Authentic Mexican Rice

I LOVE this recipe! It is super simple (especially if you minute rice) and it tastes really yummy. Some of my favorite food is Mexican, and you just can't have a Mexican recipe without rice and beans. Here is half of that combination.

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked minute rice
1 cup warm water
1 tsp Caldo de Tomate or Caldo de Pollo
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder

Directions:
In a small sauce pan whisk together water, Caldo de Tomate, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Add in the minute rice, cover, and take off the heat. Let sit for five minutes until cooked, and fluff with a fork when done. Serve with your favorite mexican dish and Enjoy!

Caldo de Tomate gives you the authentic red color of Mexican Rice as well as a tomato flavor. Caldo de Pollo gives it s chicken taste that is also really good!

Recipe Source:
cookingclassy.com

Blackened Fish Tacos with Avocado-Cilantro Sauce

This recipe has been a go-to for fish recipes. If you don't like fish very much, this recipe is for you. When cooked with all the blackening spices, the fish no longer tastes like fish and has a great crunch on the outside. I have never made the slaw with this--I usually just put lettuce on the top. The avocado-cilantro sauce makes a lot so you may need to adjust or just not make it. I have even made my own container of the spices already mixed together that way when we get a hankering for fish, I just have to thaw the fish out in the fridge overnight and the next day prep is a breeze. I usually make this with the Mexican Rice recipe. Also a breeze. Enjoy!

For the Blackened Fish:

• 1.5 lbs tilapia fillets
• 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 12 corn tortillas

For the Slaw:

• ½ red cabbage, sliced thin
• ¼ green cabbage, sliced thin
• ½ medium-sized onion, diced
• ½ cup cilantro
• Juice of 1 lime

For the Avocado-Cilantro Sauce:

• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 ripe avocado, pitted and skinned
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded
• Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, onion powder, cumin, salt, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the mixture over both sides of your tilapia fillets, and then rub the seasonings in.
2. Combine all of the Avocado-Cilantro Sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse until well-combined.
3. Combine all of the Slaw ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
4. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Once heated, add in the tilapia (a few at a time if you can't fit them all at once). Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until the outside is blackened and the fish flakes apart easily.
5. Remove the fish from the heat, and if desired, warm the corn tortillas in the same skillet over medium heat, cooking for about 30 seconds on each side.
6. Break up the tilapia into 2-3" pieces. Stack the tortillas in twos. Distribute the fish evenly between the 6 sets of tortillas, and top with Slaw and Avocado-Cilantro Sauce. Serve.

NOTES

Blackening spices are very fragrant, so turn on your overhead fan while you cook the fish. 

Recipe Source:

hostthetoast.com

Beef and Broccoli

I have always loved Asian food although it is not Stephen's favorite. This recipe is one that we both enjoy and is quite easy to prepare. Serve with rice or make your own favorite side dish to compliment.

Prep Time: 10 minutes + 1 hour marinade
Cook Time: 8 minutes

First marinate the meat (I like to use stir fry beef or flank steak)

• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 lbs flank steak into thin strips

Whisk together the baking soda, sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, water and vegetable oil in a large bowl. Toss the steak with the marinade to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour, then continue.

• 1/2 c low sodium soy salt (DO NOT use regular)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 heads of broccoli, crowns only

1. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and flour until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a large wok or sauté pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering. Add broccoli and sauce 3 minutes, stirring often. Transfer broccoli to a plate.
3. Reduce heat to medium-high. Carefully add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the hot pan. Add the marinated meat and half of the sauce mixture and sauce for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until meat is cooked trough and no longer pink. Stir in the broccoli and remaining sauce. Sauté 1 minute more. Serve and Enjoy!

Recipe Source:

rainydaygal.com

Camilla Baby!!!

It's a girl!!!! Oh how surprised we were! Stephen and I both just wanted a happy baby but both thought we would be having a baby boy. When the ultrasound tech told and showed us that we were having a girl, we were pleasantly surprised. A baby girl! Ah!

We have decided to name her Camilla. It is a name Stephen and I both like. No family connection, although I had a really good friend from my singles ward relief society presidency days whose name is Camilla. If my baby turns out anything like her, she will have a wild and carefree spirit and I will be one lucky momma! 

It has been fun for everyone to know she is a she and that we are going to name her Camilla. Co-workers and family alike are already referring to her by her name and it just makes her seem so real now (beyond the fact that I can feel her every time she moves and wiggles around.)

Stephen has been so cute about it 😄 He has only recently been able to feel her move--and that was a fun experience. I think he puts her to sleep, or else she is shy of her daddy because it seems like she does complex gymnast routines until he's paying attention and then she stops. I also love how cute he is with her already--saying I love you and rubbing my tummy. It has been the best and is only getting better-- and bigger!

It's a . . . . BABY!!!

Yesterday, Stephen and I had the amazing opportunity to have our very first ultrasound of Baby. A week ago, when I had one of my many prenatal appointments, I told my doctor that the date they had in the system for my last period was wrong. It was ten days later than my actual period. The doctor told us we needed to see if we could reschedule our ultrasound to an early date--as early as we could. So we did--it moved up a whole week and two days!!! We were worried about traffic getting up to the University Hospital because it is always crazy when we are going to my appointments. The appointment was scheduled for 10:30am and we decided to leave by 9:30am to give ourselves plenty of time. And plenty of time we had. By the time we were done checking in, it was 10:15. So we waited for fifteen minutes before we were even scheduled to be there. The technician didn't come and get us until 10:45-50. She took us back in to a darkened room with an examination table, and a couple of monitors--one connected to all the equipment and one on the wall that we could look at. She had me lay down, expose my tummy, and we got to work!

She took pictures of everything! Feet, femurs, lower extremities, gender parts, spine, head, heart, arms, hands, lips. etc and then each of those from various views. She also looked at my health--how the cervix was, the placement of the placenta, etc. It was so exciting to see the little human I was growing inside come to life even more that it already had. It now had a form, a little body with arms and legs, and a heart that works! We were also able to see what we were having--a little. . . .baby! We aren't going to tell anyone until our family gender reveal party tomorrow night. It would have been sooner, but Stephen had night classes last night and tonight, and I close at work tonight as well. So Thursday is the first day the both of us are available to reveal together to everyone. That post yet to come!

I am so excited to be a mommy! It has become more and more real. I can start to picture myself with this loving little baby going on walks, playing in the living room, cuddling and rocking to sleep. I see myself with a cute toddler learning to walk, saying it's first words, and playing catch. I see a young child going to school for the first time and learning to read. I see a strong teenager learning to navigate the crazy world we live in. And on and on. Kinda crazy as this is only my first, but I can see a whole future a head of us--and what a marvelous future it is.

The Beginning

 Okay, time to try my hand at this. I have always wanted to start a blog but never knew what to make it about or where to even begin. My sister-in-law has an awesome blog that she uses for recipes she has tried and liked--which I then try and like! I have cousins who use theirs a journals or as family vacation logs. I guess I want my blog to be kinda like that all rolled in to one big giant mess of this-is-who-I-am-and-this-is-what-I-have-been-up-to type of blog. So, here I go!

It is the start of 2016 and there are a lot of new adventures in store for me and my husband, Stephen. Stephen is going to be finishing his last semester up at the University of Utah studying Business Management; that means job searching come the spring! I am still working as a job coach trainer at the West Jordan Deseret Industries. We are also expecting our first baby in June!!! Yay!!!

I was sooo excited to find out that we were pregnant--until I started thinking about what that meant and then I was super nervous. I wasn't the best of babysitters growing up. If all I had to do was watch a movie and eat pizza with them, I was living the high life! Not to say that I didn't give baths or put kids in bed or help with the dishes or take kids to the park or drive them to various activities (when I was older). I just didn't babysit a lot, and I usually baby sat  older kids; unlike my sister, Sierra, who it seemed babysat children right out of the womb! (Thank you Hansen family!)

I am learning that there are a lot of things that go into preparing for a baby--the least of all being the toll it takes physically and emotionally. I am un-officially eighteen weeks pregnant. My first three months have  been quite trying. I was pretty sick (by my standards). I couldn't keep food down and it seemed like everything that hit my stomach would come back up. How was this little thing growing inside of me even getting enough to survive itself? I was tired all the time and just felt drained of all my energy. My husband was (and still is) my knight-in-shining-armor through it all. Despite having a full semester's load of credits, he was very helpful with household chores and even fending for himself when it came to meal time. I mean, how was I supposed to feed him when the sight and smell of food made me sick?! He has been such a trooper. And now he has a full docket of meals he knows (and I know he knows) how to prepare.  

Now to the emotional stuff about my pregnancy--not knowing whether or not I really was pregnant until about week 12 or so. I had my first prenatal appointment with my OBGYN back when I was about 8 weeks pregnant--pretty typical. My doctor asked when my last period was, calculated a guesstimated due date, and orders some blood and urine tests to be done. I went to the lab, had the work done, and was finished in a matter of minutes. I awaited my results anxiously, something to tell me I was really pregnant and not just making it up. However, I couldn't find anywhere on my lab results where it said in big bold letters "CONGRATS! You're pregnant!" I messaged my doctor asking where it said that on my results and got the message back "It won't. We just take your word for it". WHAT?!?!?! So, am I pregnant or not? For a few weeks I just sat wondering. Sure, I had now missed two periods and I was throwing up three or more times a day and was showing all the signs. But until you really know, you don't know; you know? I kept telling my husband, "What if I am one of those psycho ladies you see on the talk shows that wants a baby sooooo bad that she is convinced she is pregnant, her body shows all the signs, and she really isn't. And then she has to tell everyone she isn't." He would try and reassure me but I still just wanted to KNOW! 

And to make matters worse, around Thanksgiving time, I had some spotting and bleeding. I knew this was a natural part of some women's pregnancies and that it didn't necessarily mean that anything was wrong. But, man, was I scared! I wasn't even sure I was pregnant, but the thought of me being pregnant and then loosing it scared me more than anything. I was an emotional wreck. I cried and cried and then finally settled down reminding myself that it was okay, everything was fine. If I wasn't experiencing any pain, it was probably just old blood leaving my system. And then I had to go to work. And then the spotting turned into bleeding. And I cried and cried and knew that I didn't want to be at work and deal with this by myself. Stephen was in class and was unable to comfort me so I called my mom and she came to my work and hugged me and let me cry it out some more. She reminded me that there was no pain, and as long as I wasn't filling a pad, I should be okay. It was natural for some pregnancies. I settled down again and was relieved when there was no more bleeding that night, although still worried I wasn't out of the clear. I was. And the worry and fear eventually subsided. 

Next came prenatal visit number two at 12 weeks. Stephen was able to come with me and at this visit, my doctor pulled out the Doppler scope thinger and we heard the most beautiful sound in the world! A little whoop-whoop-whoop of a heartbeat! Stephen looked at me, smiled, and said "I told you so!" It was true--we were growing a little human inside of me and it wasn't just in my head. The doctor listened for a couple of minutes and told us each time we heard a scratch/interruption that it was the baby moving around. We listened for about a minute more with the Doctor commentating "That's the baby. That's the baby. That was you. That's the baby."   Apparently we have a very active baby growing inside me.  And it was just as exciting to hear it at the 16 week appointment as well. We are scheduled to meet with my doctor one more time before our scheduled ultrasound where we will find out exactly how far along I am and the gender of our baby! I can hardly wait!

It has been so exciting to see others' reactions as well. My family found out we were pregnant at my dad's birthday celebration. We told him that we had another present for him but he would have to wait until June to get it. It took everyone a second to realize what we were saying but when it did, it did! My sisters were saying, "I knew it!" And my dad and mom were very happy--they were going to be first time grandparents. My mom had texted me earlier that week asking if I was going to come out to visit on a Thursday--my usual day to visit. I wasn't feeling super great and just let her know that I probably wasn't going to be out, sparing the details. She immediately texted back, "Are you pregnant?" I lied and said no because we weren't telling anyone yet and probably wouldn't be for a few more weeks. Stephen, however, let it slip to his mom that I was feeling "nauseous"; she looked at him like "what did you just say?!?!" So we decided to tell our parents and my siblings (because who can keep a secret like that from other roommates in the house) a few weeks early. We also told Stephen's siblings at Thanksgiving and they were all so excited to add another little Steenblik grand-baby to the mix.

My grandparents were pretty fun to surprise too. We told them and my extended Butterfield family on Christmas Eve. My grandpa, when we were little, used to tell us not to swallow watermelon seeds--you might grow a watermelon with vines and everything. So to go along with grandpa's story, we got a small box and a baby bottle and filled the baby bottle up with little watermelon candies. Then on the box it said "Uh-Oh!" and inside it said, "Looks like Landry swallowed a watermelon seed! Baby Steenblik ripe for the pickin' June 2016". Grandma and grandpa opened the box Christmas Eve and were so excited to read those notes. It was actually really fun to see their reactions. Grandma said, "I already started on the booties!

My aunt Lushawn said that she had been wondering all night if I was. She thought it when we first got to my grandparents house but decided that we weren't because we had said we were going to wait until school was done. Then later, I was crying during a song my sisters were singing and she decided that yes I was pregnant. My uncle BK said that he just knew that we had an announcement to make that night. My cousin Spencer was probably the best--he didn't get why we gave grandma and grandpa watermelon candies and why it was important we told them that I had swallowed a watermelon seed. Aunt Marci had to explain that I was pregnant--that I really hadn't swallowed a watermelon seed but that I was going to have a baby. My cousin Camden said that when my baby got here he was "going to give her a kiss"; which I thought was super cute.

So we are continuing on in this wonderful new adventure! Now that I am into my second trimester, my pants no longer fit, my stomach is definitely showing signs of a growing baby, and so does my appetite. I am not really queasy anymore; although some smells and foods can set me off. I can't eat carrots or broccoli--baby Steenblik just won't let me. I am craving jelly beans and anything gummy-sweet. Also, pringles.