{Recipe} Black Bean Enchiladas

Once you have a baby, everything changes. But I didn’t realize that how I approach cooking would also drastically change. There’s definitely a mental shift of how I spend time in the kitchen now.

When I look for recipes nowadays, I look for recipes that can be prepared ahead of time, can be made in bulk and that is freezable.

This black bean enchiladas recipe is one of our favorites. It has a permanent place in our dinner rotation and I make it every month. The ingredients are simple and includes pantry staples. I found this recipe a few years ago from Can You Stay For Dinner blog and have adapted it to our taste.

 

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Chris loves meat and usually eats some type of protein in the form of meat or fish for dinner. Me? I can eat vegetarian meals and not even notice if meat is missing. The husband loves these enchiladas and is satisfied with this meatless meal.

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I have been making the enchilada mix ahead of time, then freeze half of it. The other half I keep in the fridge so I can just assemble the enchiladas for a quick dinner. It’s really easy and quick.

Sometimes I make a big batch.

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or just two.

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I love serving it with all the usual toppings, cilantro, sour cream/greek yogurt and more cheese. I also make roasted broccoli to round out our dinner.

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Black Bean Enchiladas

12 flour tortillas (I use medium size, 6″)

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 – 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (I use cuban black beans from TJs)

1 – 16 oz bag frozen bell pepper strips, cooked and drained

1 or 1/2 packet taco seasoning (depends on your taste)

2  1/4 cups medium salsa, divided

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

****I love Trader Joe’s brand for the taco seasoning and bell peppers. I only use 1/2 packet of taco seasoning to cut back on the sodium and it still has great flavors.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and spread 1/2 cup of salsa over the bottom. Lay your tortillas out on a clean work surface.

In a large bowl, mix the rice, beans, peppers, taco seasoning, and 3/4 cup salsa. Divide evenly among the tortillas. Roll each tortilla tightly and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.  Pour the remaining 1 cup salsa evenly over the tops of the rolled tortillas in the baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese over the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Serve with hot sauce and sour cream.

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A Day In The Life – April 2013

 

I’ve seen other bloggers document “a day in the life” and it inspired me to do the same.

I love recording and taking pictures of our daily lives, especially these first several weeks after Hawke was born.

All the pictures were taken from my iphone. A few of them are very grainy since I keep the nursery dark for nap times.

I know as our baby gets older, our daily activities will also change. I will look back at these photo journals in a few years (or even in a few months) and I will be interested in remembering the details of this time in my life. Being a new mom with a 5 week old baby :)

My morning starts when baby wakes up, usually between 6-8 am. He sleeps in a co-sleeper next to our bed. I try to get in some cuddle time and pick him up and bring him to our bed once the husband leaves for work. I feed/nurse him soon after he wakes up.

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I am following an Eat, Awake, Sleep routine right now. During his naps or when he is playing independently during his awake times, I make breakfast, catch up on reading baby books or mostly doing shopping online for baby/household items.

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Lunch is often eaten on the floor with me playing with him. Once I see signs that he is tired (rubbing eyes/yawns), we head to the nursery and I rock him to sleep on the rocking chair. He is usually asleep after several minutes of rocking.

On this day, I didn’t get much sleep the night before so I took a nap while he was sleeping, with the baby monitor next to me.  After my nap, I enjoyed a few cups of mother’s milk tea. I also pumped, cleaned/sterilized bottles/pump parts and do other household chores.

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My afternoon snacks these days are usually greek yogurt with fruit or a large fruit smoothie. When the husband comes home from work, he takes over baby duties.

We ate dinner early so I can go to the gym. A long hot shower after the gym was glorious. More tea after dinner.  I typically go to sleep around 9pm (the husband does the last bottle feeding for the day, around 10pm) and I will sleep thru 1-2am when baby wakes up again to eat.

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April 30/ Hawke 5 weeks old / my maternity leave – week 8

Lets do {express} lunch – Quinoa Bowl

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I’ve missed this place, this blog is my creative space and I miss it. It has only been a month since I’ve given birth and already I feel like I am starting to see the flow and rhythm of having a baby at home. Don’t get me wrong, I am still adjusting, but I do […]

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Vegging Out

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Hello friend  I hope your weekend is going well. With a newborn at home, my days and nights are starting to blur these days. I constantly look at my phone to check what day/date it is. But I do know it’s April, and this month will be a special month for me since I will […]

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