Amped Up Green Bean Casserole

Everybody loves green bean casserole. It's featured at lots of holiday events and in our house, we have it as a side dish to a regular dinner as well. I came across a recipe on pinterest (but I am unable to link it so I'm sorry. It's not my recipe and I'm trying to give credit where credit is due but I can't do it this time) that sounded quite intriguing. It's green bean casserole but as a dinner!

Ingredients:

• 3 diced potatoes (uncooked), we used red
• ham cubes, about 1 cup
• 1 bag frozen green beans, thawed (we used fresh and just cut them smaller--about a pound)
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Mix all ingredients together. Bake (covered) at 375 for an hour. Top with breadcrumbs or crushed Ritz crackers.

I was at a doctor appointment for my baby so I had my husband make dinner. This means a few things ended up different.  He didn't cover it when he baked it (but I didn't notice until I was typing this up so if you forget too, it's not a huge deal). And he didn't want to top it with breadcrumbs because he thought it was too much work. I decided that this actually turned out better because I then topped mine with French fried onions. Next time, I will put the onions on everybody's and I may even add onion to the mixture (regular or fried).

This was super good and I would definitely make it again. I don't always like making things with canned ingredients (like the soup) but it helps make it easier. Dinner was ready by the time we got settled back at home after the doctor so everything worked out!

Whipping Cream Pound Cake

Hey everyone! I apologize for getting a little behind in blogging again. This time, my mom was in town and I never blog when she's around so I get to spend more time with her. I'm back though and I'll try to stay back. Our baby is 9 months old (today!) though so we'll see how that goes...

About a week ago, I made a whipping cream pound cake. I'm told Elvis really liked it but I only know about his obsession with peanut butter and bananas. I had some extra cream to use up so I thought this would be a good idea. Definitely not healthy but oh so delicious!

The recipe is quite simple with common ingredients. It does take 7 eggs though so good thing I had a stockpile of those (they were on sale for 99 cents!)! I will mention that I didn't sift the flour. They say to do it twice but I didn't even do it once. I usually skip steps like those. I'm sure it doesn't turn out exactly the same but to me, it's a waste of time. You can decide for yourself.

My husband rated this cake a 10 so you know it has to be good. We ate it plain, no glaze or anything. Next time, I'd be curious to try a different flavored extract but David didn't seem interested. He liked it just the way it was.

It did stick to the pan a little bit so make sure you spray it well. It also took closer to the 70 minutes to bake. So, this recipe takes a while to make but most of it is the baking time.

I also recommend covering it once it's cut so it doesn't dry out. Ours dried out very quickly (but was still edible and yummy, just not quite the same).

Homemade Refried Beans

We primarily use refried beans in two things: taco dip and our homemade frozen burritos. Recently, we were given about a pound of dried pinto beans and instantly we decided to make them refried. Our pound of beans turned into about 8+ cups of refried beans! It was crazy but exciting. We love free food.

To prepare, you soak the beans overnight. I kept forgetting to do this so I just soaked them during the day, for about 10 hours. Make sure they are in plenty of water. Then you drain and rinse. In a big pot, add all the beans and (new) water. Again, make sure you cover them with enough water. Simmer for about 4 hours, or until the skins start to break. Because I had soaked my beans during the day, I was doing this at night and 4 hours was past my bedtime. This happened when we made our black beans too. Maybe that's why people do it overnight?

Then we went to bed so we drained the beans and put them in the fridge. I don't recommend doing this but if you have no choice, you have no choice. When you continue, put them in a big skillet on medium-high heat. Add 1/4 cup of water. Stir and heat throughout (this takes forever if you refrigerate them first). Then mash with a potato masher until they are a consistency you like. If necessary, add more water (but only 1/4 cup at a time. You'd be amazed how much a little water can do). I think we ended up adding about 1 cup total. Season with salt and whatever seasonings you like. Some suggestions are: cumin, paprika, pepper, chili flakes, cayenne, etc. It all depends on how hot you want your beans and how bland. We only used salt in ours. Be sure to taste as you go so you can adjust accordingly.

Then you're done. We had enough beans to use up 5 burrito shells for our homemade frozen burritos (feel free to look back through my posts for that recipe), and about 5 cups to freeze for either dip or more burritos! This was a lot of beans! The best part of all was that it was all free!

I also feel like I should mention that "refritos" is mistranslated as "refried". It's supposed to be well-fried. That's why this recipe is even more simple. You only have to cook them once (minus the soaking part).

Fettuccine Alfredo

I know I recently made an alfredo recipe (the BLT ravioli) but this one is better. It's also all made in one pot, even the noodles! I love one pot recipes because it sure makes for easy clean up. The recipe is really quick with no prep. I did add peas to have a vegetable in it but it would've been just fine by itself too. I also made the mistake of cooking the noodles for only 15 minutes. My box of noodles said 12 minutes for al dente so I thought the 15 the recipe called for would've been plenty but it wasn't. I realized too late though. It was still good but next time I'll check them before I turn the heat off.

My husband rated this a 10/10. He said it was absolutely amazing. I thought it could've been a little thicker but I had a problem with my cheese clumping up and not melting into the sauce. I was surprised by this because I even used fresh grated Parmesan--no green cans for this family! I think the noodles just got in the way for mixing it all up. So there is a chance that next time, I'll make it in two pans but I'll have to see.

I would make this alfredo sauce without the noodles sometime too. From now on, this will be my go-to recipe for alfredo. Some commenters had said they added a little bit of cream cheese to the sauce to make it thicker, so I would be willing to try that too. Maybe it would help my clumping problem or my thin sauce problem.

Despite all the flaws I have mentioned, this was still a really good recipe! Very quick, very easy and ingredients that are usually on hand.

Reusable Menstrual Cups

I have mostly made the transition to reusable (cloth) menstrual pads but I still have to sew a few more. I was waiting for my Moon Cup to arrive to see how many more I would need to make. I got it a few weeks ago but it wasn't the right time to test it out but now I can!

For those of you who don't know, the Moon Cup is a reusable menstrual cup. It's made of silicone and collects, rather than absorbs, the blood. This is much healthier for the body and because you simply rinse it out and use it again and again, it is better for the environment too. This is a good alternative to tampons, if you were looking for one.

I decided to give it a try (I should probably mention that I am in no way affiliated with this company. I am simply a person who was curious about it and wanted to tell you all my thoughts about it. I am not getting compensated for this review). Basically, it's amazing! When I opened the package, I was surprised at how small it was. I know that sounds odd because most people say how huge it is but I guess I thought they really meant big so when mine came, I was expecting like a...Dixie cup or something. It still takes some maneuvering to get in the right spot and there are several folds to help you do this. I'm not going to go into how to use it because there are so many different ways but basically, it will take a little bit of time so be patient and relaxed. You probably couldn't get tampons right the first time either.

Once properly sealed, there are no leaks! You can wear it for up to 12 hours, but even if it's full before then, you don't have to carry around any extra pads or tampons or try to calculate how many you'll need for the time you are away from home. Like I said before, you simply rinse it out and reinsert it! How great is that?! It's comfortable, once you get the hang of it and it really improves period life. It can be a bit messy, especially at first, but I don't find it any more messy than a pad or tampon once you get used to it all.

I have always been one of those girls who hates her period and tries to plan her life around it because it just seems to take over but no longer! My cup is great and reusable pads, whether as backup or an alternative, also seem to make my period more enjoyable. I really recommend trying either or both and see how your life can improve. I realize this sounds kind of fake and unbelievable but trust me, it's so true! Once I use up all my disposables, I will never go back. I also plan on introducing my daughter to all of this in 10+ years (when she's old enough--she's a baby right now).

Review of a Colonoscopy

For reasons I am not comfortable sharing, I had a colonoscopy yesterday (at 23 years old no less!). It turns out everything is fine but boy, oh boy, is that prep torture! The procedure itself is not that bad. They did barely seem to give me any anesthetic so I felt what they called the "turns of the colon" but even that wasn't awful. Nothing compares to the prep you have to do.

I am one of those people who have seriously never had diarrhea before. I must just have a really good system or something (sorry, too much info?). I didn't even mind that during the prep. (To be honest, I found it kind of fun as long as I was at home).

My procedure was on Thursday so Monday and Tuesday I had to start a low fiber diet (basically no vegetables, only white breads, basically junk food). This wasn't that bad but it did make it a little hard when going to grab a snack or something because I had to think about my choice first. After midnight on Tuesday, I was not allowed any more solids. All of Wednesday, I could only have clear liquids (sodas, water, broth, hard candies, etc). This was quite difficult. I feel so sick if I don't eat food; it doesn't matter if I'm allowed liquid. I was so hungry, I was in tears at points throughout the day.

At noon, I had to take 2 Dulcolax tablets. These didn't seem to have any effect on me until around 8pm. These were fine. Two very small pills, take with water. Not a big deal.

Between 4 and 6pm, I had to drink 64oz of Gatorade (only orange, yellow, or clear varieties--gross!) mixed with Miralax powder. You cannot taste the Miralax, so that wasn't a big deal. The Gatorade wasn't a flavor I liked but that was tolerable. What wasn't tolerable was the speed at which I had to down this liquid. Reading my instructions, I thought I had two hours to do this. Turns out, I had about 5 hours but I gave myself 5 hours anyway because I could not stop puking. It was just too much liquid to consume. My stomach was too full (and the first time all day, I wasn't hungry!). They had told me later I should've called them when I kept throwing it up but I didn't have an after-hours number for them. Oh well. Then I decided to take more Dulcolax to make up for what I had thrown up in Gatorade but I threw that up too.

I decided to go to bed to try to sleep off my nausea. This is when I started getting up about hourly to use the bathroom. In between trips to the bathroom, I had to tend to my baby and breastfeed her. Basically, I didn't get much sleep.

Then at 9am on Thursday, the day of the procedure, I was required to drink 10oz of magnesium citrate followed by an 8oz cup of water. That is the GROSSEST thing I have EVER had to drink in my ENTIRE life. It took a lot of self control to get it down (and to stay down). Also, after that, I was not allowed to consume anything, even water.

By the time I got to my procedure at 1pm, I was feeling light headed and sick to my stomach because I was so hungry and getting dehydrated. After I had my IV hooked up, I felt much better. Then I had the procedure, which is super quick, I got a cookie! Then I could eat whatever I felt up to.

Basically, the prep is a 100 times worse than the procedure itself. I had to fast for my C-section for 14+ hours and this was worse than that. I don't mean to scare anyone because this is a necessary procedure, especially for people over 50, but I just wanted to share my experience.