Quick Recipe: Taco Bean Soup!

This recipe is so easy and so yummy, I usually hurt myself after its done because I eat way too much!!  What I love is that you can make it all in one pot!  Just make sure the pot is big enough!!

You’ll need:

1 lb ground turkey (or beef)

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

1 can of diced green chilies

3 or 4 cans of whatever kind of beans you like:  black beans, kidney, navy, pinto, great northern bean, white beans…you name it! (Drain the juice from beans to remove sodium)

onion and diced garlic to taste

salt and pepper to taste

chicken broth

1 taco seasoning packet

In you large pot brown your meat.  If you use a lean turkey meat you won’t need to drain it more than likely, if this is the case when your meat is almost browned  add in your onion and garlic to saute them a bit.  Once the meat is cooked add about 1/2 of the packet of taco seasoning and mix well.  Then its time to start adding in all the other ingredients.  Once you have all your beans added, you can add in your chicken broth to the desired consistency.  If you don’t have chicken broth water will work just fine!

Let the beans heat through and eat!!

We add a dolip of sour cream into the pot and in each bowl when we serve it!  You can do what you want with it.  If you like cilantro and have a Trader Joe’s by you..we even put a little of their Cilantro salad dressing into the beans with a little sour cream and it adds such a great layer of flavor to it!!

Alex tears this dish up..we usually try to serve his with very little juice so he can feed himself…he loves the beans and I love the protein factor of the meal not to mention its ready in no time at all!!  We try to make extra and freeze half for an even quicker meal down the road!

Hope you get the same comfy feeling when you try this dish!

Healthy Eating: Turkey Burgers with a twist!

We don’t eat beef, instead we go with lean turkey meat.  In our house when the weekend comes around we love to be outside and we usually grill every Sunday! One of our favorite things to grill is Turkey Burgers…but with a twist!  We were in our local grocery store and they had turkey burgers with cranberries and feta cheese in them.  For four burgers it was like $12!  We decided we could make our own version of that turkey burger and get way more for our money.

And that’s just what we did!  We got our turkey meat and we added scallion onion, feta cheese, slice grape tomatoes and dried cranberries! We seasoned them up and put them on the grill.  They have so much flavor and we do several on Sunday to last through the week for a quick meal or lunch.  Alex loves them and since we had the grill going we added a few turkey hotdogs!  Now Alex is set and telling me it’s time to eat!  🙂

Why am I cleaning and enjoying it???

So why am I enjoying cleaning…..because I am using a new product that lets me clean without gloves and having to have the vent fan running and windows open in bathroom to do it!!  I am SO excited about this new product by Lysol.  I hate cleaning, but I have found a product that makes it so much easier on me and it works!!   Lysol’s new Power & Free Bathroom cleaning product.  I do love this stuff.  My mom was in the shower and sprayed it on the shower door when she was done before getting out of the shower.  She asked me what other product could you do that with and not be overwhelmed with fumes??? She is so right.

 I cleaned my bathroom and washed my hands and  went into the kitchen to make lunch and didn’t have the bleach smell on my hands which I usually do for days!  That was the awesome, not to mention the fact that it cleaned everything so good!!!  I can’t see myself buying another product at the point.  And I would never say that.  But not having to worry about cleaning when Alex isn’t around so he doesn’t breath in the fumes makes me feel so great about this product!!  I can’t wait to tell people about it and I can’t wait to try the Multi-Purpose Power & Free cleaning spray!

Teething blues…Let’s make a game out of it!

My little guys teeth have been causing him the blues!!  I have caught him with all his fingers in his mouth tugging on his gums trying t get relief from the pain.  I tried the usual teething gels and by the expression on his face he didn’t quite care for the taste.  I’ve put my finger to my mouth after applying it to his gums and I know why he runs! LOL  Some pretty yucky stuff!   I turned to homeopathic ways to try to help relieve some of his pain.  I was given the new Orajel’s  Naturals Teething Pain Relief product to try.  This product comes in tablets that you can melt for them or let the child hold under the tongue to dissolve.  Ok really trying to get a 2 yr old to “hold” the tablet under the tongue to dissolve  seemed like a joke…and at first it was.  But we’ve found a way around that!! We turned it into a game.  I use 3 tablets so we do 1 at a time,  Alex gets to count the pellets as its given to him and we both try to hold it in our mouth while it starts to dissolve.  Now he’s chewed his share, however the little game we play takes him mind off the aching gums and we get to play and count in the process.

So far this product has done the trick, we just started using this brand so I’m hoping its good enough to get him through his teething issues.  I love that it is a natural product and  it works.  He’s taken it in the evenings more when his teeth seem to hurt and he gets a bit cranky, but after we play our game I’ve noticed that the crankiness is not as bad.  That is a plus in my book.  I’m grateful that with this product his teething pain has subsided, but I am really happy that he’s not my normal cranky 2 yr old with teething pain.  The terrible 2’s is bad enough without adding teething on top of it!! 🙂

Random Tips: Want to make a quick and easy chicken recipe??

Here is a quick recipe that only takes minutes to put together but everyone will think you slaved over your meal! (At least that’s what I tell my family)

You’ll need:

1 Pkg Chicken Breast

1 Pkg Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 Jar Apricot Currant

Cooked Rice

Mix Lipton Onion Soup Mix and Apricot  Currant in mixing bowl, place the chicken breast in a baking dish side by side and spread currant mixture over chicken and bake at 325 for about 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and mixture is bubbly.  Serve over rice, using extra mixture to spread over rice as well.

That’s it! See super easy and no mess!

We love onions over here so I usually add maybe another half  package of Lipton Onion Soup mix and maybe another half jar of Apricot currant so that we have extra sauce to cover the rice.

I call this recipe “Sweet and Sour Chicken”.  It’s my “go to meal” when I need something fast and yummy!  Hope you enjoy!

As the weather starts to get cooler we start to pack up some of our outdoor things….

We’ve started to put away some of our outdoor fun things…Alex’s little pool and some of those summer toys.  But one thing were gonna hold on to is the Coleman bug spray! The weather in Houston can be funny, so although it’s cool today and maybe it will be for the next few days…this is only October and next weekend it could be back in the 80’s again!  I haven’t noticed the mosquitoes since it cooled down but we don’t want to take the chances.  The yard fogger was awesome!!  We could see a difference right after we used it.  It’s the Coleman “Yard & Camp” fogger, and it really kept the mosquitoes at bay during the time we were outside grilling and having family time!  We’ve always used their coils for mosquitoes over every other brand of coil.  It only seemed fitting to try the fogger!

But here’s what I love about this company…they have something for the entire family!!  I had no idea that they had half the product that they do.  I don’t use products that contain “deet” on Alex I think his skin is far to sensitive and he just doesn’t need the chemicals on his little body.  But they have an entire line dedicated to people just like me…Deet free!  However, what’s awesome is that they also carry products that contain deet at different levels…25%, 40% 100%!  You can’t ask for more than that.

They have a great product that covers the needs of everyone!  It makes it easy to purchase.   We can’t wait to test it on the mosquitoes in Jamaica!!

In my quest to be a “Hot Mama”, I have to decide between a gym or the YMCA….hhuummm??

I’ve been going back and forth about either joining a gym or joining the YMCA.  I was hoping that I could do something in-house because finding time to go some place to workout just seems like an impossible task.  But I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I won’t get much done in the house with Alex jumping on me every time I sit on the ground 🙂 …so the YMCA it is.  They offer so many different programs for both myself as well as for Alex.  For a few dollars more I can add my brother and maybe then I will have more motivation to get there to work out.  I chose the Y because they have yoga, and swimming and all types of workout programs, but they also have Mother’s day out programs as well as child care for Alex when I am working out.  It’s a win-win for both of us!

With this decision I am hoping that it gives me time to have “mommy” time as well as entertain Alex!  Another factor is the cost!  The Y is cheaper than joining any of they gyms that are by my house…but being a single mom they offer scholarships which can discount the price I would pay monthly and that is a wonderful thing!!

So I am excited..winter is coming and it’s my chance to cover up and get to the gym and hopefully come spring/summer time I will be much happy when I step out of the shower and see my back side!!  Hahaha I usually run from the mirror..I swear if I had a cloth big enough I’d cover the darn thing up.  But now I have a plan…my mission to be a “Hot Mama” will soon be under way!!

Any tips for the mission?? What worked for you that may work for me?  I am completely open LOL…this is going to be no easy task!  But I’m knocking on 43’s door come February!!  Help!!

I don’t think I’ll ever go back to “regular” yogurt!!

We’ve always had yogurt in the house.  Even before Alex came along I ate yogurt often.  I usually stuck to the plain vanilla flavored yogurt, every once in a while I’d do the kind with fruit in the bottom.

I got coupons for the Greek yogurt from Oikos.  We’ve had that in the fridge but I never  ate it because I just assumed it was not that good. I think I tried some a long time ago and didn’t care for it,  so I never tried it again.  Well I was wrong.  I love my plain old Dannon vanilla, but I love love love the Dannon vanilla Greek yogurt.   It is so thick and creamy and not too sweet.  I hate to say I haven’t bought my regular yogurt since!!  Bad thing is Alex likes it too, I swear his lil butt has an expensive pallet!  LOL  I got him some go-gurt which he hasn’t quite figured  out how to suck it out of the pouch with out making a mess yet. I froze it and he does love it that way, even though mommy has to help…but he loves all the different flavors of the Oikos Greek yogurt!

So Oikos it is!  Its something that is now a staple in our fridge and I’m happy to keep it there!