I'm feeling very Vegetarian today...OK maybe not!

   Dinner...Yes it's that time of night again when my family comes to me with their mouth's open and their eyes hopeful...OK so that's only my husband (kidding!!!)...Thankfully I planned ahead last night and started some of the ingredients for tonight's dinner last night...So what am I feeding my ever hungry brood? Veggie Burritos...I feel a wave of disappointment waft over my carnivorous family...OK I'm being dramatic, my boys don't mind veggies, my husband might even like a few. Anyway, burritos are pretty self explanatory...not very many people need a recipe to make them, but you know what I'm going to write it down anyway :D...Why? Because I made homemade tortillas and they are GREAT...that's why!!
   I found the recipe for the tortillas on Cooks.com it's easy, quick, and cheap...which when your on a budget is ALWAYS good!!!

3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup warm water

Combine all the flour, salt, vegetable oil, and water until it forms a dough.

Roll the dough into a big ball and take about an 1 to 2 inch pieces off. Pat the dough flat with your hands or take a rolling pin and roll into circles.

Put the dough on a flat pan on the stove and let the sides cook until there are little brown specks on both sides like you would see on other tortillas. 

(I will add here that we cooked ours in a cast iron skillet and fried them...a non stick pan would probably work good too)

The ingredients for our burritos were cheap! That and I got them on WIC...you know what...shhh!

1. Avocado

2. Roma Tomatoes

1. Red Onion

1. Bunch of Cilantro (don't use the whole bunch or it can overpower the rest)

Pinto Beans 

Brown Rice

I cooked the Beans the night before, just followed the directions on the back.

I also cooked the brown rice using the directions on the back for 4 servings...it's amazing what using and following directions can do!! :D

We would've gotten lime, but we couldn't find any...would've looked harder, but any mom will tell you that trying to look for something at the grocery store when you have two unhappy babes is an impossibility because toddlers and babies are able to hit a pitch that turns their mom's brain to mush...it's a fact!! Anyway, As I stated before my family is made up of carnivores! We love meat, so as I turn around and look at the stove where my hubby is standing I see that he has cooked steak to put on his burrito...Oh well I can't say I didn't try :D As I usually say make it your own...add the veggies you like...homemade/store bought tortillas doesn't really matter....And yes even meat is OK because lets be honest meat does tend to add something to a meal :D Hope Everyone has a good night! I'm going to go enjoy my meal!!

And on the menu for tonight...

We've discovered that the less you have to work with, the more creative you get. It's the end of the month and what we have in our cupboards and refrigerator is slim...However we're out of the Mac N' Cheese/Top Roman for dinner every night phase...We're married and we have a 2 year old to feed as well...so what do we do for dinner...well I'll tell you! We bought a bag of salmon from Winco at the beginning of the month...you know the frozen filets that come in the air tight, plastic, sealed bags...Thankfully there are 4 left so That's what I started with...We rifled through our kitchen and went on a website called RecipeMatcher.com...it lets you list the ingredients you have and picks out recipes accordingly...We found one that sounded good, elaborated on it (made it our own), and viola we have a healthy dinner for 3!


RECIPE AS WE MADE IT


4 SALMON FILETS
SALT
PEPPER
1/4 CUP BALSAMIC VINEGAR
1/4 CUP WATER
4 1/2 TSP. LEMON JUICE
5 TSP. BROWN SUGAR


SALT AND PEPPER BOTH SIDES OF THE SALMON, THEN SEAR 3 MIN. ON EACH SIDE. PLACE ON PLATE AND SET ASIDE.
MIX THE BALSAMIC, WATER, LEMON JUICE, AND BROWN SUGAR...REDUCE IN A SAUCEPAN...NOT TOO MUCH (YOU DECIDE HOW YOU LIKE IT)
PLACE A LITTLE BIT OF THE SAUCE ON YOUR SALMON AND ENJOY!!


I know salmon can be expensive, but as I said before look for sales! Check out your local WINCO, or if there's not one where you are then find a store that doesn't charge an arm and a leg for their food. Make this recipe your own! Although it's pretty darn good as is...add or lessen the sugar...enjoy!

AWESOME PENNE PASTA!

So my husband and I have been trying to eat healthier. We've never been the type to eat at McDonald's everyday, or even every month, but we've eaten our fair share of potato chips. Anyway, we've been looking for healthy alternatives that don't taste like cardboard! The other night we made an AMAZING, inexpensive penne pasta that I thought I'd share with you!!


1 box of whole grain Penne Pasta
2 bell pepper (we used a red one and a yellow one)
4 portabella mushroom (you can substitute different ones)
1 red onion
Italian sausage
Fresh Basil
1 Roma tomato


Cook the pasta (just follow the directions on the box), Saute the mushroom, bell pepper, and onion.(the onion and mushroom take the longest so do those first), cook the sausage (we used the links, cooked them according to the instructions, and then chopped them up).
Mix the cooked food together, add the tomato and Basil...and enjoy!!


I know that the colored bell peppers and portabella are usually really expensive, but we got them on sale at our local WINCO. Keep a look out for sales, you never know what yummy food may become affordable!! This recipe was just made on a whim. Our 2 year old wasn't big on the veggies, but we just gave him some of the pasta and sausage (before we added the veggies) and he loved it!! Hope you like it! Feel free to add/subtract ingredients from it. Make it your own...that's the best part of cooking!!

You know what's really sad?

Breastfeeding

People see that word and 1 of 2 emotions pop into their heads.

1.Disgust

2.Awe

Of course these both break down into different facets, but that's generally what occurs. People are either super offended that a mother would snap a picture of a beautiful, natural, and yes private thing and post it on facebook or wherever. They think "eww that's so gross! I don't want to see that!" Or they see it and as a beautiful moment between mother and child. 

I understand the fact that nursing is infact an extremely private thing. I do. It's a bonding time between my son and I. I personally don't post pictures like that...I do have them, but I don't post them because honestly it's none of your damn business!! However, there are mother's...and those mother's have friends who view it as a great thing. Their friends love to see those pictures, and they in return those mothers love sharing them. You know what...to each there own! If you have a friend who posts such pictures and have a problem seeing them....DON'T FREAKING LOOK!!! People who are against breastfeeding pictures have this morbid curiosity to look at them! They can't help themselves! "Curisoity killed the cat?" no it's more like "Curiosity grossed out the nosey friend!" 

I do infact think it's wrong that facebook and other such websites will allow photos of girls showing off so much skin, you really don't need a great imagination to know what they look like naked...and yet won't allow photos of nursing mothers. What's the difference? Why has, basically, pornographic pictures been excepted in society more so then the natural feeding of a child? Why can a girl walk around in an itty bitty string bikini and people don't even look twice...well OK when you're dressed as such people look twice because they like what they see. They like seeing half your ass hanging out and seeing so much cleavage that all it would take was a soft breeze to see the girls in all their glory. HOWEVER when a mother is feeding her child the "ick factor" gets played up.

What's the deal? Is it the fact that breasts have become purely sexualized that seeing a child eating from them has become "so last season!"? Actually in most cases you can't, infact, see the child nursing. I'm not usually so gung-ho to jump on the band wagon with issues. I have my way of thinking and they usually don't aline with how other people view things. But this whole "breastfeeding is gross" thing has really pissed me off!!! You don't have to look at pictures of mothers nursing. If you see a women covered up, or (and yes I realize this happens) not covered up look the other way. Don't stare!! 

I want to say...I agree that nursing your child is a very private, personal thing!! I promise you wont find pictures of me feeding my sons on my facebook page!! Scouts honor! I won't, however, tell another mom that she shouldn't post her own nursing pictures...It's her right to share that experience if she so chooses. 

Rocket Queen Cupcakes

Rocket Queen Cupcakes

Tattoos

My tattoo

I've been reading lately about the controversy over tattoos. Should you get them? Does having one make you a bad parent/christian/person? Honestly I think it's ridiculous!! I'm a mom, a Christian and I have a tattoo. I also plan on adding tattoos in the future. Does that make me a bad person? I don't think so. My boys think I'm pretty awesome. I do the best I can with what I have and so far I think I've done pretty good. My tattoo is a Lily, it's on my shoulder and I think it's very pretty. I understand that tattoos are a fairly new trend, when my Grandparents were my age Tattoos were NOT done, PERIOD!! So I understand the opposition older generations have against them... although I don't really agree with the animosity that tends to come along with it. I see tattoos as a form of art that is simply portrayed on a different type of canvas. Like art, I've seen tattoos I like and ones I don't like. Also like art, the ones I don't like I simply pass by and don't give them a second glance. I think if more people had this mind set that tattoos wouldn't be such taboo subject. Having one tattoo or even several shouldn't define you as a good person or a bad person, it's a personal choice. If you don't like them, don't get them.

My son makes me smile

So my son has pretty much made up for my shitty week...He wanted the "2" candle we got him for his birthday so he said "thank you, welcome!" and then he couldn't reach it so he said "honey!please honey!" and when I handed it to him he took a bite out of it and said "mmm good! Thank you." but then he realized it wasn't a cookie and spit it out and said "NOT a cookie!!"


Isn't it amazing how things can seem like their crashing down on you, but one word, one hug can make it all better. I'm so thankful for my boys!!