Black Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

I love black bean burgers and I've tried quite a variety of them. What is fun about these burgers are their versatility. Everyone seems to have their own "secret" ingredient and of course their own special way of cooking them.

Some extra add-ins I've tried, which are all delicious btw...

+cinnamon
+curry
+ginger
+peppers (spicy and mild)
+Worcestershire
+miso
+tomato sauce
+quinoa
+rice
+vegan cheese
+salsa
+garlic
+cilantro
+corn
You see..the list goes on forever!

Cooking Methods:

+BBQ!(Seems most popular)
+Oven Baked
+Pan Fryed with Olive oil
+BBQ then Oven Baked (The combo, as I refer to it)

What was my secret and method of cooking?

My secret ingredient happens to be rolled oats! Although I shouldn't really claim rolled oats as my own secret ingredient of choice, my mom has been putting rolled oats in burgers ever since I was a kid. This was my first time however pairing it with Black Bean Burgers. My method of cooking was oven baked, still a little to cold to bring out the BBQ.


Black Bean Burgers
1 can of Black Beans
1/2 an med. onion
4 mushrooms (diced)
1/2 cup of oats
1 garlic clove
1 tsp of cumin
1 tbsp of Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

Hot Black Bean Burger Option: Add some diced jalapeno or your favorite hot sauce to the mix!

Rinse the black beans and then put them in a food processor. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend! Once it is a good paste consistency, divide up the batter into 4-6 burgers depending on size. Place on a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 375F oven for 1 hour. Flip half way through cooking time.

Now comes for the toppings...this is endless too! I personally love to top my burger with avocado, tomato, and lettuce!


Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potato fries have become extremely popular around here. I see them in restaurants, in the frozen aisle in grocery stores, and even at some concessions! We really love them in our house and during this season they are super cheap to make yourself.

1 large sweet potato
1 tsp of olive oil
1 tbsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Peel the sweet potato and then slice into strips length wise. I have this awesome kitchen tool that makes wavy fries, that I have to share it with you. I bought it for 2 dollars at a grocery store, awesome find!


Place fries in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Mix it up and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375F for only 15 minutes. Check on them every 5 minutes to flip over. These little gems can burn quite quickly compared to a regular potato, plus they will not turn out as crispy, but oh my are they ever good!


What is your choice of secret ingredient and special cooking method when making homemade burgers?

What is your favorite french fry? I love homemade types of any kind, whether russet, sweet potato, yam or jicama(raw style) :)

Protein Snacks

Went out to the track this afternoon..these snacks came in handy when we were finished with our C25K and interval training.

Everyone seems to have a recipe for Protein balls, bars, snacks, etc... This recipe came from Bodyrockers.tv They have some really great workouts, recipes, community following, so check them out if your into fitness. I stumbled across them through a suggestion on a forum post and I'm glad I did!

I couldn't resist trying out their recipe for protein balls (you will have a laugh at their description of them). What I love about this recipe is it's a quick, easy and nutritious snack. If I'm on the go I can grab one out of the fridge, if it's after a workout I can get in some extra protein and a pick me up. They are convenient, basic and healthy..what more could I ask for! :)

The basic ingredients...


I've experimented with the recipe, adding or removing ingredients, but the three basic ingredients stay the same (peanut butter, coconut and protein powder).

In this batch...

Here are some idea's of what you could add to your batch:

+Natural almond extract
+Natural mint extract
+Pumpkin puree
+Different spices (Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc...)
+Dried cranberries, dried peaches
+Chocolate protein powder
+Plant based protein powder
+Spriulina powder for extra nutrition (took some getting used too! lol)
+Cacao nibs! (YUM!)

Thinking about adding your favorite dried fruits, nuts, extracts and spices can really make this recipe your own little favorite!

Enjoy! :)

What's your favorite ingredients to add to a protein snack?

Maggie's Weight Loss Vlog #1

Here is my very first vlog, it was super fun to make, so feel free to giggle and laugh along with me. The run down of this week's vlog episode:

-An introduction to me
-The purpose of the vlog
-My weight and my weight loss history
-Before and after pictures of my progress thus far
-A brief mention of my workouts
-And of course the "Tip of the day!"

Hopefully this video plays well for everyone, it's uploaded through Youtube so it should work well. Next episode I plan to address what I eat, more detail on workouts, plus some other fun stuff :)

Enjoy!

My vlog idea...

Me! Right before my week 2 Day 5 of the Couch to 5km running program :)

I have been so focused on my health lately that I've been absent in terms of writing in here. I've been thinking about adding some video to this blog. I thought it would be pretty fun to do a few 4 minute videos of my everyday health and weight loss journey. I would love to look back at the videos to see how far I have come, but most importantly I want it to help others in similar situations. I know watching other health and weight loss vlogs I've been able to relate, be inspired and encouraged by their hardwork and changes :)

I'm pretty sure i'm going to try it out, see how it goes..might be fun and it would let me focus on both food, recipes, exercise, health, and weight loss :)

What do you think?

I love you day ♥

What's your Valentine's story?

This morning I woke up to post-it notes all over the kitchen, bathroom, living room and everywhere else I looked. Each one had a sweet message written to me about why I was loved ♥ It eventually led me to a card and Valentine's hedgehog stuffie holding a heart! I felt very special and loved today ♥

For my boys I decided to make some raw chocolates, which I have not made in quite some time. You can find the recipe I used for the chocolate here. The chocolate really works well in the molds and it does not take long before they are done setting. This time around I wanted to do something a little different, so I decided to try out different fillings.



~Chocolate Strawberry Smooches
~Chocolate Almond Kissables
~Chocolate Peanut Butter Love Bites


I basically poured a little bit of chocolate into each plastic mold, covering the sides and then threw it in the freezer. Once the chocolate hardened I spooned in a bit of whatever filling and back into the freezer it went. After a few minutes I pulled the chocolates out of the freezer and poured more chocolate on top of the filling to eventually fill the mold.

<---Here is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Love Bites ready for more chocolate to be poured on top! Each chocolate surrounds a whole natural raw almond
Chocolate covering a strawberry puree filling (To make the filling whip 4-5 strawberries in a food processor till they are a saucy consistency)
Chocolate cups with a natural raw peanut butter filling

You may have noticed the Coconut, almond and date mix in the ingredients photo, this was used for the truffles. I couldn't resist making truffles...rich, soft and delicious!


This recipe is basically the same as the one above, I just add about 1/2 cup more cacao powder. This seems to give it a thicker consistency, perfect for rolling out truffles.
Step 1: Tablespoon of Truffle Mix
Step 2: Almond Filling
Step 3: Roll into a Truffle
Step 4: Cover in a Coconut, Almond and Date Mix
The finale, a few pieces of each in a heart shape container for my sweethearts ♥

Mornings

Every morning I tell myself this, sometimes I listen and sometimes I don't. Yesterday my body and mind did not listen. I was exhausted all day, so I went to bed knowing that I would be able to at least get 8 hours sleep and I ended up getting 9.5! Oh how I love sleep in mornings :)

After stumbling out of bed and doing all those toiletry type things, I usually pick out a favorite tea :) I sometimes do coffee, but you will more likely catch me with just a glass of water.

This is my new tea set up, I used to have them lined up over my stove, but thought this was a cute nook in my kitchen to use for them. Right now I just have my favorites:

Organic Chai(my absolute fav!)
Herbal Lemon Zinger
Herbal Cranberry Apple
Vanilla Chai(not a fav but others enjoy)


My Morning Fruit BowlLayer your favorite fruits, I keep it simple by only adding 2-3 types of fruit. My mix included:

+ 1 Banana
+ 1 Kiwi
+ 5 Strawberries

Then add your favorite nut butter, I chose a natural peanut butter. There is something about natural raw nut butters that are so much better than the processed, added sugar types, but then again that is usually the case.

+ 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Then I sprinkle on some toppings. This morning I chose a tablespoon of my favorite topping mix:

+ Almonds
+ Coconut (Shredded/dry)
+ Dates

I take about equal parts of each and mix them in a food processor till they are crumbly. Be careful when adding your dates because if you add to many it will become a nice dough mixture perfect for a pie crust. I usually make about 1 cup of the mixture and store it in a jar. I typically use it up during the week.


Here is an estimate on the nutritional break down of this meal (toppings included):
291 Calories
50 Carbs
9 Fat
7 Protein

It's a yummy, long lasting start to a day, which I love if I know I'm going to be working out before lunch.

Enjoy breakfast everyone! I'm off to eat mine :)

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Mommy Blogger E-Book

I am really proud to share with you an e-book project I was part of....

"Mommy Menus-A compilation of kid menus submitted by health conscious moms", is a beautiful book brought together by blogger mom's from all different walks of life. I've had the chance to read through this entire book, read each of the mom's bios, review and tried some of their recipes and it really is a wonderful addition to my raw and health conscious collection of recipe books.

This book was created by Rawkinmom from Color Wheel Meals and Rawkinmom's Blog. She contacted me a few months ago to see if I wanted to be one of the mom's part of the project and I of course said yes!

Here are more details from Rawkinmom herself...
"Each mom submitted their blog/website information, a detailed Bio about themselves, and a recipe for a Breakfast, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Dessert, and Drink. They also provided pictures of some of their creations. The result is an amazing and inspirational E-book.

I would love for you to receive this valuable E-book so I have priced it at only $12-this is less than a fast food meal for a family of four-these recipes may change your families life and health forever!"

Here is the paypal link if you are interested in checking out this fabulous e-book!

Enjoy all you wonderful parents!