Enchiladas...

This is the recipe from dinner last night. It turned out GREAT. Our family ate the whole thing! We also had a smoothie. (We have a smoothie every breakfast and almost every dinner. Its a way for me to get veggies into the kids without them knowing). It was also really good. I'll add that recipe as well. Happy cooking!

Vegan Enchiladas:

1 can of organic black beans
1 cup frozen corn
1 large tomato (chopped)
1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
1 cup baby spinach
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1/2 cup salsa 
1 tbsp. dried cilantro
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 can (Walmart brand) medium enchilada sauce (I like this brand because its not full of  a ton of junk. If I don't recognize the ingredients, I'm not feeding it to my family).
1 packet whole wheat tortillas 

In a frying pan put just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. (I never stir fry with oil, water works just fine and its makes the meal healthier). Add onions and garlic, cook until soft. Then add corn, beans, tomatoes and spinach. Cook until spinach is soft and corn is no longer frozen. Stir in cooked rice. Add remaining ingredients. Place rice and bean mixture into the tortillas. Roll and place them in a 9x13 glass pan. Fill pan. Then add the enchilada sauce on top. Cook at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Top with Chunky Guacamole once its removed from the oven


Chunky Guacamole:

 2 avocados chopped
1/2  tomato chopped
1/4 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 juice of lime
1 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and enjoy!


Berry Peachy Smoothie:

2 cups light vanilla soy milk
1 cup frozen berry mix
1 cup frozen peaches
1 handful baby spinach
2 tsp. vanilla

Blend together and enjoy. *Side note... If I feel like the smoothies are just to thick then I add some water and blend the mixture again.

Eat to Live meal plan...

I've talked about the book "Eat to Live" by Dr. Joel Fuhrman before and that book is a big reason why we decided to go vegan. It just makes sense to eat this way after you've read the book! Well this is the "life plan" that we eat by. We try to keep a printed off sheet out in the kitchen where we can see it. That helps me to remember what I should and shouldn't eat and how much to eat throughout the day. If you are really thinking of going vegan, trying to lose weight, or wanting to be healthier I would recommend this book! It is pro vegan but it also tells you how to add back animal products after you've lost the weight you wanted. The "Eat to Live" book is on amazon for $4.97. So it's cheap and a good read!



"Eat to Live" Life Plan

UNLIMITED (all you can eat but must at least meet goal daily)

• all raw vegetables (goal: 1 lb. per day)

• cooked green and non-green nutrient-rich vegetables (goal: 1 lb. per day; non-green

nutrient-rich vegetables include eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes,

carrots, and cauliflower)

• beans, legumes, bean sprouts, and tofu (goal: 1 cup per day)

• fresh fruits (goal: 4 per day)

 

LIMITED (must meet goal daily but do not exceed it)

• cooked starchy vegetables and whole grains (goal: 2 cups per day; starchy vegetables

include butternut and acorn squash, corn, and potatoes; whole grains include oatmeal,

bread, rice, pasta, and cereal)

• avocado, nuts, and seeds (goal: 1 oz. per day)

• ground flaxseeds (goal: 1 tablespoon per day)

 

OFF-LIMITS

• dairy products

• animal products

• oils

 

SUPPLEMENTS

• DHA (vegetable-derived, from micro-algae)

• Vitamin B12 (2500 mcg. once per week)

• Vitamin D (2000 I.U. per day)
 

90 PERCENT RULE

• aim to eat at least 90 percent unrefined plant foods, with processed foods constituting

no more than 10 percent of total caloric intake (<200 calories per day or 1,400 calories

per week)

Fuhrman, Joel. “Eat to Live.” Little, Brown and Company, 2011-01-05. iBooks

PG-13 post

* If you are offended by talking about yours or anyone else's downstairs area don't read this.

Ok... our big kids are getting to the curious stage, Harrison especially. They want to know what everything is. Harrison's favorite thing to say is, "Mommy, that? What that?" Well... lately the big question has been... what's downstairs... if you know what I mean. Awhile ago I read an article that said you should tell your children the correct names for their... you know what. The purpose being if someone (heaven forbid) was doing something inappropriate with your child you would know. The author's theory being the inappropriate person would call the kids parts something other than the real names. It made sense to me and so when our kids have asked... I've told them the correct names. The problem now is our kids are obsessed with telling everyone what parts they have. Right now everyone has a penis, girls, boys, it doesn't matter. To the McArthur kids you have a penis. We're really trying to work with them... girls have a vagina and boys have a penis. Sometimes it sticks for a small period of time, but I think they just like saying penis. It is so funny to listen to them say the words (I'm a bad mom, I know). My sister thinks it's weird, and I guess to hear a two year old say penis and vagina is a little different but I'm glad they know the real names. Having someone hurt my children is a big fear of mine. People are so crazy! I've heard so many stories, and the news is just packed full of them! I hate to say it but I don't trust many people with my kids. My fear of this and how crazy the world is, is one of the reasons our kids have just now started going to church nursery without me or Troy (they kicked me out last Sunday). So yes... I'm one of those crazy moms but I'd rather be a little crazy and my kids be okay. I'm horrified at some of the things I see moms do (not that I'm judging or anything), I mean when you're at the park at LEAST pretend you're watching your children! Ahhh! Those poor kids! Anyway back to the point of this post, my kids say penis and vagina because I want them to be safe... and it's kind of funny but mostly for safety. Am I weird or wrong to do so? What do you have your kids call the downstairs?

Get your healthy on...

Here it is... the "recipe" post. I was trying to hurry and make up all of the recipes so that I could have a pic with each one, but it was just taking too long. Rest assured, all of these have been tested and approved by me and my family. These are all simple for the most part and tasty. What I love most about these recipes is that they are fast and easy! I'm not one to plan dinner out days or even hours in advance... so anything that is fast is my favorite!

Chickpea salad:
1 can organic chickpeas
1 tbsp. vegenaise
1 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. minced onions
salt and pepper to taste

Place peas in blender and blend until slightly chunky. Stir in remaining ingredients. This salad is great on a lettuce salad or in a wrap!

Refried Beans:
1 can organic pinto beans
1 tbsp. vegenaise
1 tbsp. minced onion
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Place beans in blender and blend until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. We love to put this in a tortilla with steamed veggies and salsa.

Vegan Alfredo Sauce:
1/3 cup raw (unsalted) cashews
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 cup almond or soy milk
2 tsp. liquid aminos
2 tsp. organic Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. paprika

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. We put this over pasta mixed with steamed veggies. I know this says "alfredo sauce" but it tastes more like a Chinese dish. It still is really good!

Breakfast Smoothie:
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 cup organic frozen blueberries
1/2 cup organic frozen peaches
Handful of baby spinach
1 tbsp. ground flax seed

Lunch/Snack Smoothie:
2 cups water
2 tbsp. orange juice concentrate
1 cup mixed frozen fruit
Handful of kale

Pizza:
1 Whole wheat pizza crust (or make your favorite one)
3 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. minced onion
Add tomatoes, steamed broccoli, mushrooms, and cauliflower.

Mix paste and dry ingredients then spread on pizza crust. Add veggies. I bake it at 450 for 10min.

Mexican Pizza:
1 Whole wheat pizza crust
5 tbsp. refried beans
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. chili powder
3 tbsp. salsa
1/2 chopped tomato
1/4 cup corn
1/2 avocado chopped

Spread refried beans on crust. Sprinkle cumin, chili powder, and salsa over beans. Add remaining ingredients. Bake at 450 for 10min.

Sunday Bread:
2 cups lukewarm water
2 tsp. quick rise yeast
1 tbsp. erythritol or sugar
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour

Mix water, yeast, and erythritol. let set for 10min. Mix with flour. The dough will be sticky. Put dough in a large glass bowl, I use a big round Pyrex or a 9x9 Pyrex. Let rise in a warm oven ( I start to let the oven preheat to 350 for a 1min and then turn it off) until doubled (about an hour). Bake at 425 for 10min. reduce heat to 375 and bake for 20min longer.
*make sure to spray pyrex before adding the dough to it. Also cover with tea towel.
*I will sometimes just make it before church and let it rise while we're gone (3 hours) then bake it as soon as we get home.

ATC Sandwich:
Sliced Sunday bread
1 sliced tomato
1 sliced cucumber
1 smashed avocado
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbsp. minced dried onion
salt and pepper to taste

Mix avocado, garlic, and dried onions together. Spread on Sunday bread. Add tomato and cucumber.

Chunky Guacamole:
2 avocados chopped
1/2  tomato chopped
1/4 small onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 juice of lime
1 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and enjoy!

Muffin Base:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 erythritol or sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 flaxseed egg ( mix 1 tbsp. ground flaxseed and 3 tbsp. water)
3/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla

Heat oven to 400. Mix flour. erythritol, baking powder, and salt. Then add flaxseed egg, soy milk, applesauce, and vanilla. After mixed well add whatever fruit you want (blueberries and strawberries are our favorite). You could add dark chocolate chips for a treat.

*Side note ... I steam a ton of veggies (enough to fit in a 9x13 Pyrex) every few days so I always have them on hand to eat or cook with. I do broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, and snow pea pods. The more healthy food you have on hand and ready to eat the easier it is to do so! We also snack on air popped popcorn, nuts (not too many though... they are high in fat) and edamame. I'm not a big fan of fruit so the smoothies help me with the fruit intake.

It was so hard at first to eat this way. I was so used to having meat and cheese and all other animal products, but after the first thirty days it became much easier and I feel amazing! I know this isn't for everyone but this works for us! I'll post more as I think of them, but these are our favorites right now. Let me know how they turn out for you! 

Shhh... it's a secret

In the past almost 3 years I've been on a bit of a roller coaster ride when it comes to my weight... when we got married I weighed 155 lbs., that was pretty small for me. When we got pregnant I lost weight (135), then gained (211), then lost most of my baby weight (156). Next, we got pregnant again (235), then lost my baby weight... and then some (134)! Here is how I lost the baby weight this go round...

So I've lost 96 lbs. in 8 months! I'm really proud of myself, and I always have people asking me, "How did you do it?" and "What's your secret?" Well let me tell you... there is no secret or magic pill. I eat healthy and I workout. That's it. Sorry to disappoint you. I used to think there was some magic thing that made other people thin, but I now have learned over the years that there really isn't. Just good old fashioned diet and exercise.

My advice for losing weight... (I understand if you don't agree with some of the advice, the second being the main one, that's fine. This is what works for me and my family and we love it. If you have another way that works, more power to ya!)

First... have twins. That will knock out about thirty lbs. right there. When I went to deliver our second set of twins I weighed 235... that's right 235! I am 5'7" and I weighed 235! It might have been because I ate chick fil-a every other day... and the PF Chang freezer food every night. So I weighed a lot the day I had the little babies, and 5 days later I weighed 200. Now I've never been really thin but that is the most I have ever weighed, excluding pregnancy. I freaked out. I started cutting my food intake in half, then more and more. I was starving! I was losing weight... but slowly. It just felt like it was taking FOREVER! And I missed eating! I love to eat! Thank goodness Troy started reading a booked called "Eat to Live." Now, this book is pro vegan and we'd been toying with the idea so when we read this book it helped us decide... plus you can eat as much of the "good food" as you want. I was sold!

Second... become vegan. I know what you're thinking... tree hugging, bark eating, peace sign holding, hippie. Well I'm not, we're not. We love being vegan though! I'm not going to lie, it was so hard the first month! I just wanted chicken so bad, oh and cheese! But I made it through and something wonderful happened... I stopped craving all the crap. I didn't want fried chicken, or French fries, or cheese, or burgers. I felt awesome! After I got over the hardest part (cravings), I hit another wall... what in the world should/can I cook?! If you look at recipes for vegan meals they have 1,000 ingredients and a ton of stuff that I have no idea what it is. So after searching for good things to fix that the kids and Troy would like I decided to just start making what we would normally eat, just take out the meat and add more veggies. Like spaghetti... no meat, add broccoli, onion, garlic, mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots, black beans, and sometimes green beans. It may sound a little weird but it is so good! Or chicken salad (I loved chicken salad)... no meat, add chickpeas, dill, onions, garlic, vegan mayo, then blend. It's so good! Basically, we eat TONS of fruit and vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds.

Third... "I work out." I mix it up... I do spin, yoga, weights, running, and Pinterest workouts. I have to or I get bored. When the kids are playing I do push ups. When I watch TV I do weights and spin. When I brush my teeth I do squats. I have to make time for working out and sometimes that means doing it at weird times. It's important to me so I make time for it. That is key! Things that are important to you get done. Whatever it may be. I've made tons of excuses in the past to not workout but I really wanted to get fit so I made time. Also... I do all of this at home. I don't go to the gym and I don't have a trainer. So if you can't afford a gym or don't have time to go to a gym... you can do it all in your living room!

So there it is! The magic secret... have babies, eat healthy, workout! :)

I'm for real this time...

I always tell myself, "This week I'm going to write at least ONE post" and it never happens! I get some free time and the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer for 30 plus minutes, but I know I should. I just love being able to vent and get my thoughts out there. So, "I'm for real this time" on to the post...

 

The big kids are now 2! I can't believe it! It's so cliché, but the time really has flown by. My sweet little babies aren't babies anymore. They are fun, crazy, wild, little kids. They talk up a storm and know what they want, fight, play really well together, fight, sing, dance, and fight... and are trying to be so independent (which is so cute and so frustrating all at the same time). With that new found independence comes some head butting, (with each other and me). I try my best to keep my temper under control. But I have those days, moments, minutes that I lose it and... I hate to say it... yell. With that yelling comes the guilt... the guilt of being a "bad mom"... the guilt of making my kids sad (poor Lotte can't take being reprimanded). I can't stand the guilt! So I started thinking... maybe yelling isn't the answer. Around the same time I really started trying to stop raising my voice I noticed a lot of moms on my facebook did the "no yelling" challenge. I think it was not yelling for 90 days or something like that. Well I've started doing it as well. And I've noticed something... my kids do what I say. Sure, sometimes I have to say it twice but it has been working like a charm!

Now when I say "charm" I mean that 90% of the time my kids are doing what I ask... with a smile. We still have our moments. Like... this morning at breakfast the big kids started throwing their fruit. After multiple "calm" tries I lost it and then... I felt bad. Real bad. But thank goodness 2 year olds are so forgiving because I started over. Everyday is trial and error, and we're getting better everyday. I don't care how long you've been a mom or how many kids you have there are days you lose it. They've pushed you and pushed you and you reached the end of your rope, but I've learned that taking a minute to compose yourself makes a world of difference!

So mommies having a hard time... just count to ten and TRY (I know it's easier said than done) to take on the kiddos with a more understanding and calmer perspective. :)