The Ultimate Veggie Burger

It’s been a while since I have posted; life has been busy.

I am super excited to share with you all an awesome veggie burger that I made for Steve and I last night. I stumbled upon this recipe while playing on my phone trying to wake up Monday morning.

As soon, as I read that the burger used beets, I clicked away. If you have read some of my previous posts you will know that I have been loving beets this year. Once scrolling through the recipe, I was happy to read that I had most of the ingredients and just a short, quick trip to the store was necessary after work.

The Ultimate Veggie Burger is a recipe created by Ana from The Awesome Green. This was my first time visiting her blog and it is absolutely beautiful! I look forward to scrolling through her beautiful pictures and trying other fabulous recipes.

I followed this recipe to a “t” except for a couple tweaks:

– used Naan (Indian flat bread instead of whole wheat bun); I had Naan that needed to get eaten

-Omitted the coconut oil; didn’t have any on hand and my patties were moist

-instead of wholemeal bread crumbs used panko bread crumbs

-Instead of Himalayan salt used kosher salt

– Substituted 3 tbs chunky peanut butter + 1 tbs sesame seed oil instead of tahini.

– didn’t place the sweet potatoes on the burger; tossed the slices in olive oil, salt and pepper and baked at 350F for about 30 minutes or until tender

The burgers were flavorful just by themselves, but the avocado dressing is out of this world. It was creamy, salty, and fatty all at the same time.

The burgers were tender and moist, but held together nicely. I was a little worried when forming the patties that they were going to fall apart, but the baking process really helped hold them together.  The texture was perfect, the softness from the beets and quinoa matched perfectly with the crunch from the flax seed and onion.

Note: Make sure to spray baking pan generously with cooking spray to avoid sticking. I had some sticking on a couple, but the clean up was really easy.

I was really happy that Steve loved the burger and gave me the thumbs up to make it again. 🙂

This recipe is a definite try! I just wish my pictures were half as beautiful as Ana’s.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make it and what you think.

Sunshine and Warmth

Hello! Happy Tuesday!

I am happy to report that this weekend the sun finally showed it’s face and warmed Minneapolis creating a beautiful weekend!

Last, weekend, along with yesterday, Steve and I made sure to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather, cause as normal it won’t be around for long and we will be back to the frigid cold this weekend.

When looking for our house, we wanted something close to Minneapolis, and surrounded by parks, walking paths and bike trails. We were fortunate enough to get just that. We live off Theodore Wirth Parkway and near Theorde Wirth Golf Course in Minneapolis.

So, after celebrating my favorite day, National Peanut Butter Day, on Saturday with a some peanut butter toast, a grapefruit, and yogurt, we set out for a long walk down the Parkway.

White grapefruit picked in California by my parents

Have you tried the limited batch Chobani Green Tea yogurt? We tried it on Saturday. One vote yes, for me. One vote no, for Steve.

 

To be honest, we didn’t get a whole lot of green tea flavor. I thought it tasted like plain yogurt, just less sour and bitter and slightly sweeter. I don’t love plain yogurt and I think if I ate the green tea on a regular basis, it would help me transition easier to plain yogurt. I would purchase it again.

Next, we laced up our walking shoes, put the sun glasses on and headed for the Parkway.

We have lived in our house for almost three years, walked the same paths many times together and have never known about the rock below until at Christmas when reminiscing with my parents and my dad enlightened us with a cool geography fact.

We live right near the “45th parallel of the latitude, which is midway between the equator and the north pole”. How cool is that! So, naturally, I had to stop and take a picture. This was the best I could do, since the sun was shining right at me, which I was not complaining about.

Then as we contiuned down the path we witnessed a cross country ski event at Theodore Wirth Golf Course. And, this beautiful view of Minneapolis.

Once, we got home, Steve cooked a simple yet delicious chicken lunch, while I picked up the house and got ready to go shopping with my friend Meg (at mymonochromaticlife).

When, I got home after shopping, I didn’t realize how late it was, so I had leftover lunch and topped it off with a home brewed beer. Steve has made many batches of beer, but this one has been my favorite!  It’s a beautiful golden brown color, light flavor, not extremely hoppy and not bitter. Just perfect!!

Sunday, we had errands and dinner with my family. Then Monday, back to work followed by another long walk with Steve on the Parkway and grape yogurt.

This is the other Limited Edition flavor by Chobani. This one got 2 votes yes from Steve and I. I have to say the product was surprisingly good. I wasn’t sure what to think when I first read grape yogurt, but as always my interest was peaked so I had to try it. The yogurt wasn’t to sweet and had a slight fake grape flavor. When I first ate it I thought of grape laffy taffy, which didn’t last long and had a clean after taste. I would definitely buy this flavor again.

I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing weekend! Did you get outside and enjoy the warm weather? If so, I would love to hear about it.

Stop by Thursday, to read about the other Chobani Yogurts that I have been loving for breakfast these last couple weeks!

V8 & Cookies

Cheeseburger and fries go together like cereal and milk, but what about V8 and cookies? Yeaaahhhhh… maybe not. Instead, I will tell you about two different, new products that I found while strolling through the grocery store.

Last year, I started drinking V8 Original Tomato Juice as a way to get more vegetables in my diet. It’s not something that I have often, just every now and then. About a month ago, when I was standing in the juice isle looking for some V8, I noticed V8’s new products. See pictures below.

Then, I was flipping through the Sunday paper ad’s, a couple weeks ago and noticed some coupons for more new V8 products. I couldn’t believe it! Whenever I think about V8 I always go straight to tomato juice (even though they have had the fruit fusions for a while now too).  The coupons peaked my interest and I wanted to try them.

However, I didn’t want the big bottles, just in case I didn’t like the products. While at the grocery store on Tuesday, I found small bottles of the new V8 juices, so I was excited and picked them up.

I started with Purple Power. I was excited about this one, but quickly was not a fan. The color was pleasant, for many would probably be a problem. And, when pouring it looked thin, almost watery like. When tasting it, there was no flavor, I thought I was drinking colored water, very thin, and nothing there at all.  I would not buy this product again.

Second, I tried the carrot mango. Again, the product looked thin when pouring and the color was very bright, but not off putting. This product had flavor, unlike the purple power. I tasted the sweetness of the mango followed by the carrot flavor. As, I continued drinking, the carrot aftertaste continued to build and started to get a little bitter, which I didn’t love, but it didn’t stop me from finishing the product. I would give carrot mango another try.

Third, I tried the healthy greens. To be honest, I was nervous about trying this one, but I ended up being ok with it. The product smelled “green” and I could taste the spinach, but it wasn’t offensive. Like, I said about the carrot mango, this flavor would take some getting use to.

And, lastly, golden goodness. This one I did not care for. The sweet potato flavor came through very strongly and the watery texture didn’t help . The product smelled and tasted like baby food.

Overall, I was very disappointed in these products and was hoping to like them a lot more. I feel that V8 could make the juices thicker and optimize the flavors more. I am glad that I found the small bottles, otherwise I would be getting creative on how to use the big bottle of juices.

If I had to choose, two to purchase again, it would be the carrot mango and healthy greens. Both of these would take a little getting use to, but for the health benefits, I think it would be worth it.

Now, on to the cookies. Have you heard of Brownie Brittle? It’s a must try! So good! I will do a blog post about it sometime in the future.

I bring this up because when I saw Cookie Chips, I instantly thought about Brownie Brittle and had to try it. I mean, cookies, chips, what could be wrong?

These cookies reminded me of a gingersnap, only slightly lighter and more tender. The package advertised that they eat like chips, which I wouldn’t completely agree with nor disagree with. They weren’t thick and chewy like a normal cookie. But, not thin and super crunchy like a chip. I was satisfied with the texture. The cookies also had a nice classic cinnamon sugar flavor, that you can’t go wrong with. I would definitely try one of the other 5 flavors that is offered.

Do you have any new products that you are loving right now? If so, leave me a comment, I would love to know.

Healthy start in 2015

If you are likely me and ate one to many cookies this holiday season… or are still enjoying some… guilty here.

Or if you made a New Year’s resolution to eat healthier, than I have just the recipe for you.

I made this recipe right before Christmas and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

Last, Winter Steve and I learned to like Brussels sprouts, so much that we ate them a lot and got sick of them. So, this Winter I am trying to not over do it. This dish was our first time enjoying our new favorite vegetable.

When scouring through my library of cookbooks for Brussels sprout recipes, I landed on one that sounded interesting and I wasn’t sure what to think, so naturally I had to make it!

This recipe comes from Power Foods Cookbook written by Weight Watchers. I got this book free from work, and this was my first time trying a recipe from it.

Here it is:

Brussels Sprouts with Chickpeas and Grapes

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 large shallot, minced ( I used 1/4 cup red onion)*

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme

1 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained

4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped*

1 tablespoon dry sherry or white grape juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

*items either I changed or added

1. Place Brussels sprouts in steamer basket and set in large skillet over 1 inch of boiling water. Cover tightly and steam until tender, about 10 minutes.

For this step, I used my rice cooker that has a steamer basket. And, the Brussels sprouts were steamed in 10 minutes.

washed Brussels sprouts

Brussels sprouts trimmed and cut in half

Brussels sprouts in rice cooker

Rice cooker

2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots (or red onion), garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring constantly, until shallot (or red onion) is softened, about 2 minutes. Add grapes and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes.

grapes sauteing with red onion, garlic and thyme

3. Add Brussels sprouts, chickpeas, bacon, sherry (or white grape juice), and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until chickpeas are heated through, 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon zest.

grapes and chickpeas

fresh ingredients

Brussels sprouts, grapes, chickpeas and bacon sauteing together

Steve and I had a chicken breast on the side that was simply seasoned with salt and pepper. I have to tell you guys, both Steve and I were really pleasantly surprised with this dish!

The freshness and brightness of the grapes, combined with the salty and meatiness of the chickpeas and bacon, paired really nice with the bitterness of the Brussels sprouts. As I mentioned I can’t wait to make this dish again!! I literally ate all of the side dish before I even touched the chicken.

I hope you try it and if you do, please comment below telling me what you think.