Re-Visited: Cooking Club #12

[Original post date Nov. 2011. --Updated 10/29/14: original, but separate content, with updated photos and/or more details, if available.]


---> Cooking Club is coming up soon, and now that I'm blogging, I want to share these moments but I thought I should play catch-up first. So without further ado, here (and in more posts to come) is what we've been up to. Enjoy!

#12 June: Finger Food

The Menu:
        Appetizers
Tomato, Watermelon and Basil Skewers
Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Savory Parmesan Bites
        Dessert
Vegan Raspberry Scones

This month Kelly finally got to pick the theme. She got a bunch of cookbooks over the Christmas holiday and wanted to do an appetizer theme....which became a finger food theme...and then Kelly and her girls couldn't make it. But we thoroughly enjoyed her theme for her.

I came across this fun skewer recipe--actually I have no idea where I got this dish--I just know I've had it for a while. And it includes all of the things I love:

Cherry tomatoes (I eat these like they're candy, God's candy they are), check.
Watermelon (one of the reasons I love summer), check.
Basil (my favorite herb), check.
Balsamic vinegar (love and will put it on almost anything), check.

Even in bad lighting, these ingredients look delicious. I can smell the basil and taste the vinegar syrup as I type. I'd make these today if I didn't have to sell my right arm for the ingredients.

Trust me, you won't stop at just one, or two.....or five.

So, soooo good.

Tomato, Watermelon and Basil Skewers

Serves 8

1/4 c balsamic vinegar
scant 1/4 c sugar
1 (4-5 lb) watermelon, cut into 1 1/2" cubes
32 small basil leaves
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
16 wooden skewers (about 16" each)

Combine vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and set aside to cool. Starting with watermelon squares, push a square to very tip of skewer. Then skewer a basil leaf, then a tomato half. Continue layers until skewer is full. Continue with remaining skewers. Drizzle skewers with balsamic syrup and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and serve. (I even like mine with a little freshly ground black pepper.)


Even though there were only three of us this month, we have one, two, three, four...yes, four recipes. Jessica and I stumbled upon this Vegan Raspberry Scones recipe while killing time at work one day, and decided immediately that these qualified as finger food. We split the cost of ingredients and made these tasty little things as a combined effort.

(However, ours didn't turn out as dark as theirs...)

I was able to score some beautiful raspberries.

Jessica and Jenny might have consumed more than went into the batter. I, however, am not of the fresh-raspberry-liking crowd.

These were so flavorful with a different texture than your average scone. Great for breakfast, warmed with a tiny drizzle of honey, and cup of hot tea.

*I hope you enjoyed these Cooking Club snippets. There are more to come as I try to play catch-up before this month's meeting. I hope these themes, and even Cooking Club itself, inspire you to gather with your friends and family in the kitchen, and make sweet moments (and delicious food) of your own.

**I've only included the recipes to the dishes I made. Only because I'm unsure of where everyone got theirs...and hey, we gotta give credit where credit is due. If you have any questions about the other dishes, I'll ask the other members where they got their recipes and pass it along!

Check out our previous meetings!
Cooking Club #1-4
Cooking Club #5-8
Cooking Club #9
Cooking Club #10
Cooking Club #11

[Update: Just the previous Cooking Club links!]

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Zucchini and Corn Rice Soup

I love finding recipes and making them my own. It's pretty much what I do 100% of the time. Oh, how far I've come. There was a time when I followed a recipe to the tee, back when I was first learning to cook on my own. At that time, I think it's important to follow recipes until you learn how to cook, what you like, and how to substitute. After that, then it's game on. Use the recipe as a guideline or suggestion, not the rule. Use what you like and replace items with similar stuff on hand. No need to run out and spend a fortune on some ingredient you have no idea how to use/or when you'll use it next. If you're still leery about making a recipe your own, make it through once the way it states, but next time switch it up.

Just like I switched up this mouth-watering soup from Jenna over at Eat, Live, Run. I'm sure her original recipe is mouth-watering, which is why I planned to make it in the first place. But as I was rummaging the zucchini out of the fridge I noticed the large bag of fresh corn that needed to be cooked soon. Very soon. So, I put on a pot to boil. I had leftover rice in the fridge, which would cut down the cooking time, and I usually replace any cream called for with evaporated milk when the recipe allows. And, of course, coconut oil ALWAYS.

However, as I was pulling out the partially-cooked corn with plans to freeze the dozen ears in preparation for winter, I realized some corn would be perfect in this soup. I love mixing zucchini and corn. (Sauteed up with some gnocchi makes for one quick summer night meal.) And then I looked in my freezer and saw I already had a bunch of corn stock freezing, and there was no way Mr. B was going to let me take up that much freezer space for stock (we really need to get another smaller freezer for the basement STAT). So, instead of pouring it out, I replaced the vegetable broth called for with my homemade corn stock...as well as placing some in the fridge for sauteing up veggies later on in the week.

OH.MY.GOODNESS. Honestly, I think I found my new favorite soup. Move over Broccoli and Cheese.

This DELICIOUS soup combines summer and fall into one nice bowl of comfort, and is the perfect way to use up the last abundances of corn and zucchini that might be overflowing the garden and fridge. Plus, with my healthy substitutions, you're looking at only 200 calories per serving. Eat up, eat up!

Did you know September is National Rice Month?

Zucchini and Corn Rice Soup
*recipe inspired by Eat, Live, Run

Serves 4

2 lbs zucchini, sliced 1/2" thick
2-3 ears of corn, cooked and cut off cob
1 yellow onion, chopped
1-2 T coconut oil
1/2 c brown rice, cooked (I usually have leftover rice on hand)
1/4 c evaporated milk (or unsweetened almond milk)
4 c  corn stock (the leftover water from boiled corn ears) <--- if don't have on hand, use chicken or vegetable broth
1 t each salt and pepper
lemon wedges for serving (this is a must!)

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. When hot add onion and saute until golden. Add the zucchini slices and corn stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, 10-15 minutes, until zucchini is tender. Remove pan from heat. Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. (If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer soup in batches to a blender and puree.) Place back on heat, bringing soup to a simmer. Add in cooked rice, corn, and salt and pepper. Cover and cook until heated through, 10-15 minutes. Before serving, add in milk and stir through soup. Serve in bowls garnished with a lemon wedge. Sprinkle that juice all over. It's soooooo good!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

A Week of Food

A photographic stroll through this week's eats. YUM.

Frozen {vegan!} cookie dough is a great snack when forced to endure loud noises resulting in crazy migraines. I found this fabulous chocolate chip cookie recipe in this mouth-watering vegan desserts cookbook. <--- my latest must-own-right-now item.

It's National Eat a Peach Day, and I've had my share of this juicy heaven's nectar this week, believe you me. Nosiree, I can't stop. Peach-aholic, right here!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Blackberry Breakfast Muffins

You guys. I hit the ultimate breakfast [indulgence] with this blackberry muffin recipe.

But first, let me share with you how it all came about.

It was a cold morning. It was a cold, winter morning filled with beautiful snow falling, and falling, and falling. It was an absolutely breath-taking scene out my window last Sunday, and as I watched the snowflakes pile up, I poured a steaming cup of coffee and opened my Bible. As I poured my second cup, I realized I was a tad hungry, and opened up the fridge to grab some eggs to make an omelet...because it was Sunday and I had nothing to hurry out the door for, nothing demanding my time, and I felt like making myself a filling breakfast. Then I spotted the fresh blackberries I bought the day before and remembered there was a muffin recipe I've been meaning to try. Back in went the eggs and out came the berries.

If you've never spent some time perusing Jenna's awesome recipes over at her blog, Eat, Live, Run, you are missing out. Seriously. Also, I recommend highly you pick up her culinary memoir book as well.

It's quite sad; I tagged immediately this muffin recipe years ago and forgot about it. This morning seemed liked a perfect time to make it. Plus, Mr. B hadn't gotten around to eating all of the berries yet.

However, I wanted to make it a little healthier [no surprise there], and swap a few ingredients, like taking out all the dairy because I discovered recently I have an unfortunate sensitivity to (you'll hear all about that tragedy soon). And, you know, I was making it for breakfast and wanted a less sweet muffin. (Just to be clear, for me, a muffin for breakfast feels like an indulgence.)

I was a bit nervous with all of the ingredient substitutions, and a little unsure of how these muffins would bake. I hate wasting ingredients on trial and error recipe attempts, and I was really craving these muffins! Boy did I hit the jackpot with these gems. These are absolutely perfect and probably the best muffin I've ever made or tasted. Honestly. The applesauce makes them super moist and light. The hint of orange zest is perfect with the juicy berries, and you can't even taste the avocado. It just lowers the fat content and makes for a more colorful muffin. Also, by using less sugar, feel free to indulge in a few because, trust me, you will eat more than one. Possibly three at one sitting. I'm sure this muffin recipe would work well with any berry you happened to have on hand. YOU MUST MAKE THESE. And, yes, I am shouting at you.

Blackberry Breakfast Muffins
*recipe inspired by Eat, Live, Run

makes 12 muffins

2 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp grated blood orange zest
2 c fresh blackberries
1/2 c mashed avocado
scant 1/2 c sugar
3/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 egg + 1 flax egg (for the flax egg, combine 1 T ground flax seed and 3 T water, and let sit 5 minutes)
1/4 c unsweetened almond milk

Preheat oven 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and orange zest. Gently add in blackberries, stirring to coat. Set aside. Cream together mashed avocado, sugar, and applesauce. Add eggs, one at a time, until well combined. (NOTE: here you can opt for 2 flax eggs, making the muffins completely vegan.) Add in milk and stir. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and toss gently, being careful not to crush the berries. Scoop batter into a regular-sized 12 cup muffin tin. (Optional: sprinkle each muffin with brown turbinado sugar--or regular sugar.) Bake for 28 minutes, or until tops are golden. Let muffins cool in the pan for five minutes, then pop out and cool completely on a wire rack.

While I prefer them still warm from the oven, these are delicious at room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. I'm assuming these will keep for a week; mine did not last that long ;)

These even make for a perfect midday snack at work. YUM.

Pssst....It's National Fresh Berry Month. Celebrate with a muffin ;)

Sadly, I am out of these tasty muffins and writing this post for y'all is not helping my muffin craving.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

A Perfect Ten

Seven years and we finally finished all the cookies we planned. Go us!

Since my library is closed today due to the "Polar Vortex" affecting most of the country, I'm taking advantage and catching up on some much needed blog posts, particularly the holiday ones. Taking advantage read as hiding from the -21 degree wind chill by lounging in my sweats under an electric blanket on the couch watching The Avengers. I hope you all are staying inside and warm as well.

So here's the good news, Jessica and I made all the cookies we set out to make this year. However, I did not complete my list. Close but no cigar. I'm still super proud of Jess and I finally getting our act together. It did help that this time we had a solid plan of starting super early with a few cookie doughs prepared and chilling already. I liked having some of the preparations finished beforehand, but on the downside I also started eating cookies (and cookie dough) earlier this year, too. Not necessarily a good thing...for my waistline. :(

Anyhoo, starting early. Scratch that. We celebrated Jessica's little guy's 3rd birthday (Monster U style) the night before, and had our Christmas (plus some wine...). Yeah, we had a late night. We didn't get started until almost 10 a.m. (yikes!)

After she brewed me an espresso using her new Verssimo, an [early] Christmas gift from her husband,  we were ready to get started. First on our list: not doubling the browned butters! There will be no extras of these to go around this year. Last year we almost dropped the ball on these and I didn't want to do anything to mess them up.

Mmmm. I just wanted to put my face finger right in that buttery dough. We were getting those babies in and out of the oven, moving onto the next batch of cookies, when I realized I could smell the brown butters. Very strongly. And not delightfully. We burned the fourth pan of browned butters. :(

Here's Jess doing her best at salvaging the tops. We quickly blamed it on the pan, declaring it was unsuited for baking and assigning it to cooling duties only, and continued with the rest of the cookies, and another mug of coffee.

Despite our late start, thanks to my prepared cookie doughs, we actually made decent time with our batches. In and out of the oven like pros. Having a plan always helps, too. For instance, Jess was mixing up one of her doughs while I worked on the Reindeer Chow-Chow, which didn't require the oven (the recipe is at the end of this post). Once her cookies were in she helped me shake up the reindeer food. Good thing she noticed the bag was ripped because that could have been a DISASTER.

A powdered-sugar-all-over-the-dining-room-kind of disaster. A "That's-it-I'm-done-no-cookies-this-year" disaster. A we-need-wine-right-now DISASTER.

And speaking of wine....

While we're at it, let's do lunch. It's 11:30 a.m. and I don't want to snack on more cookies (cough, cookie dough, cough) than I already have.

This Toasted Pecan and Blueberry Couscous Salad (minus the capers) was fan-freaking-tastic. The fact that it's quite easy to assemble makes it the ideal go-to lunch in the midst of an all-day cookie baking extravaganza. I also brought along one of our favorite soups, my Potato, Broccoli, and Coriander Soup. It was a feast fit for queens.

Cookies galore.

Later on that afternoon, I needed some milk and Jess got it out for me. I wasn't paying attention and went to shake it up, not realizing she had already opened it. Yeah, it was worse than the picture shows.

Clean-up time!

Starbucks time! We made a much needed 4:30 p.m. happy hour coffee run. And then it was back to baking...

....and back to washing dishes for the sixth time.

When Myles came in he was so excited to see all of the cookies spread throughout the house, but there wasn't anything he could have because of his food allergies....except the Reindeer Chow-Chow. Oh, did he enjoy that. When he asked me what it was I said it was like reindeer food. He ran in the other room and brought back his mom's reindeer figurine and proceeded to give it the food as well. I love this kid. And his "cheese" camera face.

Sadly somewhere along the way my beautiful Kitchen Aid glass bowl broke. Well not exactly broke, but chipped. He now has a minor cut but is all bandaged up now. Not sure if it happened when I was washing it, but Jess discovered it while she was drying. I was in the other room playing with Myles while waiting for dinner when I heard, "OH NO, your bowl is chipped!" My face must have looked pretty sad because Myles immediately stopped what he was doing and followed me into the kitchen. He then hugged my leg and gave me a kiss to make me feel better. He made me feel better.

This year our  "Cookies Made" List looked like this:

Almond Butter Saltine Bites
Lemon Poppyseed Cream Cheese Cookies
Chocolate Dipped Lavender Shortbreads
Apple Snickerdoodles
Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
Maple Oatmeal Cookies
Reindeer Chow-Chow (recipe below)
Browned Butters with Caramel Frosting
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan-Friendly Chocolate Chip Cookies

A perfect 10.

I didn't make the cranberry browned butters and now I'm wishing I had because not even 24 hours later my household was without any type of browned butter anything. I'm looking at you, Mr. B. (This is why I only make these at Christmas.)

When it was all said and done, I had 17 different kinds of cookies to platter-up this year :)

Reindeer Chow-Chow
*renaming [and vegan-izing] an old family recipe :)

1 box rice squares cereal (or your favorite similar cereal)
1/2 c almond butter (we actually used sunflower butter here)
1 c mini chocolate chips (for some reason the minis just melt better) the darker the better
1/4 c butter
1 t almond extract (or vanilla is great, too)
powdered sugar (slightly more than 1 c)

In a microwaveable bowl, combine chocolate chips and butter. Heat 30 seconds, stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in extract. (Heat for more time if needed.) In a gigantic bowl, gently toss together rice squares, nut butter, and chocolate mixture until all rice squares are evenly coated. In batches, depending on how big of a plastic storage bag you have, add in some rice mix layered with powdered sugar. Add in layers until bag is half full and shake to coat the squares. Repeat with the rest of the batch. Spread squares on baking sheet to set.

Enjoy! It's tasty.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

B's Perfect Granola Bars

I like to know what goes into my granola bars, which is way I try my hardest to eat only homemade bars. I'm a huge fan of making food in my own kitchen, knowing I put only the best ingredients, and no preservatives, in my food. These Perfect Granola Bars are just that.

I like controlling the amount of sugar, fat, protein, and fiber that goes into my food. I feel better about what I'm eating, I feel healthier, knowledgeable, and definitely not guilty! It's very liberating.

I used to be hooked on Larabars; they're delicious, organic, and a perfect snack, but I found them to be way too sweet. Too sweet to eat for breakfast or pre/post workout or for a middle-of-the-day snack. The bars are primarily made of dates, which contain their own fair share of sugar. However, I do enjoy these tremendously as a dessert bar when I'm trying to eat clean. The cherry pie ones are my favorite.

But these bars are also very versatile. Use them crumbled in a bowl with some almond milk, crumbled on top of fruit, or as a crumb topping on your favorite peach cobbler or ice cream...or simply enjoy them as a bar.


Perfect Granola Bars
*makes 9 bars (recipe can be easily adjusted to amount needed)

2 c rolled oats (or gluten-free oats)
1 T chia seeds
1/4 c unsalted nuts of choice
1/4 c nut butter, melted
1/4 c honey, agave, or brown rice syrup (sometimes I forgo this and just do a full 1/2 c of nut butter)
optional add-ins: flaxseed, other nuts, dried fruit, mini bittersweet chocolate chips, protein powder

Preheat oven 350 degrees and coat a baking dish (whatever size you need; I used a 9" glass pie dish this time) with cooking spray. Mix oats, nuts, chia seeds, nut butter, and honey in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Add in any extras, if desired. *Note: you may need to mix in a little bit more of the nut butter or honey, as needed, with each addition add-in. Press mixture into prepared dish and bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool, completely, in baking dish before cutting into bars. (This can be made vegan by excluding the chocolate chips.)


Sometimes I'll add protein powder and decrease the amount of honey. I don't like my granola bars too sweet, so if I'm adding dried fruit or mini chocolate chips (something that adds its own sweetness) I will decrease the amount of sugar I'm adding.

Depending on your add-ins, the calorie count can be anywhere between 160-200 per bar. I try to keep the sugar below 9 grams, while upping the fiber and protein.

Enjoy!

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Las Vegas and Waffles

Red Rock Canyon

Last week the hubby and I hopped a plane and spent a few days in Las Vegas for a much needed vacation. I had never been west of Indiana, but he had been before and also has family in Arizona. It was my first time seeing the desert. It was insane. All of that dry land, and desert, and the lack of anything green...I felt like I was on Mars. Even though the temperatures were a high of 57 and low of 33, just looking at the desert I felt I should be hot. But to each their own, right?

I was excited to be in Las Vegas. I'm not a gambler or a drinker, but there are other things to do.....

Like eat, and eat a lot.

Mr. B warned me about the buffets. A lot of food, and good food, for cheap because they want to keep you in their casino. Yeah, we stayed at South Point (on the same road as the famous Strip, but away from the congested areas) and the Garden Buffet was insane. I would have been happy with the salad bar alone. And had I not wanted to see Vegas, I could easily have spent the entire time in the hotel....lots of food choices, a bowling alley, movie theater, souvenir shop, ice cream and coffee shops, a huge BINGO hall, an Equestrian arena (which was closed, by the way), and, of course, clubs and the casino.

And their breakfast buffet (cheap)....everything you ever wanted. I dined on oatmeal, fruit, grits, and biscuits and gravy, while Mr. B sampled a little bit of everything. We went to the Prime Rib restaurant for dinner one night, and to be completely honest, the prime rib at the buffet was better.

The Bellagio

There is also a lot of sight-seeing opportunities in Vegas, and I was really happy we got a rental car. We drove to The Hoover Dam, which was crazy-high, and no (as my brother already asked me) I did not see any Transformers while I was there. They really keep them secret. Lots of security. Then we drove to the Red Rock Canyon (as you can see in the first picture). That was our favorite part of vacation. A 13-mile scenic drive through the desert, canyon, and mountains. It was beautiful and unworldly all at the same time. My best friend, Jessica, (the same one below) would have loved it. The geologist in her was jealous, I know. She appreciated the pictures.

We also walked through a lot of the famous hotels on The Strip. Paris, Las Vegas was the first one we went into, and I was floored by how beautiful it was. It was just like walking the streets of Paris...the ceiling was painted like the sky, brick floors, and trees and cafes...GORGEOUS. No other hotel compared, and while I thought The Bellagio was stunning from the outside (pictured above), I wasn't impressed with the inside. The Luxor was like a tomb (kind of cool), New York, New York was fun (except for the hecklers and homeless guy on the bridge...guess it was really like New York), and we saw others like the MGM Grand, The Cosmopolitan, The Mandalay Bay, and THE Hotel.

After a while it was kind of like you've seen one you've seen them all...

BUT, the best part: Jersey Boys!!!!!! Mr. B bought us tickets to this ever so popular musical and it was at the Paris, Las Vegas (which made it an even more romantic date night). The theater was packed and it was amazing! The guy who played Frankie Valli blew me away. Even Mr. B enjoyed himself. And I brought home a fancy mug :)

Overall, we had a fun and wonderful time, and I'm looking forward to scheduling our next vacation...

This was my reading material during our long flights and airport layovers (and I finished the entire thing). I first read this series a few years ago during one of my teen literature classes while getting my master's. (The 4th installment came out last October, Beautiful Redemption.) And since the movie hits theaters on February 14th, I thought I should refresh my memory. I just want to say this book will devour you, and I'll talk more about it in this weekend's "What I'm Reading" post. Stay tuned. It's ah-mazing.


Okay, but enough with my vacation musings, now onto the good stuff.

That would be my friend's waffles. Jessica's little boy (see the cutie here) is allergic to dairy (and recently, peanuts), which has caused her family to take a different route when it comes to mealtime. And, with being vegetarians, her little man consumes a vegan diet.

I like chicken and steak way too much to ever turn vegetarian, but my everyday diet is mostly vegetarian. There are so many meal options out there besides meat. I also love ice cream, yogurt, and cheese way too much. But giving up dairy has crossed my mind a few times. I read somewhere that the foods you crave most tend to be the ones that don't work well, or agree, with your body. Almost weekly I have strong cravings for ice cream, and when I go without sweets/sugar for a while I must.have.cheesecake.immediately. Maybe that will be my next fast.....

Shhhh....I took this picture from Jessica.

Anyhoo, the first time I saw her little boy eating these mouth-watering waffles, I just had to try one. He politely shared with me. These waffles are soooo darn good! I don't need butter or syrup or for them to be warm. Perfect plain and at room temperature. And, of course, I immediately needed the recipe. A few Sunday mornings later, my waffle craving hit and I pulled out my waffle iron and the ingredients and got to mixing.

(By the way, I love my waffle iron. It was a Black Friday buy. $3. Fabulous. Mainly because the waffles come apart in fourths....allowing me to feel like I'm eating more than one waffle.)

And THE best part, Mr. B loved them too.

However, I frowned when I saw the amount of calories in each waffle. (Over 200!) Good thing I chose to forgo the lemon icing that goes with it (which is in the first waffle picture).

Which just showed me that I stereo-type vegan food. Just because it says "Vegan" we think it's healthier. Definitely not always the case. The calorie count is almost double my favorite, trusted (and only) waffle recipe. (Which used to be on this blog. I can't find it any more...so I guess it's a good thing I wrote it down!)

But I did try one with a little lemon zested on top....delicious!

If you're looking for a new waffle recipe or you want to feed that vegan in your life, give my friend's recipe a try.

Jessica's Vegan Blueberry Waffles
*recipe courtesy of my friend

Makes 8 waffles (varies depending on waffle iron)

2 c whole wheat flour (her recipe called for all-purpose)
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 container blueberry soy yogurt, about 2/3 c (or whatever flavor you like)
1 1/3 c unsweetened almond milk (her recipe called for soy)
1/3 c canola oil
5 Tbsp water
1 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat your waffle iron. Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda together well with a whisk. In another bowl, whisk the together the yogurt, milk, oil, and water. Add the dry into the wet ingredients; don't over mix. Gently fold in berries. (NOTE: If using frozen berries, keep in freezer until needed. Reserve 1-2 Tbsp of the dry mixture. When ready for berries, take out of freezer and mix with dry reserve. Then fold into batter.) Then proceed with your waffle iron.

Nutritional Information
Per waffle: 233 Calories, 33 Carbs, 11 Fat, 5 Protein, 5 Fiber, 8 Sugar


*I'm so happy to be an Ohioan.

With Love and God Bless,
Brindi

Beauty Burgers

Burgers.

It's all about the beans. THE beans. The BEANS.


I'm finally sharing my Black Bean Burger recipe. And it's not because I didn't want to share, I just haven't gotten around to it.


And it's not even my recipe.

I stumbled across it last summer while browsing the various blogs I read on a weekly basis. I found this recipe on Jenna's blog, Eat, Live, Run. This is one of the top three blogs I must visit every day, and her book, White Jacket Required, came out recently and it went straight to the top of my to-read list. I find her blog to be very inspirational, with healthy recipes, travel posts, and great book reviews.

But let me tell you about these burgers. I.cannot.get.enough. I would eat these every day if I could. Which technically I could if I would just make them.

I probably make these every other week. Mr. B frowns upon them (even though he has never tried one), so all six bean patties are mine. Therefore they should last me a week. Nope. I'll be lucky if these beauties last me three days...they're that good.

As soon as I make a batch, I have to eat one. Then I package them up for my work lunches.

I eat one for lunch, sometimes one and a half. And I have every intention of saving the rest for later in the week. But then I get home and I'm starving. They make a great snack. Oh, these are so good.

I think these are why I can't eat ground beef anymore. It doesn't even sound good. Last night I even thought I'd be excited because I made meatloaf; you know, THE Best Meatloaf, and I don't make it often...it's a special treat for me (or it used to be). I took one bite and that wasn't even good anymore. I had to force myself to eat it. I don't know what my deal is. I just know I love these Black Bean Burgers...and turkey burgers.

Just look at the caramelization.

You want that.

These are a must try! Thank me later.


Black Bean Burgers
*slightly adapted from Eat, Live, Run

Makes 6 patties

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp ground flax + 3 Tbsp water (this is your flax egg)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
2 tsp cumin
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen...frozen, thawed)
olive oil (or canola oil)  for frying burgers

In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax and water. Let sit for five minutes.Add garlic and one can of beans to a food processor (or high speed blender) and pulse to combine. Add cumin and salt, pulsing until mixture resembles chunky black bean dip. Transfer the black bean mixture to a large bowl and stir in the bread crumbs, tomato sauce, flax and corn. Stir well until everything is combined. Add remaining black beans. Heat a little olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Form black bean mixture into patties and fry for about 4 minutes per side, until golden and crusty brown.

[That's it...so simple!]


I usually just eat these plain and cold....straight out of the fridge. Delicious.

But sometimes, when I'm feeling ambitious, I eat them like this.

Topped with an avocado-Greek yogurt mixture and a tomato. With a side of lime tortilla chips.

Enjoy!


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi