Chipotle Bean Burritos

My friend, AMH, pinned this recipe and she blogged about it later.  So, here I am doing the same thing.  She warned me that this may be a little too spicy for the little mouths that gather around my table so I proceeded with caution.  As I read through the recipe I decided that I would take beans out for the girls before the mashing of some of the beans and the addition of salsa.  That seemed to work as the girls gobbled it up without blinking an eye.  However, the beans for the girls were a bit dry when I started mashing them.  I added a couple of teaspoons of water.  Next time I think I will add some stock or something with more flavor.  Also, my girls love pico de gallo so I will give them that instead of salsa (although they sometimes devour salsa, too).  The original photo and recipe can be found on the website My Recipes.

Overall, this was a pretty yummy meal.  I think that I would actually increase the chipotle pepper after I take the beans out for the kiddos.  I know my spice isn't very old and I wanted to taste it a bit more.

We generally have all these ingredients on hand (or things that are easily done without or substituted) so this makes a cheap and easy meal for us.  Even my husband who is sometimes apprehensive about our meatless meals thought this was pretty good and was up for eating it again.  YAY!!

Chipotle Bean Burritos

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic black beans, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained
• 3 tablespoons refrigerated fresh salsa
• 6 (10-inch) reduced-fat flour tortillas (such as Mission)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese
• 1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomato (about 3)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 6 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 6 tablespoons light sour cream

Preparation

• 1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in chile powder and salt; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/3 cup water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in salsa. Partially mash bean mixture with a fork.
• 2. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture into center of each tortilla. Top each serving with about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese, 1/4 cup tomato, 1/4 cup lettuce, 1 tablespoon onions, and 1 tablespoon sour cream; roll up.

Maureen Callahan, Cooking Light 
JANUARY 2010

Lactation Bars

These have, by far, created the most buzz from my Freezer Meal Plan.  There are a few comments alluding to it but I have also received several e-mails about them and what they are exactly.  I think I mentioned something to my mother-in-law about seeing them advertised in specialty bakeries for some ridiculous price.  Something like $40 a dozen! (The more I looked it seemed to be the going rate)  My sweet MIL looked online and found a couple of recipes for lactation bars and finally settled on Mama Jeeper's Lactation Bars.  Basically, they are a yummy snack that help promote milk production.  How?  They are chocked full of things that have been known to help with milk production -- flax, Brewer's yeast, oats, etc.  This is helpful to someone (ME) who has a hard time eating a whole bowl of oatmeal of any kind (which is supposed to help with milk production as well).  It's suggested to eat 4 or so a day.  Note you may have to share these with children and husbands. :)  While I have extreme issues with milk production these helped some.  Others swear by them.  I like that they are an easy snack during the ravenous time of nursing that can actually help the issue.  Some people have complained about the extra calories -- I don't worry about too much when nursing. Worry about weight loss, etc after nursing.  Although, some people (not me) tend to lose a ton of weight anyway while nursing.  No, I'm not jealous.  ;)  (Can you say tangent?)

A friend mentioned giving these to new mama's as gifts.  I think that is a lovely idea!  I mention this below but I would suggest this as well for gift giving, wrap them individually and let them know they freeze well if needed.

Mama Jeeper's Oatmeal Lactation Breakfast Bars 
2 c. butter, Crisco, or margarine (can mix and match to equal 2 c.) (I'm all for the butter and not that other stuff)
1 c. granulated sugar
2 c. packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. wheat germ
1/4 c. brewer's yeast (not baking yeast or what's used for brewing beer) or nutritional yeast powder  (use 1/2 Cup)
1/4 c. flax meal (or whole flaxseed milled fine in a coffee grinder) (use 1/2 Cup)
4 c. oatmeal (old fashioned, or as thick-cut as you can find) (We used Steel Cut Oats)
1 bag mini semi sweet chocolate chips 

1 c. nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugars well, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Mix all dry ingredients (except for oats, chips, and nuts) in separate bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients all at once, stirring as well as possible by hand. Mix with beaters until smooth. Add oats and chips (and nuts, if desired), and stir until well blended. Divide dough into five parts.

Line a 10 X 7 cookie sheet (with shallow sides, like a jellyroll pan) with foil. Spray foil with nonstick spray. Spread 1/5 of the dough into the foil-lined pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

When done, simply lift out foil to remove the bars. Place another piece of foil into the pan and spray for the next batch. Allow to cool at least slightly before cutting each pan of bars into eighths.

Makes 40 bars 

The dough freezes well so you can make a bunch up and then bake later.  Just thaw dough in fridge and then let warm up a little out of the fridge before putting in the pan.  The final bars freeze well, too.  However, I would recommend wrapping them individually to help keep them fresh when they are being used.  But that is just my preference and it makes them easy to pick up on the way out the door.

I read that someone put a vegan spin on these which if you are creative enough you can totally do.  She mentioned using Mother's Milk Tea as the "wet" part of baking-- which would be another good way to add lactation helping goodness.

What's for Dinner, Mama?

I used to plan our meals on Monday.  However, I plan our meals around the sales these days and what we have on hand.  No longer the strategy of, "Hummmm... what do I want to eat this week?"  It can become too costly that way for sure.

I don't generally think too much about breakfast and lunch.  Breakfast we basically have scrambled eggs every morning and Miss L gets usually a half avocado and some fruit with her egg.  Lunches are generally leftovers or some other creative feat.  This will probably change in the near future.

For my own interest I will try to post what we are doing for dinner each night here on Wednesday afternoon after I have gathered my sales and coupons.  It's nothing amazing but maybe you will get some ideas.

Or better yet... maybe you have ideas to share!

Friday - Pizza @ Friend's House

Saturday - Grilled Chicken with Grilled Asparagus (Dessert with Friends - Brownies!)

Sunday - Lunch at Mom & Dad C's home after church (leftovers from the week for a light dinner)

Monday - Roasted Chicken, Potatoes, Broccoli

Tuesday - Pork Loin, Asparagus, Salad

Wednesday - Breakfast for Dinner (Eggs, Bacon, Coffeecake or Pancakes)

Thursday - Green Chile Chicken or Chipotle Chicken

Alternate -  Corned Beef & Cabbage

I like to have an alternate meal in mind just in case something goes wrong or we need to move things around.

Artichoke Chicken

On my birthday I made a pretty yummy meal for our family.  Husband had already taken me out for my birthday and this meal was pretty simple so don't feel too bad for me.  Plus, apparently my birthday is also National Artichoke Day.  (They have a day for everything these days.)  A couple of people have asked for it so I thought that I would post it here so I can keep track of it, too.

It's a Phase 1 qualified meal for those who are familiar with The South Beach Diet.  My husband loves artichokes so we cannot really go wrong with this one.

Artichoke Chicken


4 T extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2" thickness.
1 bag (approx. 16 oz) frozen small whole onions
1 can (13 3/4 oz) chicken broth or stock
1 T balsamic vinegar
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
1 package (approx. 10 oz) frozen artichoke hearts

Heat 2 T of EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes, tuning once, or until browned on both sides.  Remove chicken to large bowl.  Empty pan, carefully wipe down with paper towel.

Heat remaining 2 T oil in the skillet.  Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  return the chicken to the pan and add the chicken broth and vinegar, season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the artichoke hearts and cook for 10 minutes, or until the artichokes are tender and the meat registers a temperature of 170 (juices running clear).

** If you want to use fresh small onions or artichoke hearts this may be a place where it is not so cost effective.  Plus, I have yet to figure out on my own how to just get the heart of the artichoke.  A bag of hearts here was about $3 and you cannot buy enough fresh ones for that price.