And Then There Were Four

Chad, Archie and I are so, so excited to let the cat out of the bag and let everyone know that our family of three will become four this September!

I’m well into my second trimester and we found out a while back we’re having another boy! Besides the usual first trimester nausea, tiredness, and weird tastes in my mouth, I feel pretty normal. I’m continuing to stay as active as I can and will see how far I can keep running this time around. I made it until about 34 weeks with Archie so here’s to hoping I can keep it up.

We know Archie has no clue what is really about to happen in September but we know that he’ll be a great big brother as he is such a very affectionate and loving kid already. He loves giving hugs and kisses and he seems to have no shortage.

It’s crazy to think we are going to have another newborn in our house. Those days with Archie seem so long ago and just went by way too quickly. I sort of can’t wait to feel the heavy breaths of a small, snuggly newborn on my chest and buried into my neck with his sweet milk breath.

The next few months I’m sure I’ll pop in with pregnancy updates, random pictures and stories of how we are preparing to transition to adding another boy to our nest. We’ll be shuffling Archie to his own big boy room and keeping the nursery the same for the new little guy. We have some projects up our sleeves for Archie’s new room that we hope turn out as great as we picture them in our mind so I’m sure I’ll be documenting along the way.

We feel very blessed and are thankful for your kind thoughts and prayers throughout the remainder of this pregnancy and on through after he is born as we adjust to a life with two.

Ready or not… here we go!!!

Veggie Tostadas

Now that I’m back in the kitchen more frequently I’ve tried to expand our menu each week to include things I’ve never cooked before. You know how you always seem to fall back to the staple meals? The ones you know the recipes by heart or you can just pop in the oven? Oh, you don’t? Well, I’m a staple meal kind of gal and it gets old quick in our household so I try my darndest to put more effort into meal planning and not just fall back onto my staples.

Anyway, don’t you love when I get long winded? You’re like, Lauren, I get the picture, now move your butt on. Ok, ok. Well, now that my 18 month old full blown toddler seems to be out of his three week sleep regression, nap time fighting and teething stage (for now at least), I have so much more energy these days! Enough to food prep and chop up tons of veggies and be patient when recipes involve a few steps.

And how can you go wrong with anything calling for roasted garlic? That’s right, you just can’t.

This recipe is straight from How Sweet Eats. Make this for one of your next meals and go crazy with your toppings and enjoy!

Veggies Tostadas

1 bulb of roasted garlic

3 teaspoons olive oil

1 small sweet potato, cubed

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2/3 cup corn (if frozen, thaw and pat dry)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2/3 cup black beans

4 Tortilla Shells of your choice

Toppings: Avocado, Guacamole, Sour Cream, Greek Yogurt, Shredded Cheese, Salsa, Fresh Tomatoes, Cilantro, etc., etc.

Directions:

Make sure you roast your garlic first!

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Chop your onion, sweet potato, mushrooms and bell peppers and mix all in a bowl with your corn. Toss with 2 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper. Spread on foil lined baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, toss with your balsamic vinegar and roast for another 15 minutes.

While your veggies are finishing up with roasting. Brush each side of your tortilla shells with some olive oil and heat one shell at a time over medium-high heat in a skillet on the stove. This should take a good 3-5 minutes for each shell to get nice and toasted. Remove from skillet and place on wire rack to cool.

Once your veggies are finished roasting, remove from oven and place back in bowl and add your black beans and roasted garlic cloves. Mix all together, place on mixture on shells and top with whatever toppings your little heart desires.

Enjoy!