A decade of birthdays!!!

Today is my oldest mini's birthday!!!  Those of you that have been reading my blogs over the years know that on my oldest mini's birthday, I always like to write a little reflection about the day that I met him and first became a mom.  If you're interested in reading those reflections, you can find them here or here.

Today is an extra special birthdayday for me because it is my oldest mini's 10th birthday!  And ten years ago, when I was a new mom, I had a team of pediatric specialists sit me down and explain, in detail, all the things they had found wrong with my newborn mini.  From head to toe, they found deformities...his heart, his kidneys, his spine, his pelvis, hip, leg, knee, and foot.  We were at a large teaching hospital in a huge city, and these doctors were telling me they had never seen a baby born with such an odd mix of deformities.  They told me they didn't know what his quality of life would be, and their expectations for his physical, cognitive, and emotional development were very low.  

Today, I want to publicly thank that team of doctors.  Their words started me out on my journey as a mother with no expectations.....I had the freedom to accept my mini for who he was on that day, with no expectation for who he would become in the future.  And thank God I never held my mini to my expectations because he has far exceed anything I could have ever dreamed.  

My oldest mini has had more surgeries than I can count.  He had his first operation when he was 6 weeks old, his latest operation was 4 weeks ago.  When he was 6 years old, he endured 5 months of what has been described to us as the most excruciatingly painful process a human being can go through.  This past summer, my mini was given a gut-wrenching choice on another leg surgery he would need.  And he decided that he was done.  His leg was never going to be what he wanted it to be, and it was time to let it go.  

You could say that I didn't expected that.  

But what I really, truly would never have expected would be the sheer strength, grace, and courage in which my mini has endured these past 4 weeks.  He has not once ounce of self-pity, he has never asked, "why me?"  He graciously and lovingly accepts the body that he has been given by God and he dedicates himself to taking care of his body and pushing himself every single day.  He strives for independence, but willingly accepts help when he needs it.  He effortlessly puts everyone else at ease and he laughs.  In fact, he laughs a lot.

My oldest mini inspires me every single day.  He is the absolute rock of the McGhee family.  He keep our priorities in check and he brings more laughter to any one household than I could have ever imagined.  I am blessed to be by his side through his amazing journey.  

So, to my oldest mini.....Happy Birthday to the most amazing person I have ever met.  Everyone who knows  you is touched by your tenacity and strength.  You humble people everywhere you go.  You fill my life with tears of joy and tears of laughter.  You have been a gift that I could have never expected to receive.  And I am certain that you will fill the next 10 years with far greater things than I could ever expect.  So, I will let you write your own story...and I will happily love and cheer you on every (one-legged...for now!) step of the way.

And....because this is a cooking blog, I will share my oldest mini's favorite recipe.....baked tacos!  It is really so simple, you don't need a recipe.

• hard taco shells
• cooked taco meat (I used ground beef with our favorite taco seasoning)
• shredded cheese (I used chihuahua)
• favorite taco seasoning (lettuce, olives, peppers, onion, sour cream, guacamole, salsa)

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.

2.  Line up taco shells in a 13 x 9 pan.

3.  Fill shells with meat and then cheese.

4.  Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

5.  Top with your favorite toppings.

These are totally delish, and, for some reason, make the tacos easier and less messy to eat?!?!

We were celebrating my oldest mini's birthday, so I served my tacos with St. Patrick's Day munch.  "What is St. Patrick's Day munch?" you ask.  I am afraid to post that recipe here, for fear that I will lose readers.  St. Patrick's Day munch is a glorious mix of Lucky Charms cereal, peanuts, pretzels, and m&m's, coated with melted white chocolate.

My other side dish was rainbow jello.

OK, so maybe I'm not as proud of that birthday meal as I am of the birthday boy!

Gardening!

I am so excited I can barely type right now.  I took an organic gardening class today at Angelic Organics.  That means, in my mind, I am now a farmer.  See, look at me, I even dress the part!

Everyone at Angelic Organics is extremely kind and helpful, just like the people at the local natural market.  Seriously, all these people that are down with Mother Nature are so freaking happy. 

Now, I have zero gardening experience, so I am very excited to be planning my garden.  And, I have talked Mr. McGhee into taking a class on accessing your risks and resources in starting a small farm.  There are several reasons why I think we should start an organic farm and I am on a mission to prove to Mr. McGhee based on these reasons.....

1.  We could feed our family.
2.  I could spend my mornings talking about how beautiful my tomatoes are at the farmer's market.
3.  Farming would provide great blogging material.
4.  We live minutes from a large farming store.  I take that as a sign.

And if you're wondering if Mr. McGhee gets tired of all my campaigns?  The answer is yes.  Yes, he does.  Lucky for him, he works 60-70 hours a week, so his face-to-face time with me is limited.  So, for now, we are happily planning our garden....beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, radishes, garlic, leeks, peppers, basil, rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, and pumpkin.  A bit lofty, you think?  I probably should call it a farm, rather than a garden, right?

Moving on to dinner.....I have shared this recipe before, but it's worth reposting.  In fact, I'm going to keep posting it because it is delicious and freezes perfectly.  Do yourself a huge favor and make a huge batch of it and freeze the leftovers. 

Mexican Beef

• 1 (4 pound) frozen rump roast
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 (7.75 ounce) cans Mexican style hot tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons crushed garlic
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place the frozen roast in the slow cooker. Pour the wine and Mexican style hot tomato sauce over the top. Season with garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 9 hours. When done, the roast should shred easily with a fork. Shred the roast into the juices, and mix in the chopped green onions and cilantro.               

Since you have the bottle of wine open, I recommend you pour yourself a glass.  And, since you can't freeze the leftover wine, you may as well finish the bottle. 

I serve this taco meat on tortillas.  You can make your own or be a cheater and buy these:

Flour tortillas

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp veg shortening or lard
• 1 1/2 cups water

1. Mix.
2. Knead.
3. Roll.
4. Cook on hot skillet.

We top ours with cheese, chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado, and sour cream.  I served them with black bean stuffed bell peppers. 

Spicy Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

• 2 small peppers- any kind you’d like
• 1/2 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1, 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch cayenne pepper for a little heat
• 1/2 cup sweet corn
• 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, or any cheese you like
• fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream for serving

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut a slit through the entire length of each of your peppers. Place them on a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, until the skins are softened and beginning to blister.
2. Heat olive oil in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add your onion and saute for 3 minutes, until beginning to soften and turn translucent.
3. Add garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
4. Stir in your black beans along with the water.
5. Add your cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt, and cayenne. Stir, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and simmer the beans for at least 15 minutes, but up to 30 minutes.
6. Stir in corn. Divide the bean mixture evenly among the two peppers and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Broil for 3 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Garnish with fresh cilantro, salsa, and sour cream if you’d like.

**sidenote** I brushed peppers with olive oil and broiled after step 1 for a couple of minutes. I like my peppers a little charred.

Now, I expect all of you to make a huge batch of the taco meat.  You really should because next week I am going to show you how to turn it into soup.

Now, prepare to be ah-may-zed.  I really out-did myself with dessert.  The other day I bought dried mangos from the local natural market.  Now, these are not a bag of factory-dried mangos, these are mangos dried at the market.  They are absolutely delish.  And now I am convinced I need a food dehydrator.  So, that means the birthday wish list is now....food processor, VitaMix, food dehydrator, iPod, sports watch, and a designer handbag. So, you're probably wondering if Heids McGhee is a greedy, materialistic person.  And the answer yes.  Yes, I am.  I can't help it, I like things.  Particularly shiny things.  I also want a puppy.  See, I'm not materialistic and heartless.  But you better believe, if I get that puppy, I am totally putting it in this.

So, back to dessert.......

Chocolate Mangos

• dried mangos (HIGHLY recommend finding real fresh dried mangos)
• dark chocolate
• kosher (or sea) salt

1.  Melt dark chocolate in double broiler (or microwave).
2.  Dip mango in melted chocolate.
3.  Lay on sheet of parchment paper.
4.  Sprinkle with salt.

These are delish.  Like so delish, you will have to hide in the pantry to eat them. 

And, finally, I want to share an after school snack that was a total hit with the minis the other day.  I found cinnamon-whipped honey at Great Harvest.  The ingredients are honey and cinnamon.  Although it isn't local honey, I decided to live a little and buy it anyway.  Great decision.

Apple Sandwich

• 2 apples, cored and sliced
• natural peanut butter
• honey
• raisins

1.  Spread peanut butter on apple slice.
2.  Spread honey on apple slice.
3.  Sprinkle raisons on peanut butter.
4.  Sandwich two apple slices together.

Delish!  Have a great night, I am off to bed.....you know us farmers, early to bed, early to rise!