.Vulnerable

If you read my last post, I'm sure you noticed that it came from the heart. On occasion, we are all guilty of portraying life as fan-freaking-tastic when it's really not. So I felt I needed to get some things off my chest and truly I did feel a lot better afterward.

Thankfully, one of the stressors has lifted itself! We got the good news that our house had sold yesterday and we are over the moon! It's still a little stressful that we have to find a new place in the next two months, but we've seen a lot of places we like so it's just a matter of making a decision. We are looking for our "almost forever" home - which means we are looking for a place to settle for the next 20ish years or so until Kendrick and one day future baby move out. Then the plan is to build our dream home. There are definitely some exciting times ahead!

Father's Day actually went a lot better this year. I'm not sure what it was, but it didn't seem like there was a black cloud hanging over the day like there was last year. I'm so lucky to have such an amazing man as my husband and the Father to Kendrick!

Photo by Breanne Marie, Edmonton

Photo by Mandi D Photography, Edmonton 

I crushed my first 15K of the season this past weekend! I'll be honest, I don't know why I signed up for a 15K when I was probably only ready for a 10. When I signed up for the race package I tried to up my mileage in the monthly races leading up to the Edmonton half. I should have done another 10K, and then completed my first 15K in July. When I realized my error it was too late to do any changes so I went for it anyways. Considering the course was pretty hilly and through some thin trains at some points, I felt not too bad for the first 12K. The last 3K however were tough and I was struggling. I was also a dummy and didn't eat beforehand, which is a no no especially for a long run like that. Usually under 10K I can get away using an empty stomach and sport beans, but 15K was too long. My longest run previous to this was 9K and although I didn't feel prepared, I actually wasn't too disappointed with my time of 1:46:09. I have another 15K on July 1 (which is actually my favourite race of the year, the Canada Day Road Race) and another on July 10 before the big half on August 21. My goal for this week is to run 9K tomorrow and 12K this weekend to hopefully get my stamina up. I also didn't feel as sore after the 15K as I thought I would, which means my cross training at Blitz Conditioning boot camp is paying off.

Speaking of boot camp, we are outside and I don't know what it is but mosquitos LOVE me. It's awful. Even after wearing bug spray my legs have at least 25 bites on them. I don't understand why they like me so much!

I'm still working on losing about 7 pounds so that my abs show up a little more. It would be really nice to do this before I get pregnant again, as I've heard it's much harder to lose the weight the second time around. I've been keeping up with bootcamp every Tuesday and stairs every Wednesday, and running 1-2 times on Monday, Thursday or Friday. I think the biggest thing for me is eating. I need to be planning better and eating better as I know I haven't been at my best lately. The food prep has been tough, I just haven't had the energy at night. I need to get better at this! My goal is to get back on the meal planning wagon this weekend. I am motivated!

I'm also craving a vacation. Particularly to Disneyworld. One can dream...

xo

-Dianne

PS: I tried out a new Epicure recipe for pancakes for Father's Day breakfast, and it went really well! I literally went on the Epicure website and searched for "pancakes" and decided to try the Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes recipe. The only difference is I added a tablespoon of cocoa to get some healthy chocolate flavour without the calories and the sugar of the chocolate chips. They tasted amazing! I think next time I may try adding some Sweet Coconut Vegan Protein Blend protein powder to the mixture too! I also used only whole wheat flower as well. 

PPS: I think I'm going to invest in a new pair of Nikes next month! I'm brand loyal and I've been using Nike Flex for the last few years and am looking to change it up. Anyone have a favourite brand of Nike runners they recommend? I'm looking at trying out the Nike Free Run Distance shoe as that was rated #1 by a poll I saw, but I am not sure if I'll need more support than that yet.

.Confident

I'm not sure what it is, but this past little while my body confidence has gone up quite a bit. I think it's a mixture of people being so kind and telling me that I look great and it doesn't look like I had a baby, and that when I look in the mirror I can see sorta my abs again.

It also seems so mind blowing that almost 15 months ago they cut me open to get my baby out...

I think back over the last 15 months and feel good about the fact that I have worked really hard to get where I'm at. Even though my eating habits aren't really where I want them to be, the amount that I'm working out and doing physical activity is definitely paying off. I know I blogged quite a few months back about feeling a little bit jealous of the ladies who were able to lose the weight really fast after birth, however I'm pleased to say that I'm not feeling that way anymore for the most part!

That being said, the question that seems to be on everyone's minds is...when is #2 coming? I have to admit I'm not there yet. Kendrick is such an awesome baby, but now that he's walking he's a lot of work! I can't imagine chasing him around and having a newborn at the same time. Just the thought of it stresses me out a bit. Some of the moms that I have talked to with two have told me that you just do it, and it's not so bad but it still makes me so nervous! The thought of moving Kendrick to a toddler bed also is nerve wracking because right now he's all over the place in his crib. I can't imagine him actually sleeping in a bed and not getting out the second we put him down. On top of all this, the fact that I'm feeling good is also a reason why I'm not quite ready. It took so long to get back to a place where I'm happy and comfortable with my body, so I'm not quite ready to gain 50+ pounds again! Is that selfish? I don't mean to be. But I know the older you get the harder it is to bounce back from pregnancy so it's constantly weighing on my mind.

I've also made the decision that I'm going to start marathon training sometime after baby #2 comes. I don't think there's a point in starting now when my half marathon time is not where I'd like it to be (I'd like to get close to a time of two hours before I start marathon training, and currently my personal best is 2:33). I've still got quite a few races left this year leading up to the big Edmonton Half Marathon in August, and I'm still debating on whether I'm going to attempt to follow the 2:15 pace bunny or not. I've got a 10K in June and 2 15K's in July to start prepping, so I'm excited! My running this week was unfortunately put on a bit of a hold because of the horrible smoke in and around the Edmonton area that blew in, so I look forward to getting back at it next week. The air quality was only a 4/10 last weekend when I ran my first 10K of the season, and I during the race I didn't think it was that bad. However afterward I could feel it in my throat as it was sore, I lost my voice and my asthma started acting up. I'm still feeling the effects a week later!

I am guilty and fell off the meal planning wagon again! I need to make an effort to take the time to plan each week otherwise dinner seems to contain more calories (fast food) or eaten too late. I did however make a killer meatloaf tonight! This recipe was adapted from a recipe I found off pinterest by Inspired Taste, however here is my adapted recipe including hidden veggies for the toddler.

2 packages of lean ground turkey

2 eggs
2 tablespoons of Epicure Paris Spice
1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 cup of breton crackers, crushed

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

7 tablespoons of tomato sauce + extra for the top

1 cup of applesauce

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 a cup of flaxseed

1-1 1/2 cups of finely chopped veggies (I used California mix frozen veggies which included carrots, broccoli and cauliflower, steamed them, and put them in the food processor)

1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Put mixture into a loaf pan, preferably one that drains the fat at the bottom (as there will be excess moisture from the cheese)  and add tomato sauce on top. Bake for about 50 minutes. The internal temperature should be around 160-170 when done. It was delicious!

Enjoy!

xo

-Dianne

PS: I ordered a ton of stuff from Epicure this week! I am so excited to get everything! I will be doing another large order in June, however in the mean time if you want to order something you can do so by clicking here. I recommend the Paris spice and the Pico salsa mix! SO GOOD!

PPS: Although I'm overall feeling good, I still want to get back to the flat stomach I used to have and seem to have hit a bit of a plateau. I'm having trouble losing that last pound or two around my stomach! I'm not sure if that's just exercises or just eating better that will drop the last couple pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions?

.Guilty

2. More. Weeks.

I'm finding that the closer I get to going back to work, the more my "mommy guilt" is starting to set in because I'm looking forward to it. I still very much feel mixed emotions as maternity leave has been a blast, but I'm finding myself really starting to get excited about going back to the office and seeing my co-workers again. As much as I love flying by the seat of my pants during maternity leave, we are still fairly structured as I have things planned almost every day this week! I'm having so much fun but I'm definitely feeling guilty about going back to work and leaving him at daycare. This is normal, right?

Even though I'm looking forward to going back, I will miss all of Kendrick's play dates! I never really visualized myself being a "mom's group" type of person, but I am so thankful for the group I found and the people I've met over the past year! For someone who never really had a lot of close female friends, I am so grateful for this network of new moms to be able to bounce ideas off of, vent to, and learn together as our little ones grow up. Although I have found some great friends that I've become close with, I've also found that I don't agree with some people's parenting styles. There are lots of memes and blogs about how we shouldn't be judge-y of other mom's choices as we are all doing what's best for our children and I think that's absolutely true! However...sometimes it's very difficult NOT to judge when someone talks about something that you feel is very wrong or unsafe.  However, I keep it to myself. I've learned to start to take things with a grain of salt and just go with the flow. I felt very judged a few weeks ago when I felt like a woman at Sobey's was judging me for buying Kendrick organic milk. I didn't like that feeling and because I'm not usually very confrontational I chose not to make a big deal of the situation, but I thought it was slightly rude and my reasons for choosing organic milk for my son is none of her business.

On another note, I finally took some time during nap time yesterday to plan my dinners for the rest of the week. Here's what I have planned:

Yesterday: Pasta with tomato sauce and turkey & apple meatballs - a WIN!

Today: Tacos with lean ground beef

Tomorrow: We're eating out so no dinner planned

Thursday: Coconut chicken salad

Friday: Slo-cooker mongolian beef over coconut rice

Saturday: Chicken fingers & fries

I've included links to the recipes that I plan to try. I'm also trying to incorporate some meals that I can share with Kendrick! He's starting to eat more finger foods and less purees, so I've been trying to brainstorm some meals that he can easily eat that can double as dinner for us. The turkey & apple meatballs turned out fantastic and Kendrick loved them! If you haven't already, check out my board on Pinterest specifically for recipes that I've tried and that have worked really well! I usually put in the comments if I've changed anything in the recipe - which is almost all the time because one of my quirks is not being able to follow a recipe. I always have to add something of my own! I also started a board for kids food recipes that Kendrick & I have tried and loved which will hopefully get bigger as the weeks go on!

I've been continuing to work out at Blitz Conditioning twice a week for the past month. I'm feeling pretty good! I'm hoping to continue when I go back to work, I'm just debating on whether I go super early or go right after work. "Mommy guilt" creeps in again here because if I go I won't see Kendrick either in the morning or much before he goes to bed, but I know that I'll schedule to make sure that I won't be missing him for an entire day. I'm going to also take the plunge and buy the monthly pass instead of the 10 pass punch card, which means I'll have to go at least nine times to make it worthwhile so that will help me keep motivated!

xo
-Dianne

PS: I also found a recipe for no bake banana bread bites that I'm attempting to alter a bit to become little pieces of heaven. They are also pretty healthy, and don't take long to prepare which is even better! As soon as I figure out the perfect blend, I'll post it!

PPS: I gave up pop for lent (four days late because I missed the start date). For some reason since I was pregnant with Kendrick I've been craving it and drinking it way more often, and it didn't stop when I had him! I felt like something sweet so I picked up some banana milk instead. I knew it had some sugar in it, but it turns out it actually has a very similar amount of sugar to pop (although some pop has slightly more). How depressing! Oh well. Time to go to Planet Organic and pick up some sugar-free sparkling juice! 

.Toughie

Last week I had a bit of a tough week.

Did you ever know that kid in school who never studied for exams but yet still managed to pass them all with flying colours? I knew that kid, and it drove me nuts because I was the type that really had to study hard or things just wouldn't stick in my mind. Even as an adult student I still have to study my butt off for exams, even if I go to every class and take notes.

I feel similar about losing my baby weight. I know some people who were back to normal within a couple months and yet, I'm still 25lbs from where I want to be. It's slightly frustrating, especially because I've been working really hard to get active again! Note that I'm not frustrated at the lucky people who managed to lose weight without doing anything, I'm just more bummed that it's taking so long for me and I feel like I'm working hard! That being said, I try to keep things in perspective as much as possible. I really only got the OK to work out seven weeks ago, and it took nine months for my beautiful baby to be born and for the majority of it I wasn't really able to be active. And if I'm ever sad about it, I just take one look at Kendrick and think WOW - my body truly is amazing! I'm going to treat myself to a new running shirt when it gets closer to race day that flatters the new me!

Last Monday (Exactly 12 weeks postpartum) I started the Nike+ half marathon training program for the second time. The first time I only got a month in before I had to stop because I was pregnant, so this time I'm looking forward to taking it all the way through. The first time I was also doing the intermediate program because I had been running regularly and this time I'm doing beginner. I'm also training in KM's this time instead of miles. I originally trained in miles because the number was smaller (which I know is a mind game, but we runners do that sometimes) but this does get to be confusing when the markers for Canadian races are in KMs. Since my next couple halfs are in Canada I'm going to continue training in KMs I think and see how that goes. It also makes me feel like I'm doing longer distances! :)

Week one went ok but I struggled getting back into things. My times were quite slow, but I completed all of my runs.

I did my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday because we had a busy day on Saturday and I didn't have a chance to run. I find that is usually my biggest struggle, time management and finding the time to run while someone watches Kendrick. It was tough, but I made it through yet I ended the week a little bummed out because I'm so far off my old pace. However, I made up for it yesterday when I did my 8km run so I started the week feeling very positive. 

My back started to act up again so I booked another physio appointment to see if I could get things worked out. In the mornings and if I sit or stand for long periods of time essentially I feel like an old woman until I get moving. Since I can't avoid sleeping I need to find a way to fix my back so I feel better in the mornings, as that is my favourite time to run! Once it hits the +20s in temperature I find that too hot. Keeping my fingers crossed for a cool August day on August 23 for the Edmonton Half! :)

xo,

Dianne

PS: Last week I also accidentally invented a recipe for peach banana oatmeal mini muffins. Accidentally, you say? So those who know me know that I am terrible at following recipes because I like to add my own flare to everything. Sometimes it works and sometimes...not so much. I tried out these apple cinnamon cookies here a few months ago as some of the ingredients were supposed to help with milk production, and they were delicious (I added strawberries too). Since I didn't have any apples but had canned peaches and an overly ripe banana, I thought I would try to experiment. The batter turned out to be not as firm as cookie dough so I put them in mini muffin cups and voila - a new amazing recipe was formed! Thank God these are fairly healthy (they are refined sugar free, soy free & clean eating approved) because I swear I eat 5-6 a day. I am going to double the recipe next time. Perfect for breakfast or a little snack, and even more perfect for those who breastfeed (don't worry men, you can eat these cookies without lactating I promise). 

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups of whole oats

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup palm sugar

3 tbsp Brewer's yeast

3 tbsp flaxmeal

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 a cup of melted butter

3 tbsp water

1 ripe banana

1/3 a can of no syrup added peaches

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl, and mix wet ingredients together in another bowl. Chop the peaches into tiny peaches and smash up the banana in a bowl with the rest of the wet ingredients. Add peaches to wet ingredients, and mix well. Then add slowly to the dry ingredients and mix well until consistent. Put liners into mini muffin tins and fill each one to the top. Bake for 13 minutes or until tops are slightly browned. Makes approximately 36 mini muffins.

PPS: Kendrick turned three months old yesterday! Oh, how the time flies! Here's one of the outtakes from our mini three month photo shoot yesterday. My dog always wants to get in on the pictures!

.Freedom

This past Monday I was exactly seven weeks postpartum. I can't believe Kendrick was born seven weeks ago! Time is really flying and he's changing so much every day! Next time I upgrade my iPhone I'm going to have to go with a 64GB, as I take multiple pictures of him a day and am running out of space. He's just so darn cute!

A week and a half ago I went to the doctor to go for my six week check up and after I got checked out the doctor gave me the go ahead to not only lift the carseat, but to slowly get moving and start working out again. I was over the MOON! I've been feeling so trapped at home and so bored of TV so I'm so glad that Kendrick and I can start going out and about during the day! I haven't watched Netflix in over a week! She told me the most important thing was to listen to my body and don't start off too crazy, and recommended no ab-specific exercises (crunches, etc) for another month. I was definitely feeling a lot better but still feeling a little bit of pain and had some difficulty getting out of bed or off the couch so I took it easy the rest of the week.

This week however I've felt very good. I've decided that my fitness journey to get back to pre-baby weight (or a few pounds lighter) is going to start now. These pictures were taken on Monday (I'm not a fan of selfies so these shots are headless):

If I don't leave with the baby, I fear people will still think I'm pregnant. Then again, I just keep telling myself that I haven't been able to do much of anything for over 10 months, so to get here at this point is probably pretty good. Essentially I know now what was baby weight and what was just extra weight (from maybe a few two many cherry candies) from the pregnancy. I'm about 30 pounds away from my goal weight (which is about five pounds lighter than what I was when I found out I was pregnant) and I hope to accomplish that by the end of 2015 if not sooner!

I've had smoothies for breakfast every day this week which has been pretty refreshing. Monday afternoon I went grocery shopping and bought some greek yogurt and frozen fruit for smoothies and dug out my Magic Bullet so I could make single portions. Here's what I bought:

Frozen mango, strawberries and blueberries

Greek Yogurt (banana, coconut and key lime)

Almond Coconut Milk

Spinach

I already had flaxseed at home, so this has provided me with enough to try different combinations until I run out of groceries! I admit it is cheaper to buy the frozen fruit at Costco, but the sliced ones at Sobey's I find work better in my Magic Bullet as it doesn't take well to full sized fruit. My goal is to have smoothies every day this week. They are quick to prepare and I can take them on the run if I decide to go out and about in the morning! So far so good! I've been finding it difficult to prepare healthy meals three times a day since the baby has come, but as he gets older I'm finding that my time management has been slowly getting better and I'm able to start to get things done some days (the key word here is SOME). I also am not a fan of almond milk on it's own or in cereal, but in smoothies it tastes delicious!

I went for a walk on Monday and it was awesome! Made it just over 3KM and felt a little tired but very motivated. I need to find a way to get some sort of sun shield for the stroller, as when I was walking back I had to keep the cover over him because the sun was shining right in his eyes! I felt a little bit crampy which definitely let me know that I'm not ready to run just yet, but walking was definitely a start! We didn't have a chance to go Tuesday or Wednesday but we did go for a short walk today and it felt even better! 

I also signed up for Mommy & Baby yoga this week at Purity Health and Wellness! I haven't done yoga in at least three years so this should be fun for Kendrick & I! I'm thinking of starting bootcamp with my co-workers next week too, so slowly but surely this mama is getting back into it!

With that, I will leave you with this photo as when I saw this onesie I actually laughed out loud in the store and couldn't say no... :) You'll also see my dog's paw in the bottom right hand corner - I think he loves baby photo time just as much as I do! He wants to be in all the pictures!

xo
-Dianne

PS: I went to get Kendrick & I's passport pictures done so we can apply for new passports in May. Getting a passport picture for a baby is a lot trickier than I thought! Essentially I had to kneel on the ground and try to hold his head up with two fingers, while using my other hand to hold down his hands (as he really likes to raise his hands in the air in the "touchdown" pose) and all while not having any part of me in the picture. Somehow, it we managed to get one in less than five minutes - hopefully Passport Canada likes it because I really don't want to go back and try it again! It's pretty darn cute though - now the little bugger is stuck with that photo until he's 5! :)

PPS: After buying this onesie yesterday I searched "hashtag" and "onesie" on Etsy and oh man, I'm in trouble! There are so many cute ones just calling Kendrick's name...

.Lists

Is it weird that I function better when I make myself lists? I'm one of those people who tends to get overwhelmed when I have a lot on my plate, and I find it hard to figure out what my priorities are. My favorite way to get organized is to make myself a to-do list.

We are currently eight days away from Baby Peanut's expected arrival. Of course we are aware that it could also be 14 days...or three days. The waiting game is tough! We recently did some shopping at Ikea to pick up a couple of shelving/storage units to help us get some organization done in the house and hubby spent a good chunk of Sunday building everything (I was really no help). Currently - our house looks a little bit like we just moved in: there seems to be stuff EVERYWHERE. At the same time, I think it actually looks more overwhelming than it actually is. To prevent myself from feeling anxiety & stress, I've made myself a little to-do list of some things that I'd like to get done this week and prioritized them. This way, if I don't get to every single one before the baby is born, I'll at least be able to get the more important ones done and not have to worry about hubby having to take on the cleaning burden when we want to spend quality time with our newborn.

We are also very lucky that our friend Sarah with Pernickety Cleaning Services has offered to clean our house this week! It will be such a relief to have the house looking great when people come over for a visit. If you are looking for a cleaning service or pet-sitting service - definitely check her out!

I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder, but I notice I tend to keep a lot of stuff. I think I get that from my Dad. I'm one of those people who is fairly organized but doesn't look it! Even though there may be stuff everywhere, I usually know exactly where everything is. Sometimes it's just a matter of figuring out where to file it, put it, or deciding if I should just throw it out. I find our problem is sometimes we come home and leave something somewhere, whether it be a bag or some papers, and then it just gets forgotten about and left there and that's where it all starts.

I've found that my nesting instincts are starting to kick in as once I get into a groove I just keep going.   The past few days I've been relaxing when I get up, doing some work in the afternoon and then resting in the evening. Standing for long periods of time is starting to prove to be a little difficult :).

Today, I've been relaxing all morning so I think it's time to get moving for the day. There's a bit of adrenaline knowing that the baby could really come any time and there's still stuff we want to get done before he makes his arrival!

xo
-Dianne

PS: Last night I tried out two recipes from pinterest! Chili Mac & Cheese and Caramel Banana Loaf. The chili mac & cheese turned out more for me like extra cheesy chili, but I was ok with that. It was delicious! I added some extra pasta and some gnocchi so it thickened up quite nicely! It also made a ton so I was able to add one more meal to our freezer meals stash. The caramel banana loaf was only ok. I used whole wheat flower instead of regular and coconut crystals instead of sugar and it wasn't too bad but I've definitely had better. It only asked for a tablespoon of caramel and I think that was the problem. It was very moist though so I may give the recipe another try another time and see if I can alter it slightly!

.Reality

Maybe it's because I'm thinking about the fact that this week I'll get my last full pay cheque for a year. Or maybe it's because the nursery is really starting to come together & baby stuff is building up in our living room. Or maybe it's because a new friend in a first time moms group I joined headed to the hospital and delivered her baby five weeks early! Things all of a sudden got real, and I got hit with a bit of a reality check this week.

I know I've mentioned it many times in this blog but I absolutely love to travel. I had a couple of ideas for trips to go on while I'm on maternity leave but my eyes seem to be bigger than my budget. I still want to conquer a few of them but I think DisneyWorld might be on hold until at least 2017. It's disappointing, but at the same time just not realistic. We're going to be in charge of a little person soon! I'm still coming to terms with that. 

At 38 weeks today, technically there's two weeks left before the due date but baby could come really at any time at this point. I can't really explain how it feels to be excited and terrified at the exact same time! I've been trying really hard not to complain during this pregnancy as I am very thankful that I'm able to get pregnant, however, as the days go on I'm starting to feel more and more uncomfortable. I'm pretty lucky that since the first trimester I've had a fairly good pregnancy. Now I believe I have entered the painful, waddling stage :). I also have crazy insomnia, which was bothering me before I got pregnant but now it doesn't seem to matter how little sleep I get the night before, I can't fall asleep until after midnight. Maybe this is my body preparing for lack of sleep once little Baby Peanut comes along?

The nursery is coming along really well. My husband painted, built the crib and changing table, and we just put up the giant Snoopy wall stickers yesterday. I love Snoopy. The room is starting to look awesome!

I miss running. I really, really miss running! Almost as much as I used to miss gymnastics when I was in a car accident and had to quit. I'm really looking forward to slowly getting back into it starting with walking around the neighborhood when the snow melts! We've had such an odd winter so it's kind of hard to say when that will happen, but I'm hoping by April I'll have the energy to start off slowly and work my way up to running half marathons again. I'm still signed up for the half marathon in Vancouver in October and fully plan to rock it (and by rock it, I mean cross the finish line) and I'm hoping to conquer a 15K in June for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, but I may change that to the 5K walk with the family if I'm not feeling up to it.

I've been trying to blog for about a week now & have been having troubles putting my thoughts together, which is why this one is a little all over the place. I blame the baby brain. :)

xo,

Dianne

PS: I've been slowly prepping some freezer meals so that when the baby comes, the nights that we don't feel like cooking we can pop something in the oven or microwave and have an easy, no prep dinner. I had some steak pieces in the fridge so I did some google/pinterest research on some enchilada recipes. I didn't really like any of them - so I created my own! Fairly healthy too! I overstuffed them so they looked more like burritos than enchiladas, but they tasted delicious! See below!

Smothered Steak Burritos

Ingredients

1 package of pre-cut steak bite size steak pieces (or any meat you'd like to use)

1 can of black beans

1 can of corn

Chopped mushrooms

1 cup of cooked whole wheat rice

Salsa 

- (I made my own - chopped up tomatoes, onion, garlic, and cilantro and mixed with a little bit of     lime juice, Epicure's Poco Picante Salsa Mix and salt & pepper to taste)

Shredded cheese

Whole wheat tortillas

Tomato sauce 

- (I used canned organic tomato sauce from Costco and added Epicure's fajita spice and salt & pepper to taste)

Cook the rice in one pot using water & a little bit of butter. In another pot simmer the sauce so the flavors mix together. In one more saucepan cook the steak, mushrooms, corn and black beans and mix in some fajita spice. Once everything is cooked, heat up the tortillas in the microwave for about 45 seconds so they are soft. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread some of the sauce at the bottom of a large glass baking dish. In each tortilla layer rice, the steak mixture, salsa and top with cheese. Fold each like a fajita/burrito and place in the baking dish with the ends down (I fit about six giant ones in my baking dish; four across and two at the top). Cover the top with the remaining tomato sauce and top everything with cheese. Put foil over the baking dish and put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

ENJOY! :)