how long her and giraffe have been friends :)

Rileigh spent the night with my aunt and this is a picture I got while she was over there! She always has so much fun when she is there, I know she was enjoying herself and Lliam was enjoying having mama to himself!

So fitting to me :) Who says eating the way I have been lately can be good or even appealing??


In other news we are getting ready to move into a new house finally and I am getting ready to start a job at TJ Max which is a new store in our town! I can't wait to take picture and decorate the house (which I am so going to need DIY projects and help with) But that is all for today because I have to go be an old lady now and finish crocheting some shoes! XOXO Meghann

Social Sunday

Food is a great topic to talk about because I have some big new! I have recently made a big change in my eating habits, which will make this post interesting for me to complete! I am now eating as a vegan, as I stated before I ate organic but I made the switch about a week and a half ago to completely vegan. Before that I had not been eating meat for a while but being vegan is a whole other step. So for this post we will see how I can answer all these questions!!

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Cheese! That has been the hardest part about making the change, I MISSSSS my cheese so much it is so freaking hard to not eat cheese! But I can tell anyone who is thinking about making a change or who is allergic to dairy, they make a soy based cheese. Which you can eat when you are Vegan and you can find this cheese when you are at Whole Foods! It isn’t too bad if I say so myself!

What's your guilty pleasure/comfort food?

Used to be Taco Casa MMMHHHMMM if you haven’t had Taco Casa you do not know what you are missing! I would say that now I am going to say anything Mexican! I love love love Mexican food!

What's the weirdest/craziest thing you've ever eaten?
I think it would be a frog leg, I really was a picky eater as a child so I never got “crazy” with eating!

What foods do you avoid at all costs?
Going to sound crazy with the big change I just made but I used to avoid veggies at ANY cost! I never ate veggie I really was never taught to eat healthy!

What meal reminds you of your childhood?
My mothers cooking consisted of pouring a box into a pan or going thru a drive thru! No kidding she never cooked for us, so my main childhood memory would be hamburger helper!

Share one of your favorite recipes and the story behind it.
Mexican Lasagna (or Enchilada Casserole)

Ingredients
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
corn tortillas–at least 12 (we used 24)
3 cups fat free refried beans
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 tsp. chili powder, divided
1/2 tsp. cumin, divided
3 cups black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup salsa
1 can enchilada sauce (or 1 1/2 cups homemade)
sliced black olives (optional)
(we added in a can of corn as well) it was so good!!!!
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a non-stick pan with a little water (1 tbsp.), sauté the peppers, garlic, and onion for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Set aside.
Spray a 9 X 13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottom with a layer of tortillas (you may cut some of them to fit). Make sure you cover the entire bottom of the pan.
Stir the refried beans and spread half of them evenly over the tortillas. Cover the refried beans with half of the pepper-onion mixture and half of the tomatoes; sprinkle with half of the seasonings and half of the black beans.
Add another layer of tortillas and repeat the layers of the other ingredients. Spread the cup of salsa over the final layer of black lbeans. Cover with a final layer of tortillas, pour the enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with black olives (if desired).
Cover and bake for about 30 minutes or until hot throughout. It will be easier to cut kkkqkkqpqllwbwbhjwjqif you allow it to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Headed back!

We are headed back to the great place that I call home. Today I am numb because this weekend has been hell yes I said it HELL!
Is there a magic book to get my kids to not be crazy? To get Rileigh to not hit Lliam? To get her to not try to use him as an outlet to put the iPhone charger into...? Geeze I can go on but you get the picture! We were in my fathers travel trailer all weekend! And when I say this I know you think well there is the problem, well this happens at home also but the trailer isn't tiny at all! She is just in the mode of being really really mean to him! I need a magic mommy book!!!! So this drive I am hoping to turn the music up and drive (and dance) until I see the wonderful signs for my exit! Wish me luck :)

Xoxo
Meghann

Fridays Favorites

In everything that has been happening I forgot my favorites! So I guess today I am posting two times :) Gosh I do have to also say that I woke up and say all over FB that something happened in CO last night and I found the news to see, and was sick! I wish that we could do things like go see a movie without things like that happening.
And while I am talking about it let me just say...because well lets face it. This is my space to say what I want, WTF is up with  people saying things about people having their kids there. I mean yea it crossed my mind but then I think to myself WTF am I thinking that! I should be thinking about the crazy man that shot up a FING movie..it is summer time and if a parent wants to take their kid to a movie then let them! If you want to grip then grip about the guy that all the sudden got a wild hair to go shot tons of people!

Anyways....my favorites this week!

Central market! If you haven't been there it is amazing! I mean if you love to cook and half way try to eat healthy then you should try to find a central market! If you cant find one in your town..HEB is a chain of them.
One of the best parts of the Central market is that when you first go in is there is a piggy bank for kids you give them the quarter and the kid gets to pick a piece of fruit to eat while you are walking through the store..nice to keep them calm! Then when you are leave there is also the same thing for fresh flowers!

I also am loving the new cereal that I found at Walmart it is Organic but it is so yummy! It is Cascadian Farm brand, the type that I love is dark chocolate almond granola! Rileigh has her own it is the same brands and also organic but she has chocolate o's and then cinnamon crunch.

These are my new mama necklaces, which I am in LOVE with! I cant wait to order more! I can share the Etsy shop I got them from if anyone wants! These are teething necklaces you can also wear them for nursing if you BF. Lliam is a crazy teething baby so he is in <3 with these as well I will get a pic with me and him to show you! Last night we were shopping and or course I am pushing the cart he is holding it chewing on the orange one..I pull away to get milk and he bloody murder screams and everyone is looking like WTH is going on I give the necklace back and he is quiet bahaha silly boy!

Like I said this post is a little short but I am keeping my Favs short and sweet too! Have a great weekend :)

XOXO

Meghann

Short and sweet

I'm going to make this short and sweet since I am on "vacation" let's talk about this vacation if you can call it that! I drove to Odessa yesterday afternoon so that the kids could see their dad since it had been 2 weeks and Rileigh had been missing him. So I decided that we would go at nap time because with two kids under 2 that is always when I try to plan a long trip. This trip was 5 hours so I was hoping they would sleep for at least 2 hours or more for Lliam and well that didn't exactly happen! I did leave out on time but lets just say that making the drive by your self is NOT a good idea!

I ended up making about 10 stops total between gas(1 time), rest areas, and side of the road both just to grab bottles cups and adjust things to get them to not scream or yell so that it was peaceful! I even tried singing, loud music in every type, and silence nothing worked!!!!! Bahahaha so this mama was pretty much nerved out by the time I got here...

Ry has a few things she wants to do while we are here.

Swim with daddy

Go with daddy to the park

V. ?,z Qudiv>

Play with papoo(my dad who lives in Odessa too)

Xoxo

Meghann

Yesterdays IH Appointment

All weekend I could not get my mind off of my appointment that I had yesterday, I had been waiting on this appointment for months! I was starting to get super nervous about it so I pretty much shut down and occupied my time but going to the Central market with 6 kids (between me and my friend) and then to her house 2 days in a row...which means blog posting was neglected :/ but here I am after the appointment thing WTF I am happy in some parts with the appointment but geeze I really wish I could get this stuff sorted out!

So I get to the office late of course because they do not have clear directions on how to get there and parking is a nightmare! Then registration CANT find my appointment in the computer...ok so why does it matter?? Take my damn ID and let me sign the paper so I can go please right? Nope! Finally @ 230 I get done with them mind you my appt was at 2! I get upstairs and get in the room and the nurse is asking me about my meds..I am trying my best to tell her and I even brought her the bottles! No she is looking at me like I have something growing out of my head! She hands them back to me and says you can just tell the doctor! WTF 

Then in walks Dr. McHotstuff and of course Im like uhhh hello you are well worth the trouble!!! After 30 mins of me trying to explain everything to him I leave with the answer of I am getting yet ANOTHER neuro :( he gave me sleeping pills...and he will see me in 2 months to follow up with the neuro!! 

I took one of the sleeping pills last night because I didn't have Rileigh or Lliam and well lets just say that this Mama will not be able to take them! I slept until noon!! I mean I am so happy that I finally got solid rest and I feel really rested but I am also think geeze I guess he wanted my kids to CIO in their beds for hours!

So other than the craziness..I am doing ok with my meds right now..But after the appointment I have made my own medical decisions. I am still going to see my THIRD neuro to see what they say but I am going to start loosing weight and I mean 20lbs weight and I think that it will stop this. I know that I am not the typical case of the stupid IH nonsense (overweight) but I was 100lbs until I had my first kid...so maybe I need to be back down to around 120..I am at 140 right now so now I am going to loose weight then start to slowly stop meds and see what happens. Because I know many of people that have been cured of IH with weight lose. 

Now for weight lose! I have never had to battle my weight until now..I am scared for this! Any ideas or thought I am so ready to hear them TIA!!!

XOXO

Meghann