italian veggie rolls

Tonight we had a friend over and I needed a meal to feed us all. I had this one up my sleeve.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

 

Preheat oven to 375. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Rinse, drain, set aside.  Heat oil in a medium saute pan. Add onions, carrots and broccoli. Saute over medium heat until tender. Add wine and garlic. Cook five minutes, or until wine has just about evaporated. Remove from heat, and cool for ten minutes. In a medium bowl combine sauteed vegetable mixture, mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, and egg. Mix well. Pour half of the sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2inch baking pan. Spread 1/3 cup vegetable mixture over each lasagna noodle then carefully roll up the noodle. Place seam side down in dish. When finished placing all the noodles in the pan, pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over noodles. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover, and sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese over noodles. Bake, uncovered, 5 more minutes. Garnish and serve immediately. 

 

 

stuffed peppers

Tonight I made a twist on a classic. Simple dinners are my favorite!

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1/2 cup uncooked Arborio rice
2 green bell peppers, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 can of corn
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.  In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in the rice. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside. Place the peppers cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until tender and skin starts to brown. While the peppers are roasting, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the corn, and cook for 5 minutes. Spoon in the cooked rice, and stir until heated through. Remove from heat, mix in the feta cheese, and spoon the mixture into the pepper halves. Return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

 

 

vegetarian BLT

A quick meal for those nights where you have just a few minutes to make dinner. 

Ingredients:

15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup of chunky salsa

1/4 tsp ground cumin or chili powder

4 bagels cut horizontally in half

2 plum (Roma) tomatoes, sliced

lettuce leafs

In food processor or blender, cover and process beans, salsa and cumin until smooth. Spread 1/4 cup bean mixture over each of 4 bagel halves. Top with tomato, lettuce and remaining bagel halves.

cheese enchiladas verde

Last night I had an FRG meeting and totally forgot to post the vegetarian recipe I made. I also forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so I will be adding a googled one!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

1 small zucchini, shredded

8 soft corn tortillas

1/3 cup soft cream cheese

1 medium avocado, diced

4 medium green onions, sliced

Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1 1/2 inches, with cooking spray. Mix shredded cheese and zucchini. Spread each tortilla with about 2 teaspoons cream cheese. Spoon about 1/3 cup shredded cheese mixture onto each tortilla; spread to within 1 inch of edge. Roll up tortillas; place seam sides down in baking dish. Pour salsa over tortillas. Cover and bake about 25 minutes or until hot. Top with avocado and onions. 

vegetarian taco pasta salad

The only food with meat that I have been wanting since making the switch to vegetarian is tacos. I found a simple recipe for taco pasta salad, and just tweaked it a little to accommodate our meatless diet.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked spiral pasta
1 pound ground beef (instead, I used 12 oz of MorningStar Grillers Recipe Crumbles)
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
3 cups shredded lettuce
2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup Catalina salad dressing
Tortilla chips

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook cumbles over medium heat until no longer pink, drain. Stir in the taco seasoning and let it cool. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water (important! you do not want the pasta to be hot!) then stir into crumble mixture. Add the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onion, green pepper and dressing, toss to coat. Serve with tortilla chips. 

 

crafting gone wrong

I was finishing up making Conner's birthday decorations for next weekend. One last project was his birthday shirt. I saw this cute idea on Pinterest and just had to try it. Here is my finished product:

It was super simple. Here is how you do it. You will need: a t-shirt (any color other than white), bleach, water, a spray bottle, double sided tape, a grocery or trash bag (depending on the size of the shirt), and some cardboard cut outs. Put the bag in between the shirt to prevent seepage of bleach. Stick cardboard cut outs to shirt using the double sided tape (make sure you get them flush, otherwise you get funky lines.. just check out poor Mickey and Goofy). In the spray bottle, fill it up to be 3/4 bleach with 1/4 water. Spray away! It's best to do this project outside. #1 it dries faster and #2 so you don't get a killer headache. Wait until side 1 dries (approximately an hour). Flip over if you have more stuff to add on the back (you can see I did Conner's jersey style). Pull off the cardboard cut outs and there you have your very own personalized shirt! Each color shirt has a slightly different affect.

Here is where my project got messy. It's super windy/dusty outside today, so I had to do this inside. I had Chris try to open the windows and one of them broke! It still had a paint seal and we had never tried to open them before now in that room, so the force made it shatter. The emergency maintenance guy came and put cardboard on it and they are sending the glass guy out tomorrow to repair it. Haha. Good story for the future.

Love, Me.

slow cooker vegetable minestrone

Ever have those days where you don't really want to put all the time into preparing a big dinner? I know I do. Which is why I love my crock pot! Tonight, we had vegetable minestrone. 

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth (from 32-oz carton)

4 cups of tomato juice

1 tablespoon dried basil leaves

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano leaves

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 medium stalks of celery, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 can of diced tomatoes (or dice them yourself)

1 1/2 cups of uncooked rotini pasta

shredded parmesan cheese, if desired

In 4- to 5-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except pasta and cheese. I used 4 quart and everything fit perfectly. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours. Stir in pasta. Increase heat setting to High; cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes longer or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle each serving with cheese.Voila! 

stuffed shells recipe

Tonight we had a friend here from Colorado so I made stuffed shells. Who doesn't like Italian food!? It was a little messy to assemble, but delicious!

Ingredients:

1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
2 eggs, beaten
1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms

Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, drain. In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together pasta sauce, mushrooms and reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Pour over stuffed shells. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, until edges are bubbly and shells are slightly set. Enjoy!

no-roll mexican rice enchiladas

Day 2 of being a vegetarian. These first 2 weeks, I'll have a new recipe every day. Once we get settled into our routine, I won't be posting them unless I find new ones. :) Tonight we are having No-Roll Mexican Rice Enchiladas. Because of the GERD, I am not supposed to have spicy things, which I thought meant having to give up Mexican food. I found this recipe and it is a mild one. Didn't bother me one bit. So yummy!

Ingredients:

1 box of rice and vermicelli mix w/ Spanish seasonings

2 tablespoons of butter or margerine

2 1/4 cups of water

1 can (19oz) mild enchilada sauce

1 can (16 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (11 oz) southwestern style corn, drained

1 package of 6" flour tortillas (10 tortillas total)

2 cups of mexican style shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350. While it is preheating, in a skillet, put butter and rice mix until golden brown. Pour in water and sauce mix that came in the box. Reduce heat and cover for 15-20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Mix in 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, the pinto beans, and southwest corn. Arrange tortillas in 2 rows of 5 in baking dish, placing tortillas open end up, slanting and overlapping. In each shell, put about half a cup of the rice mixture. Top with 1 tablespoon of cheese. Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas. Cover tightly with foil.Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until hot and sauce begins to bubble. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered about 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

vegetarian pizza recipe

Most of you have read that we have recently switched our family to vegetarian due to my diagnosis. I think I want to start putting the recipes on my blog and sharing them with a picture. Here is the first real vegetarian meal I made.

Ingredients:
12" pre-bake pizza crust (or make your own using Bisquik!)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 cup of seasoned tomato sauce (italian seasoning is the best!)

1 cup of freshly sliced mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup sliced black olives

2 cups of shredded mozz

Preheat over to 350. Place crust on pizza pan and brush evenly with olive oil. Spread tomato sauce with spoon leaving at least 1/2" around edges clear. Sprinkle vegetables evenly and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

it could always be worse.

Ever since we got into the military, this has been a huge thing that I just don't understand. There are wives/girlfriends/etc. who complain constantly about a little field time. 'My husband is leaving for 2 weeks. I can't sleep without him at night. What am I going to do!?' I can tell you what you are going to do. Suck it up, cupcake. Welcome to the military life. It's 2 freaking weeks, it could be worse! 

This year alone, my husband has done a 7 week field deployment, and a couple handfuls of 1 week and 2 week field deployments on top of several CQ/Staff Duty shifts. He's about to go on another 7 week field deployment. He will be home for a whole 4 days, out of that time period, and that is only if he is lucky enough to not have guard duty (which he will, he always does). So maybe 2 or 3 days he will be home. 

Now, I wasn't going to post this on any social networking sites. Why? Because I have already talked to family, and that is who really needs to know. But after waking up this morning and seeing several of the 'I don't know if I'll survive these 2 weeks without my husband' statuses on Facebook, I feel the need to show them that IT REALLY COULD BE WORSE! 

I went to the hospital to do some testing last Monday. That is when I got my official diagnosis for GERD. I had a follow up on Friday morning to get a refill of my medication and go over the results. I was expecting to walk in and hear 'Yep, it's definitely GERD. Here is your refill. See you in 3 months for another follow up.' but instead I hear this:

'We need to do further testing. We found some masses in your stomach and esophagus that are not ulcers and we need to biopsy them for possible cancer. It could be nothing, but we'd rather be on the safe side that way if it is cancer, we caught it early enough to treat it.'

Yea, I'm 22 years old and am about to be put through a procedure to biopsy the masses in my stomach and esophagus to be tested for cancer. And guess when this falls? During the time that my husband will be gone to the field. Am I going to bitch and moan? Nope. I already found someone who is willing to watch Conner and a handful of people willing to take me to the hospital, wait there through the procedure, then take me home and help me out that day while the anesthesia wears off. Chris might actually be here for the procedure, if I am lucky enough and my referral goes through soon. However, he definitely will not be there when I get the results. I have to go through all that time with him worrying and me a nervous wreck. 

So don't sit there and bitch and complain about how you are going to have such a hard time without your husband there. Get over it and realize that this is how the military works. They have to train. Would you rather them go on a deployment without that training? And that is another thing. If you can't handle a measly 2 weeks, how are you ever going to be able to handle a 9, 12, 15 (or maybe even longer) month deployment? Put your big girl panties on. If the military wanted them to have wives, they would have issued them one. In other words, the mission comes before you.

Love, Me.

BIG changes

After getting my official diagnosis, Chris and I started talking about making changes to help me adjust to a new diet. Instead, we made a huge decision to make a lifestyle change and become vegetarian. I've been doing my research and while I think it might take a bit of getting used to, I know this is the right choice. 

Chris was the hard one to get on board. Conner is still little, so it will be easier to change his eating habits. Chris loves meat, though. He's a man. Grilling is what he does. I showed him the veggie burgers and how there are a ton of variations, and he is now willing to at least try it. If he doesn't like it, I'll make meat for them while I stay vegetarian. If he does decide to remain a vegetarian with me, he wants one exception - Thanksgiving. No problem.

Since we are making this change now, Conner's birthday is going to be affected. I found an awesome recipe for vegan cupcakes! Seems super easy. I also found a vegan icing recipe, so I can make my own. We had previously decided on hot dogs as the main part of the food (because of the hot dog dance) and WE CAN STILL DO THAT! They make vegetarian hot dogs. No meat, but it still tastes delicious. And if they don't read this blog, I doubt they'll even notice.

I am really excited to start this new journey. I have found quite a few recipes that I can't wait to try. When I have my follow up on Friday, I'm going to ask to see a dietician to help us properly adjust to the new lifestyle we've chose. Let's do this!

Love, Me.

official diagnosis

Those who have been following my medical issues the past year, I got my official diagnosis after some hospital testing this morning. Long story short for those who don't know, I had been seeing a ENT specialist for issue with my esophagus since February of this year. After several tests and getting nowhere, I landed myself in the hospital in June while visiting home. It took the emergency room doctor less than 5 minutes to give me an unofficial diagnosis. However, it would not be accept by my PCM here at Fort Bliss until I had the testing done to prove it. After 3 attempts at the referral, I had my appointment with Radiology this morning. Finally, a solid diagnosis. It's absolutely GERD.

This test was disgusting. I got all changed into that fancy x-ray gown. The first part was to take a shot of this powder that was pretty much the equivalent of Alka Seltzer, then chase it with a shot of water trying to not let it fizz in my mouth. Then the tricky part, even though there was extreme gas build up (which they needed for the x-rays) I could not burp. That was hard lol. After that, I had to chug this disgustingly thick 'shake'. They told me it was bubblegum flavored. LIES! I almost threw up and he told me if I did, I had to start over. No way. Not happening. So I was giving myself a 'I will not throw up' pep talk the whole time. And then the wall I'm standing against goes backwards. They did the tilt test, made me lay on both sides and my back. Drink another (less thick) 'shake'. And then it happened. Burning sensation. What was weird is that not only was I feeling it (obviously) but I got to SEE it happen on the screen that was taking pictures of my stomach and esophagus. I've also got several lovely ulcers hanging out in there. That was that. He said it was really bad and why hadn't I been diagnoses sooner. I told him to ask the multiple doctors I'd seen here, because I had told them from the beginning that from my Google searches I thought it was GERD.

Next step: Follow up appointment. Called the appointment line all to find out that my PCM has transferred to the SFMC on main post, and I have to be seen at the SFCC on Biggs. Which is totally cool by me, since I didn't much like her anyway. At first she was awesome, but then she turned ridiculous. So the guy made me an appointment with a random doctor for this Friday so that I can get my prescription refilled. Now I need to figure out what happens from here doctor wise. It's going to suck to have to explain this all over again for a new doctor. Hopefully this one will be more professional. I'm also going to request that I get referred to a dietician so I can learn the proper diet for GERD patients. 

Love, Me.