Delicioso Black Bean Vegan Tacos

I have never shared a recipe on here, much less one I threw together myself. Moment of intense self-satisfaction? Why, yes it is. However, all the credit goes to Trader Joe’s. Seriously, what a cool store!

As I am on Day 12 of my no meat, no dairy, no oils, no overly processed foods challenge (I’ve lost 6 pounds!!!!!), I have found myself in the kitchen a lot more than usual. Typically, I am cooking 1 of 2 things: stir-fry with Trader’s Joe’s Soyaki Sauce or black bean tacos.

Here is the “recipe” for some pretty darn yummy vegan tacos!

You will need:

Black Beans (I use low-sodium TJ’s)
Fire Roasted Bell Peppers and Onions (yes, also TJ’s, in the frozen section)
Barley and Brown Rice (see above)
Grape Tomatoes
Pea Shoots
Extra Fine Corn tortillas (Only 1 gram of fat for 2 tortillas!)
Hot Sauce (I use Ortega, because that’s what my mom always uses!)

So, there is no real recipe. Cook the beans, rice, and peppers per instructions. I heat the corn tortillas in a skillet with no oil. Just about 30 seconds on each side. For a crispier shell, you know what to do. Then, I spoon in a small scoop of rice, and build from there! I like the pea shoots because they offer a good crunch, as well as a very clean, crisp flavor. Honestly, you could put just about anything along with the beans/rice mix. I imagine cheese would be absolutely lovely with these, but no cheese for me!

The great thing about these ingredients is they keep well for leftovers. My tacos were made from leftovers from dinner with a dear friend last night! Easy, peasy for sure.

Really, vegan recipes are very simple in nature and construction. I have throughly enjoyed trading Chick-fil-a for lunches at home.

Hold up, am I confused? Or just bitchy?

So, I had several what the feck (in the style of Zooey Deschanel in Almost Famous, man I love that movie) moments yesterday, and I wanted to share.

So, my Zumba teacher, who previously had a mohawk, came into class yesterday with super long hair. And it was curly. Like, not cute curly, but a bad at home perm kit curly. I guess it was fun to watch her swing it around while leading our group, but I am just not quite sure why she picked that particular style. She is gorgeous, mohawk or bad weave, but I was confused.

Then, I got a letter to call the Department of Defense about something from when Wildhorse was in the Army. I called at 3 p.m., call center closes at 4. I received a message when I called that they could not take my call due to high call volume, and to call back at between 7:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Soooooo, wtf? Are you open until 4 or what??

Then, finally, while waiting in line with my two children so Juney could milk a cow (I now realize I am totally suburban), this lady cuts in line and pushes her three boys in front of all the other YOUNGER kids waiting somewhat patiently to be part of our pastoral history. I had so much rage, I did not know what to do! I wanted to say so many things to this woman: who do you think you are? did you not see the line? don’t you know that I have a 3 year old that mentioned she needs to go potty, but we are waiting in line to milk this damned cow and she won’t leave without doing so? I felt like I had line-cutters road-rage or something. She looked at me, and I was nice enough, mentioned how crazy it was in there and that there actually was a line. She was sort of sorry, but not sorry enough, so I was still peeved, but we went on with our lives.

Simply had to share. I feel better now. Have a great day!

The Mommy Diarist

Coming around…..

So, obviously things have been pretty quiet in Mommy Diarist world, at least as far as blog posts are concerned. In actuality, things have been kind of great….and sad–this sort of controlled chaos full of temper tantrums and cuddles, which, for the record, truly do cancel out all the bad stuff. We visited family in the Midwest (no my family does not have cows in their backyard) for a few weeks, and are now home embracing all that spring brings with it: walks, cool breezes, cute shoes, lots of playgrounds, and beautiful flowers. Lots of photo shoots in the works and lots of random fun activities keeping us busy.

Really appreciating my friendships these days. It is hard for me to ask for help, and I am lucky enough to have friends that don’t make me ask.

Anyway, will try to get caught up on posts this month. Today is the 2nd day of a 28 day weight-loss journey for me. To embark upon said journey, I am cutting out all meat, dairy, processed foods, and oils. Uh, yeah. So, I am eating a lot of raw stuff, veggies, fruits, etc. I don’t plan on being like this forever, as Wildhorse would veto my meat-free, heavy whipping cream-free life changes, even if my weight loss results are incredible. However, I am curious to see what my results are in the end.

Juney turned 3!!! Crazy! Time flies so very fast.

Anyway, breakfast is over. Time for Zumba, park, AND a doctor’s appointment. Have a great week all!

Cheers,

The Mommy Diarist

Would love to hear from you!

I have been working on a lot of photographs lately, and I have found that my edits traditionally lend themselves to black and white final products. I just love to work with different black and white tones. The pictures become raw, dramatic, and simple. I have a couple of edits below, and I would love to hear which you prefer and why. These are outtakes from Juney’s 3rd Birthday shoot.

 

Here’s another:

Hope you all are having a great week!

The Mommy Diarist

Racing the clock, all day long.

Since I have about 127.5 seconds to spend on this post, I must apologize again for my absence and lack of depth and life-altering advice in recent postings. I just planned (and quite successfully executed) Huck’s 1st birthday party, am planning a bridal shower with the help of my sisters, concepting another birthday party for Juney in late March, trying to finish my portfolio for my webpage, editing photos, sending care packages to Afghanistan, scheduling photo shoots, watching The Voice, creating nutritious meals for my kiddos, dieting, and working out (lost 15 pounds since January 5th!!).

Throw in just plain old exhaustion, and blogging is not at the top of the list these days. However, here are some pics to enjoy. They are not the absolute greatest quality, but I am obsessed with photographing my babies together. Their interactions are so stinking funny.

Huck, in his new favorite thing in the whole world, his car (courtesy of mom and dad), wearing his new flight suit (courtesy of mom and dad’s money), and his favorite new expression (let’s be honest, probably courtesy of mom, too).

Love these kids! There is so much sanity found in insanity!

Have a great week!

The Mommy Diarist

 

 

Because I really do love her.

Juney is trying to make absolutely sure I lose my mind today. Instead of obliging, I decided to edit some pics of her instead.

Editing is very therapeutic for me. See how she smiles and dances. It sort of erases all of the bad stuff….sort of….not really.

The days are long, but as long as I have these few moments of peace, we will survive.

I hope.

Here’s hoping for a great week! And, God, if you’re reading this, I really do love her. Could you just make her a little less crazy? Not a lot, just maybe a wee bit?

The Mommy Diarist

Still working.

Hey y’all. Surviving here. Actually, have been surprisingly busy. Working my tail off, literally. For example, yesterday, I watched two episodes of Downton Abbey, after a lovely dinner with a friend. For serious, that is an awesome show. However, most of said episodes were watched with a precocious 2-year-old snuggled with me. Juney is having a hard time adjusting, and each night is an absolute power struggle. I kind of feel like I am losing, but I just don’t have the energy to battle her. Plus, I understand her confusion.

Any magical advice to help me once again redeem the title of “mother” instead of “crazy lady that yells a lot”?