Two Ingredient Ice Cream? Stop It!

Some of Y'all read the post about my mother moving in with me for a while and how I'm not a good caregiver but I can rise to the occasion when it comes to nutrition and that's what I've been trying to do this week.

Mother needs a heart healthy/diabetes smart diet so I've been researching like crazy to find just the right path. Things do get a little tricky when you have to consider both of those restrictions but we've got a good start. 

The first day she was here I kept it super simple and prepared brown rice with stir fried carrots and zucchini. Now, by stir fry I don't mean I coated everything in oil and went to town. I used sunflower oil and lightly coated the bottom of the pan. In all honesty, you get a more flavorful taste using LESS oil. Less is more when it comes to oil and veggies. I just added seasonings and VIOLA! We had a simple, easy, heart/diabetic smart meal. 

Did I take pictures? Of course not. I wasn't thinking pictures. I'll try to do better. I did take some of the next recipe but they are blurry. Sorry, Y'all. 

One more share for today--- ICE CREAM! Yep, you read that right. I made ice cream and it was delicious! There are only 2 ingredients and so tasty, Y'all! Plus, it is heart/diabetic friendly. AND, Baby M couldn't get enough of it. 

I didn't realize she was going to love it so or I would have put her in the high chair because she must do it herself.
 Lesson learned. 

All you do is slice 4 bananas, place them in a freezer container, and freeze them. Once they are frozen, put them in a super blender and blend until they are smooth and creamy- this will take a few minutes. Your blender really does need to be a super good one. I might try the food processor next time just because. 

Sorry this one is so blurry but she wouldn't be still. Look at that mouth, though. 

Once the bananas are the right consistency, add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and blend some more. That's it! 

Ok, I did not wait for my banana slices to get fully frozen so my ice cream was more like very cold, very think pudding. But it was so good! 

I put more bananas in the freezer to do this again this weekend. This one is definitely worth a try! I got this recipe HERE. 

I'm going to get better about the pictures and I'll be posting more recipes. So far, Mother has been here 2 full days and I've made 6 new recipes and a delicious hearth/diabetic smart smoothie. 

Mother had an appointment with her respiratory DR Wednesday and he couldn't believe how improved she was since she left the hospital last Thursday. All reports are positive and she may not even have to be on the oxygen anymore. I'll keep Y'all posted on the progress. 

Meanwhile, we are still awaiting the arrival of Baby R. Which could be now or in another 13 days. The waiting is getting a bit intense BUT---

PRE-SEASON HAS BEGUN and as we all know, FOOTBALL makes everything better! Not that Baby R's mother would agree. 

 Have a great weekend, Y'all!

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles

and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

My First Time EVER

I put up my first EVER spaghetti sauce yesterday with tomatoes from the garden! WooHoo!

I was so scared of doing this. I just knew I was going to mess it up. But, all went well and, at the end, I got the pinging of the lids! Let me tell you though, I did not rest easy until I did hear that pinging.

Want to see all the pictures? Me too. But I was paying such close attention to what I was doing, I forgot to take any! I had to be careful. I have this horrible habit of not reading the directions through before starting a recipe. You can imagine what interesting results that has resulted in over the years.

And you'd think I would have learned my lesson by now. But, no.

Anyway, the jars look like this:

And as soon as I do this again, I will (hopefully) be comfortable enough to take some photos!

This time I used directions that my friend Julie at Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Not...but learning sent me. Next time, I'm using the suggestions sent by my friend Kim at My Field of Dreams. I'm just waiting on more tomatoes now.

I've also tried a couple of new recipes this week---homemade Nutella Rice Krispies and Cherry Cookies.

For the Nutella Rice Krispies (which I found at the Cupcake Project) I used a recipe I got from NuNaturals for homemade nutella! What?! Yep, that's right.

RAW Healthy Homemade Nutella

8.9 oz jarred white beans, rinsed and mashed with a fork or in food processor (I used a box of 365 organic Cannellini beans, no salt added)
3 or 4 TBS cocoa powder
6 packets NuNaturals NuStevia NoCarbs Blend (I used this but I have to wonder how it would be if I used the liquid Stevia from NuNaturals---like the vanilla and the cocoa?)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp oil (Shocker! I used coconut oil)
2 TBS ground flax
pinch of salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
up to 1/4 cup liquid to thin (I just used water...but have to wonder how coconut milk would taste)

Mix everything together! I just used my mixer but I'm going to use the food processor next time. The recipe says to use it as a spread OR spread it out on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer to be cut into chocolate strips. I'm definitely going to try this next time.

I really liked this recipe because it doesn't use hazelnuts. I don't like Nutella and I think it's because I am not a fan of hazelnuts.

Nutella Rice Krispies

1/2  cup honey
1/2 cup Nutella (the last time I made these, I used Trader Joe's Almond Cocoa spread and wanted to eat every dang one of those things)
4 cups Rice Krispies (I used Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Cereal because it's organic and gluten free)

Combine the honey and Nutella in a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
Stir. If the honey and Nutella are not hot and thoroughly combined, you can continue to microwave for ten seconds at a time and stir until they are. (I don't use the microwave much so I did this in a saucepan on the stove top). Mix the cereal into the bowl and stir, making sure to coat all of the cereal.

Spread mixture into an 8x8 glass baking dish and refrigerate for at least three hours.
Cut into squares and eat!

The cookie recipe was found right HERE and I actually followed the recipe word for word. Except when I didn't read the directions first and didn't add the dry ingredients to the cereal in the food processor---Oopsy! They turned out good anyway! 

Oatmeal Flax Carob Cherry Cookies

 
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Erewhon Rice Twice cereal

1 cup Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice Gluten Free cereal

1/4 cup arrowroot flour (I used Bob's Red Mill all purpose, gluten free)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups rolled gluten-free oats
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1 cup unsweetened dried cherries, chopped
1 cup unsweetened carob chips

"Fit a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter until light and fluffy. Meanwhile, put the coconut palm sugar in a blender and process until powdered. Add the powdered palm sugar to the butter and beat for 2 – 3 minuets on medium high. Add applesauce and egg. Beat until combined. Mix in vanilla.

Add the Erewhon Rice Twice cereal to the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until very fine. Add the brown rice cereal, arrowroot flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and sea salt. Pulse to combine." (This is the step I messed up on- I put the cereal in the processor and then into the mixer. On top of the cereal I put in the rest of the ingredients mentioned in this paragraph AND THEN read that I was supposed to put it all in the food processor).

"Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in one addition. Beat until combined. Add oats and flax meal. Stir to combine. Add dried cherries and carob chips and mix just until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to evenly portion the dough. Space two inches apart. Roll the balls of dough and then flatten them out. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until the edges just start to get light golden brown. Let cool until set on the baking sheet, about 8 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature."

 

If you try any of these, let me know how you like them! 

 

There's still plenty of time to enter one or both of my TWO giveaways! Just click the buttons at the top of my sidebar!

Summer Sizzle- Week 5 Update; Week 6 Deets

It's time for the Summer Sizzle update for the end of Week 5 and the beginning of Week 6-

The heat is still ON but I am SLOWLY acclimating myself to it. I've even been running a little! WooHoo!

The exercise is going well. I walk Strider (mostly it's a run) and then come back and take Tucker (still a pretty fast clip but not a run) AND, starting this week, I am adding Sprint 8 on my own 3 times/week.

What is Sprint 8? It's simple. After a 3 minute warm-up, you just push yourself at maximum effort for 20-30 seconds and then rest for 90 seconds. You then repeat this cycle 8 times.

Why am I going to try Sprint 8?

• It can be done with any exercise- with or without equipment. 
• It doesn't last an hour so it saves time and the sprint part is only for 4 minutes
• You only have to do it 2 or 3 times/week; any more than that can do more harm than good

Basically, it's short and sweet.Well, I'm not so sure about the sweet part. But it IS short.

Here's a video of Dr. Mercola doing Sprint 8 on an exercise bike. I'm going to be running during my intense part and walking during the rest part.

The food is going well also. I'm not counting any calories I'm just eating healthy. My recipes are from the Gerson recipe book and/or from the RAW recipes I get from various blogs (you can find them listed on the page marked Health and Fitness Sites on the tabs at the top of my blog). I am also juicing every day and making my green smoothies as well.

Our challenge for last week was to lose 2 pounds. I lost 3.5. AND I didn't hold back on July 4th. Of course, we did have mostly healthy foods. Everything was selected and prepared carefully. All meats were grass fed/free range/certified organic/etc. All sides and the dessert was organic and prepared without gluten and with organic ingredients.

This week's challenge is:  VEGETARIAN WEEK. This is not going to be a problem since I'm already doing it. Of course, you just never know until it's over.

Recap: I did lose 3.5 pounds last week but that's not THE thing. THE thing is that I am feeling better and I do NOT attribute this to the lost poundage. I attribute it to the healthy diet which has led to an increase in exercise intensity- I am running in this OPPRESSIVE HEAT! :)

Weight loss has become the proverbial icing on the cake. Getting fit is the goal!

Hope y'all had a great week and have an even better one this week! If last week sucked, don't let that stop you! Get up and get moving!


Don't forget: I have TWO giveaways going on right now! One for 250 FREE business cards from UPrinting and one for 3 bottles of flavored liquid Stevia from NuNaturals! Just click the buttons at the top of my sidebar to enter!!! Good luck!

NuNatruals Giveaway!

WooHoo! It's a NuNaturals giveaway!

I am so excited to host this giveaway! I won a NuNaturals giveaway from Patrice at Everyday Ruralty and it was great! I do use Stevia  from time to time so I was quite happy to win!

They have quite an assortment of recipes on the NuNaturals site. One I can't wait to try is the homemade Vegan Nutella Sauce! Oh, and the Chocolate Coconut Sorbet! Oh, and the Vanilla Coconut Custard! Oh...LOL Let's just say that there are a lot of recipes I'm ready and willing to try! 

Here's the deal: FOUR (4) readers will win ONE (1) bottle of each of the Lemon, Orange and Peppermint flavored Stevia Liquids!

Is that AWESOME or what?!


And, if y'all visit www.nunaturals.com you can get DISCOUNTS on your order(s). When you get to their checkout page, just enter the DISCOUNT CODE --  BLG1212  and receive a 15% DISCOUNT on your ENTIRE ORDER. This discount remains  EFFECTIVE UNTIL  DECEMBER 31, 2012 .

Online ordering customers may also receive FREE SHIPPING to the CONTINENTAL U. S. on all orders exceeding $35.00 after discounts.

NuNaturals will ship the winners their prizes directly. They cannot ship to PO Boxes and need full name, specific address and email address.

Just fill out the Rafflecopter and you're all set! Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday's Yummy Goodness

I have 2 new-to-me recipes to share today.

Both came from Gerson recipes though I did do a few things differently.The things I stick to with the Gerson plan are the slow cooking, the use of only organic veggies, the preparing of the veggies and the use of only stainless steel or glass cookware. Sometimes, I change up a recipe a bit to suit my mood of the moment.

RED CABBAGE

Combine in pan:

1/2 cabbage, shredded (red and organic)
3 TBS vinegar (I used coconut vinegar from Tropical Traditions)
3 large chopped onions (I used leeks because I LOVE them)
2 bay leaves
a little soup stock (I am out of soup stock so I used spring water)

Stew over low heat approximately 1/2 hour.

The last half hour, ADD:
3 apples, peeled and grated (I used Gala apples)
1 TBS raw sugar (I used Turbinado, next time I will use NuNaturals Stevia)

CORN WITH MIXED VEGGIES

2 ears of corn (I used organic, frozen)
2 zucchini squash
3 stalks celery (I was not in a celery mood so I used leeks again. Because I LOVE them)
2 carrots

Wash the corn and cut off the kernels (right. I used organic, frozen). Slice the other veggies (organic, of course) into smaller pieces. Put the corn in a baking dish and add the other veggies. Bake in oven at 200 degrees for 1 hour.

I made a pot of brown rice too. Just because the husband likes it with everything under the sun. And, as usual, I made more than the recipes called for because we had Birdie and DoodleBug!

We're not usually cabbage eaters but this recipe was quite yummy! The corn and veggie recipe was delicious! With or without the brown rice!

What's cooking in your kitchen this week?

Don't forget to check out my current giveaway at the top of my sidebar. And look for another one coming soon from NuNaturals!

Summer Sizzle- Week 4 Update; Week 5 Deets

It's time for the Summer Sizzle update for the end of Week 3 and the beginning of Week 4-

It's been a crazy week! Stripping and painting furniture, the garden and then there's the OPPRESSIVE HEAT that made it's appearance on Friday and has failed to leave. UGH.


The bad news (besides the OPPRESSIVE HEAT) is that I only checked in on myfitnesspal.com a couple of times.


The good news is- I lost another pound.


The bad news is---there is OPPRESSIVE HEAT and my running self is not acclimating to it.


The good news is- my speed walking self has acclimated to it.


The bottom line is:

• I felt quite liberated not checking in to myfitnesspal.com every single day.
• I ate only healthy foods with the exception of those dang dark chocolate covered edamame they sell at Trader Joe's.
• I'm not running right now but my walking is SPEEDY QUICK and  I get at least 3 to 5 miles in every single day!
• I did drink the weekly challenge water.
• I did lose another pound.

I did track my exercise via my GPS on my phone----

• Monday: forgot to track but I'm thinking it was about 50 minutes
• Tuesday: walked 56 minutes; burned 624 calories
• Wednesday: Walked 54; burned 591 calories
• Thursday: walked 69 minutes; burned 755 calories
• Friday: walked 39; burned 427 calories
• Saturday: walked 31 minutes; burned 339 calories
• Sunday: walked 31 minutes; burned 339 calories

The weekends are not about exercise around here- they are my recovery days. And I plan to keep them that way.

My focus now is NOT on tracking. While it works well for many (and it did for me about 2 years ago) it has now become a tool for making me obsess about my weight. This is not healthy. I've decided to obsess on the things that make life grand instead of that which holds me back and makes me feel bad about myself and my life. That is not what this journey is supposed to be about. At all.

One thing that this journey is about is learning more and more about myself and so I count this lesson learned as a blessing. Sometimes we just have to change things up to keep it fresh and keep it from being a downer.

I do enjoy tracking my walking (and running when the OPPRESSIVE HEAT lets up AND when I lose another 50 pounds or so) because I like trying to beat my time.

I'm not really disappointed that I'm not running right now. It's all good. For those who are not 130 pounds overweight I'm sure running is not that big a deal. For a 54 year old who is 130 pounds overweight, it's frustrating as hell when you factor in the OPPRESSIVE HEAT. I'm not quitting. I'm postponing. I still plan on being able to run that 5k. It's not until November. 

I'm not suggesting that anyone else stop tracking- I'm saying that I have to keep finding what works for me and implement it which sometimes mean stopping something else. The main thing is that I keep going!

Week 5 - (begin July 1) - LOSE 2 lbs THIS WEEK (and post pics/measurements if doing so)
Yep, holiday and all - this is the goal.
Don't question it - just do it. The reason this is the goal this week is to help us remember that the 4th of July doesn't give us free license to abandon all our diet and fitness goals. Yes, it's a holiday - but it's not a holiday meant to celebrate how many hot dogs and hamburgers our bodies can consume. This week will hopefully redirect us a bit - knowing the goal is a 2 pound loss, maybe we can steer clear of old habits of overindulgence during the holiday and make good on our promise to ourselves for better health ALL 365 days of the year!

I'm not as concerned about the 4th as I would be if this was Christmas...or Thanksgiving- because the food I have planned for the 4th is on my Gerson/RAW daily plan for July! Of course, time will tell, eh? :)

Thanks, y'all, for putting up with my constantly changing attempts at losing this weight and getting healthyhealthyhealthy. I am feeling fitter- I can do so much more than I could last year. It's all working, in it's own time. But I do so appreciate all of y'all sticking around with me! Your support and encouragement means more than you will ever know!

Also, I won a book from Cindy at For One Another and it arrived last week. AMAZING. WONDERUL. THOUGHT PROVOKING. LIFE CHANGING. All of those words describe this book. I definitely recommend reading the book whether you have weight to lose or not. And no, I'm not getting anything for mentioning this. It's just a really good read-- My Big Bottom Blessing by Teasi Cannon. Get it. Read it. It's great!

OH! I almost forgot- you can see my healthy recipe HERE!

OH AGAIN! Don't forget to check out my giveaway! Just click the button at the top of my sidebar!

Have a fantastic week y'all! Happy 4th!

Gardener's Pie and More

Friday was the day I finally got to take my BFF to lunch to celebrate her May 23rd birthday---a little late but the two of us are used to that.

She wanted to check out the Organic Baby Puree Cafe that I wrote about HERE. So we did.

Some of you know that my BFF is a personal trainer. She was running late because she was inflicting pain on helping a client. DoodleBug and Birdie went too so we went ahead and ordered.

DoodleBug couldn't decide between two items, so I ordered the cripsy veggie wrap and she ordered the most-amazing-salad-EVER and we shared---

Birdie went with the Spinach Pie- and two sides---EXCELLENT choice!

I forgot to take pictures of BFF's food because we were so engrossed in Birdie's tales of athletic training and soccer camp. Wow. How does a parent not know that their kid went off to camp WITHOUT his back brace? Really? Sheesh.

Anyway, it was just as good, maybe even better, than it was the first time we went. And the owners and staff? OVER THE TOP in the kindness/friendliness/welcoming area. Gosh, I just LOVE this restaurant!

And now for the Gerson Gardener's Pie recipe. I made this last week and it will be a repeat dish in our house!

Gerson Gardener’s Pie

Topping:

1 lb potatoes

12 oz celery root (or sweet potato or onion)

Peel veggies and cube. Boil til done and mash.

Filling:

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

8 oz carrots, sliced or diced

8 oz zucchini, sliced

8 oz leeks, sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 oz bread crumbs

Put prepared veggies in saucepan in the order listed. Cook gently. When done, stir in bread crumbs and pour mixture into pie plate. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Of course you can change the filling to your favorite veggies if you want!

 This was SO YUMMY! 

Yesterday was the husband's birthday- I made him a Banana Cake with Chocolate Banana Icing. And then there was the Shrimp and Grits. Oops. Healthy smealthy. It was a birthday. I did use organic ingredients...and, with the cake, I used coconut sugar instead of granulated. The confectioner's sugar---well, it WAS organic.

I don't have the shrimp and grits recipe because, well...it's my own and I don't have it written down. I have a recipe that I use as a base but I do my own thing to the point that the base recipe is virtually unrecognizable. 

But, you can get the cake recipe from Donna at Just One Donna right HERE!

What's cooking in your kitchen?

 

Stupid Westerns and Food

I certainly haven't accomplished much in the last couple of days. We are still waiting on Knology to get up and running in our area- which should be only another month- so I'm still hating watching Netflix from time to time. I'd like to hook up Birdie's XBOX 360 and take advantage of Hulu but I don't know how and everyone else keeps forgetting about it. ANYWAY, I'm stuck with Netflix for now.

All that to say, I ran across the Lonesome Dove series (Comanche Moon, Return to Lonesome Dove, Lonesome Dove...) and decided that I would watch them. And that's just about all I've been doing. Shameful, I'm aware. But how I do love that series- especially Lonesome Dove. I mean- Rober Duvall AND Tommy Lee Jones?! Swoon.

Of course there is uncontrollable sobbing are tears that accompany the watching of these shows. It's that dang music. Cursed violins. And I really hate it when they kill off my favorite characters- like Deets (Danny Glover) and Gus (Robert Duvall)...I would NEVER have made it in the old west. Never.

Even with all that sobbing television watching going on, I did still manage to tear myself away to try a couple of new recipes-

This one started with a big pot of garden fresh veggies-

And ended up being Swiss Chard Rolls--

For dessert, a Rhubarb Crumble-this was my very first rhubarb anything. It turned out delish!

Swiss Chard Rolls
(a Gerson recipe for 2--I more than doubled it because we had the gang over)

4 leaves green chard
2 carrots
1/4 head broccoli
1/4 head cauliflower
2 small zucchini
1 cup corn
1/2 cup uncooked rice

Sauce:

1 1/2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic

Directions: Put chard in hot water to soften. Cut other veggies in small pieces and simmer til done. Drain water. Make sauce in blender and pour over top of veggies and uncooked rice. Place some mixture in center of each leaf and roll up. Put in baking dish with a lid and bake at 250 degrees for 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Part of the Gerson plan is cooking food slowly. Sometimes I adhere to this standard, sometimes I don't. I didn't this time- I cooked it on 350 for about 30 minutes (everything was already cooked I just wanted to heat it through). I cooked my rice first and mixed it with the veggies and then rolled them up. When I realized I had forgotten the sauce, I just poured it on top of the rolls.

Rhubarb Crumble
(from Koko's Kitchen)

3 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 TBS orange juice
3/4 cup raw honey
1 TBS spelt flour (I was out of spelt so I just used gluten free all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 TBS coconut oil

Topping
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup spelt flour (I was out of spelt so I just used gluten free all purpose flour)
2/3 cup oats (I used the gluten free ones)
14 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish. In a bowl, stir the rhubarb, orange juice, honey, flour and cinnamon. Put mixture in dish and dot with the tablespoon of coconut oil. In a separate bowl, combine the honey, flour, oats and coconut oil and mix until it resembles a coarse mixture. Put on top of the rhubarb mixture. Cook at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, cover with foil about halfway through cooking.

Happy cooking, y'all! And try to stay away from the TV! :)

Garden Goodness

I'm trying a few Gerson recipes before my July 1 experiment begins just to...just because...well, because I'm jumping the gun. As usual.

I tried the Zucchini and Potato Bake last week. It was delicious! I served broccoli burgers with it- not a Gerson recipe but so good! I had to more than double the recipes to feed the gang!

The veggies were not from my garden but they were all local and organic-

Once the veggies are prepared, it's time to layer--

The broccoli burgers were a cinch-- just process--

then form patties and bake--

Viola!

Now, from my backyard garden---GREEN TOMATOES--

from which I prepared---

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!

A family favorite around here! And yes, it is a movie. But in the south, it's also a scrumptious side dish! I served these with string beans (from the garden) and potatoes, and grilled flounder fillets AND totally forgot to take a picture of the meal! For those of you who count calories, as far as I can tell, one friend green tomato had about 74 calories in it. Well worth it too! And I'm not telling you how many I ate. Sigh.

I don't have the recipe for the fried green tomatoes because it's one of those recipes that I just do- I don't follow a written recipe.

However, here are the recipes for the casserole and the burgers!

Zucchini and Potato Bake (2 servings)
(this recipe came from Healing the Gerson Way)

1 lb zucchini
1 lb potatoes
2 medium onions
2 cloves garlic
10 oz yogurt (I didn't use the yogurt because I thought I had plain but it was vanilla..oops)

Finely slice zucchini, potatoes and onions. Place alternate layers of each in casserole dish, adding a sprinkling of crushed garlic between layers. Cook in oven at 350 degrees for about an hour and a half. Add second garlic clove to yogurt. When dish is cooked, spread yogurt on top.


Broccoli Burgers (makes 4 burgers)
(this recipe came from One Green Planet)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dry couscous (I used brown rice because I forgot to buy couscous)
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (I used a vidalia onion)
2 tsp ground cumin (Ick...I skipped this ingredient)
1- 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 TBS sesame tahini (I didn't use this because do you know how much tahini sauce cost??????)
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (don't like panko, used my gluten free bread crumbs)

There is Tahini Dressing for the burger, which I didn't make, but here's that part:

1/3 cup sesame tahini
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup plus 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 tsp sea salt


Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a small pot, bring the water and couscous to a boil. (I skipped these 3 steps because I just made some brown rice and used that)
• Remove from heat immediately and allow the couscous to sit in the pot for 10 minutes to soak up the water.
• Steam the broccoli in a steamer for 5-7 minutes
• In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add in the onion and scallions, stirring occasionally for 3-5 minutes until the onion softens.
• Remove the onions from the heat and stir in the cumin.
• Place couscous, broccoli, onion mix, chickpeas and sesame tahini in a food processor and combine.
• Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the bread crumbs.
• Form it into patties and place the patties on a cookie sheet--I sprayed a little organic olive oil on the pan.
• Bake for 50 minutes, turning the patties over halfway through. You’ll know they are done when the tops begin to brown.
• To make the tahini sauce, place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined, for about 30 seconds.
• Top your burgers with the sauce and anything else you like on a burger and ENJOY!

I have discovered a website called Calorie Count that is good for determining the caloric value of recipes. Using the site, the zucchini/potato bake has about 241 calories per serving and the burgers have about 161 WITHOUT the sauce.

What's cooking in your kitchen?