Sunday, July 5, 2015

To Compete Well, Eat Well: Vegetarian Enchiladas

Like 99% of humans, I love Mexican food. Thankfully, Mexican food has a ton of wonderful vegetarian options. One of the recipes we make regularly is this very, VERY amazing vegetarian enchilada recipe (slightly adapted from this recipe. Budget Bytes has fantastic recipes - many of which I have tried and I am yet to find one I don't like.) I am certain that you could add the cooked meat of your choice to this recipe without disastrous results.


These little 'ladas are filling and packed full of healthy stuff for those of you that care about that sort of thing. As written, they are intended to be an inexpensive and healthy dinner option...but go ahead and smother them in queso if that's your thing.

The homemade enchilada sauce is pretty spectacular. Do not buy enchilada sauce from a jar ever in your life. DO NOT. This is an easy recipe and you will not regret the minimal time investment. The other bonus is that this recipe lasts us two or three dinners (two adults, one baby) depending on how much the little guy steals off my plate. 

There is a lot of flexibility like playing with heat, corn v. flour tortillas, the addition of the dreaded cilantro, etc - but below is how we make it. Like I said, this isn't my recipe. Make it your own! 
 
Ingredients:
  • 2 T veggie oil
  • 2 T flour
  • 2 T chili powder
  • 2 C water
  • 3 oz. tomato paste 
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp salt
Enchilada Filling:
  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans
  • 2 medium avocados
  • 1 medium tomato
  • 2 whole green onions
  • ½ cup frozen corn
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • corn tortillas (smaller - taco sized)
Instructions:
  1. Sauce: In a sauce pot combine the veggie oil, flour, and chili powder. Heat the mixture over a medium flame until it begins to bubble. Whisk and cook the bubbling paste for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the water while whisking. Add the tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until smooth and continue to heat over a medium flame. Let the sauce come up to a gentle simmer, at which point the sauce will thicken. Once thickened, turn off the heat and set the sauce aside until you’re ready to use it. (FYI - we double the sauce recipe only, because we like the sauce to cover the enchiladas entirely)
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
  3. Filling: Drain and rinse the can of beans, then add them to a large bowl. Chop the avocado, tomato, and green onion. Add them all to the bowl, along with the corn. Stir it up! Season with a little salt and garlic powder.
  4. Cover two cookie sheets in a layer of foil and spray with non-stick spray. 
  5. Warm the corn tortillas briefly in the microwave to make them soft. Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup of filling and roll gently. Place the filled tortillas on the cookie sheet, seam side down and with a little room between each enchilada. Once all of the filled enchiladas are on the cookie sheets, spoon sauce onto each one until all sauce is used up and each enchilada is covered.
  6. Bake the enchiladas in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until they’re heated through.
  7. Serve with guacamole or a side salad. And cerveza. Enjoy!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Running with the Wolfpack

I can hear your collective sigh of relief: She's alive!

While many things have changed in the running life of Lace & Race, I have still been running. Just this week, I started taking out my new running partner, Wolfie. 



I have been dying to try out my BOB Ironman Jogger since I got it last summer. It is very serious looking and I feel like a badass when people see me running with it (because people are often thinking: Wow, that mom looks like a badass.) If I am being honest, I was expecting it to be easy to transition from running with no additional equipment to running with a jogger. It's not that easy. In fact, it is straight-up hard when I do any route that involves hills. It makes sense though; my big boy weighs about 22 pounds and the jogger is not small by any standards. That just means that I'm getting a better workout - silver lining. The extra weight actually reminds of how I felt running while I was about 8 months pregnant.

I've had a pretty substantial mental shift in how I view my runs, too. Pre-Wolfgang, I could run all day without a second thought. Long runs were relaxing, care-free and fun. Then I had a baby and literally everything I used to do seemed so pointless. Before Wolfie was big enough to fit in the jogger, I would leave him at home with daddy while I hammered out a few miles. The entire time I was away from him, I just felt guilty. Bad mommy! I wanted to hurry up and get back home. Any element of "relaxing" was completely gone and replaced with "This is stupid. I'm trotting around alone and I have a perfect baby at home!" I was putting in the absolute minimal miles to maintain some level of fitness, but those miles were a mental challenge, for sure.

So - I am more than relieved that the little one now meets the minimum size requirements to ride along with me. We've even found a way for daddy to join us with his bad hip: a razor scooter (pretty certain he'd kill me if I posted a photo.) It is actually really adorable and I'm happy he's along. We all travel as a pack....a "Wolfpack," I suppose.


Saturday, January 10, 2015

Dr. Brown's Review & Giveaway

I was recently contacted by the baby product company, Dr. Brown's, to do a review and giveaway. Naturally, I was super excited to try out some new gear on Wolfie. It was definitely a bonus when a package full of goodies arrived on my front porch the day after Christmas!

Dr. Brown's swag - and this isn't even all of it. Look how cute!

When I was approached about the review, I immediately agreed because Dr. Brown's is a great brand for baby products. All of their products promote good health and optimal nutrition for little ones. On top of it, their products look and feel like they are high quality...well, because they are high quality.

I was specifically asked to review the Dr. Brown's Natural Flow Bottle in the adorable Holiday theme seen below. My little guy spits up quite a bit - and the Natural Flow Bottle is designed specifically to combat the ickiness of spitting up, burping and excess gas. Perfect! - the less this kid farts and pukes, the better. (You might be thinking, "Wait - I thought she was breastfeeding." Yes. I am. But I am also back to work, so I am pumping regularly and daddy supplements while I am gone; sadly, his boobs are useless. Bottles are now a big part of our existence.)

Dr. Brown's Natural Flow Bottle - Holiday Bottle (sold at Babies R Us)

These patented bottles are definitely unique in design and function:
  • designed to reduce colic
  • help to preserve vitamins A, C & E + lipids
  • vacuum-free feeding like breastfeeding
  • BPA free
In all honesty, my little dude didn't take to the new bottle immediately. He is a stubborn one (I have NOOO idea where he got that from...definitely not his Type A, German mommy.) But with a little bit of patience, he got used to them and even preferred them. It took a little bit of getting used to on my end as well, because there are some extra parts involved - but no big deal. I can comfortably say that I noticed a definite decrease in the amount of burping this kid did - almost immediately. He still spits up, but I blame normal infant reflux and the unusual amount of bouncing around I do with him while dancing to 90s music in my kitchen. (You know you like Matchbox 20. Don't judge.)

The surprise here is that he ended up liking a different Dr. Brown's product even more: the Natural Flow Glass Bottle that came in my package. He loves to hold onto his blue bottle and he never fights me on it. The glass bottle has the same advantages as the original Natural Flow bottle. For whatever reason, Wolfie just likes the glass better. It is a classy looking bottle, not gonna lie - he looks a little fancy with it. You be the judge.

Dr. Brown's Glass Bottle and Pacifier and a cool ass baby Wolf

We loved all of our Dr. Brown's products, but the surprise favorites were the Dr. Brown's Healthy Wipes. They are extremely convenient if you have a messy guy like I do. They have several varieties for your specific messy-baby needs. They are flavored, made with xylitol and my little guy approves; he always tries to eat the Nose & Face Wipes. I said he was cute...not smart. (I'm joking. Calm down.)

So, mommies and daddies, if you would like in on some Dr. Brown's swag - you are in luck. They have generously offered to give away 2 Dr. Brown's Natural Flow Bottles to one lucky winner. Just enter below!



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