Meatless Monday: Cheesy Lentils and Rice

Although I did not make any New Year's resolutions or goals, I did enjoy reading a lot of other people's.  A lot of people have goals or are wanting to make lifestyle changes to incorporate healthy lifestyle choices including their eating, cleaning, and exercise habits.  I love it!  Although not resolutions these are things I feel passionate about and have been trying to incorporate more of into our lives.  I'm going to try to share some tips and some changes we have been able to make over the next few months.
But it has been awhile since I've shared any recipes (at least healthy ones...) so I thought I'd do that today.  I saw several goals to eat "Meatless Mondays"  We don't really follow Meatless Mondays in my house, but I have been trying to incorporate a meatless dinner once/week.  I have been wanting to start buying organic meat for over a year now, but frankly just haven't been able to work it into the budget.  I do choose grass fed beef or organic chicken when I can (typically at the beginning of the month) but it is just so expensive, which is where meatless "Mondays" come into play.  Saving a bit of money on meat once/week allows more money for the organic meat for other meals.

I love lentils (and they are a great source of protein!) and I love how easy this recipe is.  Because dinner time tends to be PFB's fussy time, I can easily prep the veggies and cook the rice and lentils during nap time so it takes minimal prep-time just before serving.
I substituted quinoa for the rice this time to pack in some extra protein.  Did you know that quinoa is the only whole grain that has all 9 essential amino acids making it a complete source of protein?  It also cooks in about 15 minutes vs. 45 minutes for brown rice.  Quick and easy substitute in a time crunch.

Cheesy Lentils and Rice

• 2/3 cup uncooked brown rice (I used quinoa)
• 1 cup dried lentils
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 2 cloves garlic minced 
• 2 cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 black pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground red pepper
• 1 tsp Tony's seasoning (or other favorite seasoning)
• olive oil (I have never measured olive oil in my life)
• 1 1/ 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

(the pineapple is not part of the recipe...)
And the ziploc bag is homemade chicken stock that I cooked the lentils and quinoa in rather than water to add some extra flavor

Cook rice (or quinoa) according to package directions.  Set aside

Cook lentils according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Saute onion, green pepper, and garlic with olive oil large skillet over medium heat.  Saute until tender.

Stir in lentils, tomatoes, and next five ingredients.  

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

Stir in brown rice (or quinoa)

Sprinkle with cheese.  Cover and let stand 5 minutes before serving

17 Months

I want to give a little attention to my sweet baby girl who is now 17 months old!  Hard to believe and even harder to believe she's not going to be "the" baby anymore.

I don't know how tall she is, but she has certainly gotten taller because her pants started looking like high-waters a couple weeks ago...  She is now wearing 18 month clothes.  This is the first time she's worn a size larger than her age.  (She was always the 8 month old in 6 month clothing...)  No, she hasn't gone through any big growth spurt yet.  According to our scales she's weighing in at 19 lbs.

I told Chris we would go ahead and turn her car seat around after the first of the year, so big girl is about to love getting a view of something other than the back seat while driving.  Really, she's going to be so much happier.  I had plans of keeping her rear facing till she was 2 (according to the AAP recommendations) but even the best plans are meant to be changed.

Phoebe still is not eating well.  She refuses to even try most foods.  And there are still only about 5 or 6 foods that she will eat.  I reverted back to making baby food for her because yogurt is the only thing she consistently eats.  She certainly has an affinity for smooth cold food.  So the only way I can get her to eat any meat or veggies is to mix the pureed baby food in with the yogurt.  I'm not proud of it, but I don't know what else to do.  The girl eats a lot of yogurt.
She has had a recent love of apples too.  Well really she just likes to point out apples and gnaw on them.  She won't eat apple slices, but she likes to take little bites of a whole apple.  I think she likes trying to suck out the juice more than anything.

We laugh because Phoebe has been talking up a storm these past couple months!  So much for those stupid doctors who said she couldn't hear and made such a big deal about it...  I'm sure we'll go back to the ENT at some point because she certainly does have a documented loss, but I'm still sick of their tests and referrals.  So for now I will continue to cancel appointments.  She is like a little sponge repeating everything you say.  She's done very well stringing two words together to say phrases like "up please" and "read book"
We've been trying to play more with baby dolls to prep her for being a big sister.  She got some more babies for Christmas that she can push around in strollers, feed, and bathe.  She loves giving the baby kisses.

Knox is still her best friend and I think deciding to get a dog when she was 5 months old was probably one of the best decisions we've ever made.  It was rough for about 6 weeks, but totally worth every mess I cleaned up in the house and every trip I made with him out in the rain.

Phoebe shut them both in there together.  This was not my doing...

We went back and forth between 1 and 2 naps between 15 and 17 months, but we are officially back down to one.  She goes down around 1-1:30 and sleeps for about an hour and a half.  She's still sleeping well at night.  More often than not (probably about 4-5x/week) she wakes up at some point between 1:30 and 3:30am and cries/screams for about 5 minutes and then goes back to sleep on her own.  Weird, but we just let her be.  Actually I don't think Chris even wakes up...  But this is one reason why I am hesitant for the new baby to share a room with Phoebe.  They certainly will share a room eventually, but the plan is for the baby to stay in our room for now.
My latest frustration has been our pediatrician.  Well I never loved her.  She's not bad.  She just never really addressed my questions in what I felt like was an appropriate or thoughtful way.  I was also frustrated by the multiple specialist referrals we had early on as it related to her weight and development.  And quite frankly I've never been super impressed with the office staff.  But the last time I called the doctor's office with a question, the nurse or medical assistant or whatever her title was was SO RUDE.  I mean really, it was ridiculous.  And then when we went in for a vaccination the same lady walked into the room gave her the shot and proceeded to walk out without saying 1 word to me.  Rude and quite unacceptable.  We will not be returning.  But how do you find a good ped?  We are on the search.
In the next couple weeks (really the next time I make my monthly trip to WalMart) I'm planning on getting her a little toilet seat and some M&Ms.  I haven't read a single book about potty training and I really have no expectations or time frame, but figure I'd get her used to sitting on the potty.  You know its funny she has been telling us for the last several weeks either "I poop" or "pee-you" about 15 or 20 minutes before she messes in her diaper.  It certainly doesn't happen every time, but it has happened enough to make me think twice about it.  It has been very interesting...
Phoebe's favorite toys right now a bowling set she received for Christmas and Elmo.  She LOVES Elmo.  She still likes balls and books a lot as well.

Have a great weekend!!!

30 Weeks

So I have officially made it into my third trimester of pregnancy and I am feeling it.  I'm not feeling bad, just big :)  Although still perfectly capable, it is getting more challenging to get up and down off the floor and in and out of bed.

30 Weeks- "Your baby is about 17 inches long, and just over 3 pounds in weight.  He or she getting bigger by the day.  Also getting bigger daily is baby's brain, which is preparing for life outside the womb--and for a lifetime of learning.  Starting this week, your baby's brain is starting to look like one, taking on those characteristics grooves and indentations.  These wrinkles allow for future expansion of brain tissue that is crucial as your baby goes from helpless newborn to responsive infant to verbal toddler to curious preschooler and beyond.  Your baby's bigger and better brain is also starting to take on task previously delegated to other parts of the body, like temperature regulation.  Now that the brain is capable of turning up the heat, your baby will start shedding lanugo, the downy soft body hair that has been keeping him or her warm up to this point.  Which means by the time the baby is born, he or she probably won't be fuzzy anymore."
What to Expect When You're Expecting

I did a quick ultrasound yesterday and the baby is head down again!  Yay!  I thought it had flipped from what I was feeling, but wasn't 100% sure.

Aversions/cravings- None.  I still have no desire to eat yogurt, which was a favorite snack before pregnancy, but that's about it.  

Movement-  Lots!  I started to see my belly moving around 26 weeks.  And again it was not like this with Phoebe.  I didn't see her movements until much later and actually went into the hospital at 27 weeks because I hadn't felt her move in a couple days.

Pregnancy Symptoms- The itching is awful!  And its not just my belly!  It is my WHOLE body- legs, back, belly, shoulders, forehead, everything!  There are times when I literally feel like I could scratch my skin off!  And my poor not-so-little varicose vein is starting to throb a little bit more.  Overall though I feel great, but it is getting a little bit harder to bend over and pick things up.  I still can of course, but I am reminded much more frequently now that I am indeed pregnant.

I have started to feel the occasional braxton hicks contractions too.  But nothing strong and nothing regular.

Sleep- Just fine.  I went through a couple weeks where I was peeing ALL the time.  It must have been the position of the baby on my bladder because I really don't remember using the restroom this much at this point in pregnancy last time.

Sex-  I still think it is a girl.  Although we reserve the right to change our minds (I don't think we will)  if it is a girl she will be Ava Grace.  (We will call her Ava Grace.  I have always wanted to have a little girl with a double name!)  And if its a boy he will be Ridley Thomas.

Weight Gain- 19 lbs

Randoms-  I think Phoebe is finally getting the concept that there is a baby in my belly.  Now when I ask her where the baby is she {sometimes} either lifts up my shirt or points to my belly.  This took A LONG time.  

I really do feel so much bigger this time around.  And I know it is not all in my head because t-shirts and things that I know I was wearing the final weeks of my previous pregnancy are now starting to be too small/short and I have 10 weeks to go...  I also had to buy new underwear this week because my regular ones (that I had no problem wearing through 40 weeks last time) just weren't cutting it anymore.  So not only is my belly bigger, but so is my booty.  I only gained 24 lbs total with Phoebe and I'm sure I will be gaining a few more than that this time.  I don't mind; I know every pregnancy is different.  I was able to stay in a little bit better pregnancy shape the first time around, but I've still been pretty active with this one too.

January Goals

Happy New Year!
New year, new month, new goals! First of all, I will say that writing down monthly goals really has helped me this past month.  Because I wrote them down and knew I would be "held accountable" for my accomplishments (or lack thereof) I was more aware of my actions and working to meet my goals.  Really, these monthly goals are a fabulous idea!  Thanks ladies!

To re-cap my December Goals: 1. Stick to our grocery budget.   Done with money leftover!  Chris was out of town for 10 days and then we also spent 9 days in DE with my parents, so it is a bit of a "cheating" success, but I'll still take it! 2. Don't stress out over packing/traveling for Christmas!   Ok, so I did get really stressed out several days before we were scheduled to leave because of all I wanted to get done, but I did not stress at all about packing or the final couple days before we left.  This is good for me.  I will count it as a success. 3. Eat Sweets and Christmas Cookies in MODERATION.   Umm, didn't do as well as I would have liked, but I guess it could have been worse.  I admit I played the pregnancy card a little too often. 4. Take a prenatal vitamin everyday.   Fail.  But in my defense this was a poorly stated and probably unrealistic goal.  Any goal should be achievable and perfection is a bit much to expect.  I probably averaged about 3 or 4 per week, which is much better than I had been doing.... 5. Get my Christmas cards sent out by Tuesday Dec. 11th. Done!  We got them all addressed Monday night and I dropped them off at the post-office on the 11th! 6. Exercise three days/week Done! 

January Goals 1. Take a prenatal vitamin 5 times/week 2. Clean out 2012 files and move into storage.  Shred 2009 files. 3. Get all Christmas decorations cleaned up and put away by this Saturday 4. DO NOT LEAVE work early today!  It is a holiday and I am getting holiday pay.  I need to stick it out for the whole shift no matter how tempting it is to go home early! 5. Enjoy more "play-time" with my sweet baby girl and encourage her to play with her baby doll in preparation for the new baby 6. Do one DIY project this month 7. Stick to our grocery budget.  (We'll try this one again) 8. Complete proof for 2011 family photo book.   We have all these great pictures on my computer and decided this year that we would make yearly "photo albums" with the highlights of our year and collect them over the years as our family albums.  I need to choose which company and style we are going to go with and get started!  My hope is to finish the layout of the 2011 book this month and the 2012 book in February so I can order them before the new baby is born!
And for the record I do not make New Year's resolutions.   It may work for some people, but I find that  I tend to forget whatever they were after about a month.  I've seen some great ones, but I really don't have any long-term goals right now.  Monthly goals are much more realistic and achievable for me. What are your goals this month?  Or this year??