Fajita Salad

I really want to eat more salads at home. While I'm great at making simple (boring) salads, I don't have much variety. When I go out, I love a good salad. So, why can I not do this at home? 

I wanted to be able to make a lower calorie/fat salad that has lots of flavor and something that will work for more than one meal.

Tonight was fajita salad. I used to make chicken fajitas all the time, but haven't made them in a long time. When I thought about it, I realized making them without meat would be simple. For the fajita mix, I thinly sliced one onion, a small zucchini, and a red and yellow bell pepper. Heated up a little coconut oil in the pan (probably could have skipped the oil. I used to use olive oil but wanted to try the coconut in this recipe) and then added the veggies. Once they softened, I added some Mexican spices, stirring frequently. I also cooked up some flavored black beans (canned black beans, rinsed, and a can of green chilies).

My two simple eating children, had bean and cheese burritos. My husband decided he didn't want salad, so served his fajitas and beans an a tortilla.  My husband likes a little cheese, so I added that to his tortilla.



For myself, I chopped up a head of romaine lettuce. Then added  the slightly cooled fajita mix and beans. Topped it with a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut up, and half an avocado. YUM! I didn't have any good dressing so I just ate it like this.



Today, the next day, I had a repeat meal. It was quite good. I did add a small handful of tortilla chips and a tablespoon of ranch dressing, which is not my favorite. It was very good and filling.

Lemon Basil Pasta

A few days ago I got a bunch of great vegan and vegetarian cookbooks from the library. Many were hold/requests so they took a little time to get to me.

I already have one Happy Herbivore book. This recipe was from Everyday Happy Herbivore (on the table 30 minutes or less).  The cookbook has some great and simple recipes.

This was the Lemon Basil Pasta. The recipe only has 5 ingredients: whole wheat spaghetti, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice, basil, and capers. I added asparagus. I think peas would have tasted good too.

Everyone loved this dish. For those who like cheese, a little of Parmesan would be great too. Two of my kids ate their noodles and veggies separate, but it was easy to do.

1st day of school sewing

My youngest is going back to the local public school this year and today was the first day of 2nd grade for her.

This little 7.5 year old is an artist and my strong willed child who knows what she wants and doesn't go with the crowd. Due to this, her clothing sometimes is a little interesting, but usually it works. Being the first day of school, she 'needed' a new dress. In reality, she really does need some new dresses because she has a lot that are way too small (over 2 years old) and worn out (worn by her sister for 1-2 years and then her for another 2 years).

She decided that she wanted an owl dress and found this cute Alexander Henry owl fabric in my stash. Then she decided she wanted to have an owl on the top. I drew one but then she wanted to draw it herself. Of course, this made the process take a lot longer in time, but turned out very cute. She picked the fabric for pieces and put them together. Picked the colors for all the fabrics. She instructed me on what type of stitch to do and drew the finer details on the owl for me to sew over them. As we went along she changed a few features in her design, but it worked out.  She specifically told me not to make the face round and keep the circle not a circle (which did drive me a little crazy).