My Christmas

For Christmas this year we took the kiddos to Disney. My daughter has hit the princess stage already in her little life, and loves Minnie and Mickey Mouse, and pretty much all things disney. The boy was not so old that he was bored with the shows, parades, lights, and "big kid" rides. 

So for Christmas this year, I got to see the delight on my child's face as she met tinkerbell, Snow White, as well as the unforgettable shriek that came out of her when she saw "my Minnie" for the first time. 

I'm good with that. 

Oh, and there was no tree, no gimmies, no (major) fighting, and no hassle with decorating or lights. We enjoyed the work of others this year. 

I like that we as a family have opted for the Christmas vacation. The experiences that we get are more valuable to me than anything. Besides, the kids have more junk than they need. And it's kind of fun to get to say, OK to those one or two small things they pick out at the gift shop... 

Can't wait to edit my photos. 

Life Update

Not that anyone reads this but me, but maybe someday when I'm dead, my amazing daughter will find this and laugh at me.  

I'm off the box.  It seems a bit odd posting under "The Medic Mom" when I'm not on the box anymore.  I'm still a state and nationally certified medic.  But I'm not on the box anymore.  Haven't been for over a year now.  

And it's not a bad gig, this teaching thing.  See, right now, I'm working from home (well, RIGHT now, I'm procrastinating from home).  My darling daughter is napping in the other room, and I'm posting quizzes and lectures for my student.  The best part:  You don't know if I'm dressed up, clean and showered, or sitting here in my underwear right now.  And it DOESN'T MATTER!

I love my job.  It's not too hard, but it's still challenging.  I have time to breathe, I sleep in my own bed every night, and the most dangerous part about my job is driving too and from work.  No scary, creepy people, no middle of the night wake-ups, no out-in-the-rain accidents.  It's cush.  

But here's the rub- I like medicine more.  I always have, and I'm finally ready to start pushing my way back toward medical school.  I'm solving some of my "life" problems- sleep, exercise, health, organization, discipline- we're saving as much money as we can, and I'm studying to take the MCAT next spring.  

I'm a little nervous, but not about school itself.  I'm nervous about how it will change the family dynamics we have built.  School is school.  I love medicine, and while the first two years will be challenging, it's not anything that I can't handle.  The rest of it, I think, will be awesome.  Because I'm not in it for the money, the prestige, or the fancy white coat.  I'm in it because you can wear pajamas to work because I love medicine.  I love the intricacies of the human body.  I love physiology.  I love the dynamic between emotional, social, and physical health.  I love people.  I love the challenge of "what's wrong with this person."  And I love the feeling of providing relief to someone who is hurting.  

Yeah, I'm an idealist... what can I say...

Nonetheless, my path in life is curvy, but I'm learning to enjoy the twists and turns.  Time to push forward and see what else is in store...

Perfect Pintos

Family in town, husband wants meat fajitas.  I'm not in the mood for meat tonight... so... it's bean time!!!

Here's my perfect Pintos:

4 c stock (I had a bag of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, veggie stock appropriate too)
2.5 c water
1 lb dried pintos, rinsed and picked over- no need to pre-soak
4 cloves garlic
1 spicy pepper, whole/seeds removed (this will be removed after cooking)- I used an anaheim from my garden
2 big sprigs of cilantro (also from my garden- I plucked off the soon-to-be seeding stalks- they were perfect for this)
2 stems of oregano (fresh from garden, can sub extra dried if you like)
1 t dried oregano
1 t smoked paprika
1 t salt (more or less to taste depending on stock used)- even better if it's smoked!
2 t cumin
2 t onion powder
dash of chili powder (not sure this even really did anything)
1 T liquid smoke (more if omitting the ham hock)
1 bay leaf

Optional: 1 smoked ham hock (I had one on hand so I threw it in).  I like picking the tiny bit of meat out of the hock and mixing it in when I'm done cooking.

Dump everything in the pot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 2-3 hours more, until beans are soft.  Be sure to watch for the need for additional water! I started mine around 11:30 in the morning, and they were perfect around 3.

Could also be done in the crockpot, but without boiling first I would recommend cooking it much, much longer, or soaking overnight, or doing a quick soak before putting into the pot.  How much water you need gets wonky, though, so don't leave it unattended!

Delish hummus!

2 c chickpeas (mine were dried to start, then rehydrated/cooked. You get about this much from a can, but not quite)

2 small or one large clove of garlic

3/4 tsp kosher salt

2 T tahini

Juice from 1 med lemon (about 2.5T)

2T water

2T olive oil

Put the garlic, chickpeas, and salt in the food processor, process 20 seconds, scrape down the sides and process 20 more. Add lemon juice and water, process 20 sec, scrape down the sides and add tahini, then 20 sec more. Then, stop it one last time, scrape down the sides, and turn the food pro back on- while the food pro is running, drizzle the olive oil in slowly. Then process as long as you like (mine was in about a minute total from when I started drizzling). It has a bit of texture too it, but not too much. The flavors are all subtle, but nicely balanced!!

You could use this and add in some sun dried tomatoes or kalamata olives (or both??). Makes about 2 cups!

Veggie Enchilada Casserole

A few days ago I made a vegetarian enchilada casserole.  I wanted to get creative with the sauce, and I also had some leftover grilled fajita veggies.  Here's what ensued:

Sauce:

1 15ish oz can tomato sauce
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper (I used green) diced
1 c carrots, finely chopped (Measure after they're chopped)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt/pepper to taste
2 chipotle peppers (or to taste; from a can with adobo sauce)
oil or broth for sauteeing

Sautee off the onion and pepper until the onion is translucent, sprinkle seasonings on.  Add in carrots, tomato sauce, and let simmer for a good while (as long as you have- 20 min or 2 hrs is fine!).  I actually didn't simmer mine at all- just threw it in the blender, which is the next step anyway.  Put it all in the blender (and use caution, as always, with hot liquids in a blender!).  Blenderize it until it's completely uniform (unless you like it chunky), and viola, sauce is ready.

Casserole:

1 batch of sauce
1/2 can corn
1/2 can black beans
About 2 c roasted, grilled, or otherwise cooked veggies (again, I had leftover grilled fajita onions, red peppers, and poblano peppers- SUPER delicious!)
1/2-1 c cheese!  (Or, if you want to go vegan, use some crushed raw cashews for a nice crunch!)
Whole grain flour or healthy corn tortillas (I used 8 or so large flour tortillas).  Cut all but 3 of them in half.
9x9 square baking dish (or bigger, if you prefer)

Start by placing some sauce in the bottom to prevent sticking.  Then a layer of tortillas- a whole one in the middle, and 4 halves around it (so the straight part of the tortilla lines up with the edge of the baking dish).  Then a bit more sauce, and the beans and corn.  Then another layer of tortillas, the same way as the first.  Then more sauce, then your veggies, then your last layer of tortillas.  Top with sauce BUT NOT THE CHEESE YET (cashews can go on now).

Bake at 350 until sauce is dry on the top, 20-25 min, then top with the cheese and bake until the cheese is desired doneness (I like mine extra brown, so probably another 10-15 min for me!).

As for the sauce-- I ended up with extra that i threw away.  You could probably get a 9x13 pan worth of enchiladas out of that sauce recipe, just add more filling and tortillas.

And enjoy!  A healthy vegetarian or vegan meal!

Kale Chips!!

I made Kale Chips yesterday.  My daughter gobbled them up!  Here's the recipe:

1 T Canola oil
1 T Water
1/3 cup unsalted, raw cashews
1/2 lemon, juiced
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 sm. garlic cloves
Additional water, as needed
1 bunch curly kale, washed and dried completely, stems removed and broken up into 2-inch pieces

Blend everything together until smooth in a high speed blender (or, blend water, canola oil, and cashews in a food processor until paste-like, then add the rest).  Add water until you get a thick sauce consistency- it should pour, but slowly.  Then pour the stuff over your kale.

Bake at 200 degrees for about an hour.  It works well to use cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Admittedly I used half a bunch of kale or so- that's all that would fit on my cookie sheets.  You may have to do two batches if your kale bunch is large!

Then eat and enjoy.  My daughter and myself love these, my husband, his son, and my brother couldn't stand them.  To each their own, I guess!

Cornbread and Black Eyed Peas!

Yuma! No photos though. Like I have time for that...

Beans!

1 lb dried black eyed peas- soak em overnight.

Then, add into the crockpot of awesome:

Above beans
6 c water (less if you like a thicker bean mush)
1 bay leaf
1 smoked ham hock
2-3t oregano
2t garlic powder
2t onion powder
1t kosher salt
Splash of soy sauce (2t?)
3 cubes chicken bullion (I used vegan chicken broth mix).

Cook on low 7-9 hrs. Stir occasionally. Eat.

Cornbread:

1.5 c cornmeal
0.5 c whole wheat pastry flour
2T flax meal
1 c milk (I used soy)
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c honey
2t powder
1/2 t salt
1c corn

Mix dry together, wet together then mall together and add corn. Stir as little as possible. Scoop into greased muffin tons. Bake at 350 for 20-24 min.

Vegan yet yummy coffee cake

I was in the mood to bake thanks to some craptastic news from a friend, so here is the recipe for future reference.

This turned out really delicious- I would easily serve this to non-vegans as a healthy(ier) option.

2 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c sugar (I used the organic evaporated cane stuff)
1t powder
1t soda
2 1/4 c flour (I used 1 c white wheat, 1 c whole wheat, and 1/4 c oat bran)
1.5T cinnamon
1T vanilla
1/4 c oil or melted margarine (I used oil)

Topping:

1/2 c old fashioned oats
3T cold margarine (or slightly softened)
1/4 c brown sugar
Lots of cinnamon (1-2T depending on how much you like!)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease (spray with Pam) a round cake pan (or I guess an 8-9" square is fine too).

Mix the cake stuff together, wet and dry separately then mix. Pour into greased round cake pan.

Mush the butter and sugar and cinnamon together with a fork until combined. Then mix in the oats. Dot the top of the cake with the topping.

Bake at 350 F for appx 48 min (that's how long mine took, anyway), until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for at least 5 min. Serve warm. Possibly with ice cream (or guilt free frozen blenderized bananas).

Big hugs to my friend.

If you know who I am for really-reals...

OK folks, if you have read this blog in the past, cool.  Thanks for checking in.  If you haven't, well you're welcome to, but I want a place where I can type openly about things like nursing, babies, married life, love, work, parenting, being emotional, and all things that are ME.

I've felt in the past that I was limited in what I could blog because of where I worked and who might find it.  I don't feel that way anymore, mostly thanks to my new job.  

So, if you don't want to read my strong opinions on breastfeeding, including toddler nursing, being a mom, attachment parenting, and how to make all of that work as a working mama, then don't waste your time here.  

If you're still interested, great!  Read away (or read yourself to sleep).  

That is all. Posts forthcoming.  

Medicine

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to go into medicine.  Like, go to medical school medicine.  It didn't happen after college, and I was devastated.  I went to grad school briefly, as if that would be a substitute path to a PhD, but I hated it.  I had no passion for the projects I was working on.  So I quit almost as promptly as I started.  And I tried to apply to medical school again, but again didn't get in.  So I went to paramedic school, and got a job as a medic.  And for a while, it was awesome.  I got my medicine fix, I was functioning at a level that was appropriate for a little while, and I would say I got decent at taking care of patients.  But 5 years into it (well, probably sooner than that), I became ready for the next challenge, the next level of taking care of patients, or the next challenge.  Unfortunately, in the EMS field, there's not much to do at a higher level than taking care of patients.

So my next challenge became the teaching job I accepted in August of 2012.  I am definitely enjoying teaching.  But I do not believe, at this point, that teaching will be a career for me.  I have spent the past 6 months or so wrestling with this.  Being a mom has changed ME.  My priorities have shifted.  Suddenly the world shouldn't bend to me, it should bend to you.

What this really means is that my vague goal of going to medical school became much more concrete.  I have wavered, though.  Medical school at this point in life is a big deal. Right now we DEPEND on two incomes- we have generated a lifestyle that requires it.  We like our vacations, we like our big house, our gym membership, our house cleaner, we like our new clothes and new shoes, and generally living care-free.  Going to medical school requires work.  It requires sacrifice, not just from me, but from the WHOLE family.  We will need to start saving now, need to start living more frugally.

And I need to take some classes and also the MCAT.  Le-Sigh... not THAT again... So... here's to working hard for the next 12 years of my life so I can achieve my dream.  And hopefully provide for my family.  I figure as long as I'm making more than I am now, I'll be doing OK...

So keep your fingers crossed for me.  I'm gonna be a doctor someday.