Take that.

When I was pregnant the doctor gave Josh 6-8 months to live.

Jackson is 9 months old today.

And there are "no signs of residual or new tumor"

Suck it, cancer!

That moment when...

That moment when ...it's 3:30 am and smelling his hair is more important than sleep. He is fed and burped and rocked back to sleep and I realize that in the not so distant future he will be a wiggling toddler and rather than rest so easily, so comfortably, so contentedly on my shoulder , he'll want to climb down and pull away and explore a world outside of mommas arms. What's one more minute? I'm already up :-)

Quinoa, Black Bean, and Corn Tacos

These are not as complicated as they sound, and soooo good!! Quinoa is incredibly healthy, too!  I'll never eat tacos or nachos another way!  We ate them over tortilla chips.

Quinoa, Black Bean and Corn Tacos

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
• 1 (14.5) oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis, undrained
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
Serve with:
• corn or wheat tortillas
• chopped lettuce
• Monterey Jack, cheddar or cottage cheese
• diced avocados
• diced tomatoes
• hot sauce

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium high heat. Once hot, add onion and saute until golden and tender, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Stir in broth, diced tomatoes, cooked quinoa, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cayenne, coriander and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat, cover saucepan with lid and simmer about 20 minutes, until mixture has thickened.
• Stir in corn and black beans and simmer, uncovered 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mix in lime juice and cilantro. Serve warm over tortillas with desired toppings.
• Recipe Source: recipe adapted slightly from a ward cookbook, recipe submitted by Kelli Price

Florida Fish Cakes - The Fit Cook - Healthy Recipes - Skinny Recipes

Florida Fish Cakes - The Fit Cook - Healthy Recipes - Skinny Recipes

This is a good, healthy recipe.  I used salmon, but  you can use any kind of fish, next time I'll be using crab because we really like crab!   I made these for dinner tonight with a side of grilled zuchinni and potatoes tossed with evoo and cajun seasoning. Yum!

*Recipe disclaimer*

I didn't invent any of these recipes, but This isn't Pinterest. I'm not just posting random stuff here that looks good. All recipes have been cooked And taste tested by me :-) and fall into AT LEAST one of these categories :
Sinfully delicious. Super healthy. cheap.
So let me know if you try any and how it turned out for you!

Peanut butter fruit dip - RECIPE

Stir together equal parts peanut butter and nonfat plain Greek yogurt.

I like dipping bananas and apples in peanut butter. This just adds some protein and calcium in place of fat, and it gives it a whipped texture.

Low fat veggie dip - RECIPE

This is a healthy alternative to regular ranch dressing or ranch dip.

Mix together approximately 1 cup of nonfat Greek yogurt with one packet of dry ranch dressing mix.

So simple and thick and yummy and without all that saturated fat!

We dip broccoli, carrots, celery, red green or yellow peppers, and cucumbers .

Zuchinni lasagna

This is soooo good! And estimated at about 1200 calories for the ENTIRE pan!
And very low carbs!!!

Zuchinni Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 medium zuchinni
1 large container cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup parmesan cheese
jar of spaghetti sauce
mushrooms
sausage
onions
green peppers


Directions:

Slice zuchinni lenghthwise. Bake at 400 degrees on greased cookie sheet until soft. 
Brown sausage,mushrooms, green peppers, and onions. drain. Stir into spaghetti sauce. 
Mix parmesan cheese with cottage cheese.

Layer in a casserole dish, meat sauce,  zuchinni, cheese, top with mozzarella cheese.
Cover and bake at 350 until heated through

Taco soup - RECIPE

Taco Soup

Surprisingly tasty for how cheap and easy this is!


Ingredients:

Ground turkey or hamburger
Tomato sauce
Stewed tomatoes
Kidney beans
Taco seasoning (make your own for less msg)
Avocado
Corn (optional)
Black beans(optional)

Directions:

Brown meat and add to pot along with a little water and rest of ingredients except avocado. Dice avocado and add last. Garnish each serving with cheese and/or sour cream. We scoop with tortilla chips, too!

Kale Chips - RECIPE

This is a good, healthy alternative to the greasy crunch of potato chips!

Kale Chips


Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale leaves or greens
extra virgin olive oil
garlic salt (or other seasonings)


Directions:

Grease cookie sheet with EVOO, place kale in a single layer on pan, sprinkle with garlic salt, bake at 400 degrees until crispy. They will shrivel up quite a bit.  



I've also experimented with other seasonings, such as cajun seasoning, but garlic is really the only thing that goes with that earthy kale flavor, in my opinion.

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole - RECIPE

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean) 
1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion 
2 1/2 cups salsa 
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing 
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning 
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 
6 flour tortillas (8 inches) 
1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (optional) 
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream *Note: I used 1/2 cup 
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend 
1 cup shredded lettuce 
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro 

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.
Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The last & final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly. 
Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings.

Apple Dumplings - RECIPE

This one is not a healthy recipe but it is oh-so-good!

Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 can crescent rolls
6 medium apples
sugar and cinnamon


Sauce:

2 7oz. lemon lime beverage (I used sprite)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup butter

Make sauce by heating all ingredients together except butter.Add butter last and set aside. Pare apples. Roll crescent rolls very thin, place apple in middle with sugar and cinnamon. Pull dough around apple and place in pan.Cover with prepared sauce and bake 25-30 minutes at 425

Pumpkin Fluff Dip - RECIPE

Pumpkin Fluff Dip

1   16oz. container cool whip

1   5oz. package instant vanilla pudding

1   15oz. can solid pack pumpkin

1   tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mix all together in bowl and refrigerate. Dip with graham crackers, chocolate graham crackers, vanilla wafers or whatever you please.

Craziness

So, I haven't written in a while. Josh was having brain surgery, and I had Jackson in November. In fact, we came home from the hospital on just about the same day. I'm not going into detail about all of the emotional stuff, because some things just shouldn't be public, but let's just say 'hectic and crazy' would be putting it lightly. But now that things are back to semi-normal I plan to add a recipe section to this quaint little blog. And also, some before and after pictures of some home remodeling. Not to mention, planting season is coming up! Stay tuned to see if the girl who once killed a cactus can keep a garden alive!

 So, follow along, and I promise to write more than twice a year :-b