It was a Meatless Monday

 Quick and easy was the key to this lunch.
I warmed up 2 Spicy Black Bean Burgers to create a simple healthy lunch wrap.

A layer of loosely chopped lettuce, a couple grape tomatoes, 2 Spicy Black Bean Burgers , a bit of crumbled feta cheese , and a squeeze of fresh lime.

A quick and easy lunch wrap. Next time I think I will chop up the burgers a bit before I add them to the wrap.

It was really that easy.



 I'm a BzzAgent and that I received a product sample, coupon, collateral or other special premium from BzzAgent.

Family Favorites: Enchiladas made simple

A couple of years ago I came across a recipe in a Sunday Coupon slick using Campbell's Cream of mushroom soup to make enchiladas, my family loved it. Since then I have modified the recipe and it has become a family favorite.

6 large tortillas
2 cups shredded chicken (I used frozen chicken I had packaged earlier this month from a rotisiery chicken I bought)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups grated  cheddar cheese  divided
1 small can green chilies (mild for family)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa (I used homemade but you can use your favorite)
1 1/2 cups salsa or enchilada sauce

Nathan helped me make dinner tonight to show of the recipe

I love my old school grater especially for cheese. This bowl is the other half of the cheese from the recipe , it will be used for topping.

Combine everything except half the cheese and the salsa or enchilada sauce

Fill each tortilla with about 2/3 cup of filling, roll each into a long casserole pan (I think this is a 9 x 13)

I usually end up with 6 enchiladas, I will often double the batch and freeze one tray for later.

Top with salsa or enchilada sauce

Cover enchiladas with the other half shredded cheese.

Place in a 350' oven and bake for 20 minutes (mostly just to heat everything up and melt the cheese)

Each of the boys will eat 1 , Mike will eat 2 1/2 and I will eat 1 1/2. When the boys get older I'm sure it will be a double batch when I make them.

Serve with salad for a complete meal!

Enjoy!

Looking ahead to a Meatless Monday

Are you reading to go meatless on Monday?  Since we have a few days left this week and then the weekend, start thinking about all the fun meal options with a Meatless Monday.
Monday the boys and I will go meatless with MorningStar Farms Grillers. I am going for some spice with Spicy Black Bean Grillers.  My favorite way to make them up is to create a griller wrap with a soft tortilla , some salad, a little cheese and a griller warmed up and cut in half., top it all with some sour cream or ranch dressing and you are ready with an easy Meatless meal on Monday or any day of the week.

Stay tuned as I share our Meatless Monday with you next week  featuring Spicy Black Bean Burgers.

MORNINGSTAR FARMS® SPICY BLACK BEAN BURGERS

With black beans, roasted corn, brown rice, and chili peppers, these burgers definitely have a whoa-that-was-good-now-give-me-some-more kick to them.

• 120 calories, 4g fiber, 11g protein and 73% less fat*

*MorningStar Farms® Spicy Black Bean Burger (67g) contains 4g fat per serving, compared with regular ground beef (67g) containing 15g fat per serving.

***** I'm a BzzAgent and that I received a product sample, coupon, collateral or other special premium from BzzAgent.****

Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge ~Week 1

I am so excited to share this awesome Marriage Challenge from WomenLivingWell.org
Week 1 is simple Take the Initiative and praise your husband.
Courtney suggests simple things such as praise your husband in front of the kids, send him encouraging text messages, offer to say prayer at dinner and praise God for your wonderful husband, if your husband is on Facebook post a public praise on his wall or post a status update praising him.
After I thought about that a little more, I would like to suggest Twitter as another way to praise him publicly  While my husband is not on social media, I can still praise him on social media and on my blog.

I love this man, he has known me for more than 20 years, and stuck with me for the last 10 years of a crazy roller coaster ride we call marriage.

He was there beside me the entire time bringing our first child into this world.

He was beside me and acted as my voice when it came to bringing our second son into this world.

He holds me together when I seem to be falling apart at the seams and he lifts me up when I step out of my comfort zone knowing that it will bring us closer as a family.

He even tags along and drives so I can attend blogging events, I don't know many guys willing to go stand around and listen to a bunch of bloggers talk about food.

How to take a Cell Phone Self Portrait

So I don't usually post tutorials but this has been bugging me for a while.
When you are taking a picture of yourself in the mirror I really don't want to see your camera, so I thought I would post how to take a self portrait.

The goal is to see you not your camera.

This is similar to what people post on Facebook or Instagram all too often. I don't care what kind of phone or cover you have, sorry.

By turning your phone around and looking at the lens instead of the picture you will be taking you change the dynamic of the shot completely.

If you are worried about what the picture will look like you can see a reflection of the picture in the mirror. This also saves the embarrassment of showing off your bathroom counter.

You end up with a shot of you and that was the goal to begin with.

My son helped illustrate this by taking the pictures of me taking pictures of myself. I took the 2 self portraits using incandescent setting on my Samsung Galaxy Prevail II Boost Mobile phone.  I don't have the newest latest greatest phone but I make it work without showing it to everyone else in photos.

Try this and show yourself off rather than your camera.

p.s. this works well in dressing rooms too!

Scripture Sunday 1/6/13

Psalm 66:19

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁹ But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

Psalm 66:19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

From 

Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy

pg 15:14-18

 In order to pray aright, we must enter into the1515 closet and shut the door. We must close the lips andEffectual invocationsilence the material senses. In the quietsanctuary of earnest longings, we must1818 deny sin and plead God’s allness.

My goal for this year is to post a  Bible scripture and a piece from Science and Health with Key to the Scripture by Mary Baker Eddy the textbooks used in our weekly service. I will pull from a copy of our weekly Bible Lesson and share my own personal thoughts as well.

Prayer is a powerful thing. I have read several books about prayers in the last couple years, but one things always seems to be left out, God hears my prayers even before I speak them. It is that voice, that God give voice that he hears. 

I am so grateful that he hears my cries even when I can't put them into words. 

iChoose2 Love My Life

I am so excited to share this journey with you.

I am an iBloom ambassador and received a copy of the book iChoose2 Love My Life as a benefit of this program.  Over the next 52 weeks I am going to share with you this journey and hope you will come along and join the journey.

This amazing book will guide you on this journey but believe me you won't be alone. Between the book's amazing words and the knowledge that there are amazing women praying along with you on the journey I am comforted knowing this book is more than another self help book.
Not only is the book amazing , but the community that goes along with the book is amazing.
You can join in with the group for an upcoming New Year's Party 
I want to tell you so much more about this book , but I also want you to join me on this journey. In the next few days I will be posting again my responses to the first week's assignment on this journey.

If you do nothing more than join us for the New Year's Party  Tuesday January 8th at 8 pm EST I will be happy. There are 2 options for the party. The free option if you already have the book or you can RSVP and purchase the book for only $10.00

At first my husband and I were convinced this was just another self help book setting me up to fail (I've done a lot of these books over the years), but as I read the first few weeks (I wanted to get a feel for the book) I really felt the power of the prayers that went into this book. I'm sure that sounds cliche' but really the comfort I felt as I started reading the book and giving more thought to the journey is a powerful thing.
I hope you will consider joining the party and joining us on this journey.


Here is a review I posted last month on Amazon.
I received this book shortly after Thanksgiving and am loving the journey it is taking me on as I learn about myself and the life I want to love and live. I can not recommend this book more than saying if you only buy 1 more book this year, it should be this one. What a wonderful way to start off the upcoming New Year on a journey to loving your life and yourself.

Old meets New

I decided to put up my antique ornaments for the Christmas season, but I didn't have enough to fill an entire tree so I searched out some vintage style ornaments.

The blue pine cones were a clearance find end of season last year, I think I got them for under $2.00.

The pink and white ornament is one of several from my mom. I love this style, but found out my husband isn't a fan, guess they won't come out often.

I still haven't taken the tree down, figured since we put it up late I could leave it up a bit longer.

Mom Fashion: Winter Red

Happy New Year!
Thought I would continue with the Mom Fashion series with a color theme, Winter Red.

I have to tell you a little secret, the skirt in the photo is more than 10 years old. Mom and I bought the skirt (actually I think Mom bought it for herself) from Lane Bryant at least 10 years ago. This fall Mike  took me shopping on our anniversary and bought me the blouse at the Lane Bryant Outlet. I love the detailing on the sleeves, the cut out design adds a bit of fun to the shirt. Also the elastic band along the bottom of the blouse lets me wear it in a variety of ways. The blouse goes perfect with long skirts and slacks but is also fun to dress up a pair of jeans with.

 I am grateful the Winter Red color is the same at Lane Bryant  year to year. (I have another shirt from Lane Bryant  that is the same color red that my sister in law gave me, something she purchased 5 plus years ago.)

I'm still looking for a new style for my hair and as usual I paired the dress with my basic black heels (a purchase from Fashion Bug 2 years ago on a clearance rack for $11.00)