We Have Vegetables!!

Our monster cucumber plant has grown even larger.

The leaves on this tomato plant have never looked good, but look at those tomatoes!

Eggplant!!!

Sugar snack tomatoes. We've been eating them right off the plant. So yummy.

These are the tomatoes that grow in the shape of strawberries.

This picture was actually taken a week ago and since then this watermelon plant has grown huge.

I was so excited when I saw this tiny start of a cucumber.

Then I found this one!!

Then I started moving leaves and finding more!!!

We have actually picked and eaten this one since this picture was taken.

More tomatoes.

Trying to Pull Myself out of the Darkness

Thank you for all the love and support the last few days. Back to back rejection from Georgia and Nebraska hit me hard. I think things were made worse by the fact that our case worker was not the one who called either time. It was someone new at the agency who has no idea what we have been through. It felt like she was reading from a script and it was not comforting. She told me not to get discouraged. I'm way past discouraged.

On Friday when we got the call about Nebraska, I felt all hope being ripped from me. It felt like a giant rubber stamp hit me in the forehead and labeled me "hopeless." I mean how many rejections can you experience before you just stop believing it will ever be a yes?

I am trying to find a silver lining in it all. Not having to drive so far away and pay all the extra out of state costs... but really it just sucks. And it hurts so bad. I spent the entire weekend grieving. I barely even tweeted, which is a sure sign of some serious depression. Saturday morning I forced myself out of bed to go out in the world and be a normal person, but it felt like I was walking around with this heavy blanket of sadness over me. I didn't leave the house again the rest of the weekend.

My Mom thinks I will feel better if I accept the fact that we have to renew and just do it. She is probably right. I'm going to hold out two more weeks for the miracle and then give in. Before we can send the check in, we need to talk to the bank about taking out another loan. I can't believe it has come to this. The extra fees that come with having a long wait have finally forced us into another adoption loan. I am hoping they agree to lend us more money or else we are in big trouble. I don't think the bank wants to witness the meltdown that will happen if they say no to us.

It's Meatless Monday.

We had leftover white rice from our depressing Chinese dinner Friday night (whenever we find out we are not chosen for a profiling, we order Chinese food) so we are having this:

I scrambled some eggs, added the rice, and then a can of peas.

Meatless Monday Buffalo Nuggets

It's Meatless Monday!!

If you are vegetarian and miss the taste of Buffalo wings, this is a great alternative.

I use Quorn Chik'n Nuggets.

I add Frank's Red Hot Sauce to a little bit of melted butter.

(Adjust the hot sauce/butter ratio depending on how hot you like it.)

Then pour the Red Hot mixture over the chik'n nuggets.

Add some blue cheese on top.

Cook following the nugget package directions.

Serve with celery sticks.

This is a great Meatless Monday article, if you are interested: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-elam/meatless-monday-the-prote_b_578253.html

Meatless Monday: Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa

It's Meatless Monday!!

This week's recipe is Black Bean Burgers with Mango Salsa

This is a Cooking Light recipe that my sister made while we were visiting her in Boston last month.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 burger)

Ingredients

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

3/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, divided3/4 cup (3 ounces)

shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 medium jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

2 large egg whites

Cooking spray

1 1/4 cups chopped peeled mango (about 1 medium)

3 tablespoons chopped shallots

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice1 avocado, peeled and chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

6 (2-ounce) whole-wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted

6 green leaf lettuce leaves

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Place black beans in a medium bowl; mash with a fork. Stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro and the next 7 ingredients (through egg whites). Shape bean mixture into 6 (1/2-inch-thick) patties. Arrange patties on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, carefully turning once.

3. Combine remaining 1/4 cup cilantro, mango, and the next 4 ingredients (through minced garlic) in a medium bowl. Place a patty on bottom half of each hamburger bun; top each with 1 lettuce leaf, 1/3 cup salsa, and top half of bun.

Lisa's Notes:
 
*Use a potato masher instead of fork to mash the beans.
 
*Definitely toast the rolls. It makes a difference. The burgers are soft, so it's a nice contrast to have a toasted roll. It's also why a big crisp leaf of lettuce is nice.
 
*Personally I would rather have the garlic cooked in the burger than raw in the salsa.
 
*I would use parsley in the burgers instead of cilantro, but that's because I don't really like cilantro.
 
*We left the shallots out because I hate them. I hate anything in the onion family. I don't think hate is a strong enough word. :)

April 26, 2010

Today is 21 months that we have been homestudy approved and waiting.

Today is the one year anniversary of when I joined twitter. I had no idea when I joined how life changing it would be. I am thankful every day for my twitter friends.

Today is the day we are trying to make #infertility a trending topic on twitter to kick off National Infertility Awareness Week. If you are on twitter, join in by adding #infertility to all your tweets.

Today is Meatless Monday.

This week's meal is calzones. I'll be using pizza dough from a local bakery, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, spinach, and mushrooms.

I think the key to a really good calzone is using good pizza dough. Find a local place that sells dough that you like. Put some flour down and roll the dough out with a rolling pin. Add whatever veggie ingredients you prefer to one side of the dough. Fold the empty side of the dough over the full side so it's covering all your ingredients. Make sure you close it tight so the ingredients do not leak out while cooking. Before putting it in the oven, I like to add a little vegetable oil to the top and sprinkle parmesan cheese on it.

I usually cook it at 375 for about 25 minutes. It all depends on how big your calzone is. You should be able to tell when it's done. Keep checking on it.

One last thing...

I just want to say thank you for all the support on my last post. I still get very nervous when I pour my heart out and hit the "Publish Post" button. I feel so vulnerable and embarrassed that my secret feelings are all out there for everyone to see. Then the support comes pouring in and it's like a giant hug. A great big "everything is going to be okay" hug. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Meatless Monday: Bean Quesadilla

It's Meatless Monday!!!

Click these links for more information:

Why Meatless?   Why Monday?

This week's Meatless Monday meal is an easy bean quesadilla. The kids have off from school this week, which means I will be working long hours, so I won't have a lot of time for cooking.

There are a lot of choices for what you can put into your quesadilla. What I usually do is put beans, green chiles, and cheese between two tortillas. Then I heat a pan with some olive oil. Then put the quesadilla in the pan and cook each side until the tortillas are crispy and the cheese inside is melted.

You can use any kind of bean you like. I usually use Ortega Refried Fat Free Beans.

Of course you could cook your own pinto beans and mash them, but I am going for easy here. I sometimes make it with black beans instead.

I usually use the ortega fire roasted green chiles and cheddar or pepper jack cheese.

I use the MexAmerica flour tortillas. Although the wheat or corn ones are healthier.

Once it is cooked, cut it up into slices and serve it with salsa, rotel, tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, gaucamole, hot sauce...whatever you like.

Meatless Monday: Tacos

It's Meatless Monday!!!

This week's meal is tacos.

You can start by mixing together some of your favorite taco seasonings, or use a packet like this:

Mix the seasonings with about a cup of water in your skillet. I know the packet says less water than that, but I think at least a cup is better when working with meatless veggie crumbles. You can add more as you go if it looks like it needs more.

I heat up the water and seasonings and then add the meatless crumbles. Don't cook the crumbles too long. Just heat them up. You can use any brand of veggie crumbles you like.

These are my favorite:

We also often use these:

There are many brands to choose from. They're all great.

I recommend breaking it up with your hands while it's still in the package, then dumping it all in the pan with the water and seasonings. It's frozen so you just want to break up the big frozen pieces.

I also like to add green chiles at this stage. If you like it hotter, you can add jalapenos or whatever hot pepper you like.

This is what it looks like when it's cooked:

You can use any kind of taco shells that you like. Scoop the cooked veggie crumbles into the shells and add cheese on top. This time I added a mix of cheddar cheese and pepper jack cheese. The pepper jack cheese is a great way to add extra flavor.  

I cook them in our toaster oven. It saves electricity and they come out great.

Cook them until the cheese melts:

Then add whatever taco toppings you like. Lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, gaucamole, etc.

I really hope you try these tacos. Even if you are not vegetarian, I think you may make the switch to these after trying them. Many of my meat eating family members have.

Meatless Monday: Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese Salad

It's Meatless Monday!!

If you would like more information about why I am doing Meatless Monday, click here.

My sister made this salad for us over the weekend. It's a Cooking Light recipe. It was so yummy, I decided to share it with all of you. You start with whatever kind of mixed greens you feel like using. Then slice seedless red grapes in half and add them. Then form goat cheese into balls, and roll them in chopped pistachios. I had never had goat cheese before, but it turns out I love it. Especially with pistachios and grapes.

You can then add whatever kind of vinaigrette you like and enjoy. :)

Meatless Monday

Lately I have noticed a lot of people on twitter and the blogs I read talking about eating vegan or vegetarian.

Jenny from Among The Blooms wrote a post about her goal of eating vegan for a week. NaVe from So Crazy I'm Sane wrote a post about her doctor recommending a vegan diet and how she is trying to find a way to make that work for her. Becca from Liberal Granola Girl's Blog has been talking to her husband about eating vegetarian.

Adam and I have been eating mostly vegetarian for about a year and a half now. We're not perfect with it, but we do it most of the time. Adam is 6'6" and looks like a football player. So much so that strangers come up to him on a regular basis and ask him if he plays football. He was a big meat eater when I met him and I would never have guessed that someday he would be vegetarian. I am really impressed with his dedication to not eating meat. Most days he is the one keeping me on track.

We plan on raising our children vegetarian. I am excited for them because they will grow up enjoying foods like beans, tofu, tempeh, and lots of veggies. It's a lot harder to change the way you eat at age 30.

As a way of keeping myself on track, and helping others that may be interested, my blog will be participating in Meatless Monday. Going completely vegetarian may be something you don't think you can do, but everybody can go meatless one day a week!!


For more information:

Why meatless?
Why Monday?
Vegetarian Resource Group








Every Monday I will write about what we are having for dinner.
 
Today we are going to start out real easy:
 
Yesterday Adam hard boiled organic, cage free/free range eggs and tonight we are having egg salad sandwiches on rolls with lettuce. If I was thinking ahead, I would have bought alfalfa sprouts to put on the sandwiches. We will also be having fresh green beans and I will be steaming them in our vegetable steamer. Oh, and we have a whole pineapple that needs to be cut up so we will probably be having that tonight too.
 
Anybody else having a Meatless Monday??