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Black & White Bean Tacos {Recipe}

2013-06-18T15:19:08Z

On our quest to eat healthier in this house, we have started to eat more black beans instead of meat. I happen to love any legume on the planet and have no issues with this at all. My husband is 'used' to eating a huge meat portion and then everything else is filling. I have attempted to get him to change his mindset for years, with no luck. Recently he has been working with a personal trainer to get back in shape and this person has let him know his eating habits are quite poor. (can't listen to your wife, but a complete stranger will do the trick?)

Anyway, I can finally cut out the huge meat portions in our household and serve more vegetables and fruit, which I adore the most. My children love all the fresh foods, but are not so fond of the beans as our protein. I've been coming up with other inventive recipes to get my children to love legumes like I do.

Black & White Bean Tacos

Ingredients:
4 Cups black & beans, cooked OR 2 cans black & white beans{drained & rinsed}
½ C. red onion, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 raw sweet potato, grated
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1-2 avocado, sliced
Pinch of salt and pepper
8 corn tortillas
Hot sauce & salsa-optional
cheese-optional
Sour cream-optional

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, add beans, red onion, grated sweet potato, cilantro, and spices. Add a pinch of salt and lightly mash all of the ingredients together with a fork or your hands.

2) Heat the coconut oil in a skillet and add one tortilla and fill half of the tortilla with about ½ cup of the bean filling. Optional to spinkle some cheese on at this time. Fold the torilla over to form a taco.

3) Continue making your tortilla in the same manner. Cook each taco until they are nicely browned and crispy. Be careful when flipping the taco to cook the other side, so the filling doesn’t fall out.

4) Serve the Black & White Bean Tacos with various optional toppings like hot sauce, salsa, avocados or sour cream.

I love to top mine with hummus and add some fresh squeezed lime juice in there as well.

I usually always have more bean filling than corn tortilla to fill, so I will take the remaining bean filling and carck an egg in there and make some bean patties.

Simply form filling into balls and slightly flatten bake at 350 for 10-13 minutes and flip half way.

The bottom line? Beans are pretty much the perfect food!

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What is your Favorite Summer Treat?

2013-06-17T17:32:54Z

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Mariano’s.

I've been battling the "I'm so bored" statements already and needed to get my children out of the house for an exciting afternoon. I decided that a trip to the city was in order for a special summer treat for my children.

However, I was surprising the children this day and told them I had to go to Chicago for a quick errand. I didn't let on that the errand was a special trip just for them. I wanted to break the summer boredom that is slowly sneaking in and have a special summer treat day with them instead.

My children are so keen they knew as soon as I pulled into the parking garage where we were headed. They all began to excitedly ask if we were going to Mariano’s. I replied that indeed we were and that was the errand. A special treat day for them. I then told them they could pick any summer treat out that their little hearts and palates desired. {I'm so awesome, aren't I?}

We visited the candy counter because I knew they get their chocolate treats in from a confectioner in Long Grove. I simply had a taste for a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and I was treating myself as well. My children had a great time getting a chocolate dipped pretzel, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate chocolate truffles and we were even delighted with a surprise tasting. My son gobbled it up so fast I didn't even get to smell it.

I thought perhaps my children may want to sample a new bakery item, but they settled for their old favorite, Double Chocolate Mousse Bombs. There was only two left, so my daughter decided to try a beautiful Chocolate Chip Bella Cupcake. It was so pretty, I didn't want her to eat it!

There was so much to select in the way of special summer treats. We looked over all the muffins and pasteries. I decided I needed a couple of Italian cookies for myself. We looked at the bags of speciality candies, nuts and flavored popcorn. My children were really happy with their selections and were begging me to head over to the Vero gelato counter.

Our favorite location to get gelato is at our local Mariano's. Whenever I state that I am off to the grocery store, my children literally stumble all over themselves to race to the car, clamoring at the tops of their lungs which flavor of Vero gelato they are getting this trip. I knew my children were going to get a Vero gelato this day because it is quite literally one of their most favorite treats in the entire world. But I know a few things about gelato as well, so I saved the Vero gelato counter for last.

Gelato is just the Italian word for ice cream, right? Is there really any difference? Why, yes, yes there is! Gelato has an intense and dense flavor that cannot be matched. Gelato is made fresh in small batches with all natural ingredients and without cream. It is not as cold as ice cream and melts a bit faster, so you do need to eat it fast . . . or not, you could simply grab a straw and slurp it up as well. It is just tastier all around.

All the kiddos were ecstatic they were able to get their favorite scoop of Vero gelato and special score for me because we earned another free container of gelato for our next trip. If you shop at Mariano's, be sure to obtain your rewards card to earn free gelato like us!

We headed out to the patio right off the entrance of Mariano's on the second level to enjoy our special summer treat filled afternoon. The view is amazing and we just took in all that it had to offer us while we enjoyed out gelatos, bakery and chocolate goods.

I don't know about you, but if your children are excited to take a trip to a grocery store, that says something. Mariano's is not simply a local grocer to us. My children and I really enjoy our trips here. I am able to find the best selections of the speciality foods that I cook with and my children are able to get a special treat and enjoy shopping with mom.

My children and I adore Chicago and have begged hubbie to relocate us there. Since that is not happening any time soon, we will just have to do with our weekly or bi-weekly drives in to the city. We enjoy so much that Chicago has to offer and we love that Mariano's is right across the street from our favorite location. We can literally skip right over to the Lakeshore East store and get a snaffle of our favorite Vero gelatos and enjoy the sunshine of the day. #MyMariano's gelato is the best.

One thing Mariano's and Vero gelato do have in common: you won't be able to resist just one more scoop!

What is your favorite flavor of gelato? Be sure to pop over and see my photo story on Google+. Check out the Mariano’s Community page for some other suggestions. If you are fortunate to have Mariano’s in your neighborhood, be sure to connect with them on Twitter and Facebook!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: 6.16

2013-06-16T05:07:55Z

Summer The true sign of summer for me is going to the zoo and obtaining my yearly photo on the lion. My kids know it is coming. My girls are still happy to pose for me and this year the entire drive there, my son told me he was not going to sit on the lion. When we got to the lion, he walked up and asked if he coudl just stand there. I was happy I didn't have to coax him into the photo and if he wanted to stand instaed of sit, I was all for it! 2013 zoo photo - check!

Dance Here is another shot from my lemonade stand mini sessions. I loved this session so much I may have to do another one soon!

Laughter This one is trying to give me a stroke. I'm just telling you now if I see her climbing this tree I may just pass out in my driveway. Up to this point, she has been too short to get her little legs up there and hoise herself up like her older siblings. However, this summer, she has grown just enough to stretch herself and pull herself up into this tree. Now all three of my poppets are up there driving more grey hairs to pop out on top of my head! She just thinks it is the funniest thing ever!

Helper This little one was getting some help from a jr aide at horseriding this week. She had been riding for almost two hours and little ole'pony was getting tired.

Water Another photo from the zoo. My kids love to pop into the StingRay area and feed these silky animals. Usually, I can take them in there and have no issues. This year, oh Lordy, I walked in there and just started gaging and coughing and choking and sputtering. I was a mess and had to high tail it out of there before I puked my lunch in the pool and got us all kicked out of the zoo. IT was not a pretty site! My smelling senses are on overdrive these days.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

She's Growing Up and I Don't Like It One Bit

2013-06-13T17:49:30Z

This weekend is Father's Day and I am hosting as we usually do. Father's Day falls right around my little one's birthdyay,so we always try to combine the two and celebrate together. My little one has been asking me every single day, no less than five times a day, "how many days until my real birthday" and "how many days until my fake birthday". It's hilarious and driving me a bit bonkers.

She bumped her head a couple of weeks ago at the park. By bumped I mean that she ran, at full speed, head on into a metal post. I was out grocery shopping and hubbie was at the park with the girls. I can home and couldn't believe the bump that was on her head. Literally, the bump is still there. I'm hoping it is not permanent. She has a small scar there as well, that I hope will heal in a couple of years. I've been keeping it covered so that the sun doesn't get to it, as I know this will cause the scar to stay versus fade. Poor dear.

She's going to be seven and couldn't be happier about it. She's going to be seven and I couldnt't be sadder about it. She still loves to snuggle with me, but not as much. She still tells me she loves me, but not as much. She still gives me hugs, but not as much. She still wants to hold my hand, but not as much.

I keep telling her to stop growing and she keeps shouting at me that she can't.

Burlap Banner Tutorial | DIY

2013-06-11T16:54:25Z

It's the beginning of summer here in the midwest. I am no longer tied down to the classroom and can complete some projects that are no longer school related. It feels really good to be creative and crafty again.

I decided to make a banner for a Lemonade Stand mini session that I was planning. I simply looked about my house and gathered the supplies. I was lucky in that I had everything I needed on hand, especially since it was midnight when I decided to complete this craft project. This banner was super simple to create and took no more than an hour tops. The most time consuming was wiating for the paint to dry. In case you're interested in making one too, here are the details.

How To Make a Burlap Banner
Supplies:
*Burlap (I used approximately 1/4 yard)
*Scissors
*Twine
*White & Yellow acrylic paint
*Ribbon
*paintbrush
*newspaper

I did not measure anything, use a template or have any specific letter templates to use. I eyeballed the cutting of the burlap using the size of my scissors as my guide and painted freely. SImply lay newspaper down on whatever surface you are working on, lay out the cut burlap pieces. I cute my burlap pieces in small rectangles, but you could use any shape really. I painted yellow rectangles on each shaped burlap piece, leaving a thin burlap border around the edges.I waited for the yellow paint to dry before I could paint my letters on in white. I painted the white letter freely and spelled out lemonade.

Once the painted letters were dry on the pieces of burlap, I was able to string them together with cut pieces of twine. I simply took a knitting needle and poked a hole in each corner of the burlap and hand strung the twine through the holes. I tied a know in each piece, connecting all the pieces together in a line to spell lemonade.

Next, I cut long strands of the twine for each end and tied these strands on in the same manner. I then tied select pieces of ribbons in matching colors to each end of the banner. I wanted some other splashes of color.

I love how my Lemonade Burlap Banner came out!This was the perfect addition to my Lemonade Stand mini session.

This banner was very simple to make and you can create these for any room in your home. They really could be as elaborate or as simply as you want. Your imagination is the key. You could decorate your chidlren's rooms with their names. These banners could be created for any occasion, such as a birthday, holidays, or even weddings!

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