Butternut Squash Burritos

I swear that I think you are going to love this one...It's another fabulous recipe from Angela Lidden over at Oh She Glows that I have tweaked to my own satisfaction. These are killer and even Adam loves them...Adam, who hates vegetables. His salads consist of lettuce, cheese, bacon, croutons, and salad dressing...BUT these awesome vegetable burritos are fabulous and really go a long way to proving that vegetarian food can be tasty AND healthy!

What You'll Need:

• 1/2 large butternut squash, peeled, cubed, & roasted
• 1/2 cup uncooked short grain brown rice (yields: 1.5 cups cooked)
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Juice of 1/2 Lime
• 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 2 tsp ground cumin, or to taste
• 2 tsp ground corriander, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
• One 15-oz can black beans (about 1.5-2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• One 15-oz can diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro
• 3/4 cup cheese (I used mozzarella since it was all I had, would probably work best with cheddar)
  
• whole wheat tortillas
• Add Preferred Toppings (Avocado, Sour Cream, cilantro, salsa)

What You Do:


1. Preheat oven to 425F and line a large glass dish with tinfoil. Drizzle olive oil on squash and give a shake of salt and pepper. Coat with hands. Roast chopped butternut squash for 45 mins. or until tender.

2. Cook brown rice (for directions, see here)

3. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, add oil, onion, and minced garlic. Sautee for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Now add in salt and seasonings and stir well.

4.  Add tomatos, black beans, and cooked rice and sauté for another 10 mins. on low.

5. When b’nut squash is tender remove from oven and cool slightly. Add cooked butternut squash and the lime juice to the skillet and stir well. You can mash the squash with a fork if some pieces are too large. Add cheese and heat another couple minutes.

6. Add bean filling to tortilla along with desired toppings. Wrap and serve. Leftover filling can be reheated the next day for lunch in a wrap or as a salad topper.


Bon Appetite!

Plodding

It had to have been at least 3 years ago that I heard this sermon called, "Just Keep Plodding." All I can remember is the preacher is dressed like a complete hobo--dirt covers his face, I mean, it looks like he got it in his eyes. He's carrying a walking stick with a cloth bag attached at the top, with who knows what inside and he's coming down the aisle of the church acting like...well, you know, like he's plodding.

He starts talking about the famous book, Pilgrim's Progress and how Christian, the main character for those of you that haven't heard of it, faces adversity but he keeps plodding. Well you can guess how he relates this to present day life. That's right: we face obstacles in life and adversity and just problems in general and we're faced with the options of giving up and backing down, or plodding.


I've been thinking about this sermon lately, I suppose because like everyone else, I face obstacles in life. Adam and I were talking about how easy it is to feel like giving up when the odds seem against you or the path of life that you've chosen to take is harder than you thought it would be. It feels hard. If you keep going, it only feels harder. Sometimes there are people around you encouraging you to give up either out of spite or because they genuinely worry what will happen when you encounter these obstacles. With such negative voices mounting, it's easy to see why giving up is almost second nature.

I'm really not here to talk about giving up, I mean that's just kind of a downer. I guess those topics are best saved for one on one time with a therapist or a bottle of something strong (just kidding!). I'm waaaaaaay more interested in plodding; It's like that poem by Robert Frost, you know the one. The Road Less Traveled. Most people give up when the going gets tough, but a few of us choose to plod.

It takes courage and a heck of a lot of inner strength to keep pushing when things hit that breaking point. We all face troublesome times whether it's through a dead end job (I know the feeling), or a supervisor that sucks the life right out of you. 3 years, 40 additional pounds, and several ulcers later, I know how tough it can be to deal with "one of those" bosses.  For some people, it's much more personal than that. I have people very close to me who are haunted by hurts from the past and cursed with a mind that can't seem to let it go. Yeah, you've got challenges and heartaches you face in life? At the risk of sounding cliche, join the club.

The real question is not DO you keep plodding but HOW do you keep plodding. It takes a lot of self-care to push through when you feel like you've already exceeded your limit for difficulties. I've been asked at least twice over the last week or so, "What do you do to take care of yourself?" The most recent time I've been asked that question was at an interview I had with a children's home. A really nice lady interviewed me and she asked me that question. It got me to thinking, how can you "just keep plodding" if you don't know how to take care of yourself emotionally, IN ADDITION to physically?

In my Bachelor's program, they referred to Compassion Fatigue a lot. What's that? It basically means that you spend so much time taking care of other people or other things and forgetting to rest and rejuvenate yourself that you start to become numb to the plight of other people. You basically just stop caring. The only antidote really is to find what it takes for you to be renewed.

Being Renewed. That seems like such a loaded statement, and I suppose it is really. For me, being renewed has a few faces. These are the things that help me to be renewed. 

A. I write. Creative writing has gotten me through some of my roughest patches in life. There is something about creative expression that simply makes you feel relieved, like you can breathe in deeply and let your troubles escape with the wind. Sometimes I journal. Sometimes I write poetry. I've noticed that when I get particularly upset or frustrated, what I really want to do is write out what happened and how pissed off I am or how upset I am. Most of the time, I write out prayers to ask God to help me handle life a little better. It really does help.

B. I dance. I've never had lessons and I pretty much just wing it, but I like to dance when I feel stressed. There's something calming about that--they say exercise releases endorphins in your brain that make you feel happy. I suppose that's true.

 C. When all else fails...I watch the Big Bang Theory because it's freakin' hilarious and it has calmed me down and made me feel better on more than one occasion. I guess any bit of comedy will do the trick, but if you haven't seen the show, you should watch it. I dig the nerdy humor!

So basically what I'm saying is this: if we're gonna make it through this life without giving up every time something gets hard, we have to figure out how to plod. If you're gonna make the choice to push through, you're gonna have to find ways to be renewed. These are just a few ideas; there are so many other things that I do and that are just in general healthy TO do. I guess the point is, try and see what works. No, the point is to keep plodding; in order to do that, you're gonna have to find the things that help you to be renewed.

What do you do to be renewed?

The best dang enchiladas ever!

Ok, I can't take credit for this recipe, although I TOTALLY wish I could! It comes from the awesome Angela Lidden from Oh She Glows and it is a killer enchilada recipe, in fact, it's my favorite. I have oh so slightly adapted it, but check out the original if you want to do it vegan style! You can find that recipe (and many others) on her website, which can be found here. Her blog is fabuloso and she's got some incredible recipes, so hop on over and check it out (her photography rocks too!)

So I made these vegitarian enchiladas tonight and I got one...Adam got the other four! Which tells you they HAVE to be good if my meat loving husband can't get enough! I told my mom about the recipe and she kinda scrunched her nose up, but trust me, you're gonna love it and you totally have to try it out. It's a bit time consuming but completely worth it! There are two homemade sauce recipes that follow the main recipe, don't let them scare you off!

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Enchiladas w/ Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce

You will need:

• 1/2 onion (if you like more, go for a whole onion)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 sweet potato chopped into small cubes
• 2 handfuls spinach minced or chopped (I personally like it put in a food processor, weird I know)
• 1 can of black beans
• Enchilada sauce recipe to follow)
• 1 tbls nutritional yeast (optional but definitely worth it)
• 1.5 tsp ground cumin
• 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, to taste
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder, or to taste
• 4 whole grain tortilla wraps
• Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce, to pour on top (recipe to follow)
• Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grab a baking dish large enough for 4 enchiladas. You can make cleanup easier on yourself by lining the pan in tinfoil. Pre-cook the chopped sweet potato, by boiling it in a small pot of water for about10 minutes. You want them tender or they are crunchy in your dish. Drain and set aside.
2. While cooking the sweet potatos, you can go ahead and start on your enchilada sauce. You can skip this step and just buy canned but the homemade stuff is killer and makes the recipe sooooo much better!
3. To keep from crying, I put my onion and garlic in a food processor. It's especially helpful if you don't like large chunks of onion. Heat about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add the onion/garlic mix. Cook until onions are translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the spinach, drained black beans, and sweet potato and cook for an addition 5 minutes.
5. Add the Enchilada sauce, the nutritional yeast, cumin, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, chili powder- all to taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir well.
6. scoop enough of the mixture into the bottom of your pan to keep the tortillas from sticking, no more than 3/4 a cup, roughly.
7. Begin filling the enchiladas with the yummy mixture and laying them into your baking dish placing the fold down on the pan, continue filling all the tortillas.
8. Scoop your remaining mixture onto the top of your enchiladas. I like to sprinkle the top of mine with cheddar cheese just to give it that enchilada feel.
9. Bake for about 18-20 minutes
10. When they finish, pour your cilantro avocado cream sauce on top and enjoy!

Enchilada Sauce

• 1/4 cup olive or grapeseed oil
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato soup (unseasoned)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
2. Gradually stir in tomato soup, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.

Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce

• 2 Avocados
• 2 tbsp water, or more as needed to thin out
• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice, to taste
• 1 cup packed fresh cilantro






1 tsp kosher salt, to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
Black pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor, process the avocado flesh and water until creamy. Now add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth and well blended. Use immediately for best results.

Folks, there is a reason I don't have picture you share with you! These were gone in 2 seconds flat. I looked at Adam and said, "I think this is one of the best things I've ever made." He took another huge bite and just nodded his head and kept eating.

Oatmeal Cookies--ReMaKe!

So this morning, my crazy husband had a hankering for something sweet (nothing unusual). My first thought was hey! I'll make a coffee cake! Then I remembered the list of ingredients I needed (and keep forgetting to buy) and so coffee cake was out. He sees the rolled oats in the pantry and oatmeal cookies were all he could talk about.

SO, what did I do? Well, I ran into the kitchen to try my hand at making oatmeal cookies without some of the traditional ingredients that are usually used--you know, like sugar and raisens and vanilla extract.

I decided to get a little creative and BELIEVE me, you'll thank me for it!






Cinamon Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies--a healthier take!


What you'll need:

• 2 tbls butter (I actually used I can't believe it's not butter and it worked nicely)
• 1 tbls flaxseed mill
• 1/3 c light brown sugar
• 1/4 c. organic, raw honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tbls water
• 1/2 c whole wheat flour (all purpose probably works just as well)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 c rolled oats
• fresh blueberries, as many as you like (I used around 3/4 cup)
• copped walnuts, as many as you like (I used around 1/4 cup)

Directions:

• Start by preheating your oven to 350 and spray a cookie sheet with some nonstick cooking spray.
• Start by beating the egg and water together. Next stir in the butter, flax, brown sugar and honey. Be sure that they are all very well incorporated. You can use a mixer or you can do it by hand.
• Add in all of the dry ingredients and be sure to mix well. Mix in the oats, blueberries, and walnuts until well incorporated into the mix.
• Drop heaping tablespoons of the yummy goodness onto your baking sheet and then bake for about 15 minutes. Once they come out, let them cool for a few minutes before devouring.

How did he like them, you ask? Well, there's a reason I only got a picture of the one cookie...Next time I'll take picture before I let him know they are ready!

Next time you're in the mood for something sweet and you don't want to overindulge the sweet tooth with unhealthy ingredients, give these a try. THEN make sure you send me a comment to let me know how you liked them!

Until then, don't forget to subscribe for more yumminess coming your way!