{Recipe} Black Bean & Butternut Squash Burritos with Chipotle-Cashew Sauce

Am I the only one craving fall? I can’t get enough of the crisp air, warming foods and the warm clothes. In honor of my Fall cravings I have a fantastic, quick and easy recipe for you –> Black Bean & Butternut Squash Burritos. To go along with the burritos I wanted a healthy and tasty sauce so I made a Chipotle-Cashew Sauce, however, you can always top these with your favorite salsa; I’d recommend a roasted corn one.


Black Bean & Butternut Squash Burritos

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
  • 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 whole wheat or sprouted grain tortillas
Preheat oven to 350F and line and baking sheet with parchment paper
Heat the oil in a medium saute pan over med-high heat.
Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes until translucent.
Stir in the butternut squash, cover and reduce to med-low for 7-10 minutes or until the squash is tender.
Stir in the black beans and chili powder and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Fill each of the tortillas with 1/4 of the filing and roll up.
Place seam side down on the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Serve with the Chipotle-Cashew Sauce below or your favorite salsa and a green salad

 

Chipotle-Cashew Sauce:

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 dried chipotle pepper
  • 1 15oz can whole tomatoes, with juices
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 3 tablespoons cashew pieces
  • salt and pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a small pan over med-high heat.
Add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes until translucent.
Stir in the garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute.
Stir in the tomatoes, water and chipotle pepper; bring to a simmer then cover and reduce heat.
Cook for 10 minutes on low.
Stir in the cumin and cashew pieces and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.
Transfer everything to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
Return to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Healthy Living On A Budget: Dining In

Earlier this week we discussed dining out now lets talk about eating in.

How can eating at home help?

You have control – You have all of the control. You can control: the portion sizes, the quality of ingredients and the costs. When we eat at home we are able to buy high quality ingredients to make dishes that are tasty, healthy and better fit our budget. You can control the salt and the fat, which helps you take control of your diet.

Image Credit

Meal Planning Tips:

Plan you menu for the week and make a grocery list. Make sure to include snacks and drinks on your list. Planning will help you to stay on track and to cut costs.
Focus on simple, healthy meals during the week and one “WOW” dinner on the weekend. When you keep things simple you reduce stress and the desire to eat out. The “WOW” dinner is a replacement for eating out; make something special and make an event out of it. One of our favorite things to do is pick a movie and create a meal that follows the theme of the movie.
Have a prep day. One of the biggest challenges many of us face is time. Take one day per week, I find Sundays work well for me, and prep your meals for the week. This helps things run smoothly through the week and you will have more time doing the things you want, rather than being in the kitchen all night.
Buy in bulk and portion out. I love to buy nuts, seeds and dried fruit in bulk for snacks. When I get home I portion them out into little containers so they are easy to grab and go. This is also great to do with other snacks such as veggie sticks and hummus or whole grain crackers and salsa.
Keep it simple and have fun.

Healthy Living On A Budget: Dining Out

What are the biggest problems with eating out?


1. Portions – Most of the times, your portions are way too much for one person. Many times, Neil and I will share an entree and a salad or appetizer. But, whether you just arenʼt feeling like eating the same thing as your partner, or you just feel like youʼre hungrier than you probably are, sometimes you just want your own meal. You could always ask the wait staff to box half up of your meal before they bring it out, but, honestly, how often does that actually happen?

2. Expense – Thereʼs no two ways about it, eating out is expensive. Just think about how much that pasta with salad dish would have cost you at home. Would that bottle of wine you shared at dinner really have cost you $35.00 at the grocery store? Often, a meal for two (as simple as the one i just mentioned) can cost upwards of $60. In reality, you can make it at home for $15-25 (including that bottle of wine!). I know that part of what you are paying for is the experience, but why not try to recreate that at home? And hey, tipping your partner with a kiss is a lot cheaper than 15-20% of that $60 bill (and more fun!).

3. Mystery – Often, it can be a mystery as to what you are actually eating. Unless a restaurant clearly labels each ingredient on their menu, you may not have any idea what is in your dish. Often restaurant dishes are filled with sodium and fats used to heighten flavor which makes you want more, creating repeat customers. Not to mention that you donʼt know what the quality of the ingredients they use are or whether they are packaged or made from scratch.

Currently 8.23.13

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Thinking about:  COFFEE. Pancakes. Doughnuts. How I wish I was still sleeping. How I should have gone to yoga this morning but 5:15am came too early. How much I need to do this weekend to prepare for the week ahead. How I can’t believe next week another birthday will come and go.

Feeling: Exhausted, overwhelmed and in need of a good sweat session.

Watching: Okay now comes my embarrassing confession. I have been watching The Vineyard which is pretty much like the East Coast summer version of Laguna Beach. I know, I know super lame but hey sometimes moms need a mindless distraction. I also have been watching Supernatural on Netflix- side note I came across someone on Instagram who named their son Dean after Dean Winchester.

Reading: So I finally brought the Kindle back out and am finally finishing Devil In the White City.  I am also trying to decide what book our book club will read first – any suggestions?

Looking forward to: The weekend! I have yoga on the agenda for Saturday and Sunday and we have a family happy hour on Saturday. I am also looking forward to next week because I have my Babywearing Educator Certification course, my birthday and a family getaway.

Making me happy: Knowing that we can finally start looking for a new place to live- East Side here we come!

This post was inspired by Sometimes Sweet.

{Recipe} Cheesy Hatch Chile Sauce

Did you know it’s Hatch Chile season? Honestly I had no idea what a hatch chile was or that there was a season for them until we moved to Oregon and I saw signs at our local Whole Foods. I waited weeks anticipating their arrival and trying to figure out what I would make with this new to me chile. Finally they arrived and honestly they are tasty but I’m not sure I understand all the fuss, besides them only being available for a short window of time. Anyways I made a new recipe with them and it is super good (IMO). Don’t worry though if you can’t find hatch chiles you can leave them out or add your favorite chile to the recipe instead.

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Cheesy Hatch Chile Sauce

This makes around 2qts so feel free to half or quarter this recipe. Also note you may need to add the broth in small batches if your processor or blender is on the smaller side. 

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large sweet onion, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 hatch chiles, diced
  • 1.5 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • 3-4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
  • salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat; add the onion, peppers and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 3-4 minutes until everything is tender.

Place all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until smooth, this can take a few minutes. Return the mixture to the large skillet and heat over medium while stirring constantly until it starts to thicken; this can take around 15-20 minutes.

Serve hot with tortilla chips, veggies or use as a sauce. We enjoyed it with homemade tortilla chips, as a sauce for pasta and as a sauce for enchilada casserole.

Dealing With Burnout

I wasn’t a pregnant runner. It was winter, I was nauseous as the time and I just had no desire to run while I was pregnant. I shouldn’t say that I did have a desire to but it just wasn’t a top priority. So instead I focused on walking, yoga, and strength training. I felt strong and healthy my entire pregnancy and it made a huge difference when it came to childbirth.

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Now this isn’t a post about childbirth or pregnancy but rather what comes after. I had these grand ideas of running (well run/walking) my first half in November only 4 months postpartum. I figured I could do it. I had been active my entire pregnancy and I was a fit mama so why couldn’t I? Well I didn’t heal so quickly and the dreams of my first half were over.

In December I found out we would be moving so of course the first thing I did was look for a race to run. I found the Hippie Chick Quarter Marathon and decided that would be my race. I received a comped race admission thanks to Brooks. We moved and after that chaos settled down I started to train. I actually got back into running much more easily than I had imagined and it felt good. I was running 4-5 days per week and cross training. I was pushing myself hard because I knew that I couldn’t back out on this race.

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The race came and I had an amazing time but as soon as that race was over so was my desire to run. I had pushed myself so hard for 4 months straight that I just lost all desire. I was burnt out. The idea of lacing up my running shoes made me cringe. I would force myself to get out and run but I had no heart for it. I didn’t want to be there. I dreaded every mile. Finally by mid June I just stopped cold Turkey. I needed a break. Unfortunately this break resulted in me hardly working out at all.

After two months of not taking the BOB out for even a walk (okay for about a month of that the tire was flat and Neil and I were to lazy to get it fixed) I finally took it out. As soon as I started walking I WANTED to run. I surprised myself and it felt good. The only thing is when you take nearly 3 months off from running you kind of lose all that endurance you built up and my desire to run miles turned into about a quarter of a mile. Now that my desire to run is back I’m easing in slowly and going back to the basics, back to Couch to 5k. I’m ready to get back running but I don’t want to suffer from burn out again. So for the next 9 weeks it’s all about Couch to 5k and taking it slow and easy.

 

Q: Have you ever suffered from burnout?

No More Workout Excuses

Over the past year, and especially the last three months, I have two often used Edith as an excuse for not working out.

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I’m too tired because Edith was up all night.
I’m too dehydrated because Edith nursed all night.
It’s too hot to take Edith out in the BOB.
It’s too rainy to take Edith out in the BOB.
Edith needs to nap. Edith needs to eat. Edith…

You get the point.

As I read all these excuses I realize just how lame them really are.

The reality is I have been making excuses because I’ve been lazy. Since mid-May I have lost my workout motivation and although all of the above were true at the time, I was tired, dehydrated and it was hot or rainy but it really is no excuse. And the absolute truth of the matter is that I SHOULD be using Edith as a reason TO WORKOUT.

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I want to be a good example for Edith. I know she is watching everything I do and I have to show her the importance of working out, taking care of yourself and living a healthy lifestyle. I need to lead her by example to make healthy choices as she grows up. So I am making the choice today and from this day forward to use Edith as a reason to workout and not an excuse not to.

Q: What is your biggest not going to workout excuse?