Tasty Treats Thursday

This week's TTT is a variation of one of my favorite Food Network personality's, Guy Fieri. I mean, how can you not love that man? I watched his Chefography show on Sunday night and began to like him even more... family man, married for a long time, two kids, great chef, fun personality... great. I was watching one of his Big Bite episodes and he was making veggie burgers for his vegetarian sister, but with his spin. I watched the show, didn't write anything down, and just recalled... so I'm sure it's not perfect, but it is delicious. Here goes:

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed*
1 can pinto beans, rinsed (you can use any creamy bean, though, like white or great northern)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
a handful of black olives, diced
a handful of artichoke hearts, diced
half a red pepper (either roasted or fresh is fine), diced
half a green pepper, diced
a couple cloves of garlic, peeled and diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup rolled oats
1 large egg
cumin
chili powder
salt, pepper
sage
oregano
red pepper flakes

First, add your veggies (not the beans) to a pan with vegetable or canola oil (1-2 TBSP) on medium heat. Hold the garlic until later... you'll add it to the pan, but you don't want it to burn. Let the peppers and onions get nice and soft, but not too soft. You want them to create some texture to the patties. The artichoke hearts and olives will add a nice briny-ness to the flavor. You can add some salt and pepper to the mix. During the last 2 - 3 minutes add your garlic.

In the meantime, you take the beans and put them all in a large bowl together. I use a fork to smash them all, but you want to leave some consistency, so you don't have to break them down completely.The bean mixure: not as pretty as I'd like it to be, but whatever

Then, add your egg and rolled oats. All rolled oats are are the quick oats you find in the grocery store. Not the instant... but the 5 minute oats. Add about half the oats, and then after you add the veggies, you can continue adding them until your patties are nice and firm, but still juicy.

Take your veggies off the heat and let them cool down a few minutes. You don't want scrambled egg in the mix.

After it cools a little, add the veggies to the bean mix. Begin adding your seasonings, and you can do this to your taste. If you love cumin, add a lot (a few teaspoons), add a few shakes of chili powder, salt, pepper, and lots or a little red pepper flakes. Be sparing on the sage if you aren't a fan, load it in if you are. And add a healthy dose of oregano and parsley. Dried is fine, fresh is fine. Remember that if you are using dried, you'll use about 1/3 of the amount that you would use if you had fresh on hand.

Then, get your (clean) hands down and dirty in the bowl and mix thoroughly. Form into patties. You can make large patties or small patties, depending on your appetite and the size of the buns (if you use buns at all) that you have. If you make large patties, you'll get about 6... smaller patties yield 8 or so.

Next, put your vegetable oiled pan on medium high heat. You can either cook the patties solely on the stove or put them on the grill for some additional flavor. If you cook them on the stove, about 4 minutes on each side is great. If you want to put them on the grill, cook them about 2 minutes on each side (to help them stay binded together) and then transfer to the grill for another 2-3 minutes per side.

Last, load them up like you would any burger... lettuce, tomato, onion, ketchup... they are really delicious.
*My veteran vegetarian friend says that rinsing the beans will reduce the amount of gas one will experience after eating those beans... just an fyi.

A New Resolution- Vegetarian August

Todd and I have dabbled in vegetarianism many times in the past. He has a mild meat allergy and during my second pregnancy, I was horrendously nauseated at the thought of eating any meat product. I have a great friend who prepares solely vegetarian meals and often passes those recipes to me. I have made a new resolution for the month of August. I will not eat any takeout or meat this month. And I will engage in some form of physical exercise each day.

What has prompted me to go to such "extremes", you ask? Well, I have had some form of fast food every week for the last few months and not only do I feel fat and sluggish, but I just don't feel great. I've been having trouble sleeping and my self esteem is in the tubes. So, today, Todd and I took Piggy and Petunia to the local farmer's market where we loaded up on all sorts of fresh fruits and veggies. We found a delightful local farmer named Daniel, who couldn't be much older than us, and he has been farming for 11 years!! We loaded up on peppers, Japanese eggplants, okra, fresh basil, and rainbow chard. Then we meandered around and picked up some potatoes and fresh peaches. We will add those to our own homegrown squash, corn, green beans, blueberries, and tomatoes plus dried beans and rice to create healthy vegetarian meals each day.

I will share great recipes with you and chart my progress. If you want to get involved in a fun weight loss challenge (it may be too late to participate officially, but you can see), you can check out Samantha's Body After Baby Challenge over at Mama Notes. I anticipate losing weight, though it is not my primary goal. I would love to feel better, sleep better, have more energy, and take care of this vessel that God has given to me!!

So, as the saying goes, Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Here goes nothing!!!

A few starting stats:

weight-142 lbs
body fat- 26.2
hips- 41 inches
waist- 31 inches
thighs- 24 inches (each!! for those of you who are mathematically challenged, that is 4 feet of thigh!)
arms- 12 inches

Each Saturday, I'll be logging the progress. If I'm not too chicken, I'll post a before and after picture. But that is a huge IF!!