(Mostly*) Clean Enchiladas

Last night husband declared dinner the best thing he has eaten in months. MONTHS!

A few bites later he said it was possibly the meals he has ever eaten… EVER?!

At the end of his 4^th, he had determined that it was- in fact- the best thing he had ever eaten. Better than an expensive steak, better than his favourite restaurant that only serves organic local foods…

A MEAL I MADE- AT HOME!

My heart was glad.

I obviously want you all to share in this mostly clean meal with us! (Mostly clean? I cannot speak for the canned enchilada sauce and call this clean. I also will not declare lots of cheese as clean)

I am no food photographer by any means, especially when hungry, but I present to you our Enchilada dinner…

Ingredients

• 1 large Chicken Breast, cooked and shredded (Vegetarian substitute: cooked and chopped sweet potatoes, quinoa or another type of bean)
• 1 cup black beans (I cooked my own, but a can of rinsed Black beans would work excellently)
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp EVOO
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 127 ml can of  Green Chilies
• 1 (14 ounce) can Diced Tomatoes
• 1 can Enchilada Sauce
• 10-13 Small Whole wheat Tortillas
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese or Marble
• Sour Cream (Clean substitute: Greek or plain yogurt, or sour cream)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF

1 Place minced garlic and chopped onions to a large pot on medium heat with the EVOO and stir often until soft.

2 Add the chilis + chopped tomatoes, continue cooking for a few minutes

3 Add the shredded chicken, beans and rice and ½ of the enchilada sauce

4 Place a couple spoonfuls of the mixture down the middle of the tortilla, sprinkle with a couple tbs of cheese and wrap.

5 Place the enchiladas seam-side-down in a baking dish (no need to fold in the ends)

6 Drizzle the remaining enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and top with the remaining cheese.

7  Bake for about 20 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream (or substitute sour cream for plain yogurt or cottage cheese)

Feeds: I served us each 2 enchiladas + plus a colossal salad. I could barely finish mine and  Husband went back for more even though he said he was not really hungry (Oh the perks of a fast metabolism!). We ended up with plenty of left overs. This would feed 5 people amply.

Prep time:30 minutes for me* + 20 minutes cook time.                                                             * Prep time will be significantly longer (1.5 hours total) if you are cooking the beans and rice from scratch. Enchiladas are quite a labor intensive meal, but you can cut cooking time down by cooking the brown rice/ chicken/ beans on the stove at the same time.

Hope ya’ll enjoy this as much as husband and I did

**********************************************************************************

This meal was a breeze for me because of my cooking style (pre-cooking*). I used cooked brown rice I have in the freezer (leftovers would work fabulously also!) along with the black beans I cooked in mass yesterday morning.

*Pre-cooking: Cooking large quantities of everything(brown rice, beans, ground beef for husband, bacon for husband, chicken…) and storing in smaller portions in the freezer.  It makes cooking throughout the week so quick and easy, saves money on hydro/ electricity, and is gentle on the grocery budget because we buy in bulk/ sale/ season.

 

Maternity photos

I did maternity photos this past weekend and LOVED capturing Caitlin and Ben and Baby. Last summer I did Caitlin’s sisters wedding. SUCH a beautiful family!

More to come. <3

Portrait Session

How beautiful are these freckles?

Seasons to be thankful for.

Here is a recap of the last two months.

1. No internet = no email, blogging, time wasting. We got internet back in time for…

2. We finished the renovations on the house, and put it up for sale. Which means DAILY showings, and quick (and clever) cleaning at 6:30 am before leaving for work. We pray it sells quickly.

3. oh yeah- I started ‘work’. ie my unpaid internship that is 1 hour (or two hours if I work regular 8-4 hours) commute away.

4. This past week we have been grieving the loss of two loved ones who passed from this life into the next. TWO. In one week. I spent 3/5 days at funerals, visitations, burials. My heart is tired. And I miss these beautiful, vibrant, joyful, godly women already.

5. In between the stress of this last week, Dan and I got sick. We battled exhausted, colds and headaches for three days. Sleep has been in want to say the least.

6. I have begun to reap the fruit of the prayer “Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours” . I truly caution all who pray this prayer. The world is broken, lost, wounded, confused, in devastation. I think I will replace this with “Lord, show me how to love like you love me” for the next year or so.

7. Next week my sister is getting married in NewYork…. remember? I am her MOH- which I do NOT deserve the honor of. I leave Thursday morning at 6am.

Praise God for sustaining us over the last few weeks. Praise God for His ever present love, hope and peace. Praise God for moments of laughter and joy amidst the trail of this season.

I have struggled to find moments of quiet and calm over the last few weeks, times where I can be alone with God. The rare times when I have found a few minutes to sit, I have found it incredibly difficult to just ‘BE’.  This has lead to a profound sense of discontentment. I long for quiet moments through the day alone with God. I desire to start the day with sunrise,quiet, Bible, coffee and Jesus. This time in the Word and in prayer refocused me, and brings me back into alignment. The last few weeks I have found the discipline of beginning my day in the Word to be hard, and my outlook and energy has reflected that. I feel unrooted, dry, parched.

Do you know this season?

It makes me very thankful for the times when my cup was full and running over. And very thankful for God Almighty, who sustains, upholds, renews, and strengthens. His grace is sufficient you know? His power is made perfect in weakness.

“I fix my eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:18)

That is where I place my hope for now. On that which is unseen. “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 

 

 

Honeymoon Continued…

I must confess…this ‘schedule’ thing is… well…difficult. 6 am was not happening this morning. But 8:30 was.

Lets get back to the honeymoon- shall we? Actually, lets take a time machine back to the actual thing. I would WAY rather be back in Michigan, on the water with husband.

Anyways, Michigan recently had a baby boom…

of these cuties. This was the momma by our estimation. And the SIX fawn she carted around were everywhere around the lakehouse. We had to drive half the speed limit because we would turn a down a winding road and BOOM! Another baby standing there!

We spent a lot of time taking photos, and trying to scare them deeper into the woods.

Were looked through antique shops- where I scored a FABULOUS lamp I am giving new life. The antique shops in the town were creeeepy to say the least. The shops were in building that had to have been condemned and they had large posters in the windows warning “enter at own risk”. Sadly, it was owned by people who thought all of the stuff was incredible, and the prices reflected that. 1800$ antique clocks?! I dont think so. It was also the type of shop that did not have prices on the items- you had to ask. I HATE that. Usually I won’t shop in stores like that. Since the town was fairly ghost, and we did not have a lot of options though- so we bartered. And I stayed very close to husband.

That afternoon we went back to the beach to kayak for a couple hours. We also attempted to use the wind surf board. And after finally figuring out how to both stay on it at the same time, we played “can you do THIS!?!” Which was a game boys are very good at- challenging each other to do stupid things by demonstrating it first… then laughing as your partner attempts this death defying trick.

Obviously I was the one who ended up wounded. He knew I was dorky and clumsy when he married me!

On friday, we pulled out a map and decided we would drive more north to Glen Arbour, which was beautifullll. Everyone in Michigan knows how wonderful it is- and due to that beauty, there was no hotel available within miles. So we planned to drive up and just walk around for the afternoon.

That was until we passed a lazy river tube ride…

I insisted. Dan complied. And three hours later we were back in the car, on the same spot on the map. It was a lot of fun, and refreshing. However! … we didn’t bring sunscreen. The lakehouse had some… and we totally forgot ours. Husband knows better than to let me outside longer than 5 minutes without SPF 170 (dork alert)… So he asked a nice family if we could borrow some, and I covered- quickly and sloppily. Have you ever applied sunscreen in front of strangers? …. It is USELESS! I missed a spot near my arm pit… a little spot in the keyhole of my top, a bit on my hip. And then I did the dreaded “SWIPE
 on my thighs….BIG MISTAKE. BIG. Husband said he could see me getting burnt. I ended up with a super strange tribal tattoo effect on my legs. And since my legs havent seen the sun since I was about 11, they got fried.

Anways… we were back in the car… on our way to Glen Arbour, where we walked through cute little shops, bought a coffee mug (which we collect to mark new places we have been together), had some icecream, and learned how to be a good wife…

This book boasted some good tips. Like “when your husband gets home from work, he is tired- and doesn’t need to hear about the little stresses of YOUR day. Although you have dishes to be done and a kitchen to clean, make yourself available for conversation. However, do not talk too much, be too witty, or have too strong of opinions… allow your husband to be the expert in every topic”

Dan thought it was rubbish and wouldn’t even look at the book. He was more interested in the awesome log cabin in which the bookstore was located. I love his admiration of good craftsmanship. He has an incredible eye for great buildings, and difficult architecture. He inquired about the history to the lady running the book shop and then we headed back out to walk some more.

We eventually decided we were satisfied with what we had seen in Glen Arbour, and went back to the car where we picked Traverse City as our next destination point and hoped to find a hotel when we arrived.

We snacked on leftover caramel corn from the wedding. Cheese, Mary’s crackers, fruit and “turkey sliders” I made on the spot for Dan.

LOVED that drive.

We pulled into Traverse City around 6, dropped into a couple hotels – $500 a night kinda rooms were all that was left. Praise God we  finally found something in our price range- the last room the hotel had left. We checked in, and headed right out for aloe gel and dinner. Traverse City was my favourite city BY FAR. It happened to be the weekend of the film festival, and the city was showing The Dark Knight on a jumbo screen by the water for free. Such EXCITEMENT. After dinner we rode our bikes down to the water and watched for a bit. After that we just rode the paved trails along the water in the moon light.

We planned to head out early the next morning, but on our midnight bike ride I saw a kitchy little shop I wanted to stop in on. This adventure ended up being a half day event, and we shopped ALL the adorable little shops and then stopped in at a mexican restaurant for lunch (which was the ONLY thing I asked for out of the honeymoon, I love mexican food)

After lunch we walked back to the car to get our bikes. And I feel in love with Traverse City  even more. It was SO beautiful, and so well taken care of.

Look at that grass!

The women at the front desk of the hotel suggested we visited the Asylum built in 1885, which was shut down in 1989. The buildings were left vacant and were left to fall apart. Over the past few years, developers have begun to transform the grounds and the buildings into a commercial and residential property. We looked through the little shops inside, had iced coffee and then biked around the many buildings.

The history of the Hospital was fascinating. And their methods of therapy were in line with all things Holistic- loved it.

Many of the buldings still look like this…

way cool eh?

Okay… I think thats all for today. Reminising this makes me miss my Husband. Who went off to work to “make the bacon” as he told me this morning at 6 when he left. I think I will go home to make him a carrot cake. Or cut the grass… or something.

Make today beautiful friends!

Get a schedule going!

Got up at 6 with husband. And decided that was it! I need a schedule baby. Badly. Being on break has hurt my routine… and I feel all over the place. ALL OVER.  In fact, this post doesn’t even have flow.

So today, I am trying to establish some sort of a routine. However, the only things that occur everyday in my life?… coffee, food, cooking for dan, 100 sinks worth of dishes because I am awfully messy when I cook, and devotions. How does one make a routine of that?!

Well, since our internet was shut off last week (moving sept 1!! cant wait!), my routine will include a morning sbux run (mostly to use there free wi-fi!).  Which is where I am at this moment.

As well, mondays typically include some sort of baking for Dan. Today will be brownies. Then I will read my buns off later today for the course I am avoiding.

THEN KETTLEBELL. Having no schedule has really hurt my working out. Which I normally LOVE. But since my routine has been a bust, working out has been non existant. And I am feeling it.

Last thursday I made Dan a quesadilla when he got home for work so I could pass THIS off as dinner:

cobb salad- i think… Or something. Regardless, he couldn’t finish it Which makes my heart smile. Boy can eat a LOT. And I am overjoyed when I can feed him for pennies.

Last week, I also created this: chick pea bbq ROAST

It was UNREAL. I will be making it again this week. And will be feeding it to husband, who got an actual roast that night for dinner. My chickpea roast was INCREDIBLE.

I also fed him this…

And made muffins SO pure, they went moldy in four days…. whats with mold lately anyways?!

Those strawberries ALSO went moldy on us… in a DAY. I was furious at the produce department in our discount grocery store! How dare they trick me into buying affordable strawberries that last 19 hours! Don’t worry, I was furious in my mind and  did nothing about it. Thew them out after two more days of pretending they might reverse time and turn delicious and edible again. They did not.

Side note, the most BEAUTIFUL woman just walked into starbucks. A gorgeous married momma….I really appreciate brunette women. I like appreciating women who look the complete opposite of me dark eyes, tanned olive skin, thick eyebrows, dark healthy looking hair… so exotic. This principle is partially why I am so captivated by husbands appearance, he was made so differently than I am! Back to this woman, I wonder if she knows how beautiful God made her?

Anyways, I have EVERY intention of posting more wedding photos/ honeymoon photos. But my new monday ‘routine’ tells me GO HOME…. fold laundry or something. So I leave you with one more photo…

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY FRIENDS!

Honeymoon

I will be posting more of our wedding photos in a bit, I absolutely LOVE them.

Thought I would get into our honeymoon a bit first- before I forget any details. We roadtripped from Ontario where we live, to the North Western Coast of Michigan.

The first four days were spent at my aunt/uncles lake house. Which was WAY WAYYY TOO NICE. Our 5 hour drive ended with this incredible sight.

God’s creative hand blows my mind. We had three sunsets like this while at the lakehouse. Each of them spent in silence, admiring how GREAT God is and how blessed we are to have His love and presence in our lives.

The Lake house had five bedrooms, a full kitchen, gas fireplace, BBQ, and THIS beach…

The above photos are taken from the back yard looking toward the beach. The top of the escarpment had a deck with chairs (in Canada we call them Muskoka chairs… American’s call then adirondack chairs I believe) and a hammock overlooking the beach. Then about 90 stairs to a VERY private beach. Unreal.

The beaches in Michigan are INCREDIBLE. The sand was nearly white, the water a beautiful blue- and fairly warm.

Daniel is used to hamming it up for me. He can also jump VERY high.

We grocery shopped at the local supermarket, and ate like kings during our time at the Lakehouse. I love cooking for Dan, so I didn’t mind a little extra work.  Breakfast was obviously my favourite meal. Most often we got up around 10am… so lunch usually became brunch. To avoid walking back to the house from the Dock while we had breakfast and devotions, we brought one of the Contigo Travel mugs from my mom full of coffee. Those things are the BEST! It kept the coffee hot for hours- one time it stayed lukewarm until the next morning- I kid you not!

My Mother in law was disgusted to learn that the majority of our ‘meals’ consisted of our FAVOURITE snack: roasted garlic and brie cheese on toasted baguette. She was disgusted because we went through 6 or so BLUBS in four days….neither of us cared or noticed a smell at all. We also had ZERO problems with vampires. This sunset was one of the beautiful ones…

We also indulged in our favourite soda- american style… Vanilla Coke for Dan (which is VERY rare in Canada) and Dr. Pepper for me.

Because we had absolutely NO agenda, we had the wonderful opportunity to explore whenever we felt like it. Which included long drives through the country, visiting roadside fruit stands for fresh cherries, local jams and Naturally Nutty nut butters which are also VERY rare (and $$$) in Canada. We also took a private plane ride over the town we were staying in- which was SO fun. And only cost us $25 each!

my dad has his pilots licence,  and I have been in a small plane before- so I happily let Husband sit up front with all the controls.

Dan is way way smarter than I… so he quizzed our pilot on the industries in Northern Michigan… the town closest to the Lakehouse seemed to be a ghost town, so he was curious how the town was staying alive. She shared some other interesting facts I couldn’t hear very well Naturally, I used said time as an opportunity to take photos of myself.

After the ride we were slightly nauseous and proud of our fun tourist discovery, so we ventured on for more.

We went to an observation deck to look over the water. Tried to find a ‘gravity hill’, one of those roads that pull you UP it (we couldn’t get it to work) and finally

mint chocolate chip.

*THE REST IS TBC in Part two…

We are setting down to peppermint tea, banana bread and the finale of Seinfeld and I am late!