Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe is so simple but so, so tasty! It makes a wonderful appetizer or even meal (if you're like me and are totally obsessed with mushrooms!). 

• 8 oz whole mushrooms, stems removed
• 1 T fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 2 T onion, finely chopped
• 1 t fresh minced garlic
• pinch of salt
• 1-2 T vegan butter (Earth Balance; or you could use your preferred oil)
• optional: cheese of choice

1.  Finely chop the mushroom stems.
2. Melt butter over medium heat in small saucepan.
3. Combine the chopped stems, onions, parsley, salt, and garlic with butter and sauté for five to ten minutes, until mixture is well cooked.
4. Spoon mixture into mushrooms. Place on baking sheet.
5. Bake mushrooms for 15 to 20 minutes at 350. (If you choose to add cheese, add it at the 15 minute mark and remove mushrooms after five minutes.)

6 Things I’ve Learned in Baby’s First 6 Months

1) Baby’s gonna do what baby’s gonna do

I had a lot of expectations when I found out I was pregnant. I thought my pregnancy would go a certain way… It didn’t. I thought my labor would go a certain way… It didn’t. I thought my life postpartum would go a certain way… It didn’t. And I thought my baby would be a certain way… Nope. 0-4. She has a mind of her own and a set of very specific preferences, just like every other human on the planet. I never thought that she would be so strong willed at two hours old, but I really should have known since she is my daughter. I just try to embrace her stubbornness and passion because she knows what she needs better than I do (for now ;)). We’re all much happier when we go off her needs rather than trying to change her mind.

2) I really don’t care what you think

Pre-pregnancy I had all sorts of thoughts on how to parent. Now I’m a parent and find myself clueless 95% of the time. Talking to fellow parents, I’ve realized that most of us feel that way. We’re all just trying to figure it out as we go, so I’m not going to stop to worry what some mom in Kentucky thinks I should do, or a working mom, or a mom of twelve. Not to be rude, but I just don’t care. I’m too tired to give anyone’s preferences for how I parent my child consideration. You parent your way, I’ll parent mine. As long as we’re all happy and healthy, does it matter if we use bottles or pacis or hold her a lot? Nope. Parent on, fellow parents. We’re all in it together.

3) Everything really can wait

House a mess? When was the last time I showered? Take out for dinner again? Still have a few extra pounds from pregnancy? Oh, well. Seriously. I’m busy snuggling my baby, watching her take in the world and process it, something she’ll never be doing like this again. That is more important than if my pants fit in a flattering way. If nothing else, we’re helping the local economy by ordering take out so much, right? ;) Eventually things will fall into place, I’ll get back into shape, the house will be fairly clean (HA!), and I’ll cook dinner most nights again. For now, though, I’m trying to sleep and enjoy my babe. If you have an issue with this, please refer back to #2. :)

4) I can do a lot more than I ever thought I could

As someone that has had health issues my whole life, parenting was a terrifying thought. But so far, despite the epic lack of sleep that has crept into my bones, we’re all still alive and thriving. I can parent when I’m sick. I can parent when I’m tired. I can do a lot more than I thought. Take that! Mommy super powers are real. I’m living proof!

5)  Community is key

Sometimes I need help, even though I’m capable of a lot. Sometimes I need to know when to call the doctor or how to get crusty sweet potatoes off of the high chair. In these situations, having some sort of community is vital. An online group is awesome, having a group of real people that you actually can get together with is awesome, too. It’s also important to have someone you can text or call when you think you’re going to lose it—because that happens every couple weeks so often.

6) Don’t judge

As I said before, we’re all just doing the best we can in our situation, so I try hella hard to not judge other parents. We all have stuff going on that others can’t see. Also, there’s that old adage about saying your kid will never do something or you’ll never parent a certain way and then, BAM, you have the baby that won’t sleep unless she’s being held (who me?) or whatever. So, it’s kind of selfish… If you don’t judge, maybe you’ll have a super easy baby. Ha! Can’t hurt to try, right? ;)

(Bonus #7)  My baby girl is amazing.

Seriously. When I was pregnant, people would seem shocked when I told them that I didn’t really like kids. I would tell them, “I’m sure I’ll like my baby.” They didn’t seem convinced. Apparently being pregnant and not loving kids is not socially acceptable. Please don’t let there be any confusion: I am totally smitten with my daughter. She’s awesome. So fun. So cute. Such an adventure. So if you were one of those people that thought I may not like her because I’m not a super-happy-always-loving-kids-eternally-maternal-type, rest assured. I. LOVE. MY. BABY.

What have you learned from having kids? What did you judge other parents for that you ended up doing yourself?

Lentils in a Wooden Bowl

Mexican Lentils | Lettuce Wap

Have I told you lately how much I love Mexican food? No? Because I do. If I had to pick one style of food to eat for the rest of my life, it'd most likely be Mexican. 

So a lot of my recipes are Mexican-inspired. Like this one. 

These lentils are super easy to make (and OMG delicious) and can be used in virtually any Mexican-style dish: nachos, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, wraps (as seen below), stuffed peppers, salads, a party dip, etc.

Whip 'em up and let me see what you come up with! :)

Ingredients:
1/2 C dry lentils
2 C water
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t chili powder
1/4 t cumin
1/2 onion, chopped
1/3 C prepared salsa (I use Pace)
salt 
oil for sautéing

Method:
1. Prepare your lentils by adding them to a pot with the water and spices (including a few sprinkles of salt). Bring to boil, then reduce heat and cover. Allow to simmer for 25 minutes, until nice and soft. Drain most of the liquid.
2. Sauté your onions in a little oil.
3. Combine prepared lentils, onion, and salsa to pan and cook over low heat until most of the liquid is gone.
4. Use for quesadillas, tacos, wraps, burritos, anything you like! Enjoy!

* These wraps were made with a leaf of iceberg lettuce, Tofutti sour cream, and taco sauce. 

BBQ + Bacon White Bean Burger

Ingredients:
1 can Great Northern Beans, drained and well rinsed
1/3 medium sized onion, roughly chopped
1/2 small red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 scallion, roughly chopped
1/2 t minced garlic 
2 T oats (quick oats or regular)
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1 T bacon bits **
~ 1/4 t chili powder
dashes of salt and cayenne pepper
oil for sautéing and cooking patties
your choice of BBQ sauce

Serve with:
your favorite cheese (dairy or vegan), buns, lettuce, onion, and all your favorite burger fixin's :)

Directions:
1. Saute onion, pepper, and scallion with garlic in oil over medium heat until well cooked.
2. Put 1/3 of beans in a medium sized mixing bowl. Put remaining 2/3 of beans into food processor.
3. Once veggies are done cooking, add them to the food processor along with the oats. Pulse the mixture until there is a bit of doughy consistency--not completely liquid, but only some small chunks.
4. Pour processed mixture into bowl with the remaining beans. Mix in the rice, bacon bits, and spices.
5. Once well mixed, heat a bit of oil over medium in a large frying pan.
6. Use your hands to form 4 or 5 patties from bean mixture. Place them in pan and cook for about 5 minutes, until golden on the bottom. Flip patties and push them down to help flatten them out. Continue to cook and flip patties until both sides are a nice, golden brown color.
7. Put patties on desired buns with your favorite burger add-ons, then smother in BBQ sauce. Enjoy!

** It's pretty easy to find bacon bits that are vegan and gluten free. You can add more to the recipe if you want a more bacony flavor.

Chickpea + Potato Curry

Some nights call for curry and tonight was one of those nights. This recipe is super easy and not at all complicated. It's one that you can put on the stove pretty quickly and do other things as it cooks--a necessary trait for parents! It's also great for people who aren't too confident in their cooking abilities because it really is simple! 

I like to make a big batch of rice or quinoa and store it in the fridge for the week. This curry can easily be prepared ahead of time or right before serving, so you can just pour it over leftover rice and have a pretty delicious meal without requiring a ton of time. 

Ingredients:

½ medium onion, diced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into small, bite-sized pieces
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed well
1 can light coconut milk
1 t oil
1 t minced garlic
1 1/2 t curry
1/8 t cayenne
1/2 t ginger
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t salt

Method:

1. Saute the diced onion and minced garlic in the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. 

2. As the onion is cooking, peel and chop your potatoes. 

3. Once the onion is translucent, add remaining ingredients. Mix well.

4. Lower heat and cover. Stir occasionally. Cook until potatoes are fork-tender. 
5. Once potatoes are done, remove cover and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes until it thickens. Serve over rice or quinoa. 

Notes:

• You can substitute the potatoes for your favorite veggies and serve over baked potatoes instead!
• If you want to speed up the process, boil the potatoes in a separate pot of water for a few minutes, then drain well and add to the pan with the rest of the ingredients. 

Christmas Dinner

So, before I post about pregnancy this week (36-weeks!!!), I figured I'd share our Christmas dinner. Everything here is gluten-free and vegan and beyond delicious!

Only one of the recipes is an original, and I'll post that recipe later. For now, though, enjoy links to the other pages and their scrumptious recipes and gorgeous pictures (because I took none… hey, I'm 9 months pregnant ;)).

Appetizer:
Almond Feta Cheese (When I make this, I double the fresh herbs, but keep everything else the same. I served with Mary's Gone Crackers Original crackers.)

Main:
Walnut Lentil Loaf (I didn't have apple butter for the sauce, so I just omitted it. I also used one celery stalk, as well as one scallion.)

Sides:
Mashed Potatoes (Just use the potato layer recipe and cut way back on the salt!)
Green Bean Casserole (This is my original recipe that I will post in the next couple weeks--hopefully.)

I know it's way late and you can't use this for your dinner, but hopefully you can try out these recipes on regular days and come back to them for your next special occasion if you decide to!

34-Week Update

34 Weeks

So… I’m a few weeks behind. Oops. It’s been a pretty crazy time lately, with the holidays, traveling, having pretty crazy third trimester insanity, starting a new job, and trying to get things in line for this baby!

Everything has been good, though! We are still having a very healthy pregnancy (yay). I’ve been getting quite a bit of ligament pain and apparently, she likes to set up camp on my sciatic nerve, which is painful, but I feel lucky that those are the worst of my problems.

So far, I think the third trimester is my favorite. I was so beyond miserable in the first and partially through the second. Even though I’ve reached an epic size (I believe NASA will be rocketing me into space any day now to become the new ninth planet), I feel better (though equally exhausted).

There aren’t really any new symptoms to report, just the usual (more intense/frequent, though): heartburn, ligament pain, back pain, sciatic pain, fatigue, insomnia, and pregnancy brain.

We have totally been slacking on keeping up with the pictures—have I mentioned how tired I am? I did manage to snag a little picture at 31.5 weeks, so you get two pictures for the last 3-4 weeks. Oh, well.

Not the best picture, but 31.5 weeks!

A few random thoughts:

• Still no name. I know, I know. Everyone keeps asking and telling us how we need to get on it. It’s not for a lack of trying, though, I promise. We thought we had one nailed down and then the list of most popular names for the year was released aaaand whattyaknow? So, we are back to the drawing board…
• All of our doctor appointments have gone very well! Her heart rate is great, growth is on track, everything is looking perfect!
• I had my first genuinely rude and unbelievable comments about my size last week while Christmas shopping. A woman working in the store we were in asked when I was due, so I told her next month. She started going on and on about how there was absolutely no chance I was going to make it that far because I’m just so huge and how the baby’s going to be born at Christmas! She would not stop talking about how big, huge, massive, ready to pop I am… For anyone wondering, that is not what you say to a pregnant woman. It doesn’t matter if she’s 5 years pregnant and looks like couldn’t possibly get any bigger—either tell her how great she looks or don’t acknowledge her pregnancy at all. Seriously. You may find yourself on the business end of a throat punch. (The doctors still assure me I'm right on track, by the way, so I'm not "too big" by any means.)
• She got the hiccups for the first time (that I know of)! So weird!
• She is head down with her booty poking up into my ribs. :) I hope she stays head down and we can get this show on the road!

34 Weeks

30-Week Update

This update is about a week late--oops. Chalk it up to third trimester lack of energy and motivation, but honestly, I feel like every other week is frequent enough for updates since there's really not a whole lot to say. I think the main interest in these updates is the bump watch. People love to see pregnant bellies. Weird, but it is what it is.

Anyway, we celebrated Norma Gene and Boomer's 10th birthday with a fun little party this week, as we tried, in vain, to wrap our heads around the idea of being two months away from the babe's due date. 

As you can see, I'm pretty much ready to be launched into space to orbit the sun… Days away from generating my very own gravitational field. It's always a matter of time as a pregnant person. The good news is that no strangers have come up to me to rub my stomach--yet. Hopefully, it stays that way. 

The nursery has been painted, but is far from done! We have about a million other household things that need to be tended to, though. 

I've gotten more aches and pains, especially in my back. I'm sure that it's just a taste of what's to come. 

Flipper is all over the place, moving a ton! She is about three pounds and 15-16 inches long, which is hard to believe. I feel like, with how big I am, she should really be bigger! But she's definitely getting there. :) 

I finally seem to have managed to kick that epic cold--it only took three weeks! Yikes. But I'm glad to see it gone. I still have a bit of congestion, but that seems to just be one of the many perks of pregnancy. 

Other than that, there's not a whole lot to report. So far, there haven't been a whole lot of new developments baby-wise. I am definitely getting more excited, though! I am so ready to not be pregnant anymore and just have this precious baby. 

Hope you're all doing well and are ready for the holidays! Can you believe they're already here? The past six months have FLOWN by. I can't believe it's already time for Thanksgiving. Time to figure out Christmas!