Chicken Basil Pasta

I have a new post coming about Cloth Diapering but my brain is too busy to finish writing it! In the meantime I thought I would post a yummy recipe that is easy and one of my little family's favs! I usually add some dried basil to season the chicken with the pepper and salt and I also add the dried basil along with the fresh to the sauce. I'm posting the link to the recipe below! It's super easy and so delicious!!! 

ENJOY!

http://menumusings.blogspot.com/2013/04/tomato-basil-chicken.html

Struggles of a New Mom

      Real life spill right now.....being a mom is SUPER HARD!!!

I'm sure you're saying "Right Hannah. You have it so hard. One kid who is still not even mobile yet. Whats so hard??"

     I know I don't have it as hard as some moms and my baby is pretty good natured for the most part. He has his days though....like growth spurt days....UGH! Those are the WORST!!!!
     ANYWAYS. Being a mom is really hard. Especially a new one.

    When I began this journey known as motherhood, I thought I had it all figured out. I thought everything was going to be rainbows! I thought once I got married and had babies I would be so incredibly happy all the time. I am happy and I love my life don't get me wrong, but sometimes I find myself seriously struggling.
      I really struggle with the mundane of life sometimes. My husband and I love adventure. We were both missionaries overseas for goodness sakes. Right now our lives are pretty everyday. Most of the time I love it, but sometimes I long for some good old travel.
       Don't get me wrong I love my baby, my husband and the season we are in! I am so incredibly grateful with what God has blessed me with! I just have a hard time every once in a while, with the day in and day out.
     

         Sometimes my week is laundry, cleaning, washing cloth diapers, grocery shopping, feeding baby, changing baby, cooking and repeat. Sometimes it gets SUPER boring. I think that is why I craft, make my own wipes, my own bread, laundry detergent, and hand wash cloth diapers. To give myself something to do. I mean, my little dude isn't mobile yet. I know when he starts moving life will get busy. After all the cleaning and laundry is done (which isn't much) and I have some time to myself I really just want to do something. I find myself in front of the TV way more than I would like. I don't know what to do with myself. I feel like I don't know who I am as an individual. I am a mom. I am a wife. BUT who am I as Hannah?????


   This is not something I thought I would have to figure out at 27. I mean, as a teen I went through that so I should be good right? NOPE. It's like once you have a baby your whole view on yourself changes. You doubt your mothering techniques, you hate the post baby body, you try to figure out how to have a relationship with spouse now that there is a baby in the mix and you are running on no sleep!

    I am different now. Way different than 5 years ago. Way different than two years ago. Now I am discovering who Hannah is as an individual. Not as a cloth diapering, crafty, holistic mommy but as me, myself and I.


   It is interesting for sure and thankfully I have an awesome husband who lets me bounce my craziness off of!


   So this is what has been going on in my head lately. Well some of it.

I want to re state that I LOVE BEING A MOM! It's seriously the best and I wouldn't trade it for a million trips around the world!!!

~H~

My How Time Has Flown!

Last blog post was almost four months ago!!!!! HOLY MOLEY! So much has happened since then that I don't even know where to start!



I can always start with a picture.......

My cute little Yoda

......OF THE CUTEST BABY BOY THAT EVER ROAMED THE EARTH!

TOTALLY ADORBS!

Ok I have to limit myself to two or I will literally fill this whole blog up! I can't help myself! I have a cute kid ok!?

      Anyways this cute little butter bean came into this world on the 14th of February 2014. Yup he is a Valentines Day baby! Finnli Joel was 6lbs 10oz and 20 inches long!

Last photo I promise....maybe...

  I am super in love with our sweet, active little guy...actually not so little anymore. Right now Finnli is around 13lbs and 22.5 inches long! 

       Being his mommy is the best! He is super sweet, smiles all the time, loves to watch life around him, thrashes his limbs due to the fact that he wants to participate in life around him, and is just super awesome! I could not have wished for a better boy!

      I'm going to write more about what its like to be a new mommy but before I did, I wanted to post about my awesome little dude!

He sure keeps me on my toes already. I'm in trouble.....

~H~

The Journey of Becoming a New Mom....

I know I'm not quite a mom yet. My husband says I am but I don't fully feel mommyfied until I have my wee on in my arms. 

   This new mom thing is hard though. There are so many decisions I have to make already and he isn't even here yet! Some decisions like do I do cloth or disposable, breast feed or formula, midwife or dr, holistic or no, vaccinate or not etc. Some of these decisions I have made and some I'm at a loss. 

      I know I want to do cloth when we have the money to invest in them. I think they are better for the bank account. I mean they are work but in the end they will save us so much money which, right now, is what we need! 

         Breast feeding, for me, is a no brainer. I am going to do it. I think it's healthier for the baby and momma. There are so many health benefits for both! It also saves the bank account! Plus I grew up in a household where my mom breast fed all of us.

          One decision for me that I struggle with is the holistic/ vaccination one. There are such clear defined lines between them. As in you are either all for everything holistic or you are all vaccine. There is not middle ground for those of us who want to be holistic but also aren't opposed to a vaccine or two. I just feel very overwhelmed by it all and like a bad mom! I'm a bad mom if I vaccinate and I am a bad mom if I don't. Either way you are critiqued by someone. 

        The thing I have a hard time with are the stories about drs reporting you if you don't vaccinate. If I am being honest I am leaning towards no vaccines. I was not vaccinated a lot as a child and my mom would always try at home remedies before ever taking us to the doctor. She would pump us full of echincha, collidial silver, vitamin c etc. We didn't eat much sugar, never drank soda unless it was a special occasion and ate lots of veggies. We didn't get the flu shot every year. We also didn't get sick much. This is the lifestyle I want to instill in my little family! I don't want to rush to medicate as soon as a problem arises. At the same time I want to know that if I do give a vaccine or two that my child will be ok. 

       I don't know if any of this makes sense. Just some thoughts I have had and decisions I have found I have had to make so far....

       All of this makes me appreciate my mom and all she has done for us! I hope that I can be as great at taking care of Finn as she was taking care of us!

       New mom stuff is no joke! It's scary and daunting! Thankfully I have an awesome supportive husband and family and I don't have to do it alone!

Black Bean Burritos

 These are seriously the most amazing things I have ever eaten! First time I made them they were ok. The second time I made them I read over some of the reviews and did a little tweeking to the recipe and wow! What a difference! I doubled the recipe, instead of red bell pepper I used sweet red peppers, I added a can of rotel diced tomatoes with chilis, 1/2 a teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 a teaspoon of cumin, and then the cilantro I added extra of and stirred in right before I served! Oh and I used a whole jalapeño minced instead of just a tablespoon. So incredibly yummy! My hubs and I are now huge fans! 

Ingredients Edit and Save

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Original recipe makes 2 large burritosChange Servings

• 2 (10 inch) flour tortillas

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno peppers

• 3 ounces cream cheese

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

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Directions

1. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven heated to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 15 minutes or until heated through.
2. Heat oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Place onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapenos in skillet, cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour beans into skillet, cook 3 minutes stirring.
3. Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to skillet with salt. Cook for 2 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir cilantro into mixture.
4. Spoon mixture evenly down center of warmed tortilla and roll tortillas up. Serve immediately.

French Toast Breakfast Muffins

 I made these today for brunch/lunch and they were so yummy!!!!!! Super easy especially if you have the ingredients. I didn't have nutmeg and substituted cinnamon. I would also recommend cutting the butter for the topping in half as it made way too much and I ended up throwing the rest out. The recipe made about 10 muffins for me but I think my muffin tin was a smaller one :-)

Here are what mine look like! So yummy! If you have kids I know they will LOVE this! ENJOY!

Ingredients

⅓	c. butter, melted
½	c. sugar
1	egg (preferably room temperature)
1½	c. all purpose flour
1½	tsp. baking powder
½	tsp. salt
¼	tsp. nutmeg
½	c. milk
	Topping (option: cut topping in half*)
½	c. sugar
½	c. butter, melted
1	tsp. cinnamon Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium-large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until combined, but still a bit lumpy. Don’t overmix. Scoop batter into muffin tins that have sprayed with cooking spray. Using a large ice cream scoop, I got 8 medium-large muffins out of this batter; I think you could get 10-12 muffins by distributing the batter a little less generously. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they just start to turn a bit golden at the edges.  For the topping, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another small bowl. Dip the warm muffins in melted butter (you can dip just the top, but it’s even tastier to dip the whole muffin!), then dip/roll the muffin in cinnamon sugar. *May have left-over topping; the extra topping can be used for dipping, while eating the muffins (oh my). Another option is to cut the topping ingredients in half.CONSUME,ENJOY, GO CRAZY! http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/13647060/french-toast-breakfast-muffins/

Black Bean Tacos

This is one of my new favorite recipes!!!! So easy and cheap to make!!!! Enjoy!

Ingredients Edit and Save

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• Garlic: Fresh Vs. Powdered

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Original recipe makes 4 servingsChange Servings

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

• 1 (7 ounce) can green salsa (salsa verde)

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

• 6 taco shells (optional)

• 2 ounces shredded Mexican cheese blend (optional)

• 1 tomato, diced (optional)

• 1 avocado, sliced (optional)

• 1 cup shredded lettuce(optional)

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Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat; cook onion in hot oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir black beans, green salsa, garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin with the onion. Reduce heat to low and cook the mixture at a simmer until it thickens, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Serve with taco shells, Mexican cheese blend, tomato, avocado, and shredded lettuce.

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