The Blue Plate Special

for real this time.

2012-07-30T21:56:00.001-04:00

I have a new blog, and it's for real this time. We've started recounting our adventures over at a new space. It's called Adventures of Jack and Me and you can find us here. I will be sharing about our life over there from now on. Thanks so much for reading and supporting me here for all of this time, and I hope you'll follow us over at our new space. Much love! lauren

sick baby.

2012-07-20T10:29:00.003-04:00

I don't think this is the first time I've had a post with this title. We've been through several sicknesses with our babe, but I think that's normal for the first year. Gotta build that immune system right? This one is one of the worst. My heart hurts for our little guy. We actually took him to the ER on Wednesday night because he was running a fever of 104.5 degrees. I could have cooked the brownies I was making on his back instead of in the oven. Bless his heart.

He never sleeps in my arms anymore. Guess a fever will do that.

It's a virus. Our challenges now are fever management and getting fluids in him. He doesn't want to drink and will get dehydrated quickly if he doesn't pick it up.

july 4th recap.

2012-07-05T22:15:00.002-04:00

Good Thursday everybody! Wow, yesterday was so fun and I am EXHAUSTED. We really packed it all in and had a blast, but seriously, it wore me out. On top of that, or maybe because of that?, Jack did not sleep well last night. Also, I'm not sure if this is scientifically or medically backed up, but I'm pretty confident that he had his first nightmare. It was rough and sad and I really felt like a mama comforting my babe at the ripe ol' hour of 1 am from a nightmare.

We hit the ground runnin' yesterday going to the Town of Farragut 25th Annual July 4th Parade. It was so fun! I really didn't think Jack would last through much of it, but he endured the parade for an hour! Seriously impressive. And he beat his Aunt Lindsay who was asking to go before he started getting cranky.

This represents Jack pre-parade-- makin' friends with everybody.

Saw his first helicopter and LOVED it

Aunt B!

Mayberry strolled through the parade. Apparently Knoxville has an Andy Griffith Show Re-run Watchers Club. Awesome.

He got tired and just wanted to chill in his stroller.

Then we did a little grocery shopping for food to fix, along with the rest of America, and had lunch at Nan and Pops house. Then it was time for that big afternoon nap [especially since we intentionally skipped the morning one for the first time in history--- I gasp even just typing this]. I made a couple of iffy dishes while Jack napped and then we headed back to Pops and Nan's for some super fun! We played and ate and played and ate. We left exhausted. All 3 of us were in bed before 9, thus missing all fireworks. We heard them as we tried to fall asleep but couldn't even get out of bed to look at them. Jack slept through them--- thank the Lord!

My cute, patriotic boy. Our old Maryland neighbors gave Jack this outfit for his birthday. He loves the red, white, and blue!

Jack and Uncle Bud

He didn't want to take a picture.

He really didn't understand why we were making him take a picture.

We take croquet very seriously. By the way, I won!

Hope you and yours had a wonderful 4th! Fun fact of the day-- the 4th of July is my sister's favorite holiday.

the good the bad and the dairy.

2012-06-25T20:15:00.003-04:00

June is National Dairy Month. That makes some of us excited! But lately, I've been feelin' bad for dairy because dairy's gettin' a bad rap. People are running around saying how dairy is bad for our bodies and we should stay away. A common question I get as a dietitian-- back when I worked professionally in a hospital and now when people find out that I'm an RD-- is "why is dairy bad?"

I've never been someone who's strong suit is gentleness. So I manage to bite my tongue long enough to gain some composure, before answering [in a long-winded way] why dairy isn't bad. Some people think dairy can slow down our bodies and that we weren't intended to eat cow products in the first place. There are several common diets and "fad" diets out there that recommend avoiding dairy. They make claims that dairy products pass on hormones, antibiotics, and all kinds of chemicals that our bodies don't need. We could have a long discussion on this, along with ethics, farming practices, and the works but that's not what I'm getting at today. Today I want to share that I think dairy is an important part of our diets. If you don't, that's ok, let's still be friends. Just know if you ASK my opinion, I will share with you that I think dairy is OK. That I feed my toddler dairy every day. Like ANYTHING it needs to be consumed in moderation or else you will quickly fill up on fat.

Here are some of the good things about dairy:

- good source of calcium which is important for bone health and our teeth [dairy is the best source of calcium]
- good source of vitamin D which in necessary for the processing of calcium
- good source of potassium
- good source of protein
- studies have shown dairy intake is linked to better cardiovascular health as well as improved weight loss

*In all fairness, there are a lot of points that I have left out of this short blog post that are presented well by people on both sides of this issue. This is my opinion as an individual, mom, and dietitian-- that doesn't mean my opinion is right for everyone.


drinkin milk, eatin cheese

the greatest pork i've ever had.

2012-06-22T20:09:00.003-04:00

As I've mentioned before I found this pork recipe that is out of this world good. I am OBSESSED with this pork for 2 reasons:

1. It's deliciousness.
2. It's so stinkin easy to prepare.

I call it my 4 x 2 recipe because it has 4 ingredients besides the pork and the measurements are all 2's.

What you need:

- 1 1/2 pound pork [I usually use a loin but whatever you can find works and trim off the excess fat]
- 2 cups salsa [I use store-bought]
- 2 T dried oregano
- 2 T chili powder
- 2 T cocoa powder [unsweetened]

Combine the ingredients and stir them together in the crockpot.

Oh yeah, did I mention it's a crockpot recipe? Even easier.

Then add the pork and flip it to make sure it's coated. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours. Easy peasy.

The recipe suggested pork tacos so we usually do that because who doesn't like a good taco night. It's also awesome over rice. Cilantro lime rice. Really awesome that way.

*This recipe is approved by all members of the Morgan Family.

This recipe is from Real Simple and can be found here.

happy wednesday.

2012-06-20T22:43:00.000-04:00

hello from down here!

This is his new favorite trick, and he has captured our hearts with it. It cracks us up EVERY TIME.

My little stud is awesome at brushing his teeth.

waste not want not.

2012-06-19T22:18:00.001-04:00

I'm learning a lot these days. Waste not want not is one of the big things, and I am learning it through food. I believe God can teach us through anything, and He knows me and He's speaking my love language-- FOOD. We started this beautiful CSA where we truly have a bounty of the FRESHEST food EVERY week. I feel spoiled. How awesome it is that we get to do this. One of my goals with this adventure was not to be wasteful with what we have. You see, I'm that person who buys a shopping cart full of produce only to remember it's in my fridge 3 weeks later and to dig the rotting pieces out, having to clean out my fridge of rotten produce juice-- not even knowing which produce item it came from or how long it's been there. I do love produce, but I think I buy so much I forget about it all. I hate it. I hate that I waste that money. I hate that I waste that food when there are people right here in my city going hungry right now.

So part of the deal when we signed up for this CSA was that we'd get fresh produce-- whatever it is they give us-- and I'll fix it for us. I knew we wouldn't always like it. I tried the radishes, really, I don't.like.them. But we'll try it. It's taken me awhile [a month] to get the hang of this, but I am getting it. For the sake of transparency I thought I better share the whole truth here. I'm doing better with using it all, or giving it to someone who will use it [enter those pesky radishes again, turns out my mother-in-law and sister-in-law love them. win!] But the first few weeks I wasted. Especially week one.

Back here I wrote about week 1 and what I did with the swiss chard. Glad I used that-- bummed I wasted a lot of it.


Week 1

The Stats Week 1:

Broccoli -- wasted
Radishes -- wasted
Bok Choy -- wasted
Garlic -- wasted
Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Swiss Chard -- made it, tried it, bleh.
Strawberries -- a.w.e.s.o.m.e.


Week 2

The Stats Week 2:

Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Squash -- ate, delicious!
Garlic -- wasted
Cabbage -- still in fridge, keeps well... I hope
Eight Ball Squash -- ate, delicious!
Spinach -- ate half, delicious! wasted other half
Strawberries -- a.w.e.s.o.m.e.


Week 3

The Stats Week 3:

Radishes -- wasted
Turnips -- made it, tried it, not bad! [turnips get the Most Surprising superlative]
Broccoli -- ate, delicious!
Napa Cabbage -- made it, tried it, delicious! [awarded Best Dressed superlative... you'll see why when I post this recipe]
Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Strawberries -- a.w.e.s.o.m.e. [I had already eaten them before I took this picture]


Week 4 [night picture]

The Stats Week 4:

Cauliflower -- made it, tried it, bleh.
Potatoes -- in the fridge. excited to make!
Eight Ball Squash -- oh.my.goodness. greatest veggie dish I've ever made. recipe soon.
Cucumbers -- so fresh. so delicious.
Squash -- ate, delicious!
Radishes -- tried a bite of one. gross. gave to family. glad they found a good, loving home.
Lettuce -- ate, delicious!
Arugula -- ate some, some still in fridge.
Kale -- still in fridge. plans to make this soon.

Now that I'm at the end of this post, I think this must be really boring for people to read. If anyone has stuck around, do you have problems with wasting food? Any tips for me?

recipe: black bean deliciousness.

2012-06-11T15:46:00.003-04:00

Back here I posted about my black bean cake fail. The flavor was awesome, but because I didn't use an egg the cakes didn't hold together very well. I used Emeril's recipe which you can find on this website. It is really super easy and doesn't take much time!

photo via

I didn't use his Essence or Seasoning because I don't own them, and the flavor was still fantastic. Enjoy!

it's the most wonderful time of the year.

2012-06-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

It's the season for fresh from the farm produce, and it makes my heart oh so happy! This year for the first time we joined a CSA. I've wanted to ever since I saw how great they were in DC a couple of years ago. If you don't know, CSA stands for Community Share Agriculture. You buy a share of the farm and thus support a local farm. You pay a fee for the whole season [ours is 25 weeks long!] and you get produce once a week from this farm. It's really cool because you're forced to try some things that you normally wouldn't [bok choy and swiss chard anyone??], but you also get some delicious favorites like fresh-picked sweet-as-summer strawberries. The idea is that the community shares in the bounty and struggles of that farm-- not to mention the farm-to-table benefits, the delicious food, and the connection of knowing the family who grew the food you feed your family. That also makes my heart very happy. As you know, I'm a huge farm-to-table fan! I don't think a CSA is right for everybody, but for my produce-loving, fruit and vegetable consuming family-- it's a good fit.

We found a great farm down here. It's about an hour and a half away from where we live, but it's actually very close to Tommy's work. We pick up on Thursdays just five minutes away from our house. Thursday has come to be my favorite day of the week! I so look forward to what we're going to get each week, and it kind of feels a little bit like Christmas each week. [I know I'm a huge nutrition nerd but I can't help it.]

Week 1's bounty! Oh I was so excited. I have to confess, I wasted some of this by not using it. It makes me very sad but I was not prepared to handle all of this produce. We got broccoli, radishes, bok choy, garlic, red lettuce, swiss chard, and strawberries. Can you see how red and beautiful those strawberries are??! Be still my heart.

I decided we had to use everything we got. I'm done being wasteful. [That was before I wasted half this week's produce]. So I googled swiss chard-- I learned about it and I found what looked to be a decent recipe. It was actually really easy to make and the recipe included garlic, lemon, and top it with a little sea salt. Sounds pretty good, right? Honestly, it wasn't half bad, but I'm not a fan. We tried it with the whole family. Yes, I invite my who family to participate in my cooking adventures-- lucky them! It got a surprisingly good response. Tommy actually did like it; I would eat it if forced to. But we're all glad we tried it.

This pork, however, is the greatest thing I've ever put in my mouth. Ever. And so super easy. I should post that recipe sometime soon.

I added some produce from the grocery store to my red leaf lettuce to make the most amazing salad ever created. I had never had red leaf lettuce before and honestly, y'all, it tasted like it was coated in butter. It was the sweetest, softest lettuce I've ever come in contact with. Bet you didn't think you would feel so uncomfortable reading my blog, huh?

We're in week 3 now, and you know I'll be blogging about this A LOT. Happy FRIDAY everyone!

giving up on good: my phone.

2012-06-07T11:48:00.003-04:00

I'm linking up with this lovely blog today to talk about one of the ways I'm giving up on something good to make room for other good things. As we all know, too much good gets to be a bad thing.

I'm giving up on my cell phone. Not entirely- I still use it often. I still text and I still call people and sometimes I will even answer a call. But for me, texting someone right back and answering every call takes up way too much of my time with my sweet boy during the day and my sweet husband in the evenings. I LOVE talking to people and staying connected with them. I WISH I was someone who you could easily get in touch with. I WANT people to think "Oh, Lauren's so good at getting back to me. She always answers my calls." But the truth is, that stresses me out just thinking about it. [No, I don't get that many calls or texts during the day, by the way. This makes me sound like I have tons of people talking to me. I don't. I'm just not good at responding whether it's one person or 3.]

I often don't even keep my cell phone on me. I'll find it hours later and find that I've missed 3 calls from my husband. This drives him crazy. Or I'll wake up in the morning with that panicked feeling because I forgot to text someone back the day before. It's happened often, and I hate that feeling. So I'm giving myself permission to be OK with being bad at communicating. I want to spend my days focused on my babe, not attached to my phone. My one year old picks up our phones and holds them to his ear like he's talking on them. If that's not a wake up call, I don't know what is.

image from: The Tiny Twig

*Please still text me and call me. I will answer you-- maybe not right away but at some point-- I promise!

whole-y cow.

2012-05-22T22:32:00.001-04:00

We're drinkin' whole milk.

bean cake fail.

2012-05-18T20:41:00.002-04:00

Before I start this post, I'm sitting here working in t office and it just started pouring those huge rain drops out of the blue with a clear blue sky above. A rain shower that is completely laced with the heat of summer, and it makes me so excited for this summer season that is just getting started. Not excited, thought, that I actually did 2 craft projects today and they're outside probably getting ruined. Oh well.

Last night our good friend ZM was over. He prefers to live a vegetarian lifestyle, and we like vegetables so it worked out well. I've been wanting to make bean cakes for awhile, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. After about 25 minutes in the kitchen, I explained it to Zach this way-- we have good news and bad news. The good news is that you like vegetables and we have a lot of those, the bad news is that our bean cakes died. He didn't care. He's pretty cool like that.

The black beans should be mashed up pretty good- that was the longest part of the meal prep.

I shouldn't say they didn't make it at all-- because they kind of did, just not how Emeril said they should. So I used this recipe that I watched Emeril make on his show while we were on vacation. It was super easy! And this is seriously so healthy! Mine didn't turn out quite right because of eggs. I compiled all my ingredients and had everything going. The last thing I needed to add was 1 egg. I went into the fridge and pulled out the eggs only to find the expiration date was May 5th. I know some people use them, some don't. Some say it's an "expiration date", some a "sell by". I was tempted but ultimately decided not to use them because I didn't want to make a baby and a guy leaving the country for Africa sick. So I googled replacements for eggs and came up with some weird things and some interesting things. Applesauce seemed like it could work with this recipe, so I added 1/4 cup of applesauce. It didn't ruin the flavors or anything, but it didn't hold my bean cakes together like the egg would have.

So when I went to cook them on the skillet, they fell apart.

I hated to throw all of that yummy bean goodness out, so I plopped them on a cookie sheet and baked them at 375 for about 12 minutes.

It worked fine. They weren't crispy like they would have been on the stove, but they were still good. And everyone liked them.

Tommy is not a fan of beans, but he loved these. I think this would be a great meal to get the kids to help with, and one that they'll like to eat, too!

baby beans.

2012-05-17T22:59:00.000-04:00

Tonight was Meatless Thursday at our house. Jack Jack loves his black beans. And I love this kid so so much. Is that face not precious? :)

*Recipes to follow...

work it out.

2012-05-16T22:07:00.001-04:00

I heard some wise words this week. On Twitter. I read some wise words this week. Exercising doesn't cancel out your food choices. I can't remember who said it, or how they said it but that was basically the point. This probably sounds so easy and obvious, but to me it was ground breaking. You see, I rationalize all.the.time.

Well if I work out more I can have more ice cream.
If I worked outside I'm hot, burning more calories, and can have brownie batter by the spoonfuls [yes, this really happens].
I probably burned a lot of calories today doing [insert general statement here that fits for that moment], so I could use some pick me up in the form of sweet and chocolate and plenty of it.

And the biggest one of all...
I will start exercising tomorrow so it's okay for me to eat this tonight.

Looks like I might have some emotional eating issues, too, huh? I think most of us women do. But my point is that exercise is great, and healthy, and we definitely need it, but it doesn't cancel out our food choices.

If I choose healthy foods and exercise, I'm living a healthy lifestyle. If I exercise and choose unhealthy foods, I'm still making unhealthy choices.

Please don't take this as me saying there's never room for sweets or the occasional poor food choice. If you know me, you know I always make room for dessert in my healthy lifestyle. What I am saying is that a lot of us have this notion that one thing [exercise] cancels out another [poor food choices], and it's unhealthy for us to think that way. Exercise and healthy food choices are part of a healthy lifestyle. Enjoy your desserts or your weak spot every once in awhile, but don't think that because you walked/ran/biked/whatever that you get a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card for eating what you want. And I'm talkin' to myself here, too.

these are pictures i found in my files, and you better believe i enjoyed those meals.

beach bums.

2012-05-13T21:13:00.000-04:00

We're back. We have wireless, which is awesome. Although I do have to admit that it was kind of nice to not "have to" be plugged in all the time. I had excuses for not checking my email, facebook, twitter, blogs. It was kind of a vacation before my vacation. Last week we went to the beach! Tommy had a work conference for a couple of days, so we just made a trip out of it. I don't know if it's because it was our first vacation as a family of 3, or if we really needed it after having our first child/leaving jobs/starting new ones/moving/buying a new house, or if the beach was just that awesome, but it was incredible!

I'm a home-body. I love my home. I love being cozy in my home with my family. I just like to be home, so normally at the end of a vacation I am ready to be home. This was the first time I could remember not wanting to leave somewhere to go home. We flew down to Tampa and then drove to Sand Key Beach in Clearwater, FL. When we flew with Jack in November I was so nervous how he would do, but this time I was so relaxed. This boy loves to fly! He loves the people, loves the windows, loves the sounds and loves climbing back and forth between Tommy and me.

Apparently I don't know how to flip my pictures before I upload them. Sorry about that. He just looked like such a little boy sitting in his own seat on the plane that I had to share!

"Mom, shh, I'm working hard over here." My little business man.

He loved the waves!

And playing in the sand.

Our hotel at sunset.

The Supermoon didn't look so super next the the expanse of the beach. Loved a reminder of God's creation.

Kisses for daddy. [side note: I just noted it looks like a kid's body is just floating. kind of creepy]

Work Work Work. Even on vacation he's busy.

We were enjoying an evening swim and both waving to Daddy.

Breakfast poolside was the way to go for Jack Jack.

When did my baby grow up??

Please tell me another mom has let her child meander his way through the airport pant-less. Someone? It was just one of those days, so pants were not a battle I was willing to take on.

wire-less.

2012-04-29T17:15:00.001-04:00

We suddenly lost our internet connection at home on Wednesday. I feel lost without out, but we'll be back up and running on Wednesday morning-- I hope. See you soon!

breakfast of champions.

2012-04-24T22:28:00.003-04:00

Continuing on in the spirit of healthy dieting/weight loss, let's talk about the importance of breakfast. I already feel like I sound like a commercial. Sorry for that. Seriously breakfast is so important. It kick starts our metabolism, it gets the body going, and keeps us from binging later on. Having balanced meals and snacks is key to successful weight loss-- breakfast is a big part of that.

Jack and I wanted to demonstrate a healthy breakfast. My new favorite thing for breakfast is plain yogurt, and I add in fresh fruit and a little honey to sweeten it. I don't need a lot in the mornings/don't have time to sit and eat, so it's perfect for me. Jack's still going with the old standby-- the classic oatmeal and milk. He wanted me to mention he has fruit, too.

My point with all this is breakfast doesn't have to be a huge meal where you sit and eat for 30 minutes. It can be quick, light if you wish, and healthy! Some mornings I would just have toast. [Would being the operative word here, since I can't use my toaster since it's full of mouse poop. And still sitting on my counter. What's wrong with me?? ] Ok funny story here, Tommy still was having toast, until I informed him the other day that I thought I saw mouse droppings down in there. His response "well, let me go throw up and then I'll throw the toaster out." Bless him.

*there's mouse poop in our toaster because we left most of our stuff in our house in Maryland when we moved to Tennessee. we didn't clean out the cereal cabinet. four months later, mice had done a lot of damage in our kitchen. although i had an incredibly tough first round inspection on EVERY SINGLE ITEM that came from that mouse house, apparently the toaster slipped through the cracks.

think small.

2012-04-18T22:09:00.001-04:00

In light of yesterday's post on how inappropriate the tube feeding diet is, I thought I would do some posts of appropriate ways to go about weight loss. If you read yesterday, then you know tube feeding should not equal dieting. A good way to go about weight loss is to think small and realistic. These are some of the biggest things to successful weight loss, in my eyes.

I like to tell people to make small changes that are realistic. For instance, if you drink soda all day- don't say you are never going to drink soda again. That's just not going to happen. But maybe you could cut down the number of sodas you drink each day. We all like for change to happen big, especially when it comes to weight loss, but that's not how successful weight loss happens. If you eat out for dinner and eating out is what you enjoy, don't give it up. Yes, eating at home is typically healthier, but if you aren't going to do it then don't kid yourself. But do make healthy choices while eating out [which is another post in and of itself].

via

These are just two very brief examples of small, realistic changes. To some people they may seem to small, but they do add up when they are followed. Once you get the hang of your first small change, you can take the next step to a bigger change and implement that in your life. It's exciting to conquer small changes! They provide motivation on the long journey that is weight loss.

what kind of diet is this?

2012-04-17T22:31:00.001-04:00

I watch the Today show almost every day; it's part of how we start our day around here. It's on in the background while we change diapers and pj's, eat breakfast, and pick up Cheerios from all over the room. Yesterday I was shocked when I heard a story come on while I was unloading the dishwasher. I quickly came into the living room because I didn't want to miss any of the story. It is crazy. Period.

A new diet that is rising in popularity with oddly enough, brides-to-be, is a tube feeding diet. These women have a nasogastric tube [meaning it goes in through the nose, down the throat and into the stomach] inserted and are given a formula through the tube for 10 days. The formula is made up of protein and fat mixed with water and contains no carbohydrates. The women get 800 calories a day from the formula and carry around the tube feeding pump all the time for the 10 days. This costs $1500 for the ten day diet, and the average weight loss is 20 pounds. After the diet is over it is up to the women to keep the weight off.

You see, I've worked in hospitals as a Clinical Dietitian. I was a Dietetic Intern in four different hospitals, so I've seen plenty of patients on tube feeds. It's generally not an elected thing. No one, I can guarantee you, no one who has a tube feed has ever said, "yeah, I walked into the hospital hoping they'd stick a tube down my throat and pump a gross combination of liquid into my stomach. I really didn't want to eat so that worked out perfectly." No. In fact, I have had patients pull their NG tubes out right in front of me. I have had elderly patients tell me they would rather die eating than be stuck with a tube feed. Seriously. Tube feeds should be reserved for very sick patients. For patients who for whatever reason, whether it be a complication from cancer, an intestinal disorder, or an intensive care patient, cannot eat food by mouth. It is ridiculous that people are seeking out feeding tubes as a method of weight loss. This is an inappropriate use of nutrition resources and very poor medical practice. Tube feeding falls in the category of nutrition support, and weight loss is not under the nutrition support umbrella.

I know this is a wordy post, and I know most people probably aren't giving this a second thought. As a Registered Dietitian I am passionately against this diet. Thank you for giving me a place where I could share my thoughts and concerns.

*Information for this diet was found here and here.

rice and beans.

2012-04-16T22:48:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I don't have the time or energy to fix dinner. I'm sure I'm the only one, right? Truthfully, that sometimes is like 4-5 nights a week, but if we ate out every one of those times we'd be struggling with our weight more than we do and hurting in our bank account. My Granny gave me this rice and beans recipe that is so simple, fast, and delicious [thanks Granny]! I love it and so does Jack! Turns out that boy loves his black beans.

The recipe calls for saffron, which is definitely tasty but so high in salt. I made it with saffron the first time and loved it, but since then I've been trying to use brown rice or at least plain white rice. It still tastes delicious.

Ingredients:
1 [5 oz.] package saffron
1 [15 oz.] can black beans
3 T lime juice [bottled is fine]
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cumin
2 T chopped fresh cilantro [divided]
Garnishes: sour cream, sliced green onions, fresh cilantro.

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions. Keep warm.
2. Drain beans, reserving 2 T liquid [what I refer to as the bean juice.
3. Combine bean juice, lime juice, chili powder, and cumin in a saucepan & cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated.
4. Stir in 1 T cilantro. Serve beans over rice. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro.
Garnish if you want. I don't except for more cilantro [the more the better]. If you do garnish with sour cream-- go easy on it and go low fat.

Serves 3-4. [or 1 1/2 if you're me & Jack]

Enjoy!

Jack's first fail-- his hearing test.

2012-04-12T23:01:00.001-04:00

We had some rough news confirmed today as we found out that Jack has hearing loss in his left ear. His diagnosis is conductive hearing loss, and we are so hopeful that it is only temporary. He has fluid behind the ear drum of his left ear, so the hope is that the fluid is the cause of the hearing loss and once we take care of the fluid the hearing will improve. There's a chance it won't, because he was on some pretty potent medications when he was so sick and in the NICU after his birth. But we trust it is something that can be healed and was caused by chronic ear infections and fluid. At this point his right is normal but he hears nothing out of his left ear.

We saw an audiologist today and then our pediatrician to confirm the presence of fluid. Next week we will see an ear, nose, and throat doc where we have been told they will most likely suggest tubes. It makes me so nervous to think about our little man having surgery, but it's an easy procedure and we hope that it will bring him much relief and healing. Lots of hope will accompany that surgery.

I'm sad for my little man. Sad that he can't hear as well as he could, sad that he's had so many infections so early in his life, and sad that his head must have been feeling pretty messed up for awhile with all that pressure built up. My ears were clogged up last week when I had a bad cold, and I was miserable [everyone around me knew it too- I was not shy about my misery. but our little guy is so happy. sweet, sweet boy]. I'm so hopeful for medical interventions that can bring healing! So thankful for healing hands, and mostly for our Father's Healing Hands, which have healed me, too.

stuffed chicken.

2012-04-10T19:26:00.001-04:00

This chicken is awesome. This dish is so healthy and really pretty easy to do. It's a fun one to get the kids involved with too because they can learn about healthy ingredients and help put this dish together.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs chicken cutlets
1/2 c. finely chopped roasted red peppers
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
1 T chopped, flat leaf parsley

Directions:
1. In small bowl mix together feta and roasted red peppers.
2. Season chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper on each cutlet.

3. Divide the cheese/pepper mixture evenly in each cutlet [about 1 heaping tablespoon] & roll the chicken up. Use a toothpick to hold the rolled up chicken in place.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet on medium-high heat. Use an oven safe skillet to make this even easier!
5. Cook chicken seam-side up until browned [about 3-4 mins]. Flip chicken and transfer skillet to top rack in oven. Roast until cooked through [14-16 mins].

6. Remove from oven when finished. Check internal temperature. Poultry should be 170 degrees F.

The healthy facts:

I love chicken as a protein. Lean and a great choice. A lot of people think chicken can't be good, but this dish has so much flavor you won't even remember red meat.
This dish is low in fat. The flavoring comes from the roasted red peppers & feta cheese.
Choose low fat feta cheese to make this dish healthier.

A few things:

Don't let your kids touch raw chicken. That's just wrong.
Don't let your child use a knife.
Great roles for kids include measuring things out, mixing together ingredients, and monitoring the time on cooking.

*Recipe is from Real Simple and can be found here.

And this is seriously so delicious. Enjoy!

easter love.

2012-04-09T22:59:00.001-04:00

I have a serious number of pictures from yesterday. We had such a wonderful Easter. It was so much fun celebrating Easter with Jack, and we look forward to when he is old enough to know and understand why this day is so amazing! I was going to only put up a few pictures, but decided to add many more for a few special Jack-lovers out there [Ms. Maureen and Julia].

J-Baby's first Easter basket.

I love spring flowers!

Family shot.

Ohh I could eat him up.

My picture editing software got deleted, so I can't figure out how to flip my photos right now. But I love this one! And I think he kind of looks like an old-fashioned ice cream man. Or Colonel Sanders, according to my brother.

Silly siblings.

He was so excited about yesterday, he finally slept on the walk. But it was against his will, if he'd had his way he would have been up all day celebrating!

I think I love this puppy.

He's recently started scrunching up his nose when he's happy or laughing. Apparently I did the same thing when I was his age per some pictures we recently found. Looks pretty cute on him though.

Yes, I do love this puppy.

I love Easter!

Hope everyone had a very blessed Easter!

sickness.

2012-04-03T19:03:00.004-04:00

We've been a sick bunch around here. The little man has had a brutal cold and passed it on to me. Today his Daddy woke up with it. Our poor guy is coughing like crazy, and it breaks my mama heart to see him in such pain. He gets to sleep wherever he wants to sleep until this cold has worked its way out of his little body. For him, that means mommy and daddy's bed. Paci, lovie, and us on either side and this cough won't keep him up. Even though it keeps me up...

new look.

2012-03-25T23:12:00.001-04:00

A short while back I asked you to check out my new blog, and thank you for doing that. I've changed my mind--- which is probably of no surprise to anyone and am sticking with The BP Special. My original line of thinking was to do more personal stuff on this blog and nutrition and healthy eating stuff on the other one, but why not do both here? Hopefully, I can strike a balance. So I'm bringing the few posts from Meal Tweaking over here and we're becoming one big happy blog [not really any different than it was but hopefully with more food and nutrition].

Along those lines, I have a new look and I'm really liking the mellowness of it. I'm adding the ability to follow, so if you feel so inclined to join me on here, I would it! I've had people suggest before that I add an email option, so you can now sign up to get posts sent to your email. Mostly, I'm just so thankful you're here reading, and I hope I can give some help/inspiration/encouragement to you when it comes to healthy eating and nutrition. If not, I can definitely provide some super cute baby pictures.

Speaking of which, my baby is 10 months old today! How can this be? Seems like only yesterday he was a critically sick newborn fighting for his life in the NICU. Today he is healthy, happy, thriving, and his third tooth has broken through (YAAA!). We are so thankful, so blessed. Happy 10 months to our Jack Jack!