Veggie Burgers with No SOY!

Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:
1 can black beans
1/3 cup onion (coarsely chopped)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 egg (I used http://www.ener-g.com/egg-replacer.html)
2 Tbs BBQ sauce 

(I used 1 Tbs ketchup, 1/2 molasses 1/2 tomato paste because most BBQ sauces are too spicy for the kids)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (freshly ground)
1/3 cup gf flour
1/2 cup gf breadcrumbs (I used leftover crust from Udi's)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
6 Udi's buns (rolls)

Preparation Steps:
Drain and rinse beans with cold water.
Drain again and pat dry with paper towels.
Add beans, onions, garlic, egg substitute, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oil, salt and pepper to food processor or blender
Pulse until beans are the size of peas.
Place pulsed mixture into a large bowl.
Add flour and stir until evenly mixed.
Add bread crumbs and mix well.
Add nutritional yeast and mix well, it will be thick and sticky
Divide mixture into six portions.
Flour your hands and shape into 1/2-inch thick burgers

The burgers may be refrigerated in a sealed container for 1 day or frozen until ready to grill.
I used my grill pan and cooked them over med-high heat about 3-4 minutes each side

(Oil your grill and preheat grill to medium-high. Place burgers on grill. Barbecue with lid down until hot, turning once, for 8 to 10 minutes.)

Serve on buns with desired toppings i.e. pickles, onions, tomatoes, salsa.
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They were kid and husband tested. Eric came in the kitchen and asked what I was making and was skeptical, since I have flopped too many times with veggie burger. However, he gave me the thumbs up to make them again. I plan on making a large batch, stack them layered with wax paper and freezing them.
I am so excited
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The original recipe
http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Easy-Veggie-Burgers-Recipezaar?utm_source=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website

Summer Recipe Week! Strawberry Shortcake

Super simple recipe and turned out so good! My girlfriend made them and they looked so good. She found the recipe here. I changed it up a bit. With the potluck we did have whipped cream on our desserts as a little treat, so as pictured it is NOT vegan but my recipe without whipped cream IS vegan.

Gluten Free Shortcake

Ingredients:
1/2 c vegan butter
1 c powder sugar
4 egg substitute: I used Ener-G Egg Substitute
1 tsp vanilla
1 c cornstarch or potatoe starch is you have a corn allergy
1 1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-muffin pan or use cupcake liners
In a large bowl cream butter and sugar, using electric mixer/kitchen aid.
Add the egg substitute and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.
In a small bowl mix the cornstarch and baking powder together and add SLOWLY to the creamed mixture.
Mix until well blended. Fill the greased muffin tins half full.
Bake for 15 minutes. (Test with a toothpick, after 15 minutes, even if the top looks shiny).
Remove from the pan while still warm.
Serve topped with strawberries, and whipped cream.

Enjoy!
 

We did!
 

Diet and Exercise

Okay it is official, I am finally down to pre-baby weight before Kira. I can say it is official because I have maintained this weight for about a month now. Since going off all animal product mid-February, I have lost about eight pounds. I feel great. I am eating all day long yummy fruit and veggies. I do not count calories, points, fat or any of that. I eat about every two to three hours. It is easy and fun with the kids. I know what is going into my body and my family's. I spend less time in the kitchen cooking and more time with my family. I have reduced my grocery bill too!


Now with that being said, to be totally honest I have not "exercised" at all. What I mean is I have not done an actual exercise program. There are the normal day to day exercises, walking to the park, downtown and daily stuff, but no real routine. These results are all based off my diet! I felt I was pretty healthy to begin with. Also I have not completely cut out all oils either. I am slowly working on that. I cooked a whole meal without adding any oil and Eric loved it and did not even notice the difference. I am curious about salad dressings though and making a good one without oil.

Okay you are probably wondering how everyone has dealt with all of the change. It took about a week to de-program my kids from asking for things. I really tried to rely on the positive instead of what they could not have. If they asked for foods that we were not eating, I would say "Oh, look you can have a yummy banana, apple or big raisins" I would point out how delicious the food is, the colors, the tastes, the smell and how good they feel eating this way.



Yes, it is hard work! It was so hard going gluten free. It was so hard going dairy free. It was kind of hard going animal free. Was it hard work delivering an almost nine pound baby sunny side up naturally? Heck yeah, but I would not change that experience for the world! I love my kids and I want to ensure the best health possible. I know by putting in the effort I have reaped the benefits a hundred fold. Nothing is easy and there are no magic pills.


Is it hard now? No, I think it is easier now than ever. Meals are easy, menu planning is a breeze and meal time is a joy. I do not fight my kids at dinnertime. What? Really? Unheard of with preschoolers. I know what they will eat and what they will not. I make sure to have at least one thing that they love in our meals. For instance, Kira is my salad eater, so I make sure I have salad at lunch and dinner for her. Enzo will eat all of the components of the salad just not tossed together, that's easy, I make a plate of all the salad goodies and a dollop of hummus to dip. If she just eats huge salad full of spinach, avocados, tomatoes and cucumber for dinner I am fine with that. You have to remember we are eating every two to three hours, so a huge dinner is not really needed.


I know my kids are happy, healthy and thriving. I feel great. I am so appreciative that Eric is supportive and honest. If I cook something and he does not like it, he tells me and I make a note of it. I have an amazing family and I am thankful that they are who they are. I would not trade all of the allergies for anything. I am glad I was forced into some of the changes and so glad I stumbled on the other reasons for change. It was not an overnight revelation but rather a journey, a lifestyle.

Day 18-28 Days of Nothing

I was motivated to get things done today and almost accomplished everything. Except laundry, maybe tomorrow.
Kids are feeling good and noses are running from detoxing from dairy. Kira is having better BM's and Enzo is happier. We are grazing more throughout the day and I think his blood sugar levels are staying more even. We are eating every two hours and I think we will have to continue with that to make him stay happy.

I am having to reevaluate of food situation and be prepared for eating this way. I know I feel so much better eating this way and it is easier. We have a smoothie or fresh fruit for breakfast. Snack on fruit throughout the day. Have a large plate of veggies and hummus for lunch a little bit of cooked veggies. Snack more on fruit between mealtime. For dinner we have been doing salad and baked potatoes or cooked veggies too. I love that the kids like the same thing over and over and it makes it easier to plan food.

I am trying to give them two options for snacks, clementines or bananas.
I found out our neighbors orange tree no one is picking it. I picked about ten yesterday and there are about thirty to forty more waiting to be picked. I am going to get a ladder and pick them today. I cut off the peel and put in the fridge. I figure if I have a too many I will blend and freeze it like oj. What a cheaper way to add to our smoothies.

Spending: Trader Joe's $39.01 Fruit and veggies

That brings our total grocery spending to $293.60
Well I am over by about $114. That is a lot and I am bummed but like I said we were not planning on having dietary issues. So there you go unexpected expenses, to funny.
Hopefully next month I can be more exact on my budgeting. I think we might have to up the grocery allowance but in the long run we won't be paying for health bills because we are healthy for our diet/eating lifestyle.
** I have changed my monthly allowance for food to $400, it is more realistic and everything I had read says so. updated 3/1/10**
Menu:
Fruit Smoothie and I have been using less than normal on the fruit and adding ice to make it go a little farther.

Snack:
Clementines and Bananas

Lunch:
Veggie Faces with hummus
Tomato soup and two corn tortillas each kid

Snack:
nuts and bananas

Dinner:
Salad and Baked Potatoes with Broccoli.
Red Bell Pepper sauce and Hummus on potatoes instead of sour cream

I actually have lost a little weight. I was not meaning to but it is always a nice bonus. I miss my coffee, more for the ritual of it, smell, taste and warmth. Not so much having any caffeine withdrawals but missing the ritual.

Day 16

Had a great sunny, HOT day. We made birthday countdown calendars, because Kira has been asking when her birthday is coming. So she drew a great birthday cake and I made it into a calendar and we will cross out days as we go. 30 days until Enzo's three and 44 days until she is five. Really? My baby is going to be, hold you hand up and count um, five. I have 44 days to deal with it.

Spending: $20 for the haircut that I have been waiting for, yeah. I will post pics tomorrow.

Menu:
Breakfast:
Yellow and white eggs and tortillas

Snack:
Smoothie

Lunch:
Veggies

Snack:
Raisins

Dinner:
BBQ Chicken, potato salad and bread for the guys.

So Kira was complaining her tummy hurt this morning. I don't get it, she eats really good but is still having problems with her BM's. So Eric and I agreed to take her off Casein for a longer period to see how her skin clears up and her BM's start working. So today we did mainly veggies and fruit except for dinner. I made the bbq sauce from scratch and the kids loved it because it was not spicy. She started to feel better after a couple hours but we are going to continue for at least two weeks of 75% fruit and veggies.

Oh What a Night!

Me on the gurney

It has been a little crazy around here. We had a great visit down south for the most part, a little drama but all is well. Here is the down low on last Sat night.
Jenny, Amber, Donna and I went to Nick's restaurant in Laguna Beach for a mom's night out. Everything was great until we got our dinner. I told them about my gluten allergy and they accommodated me nicely. I had a couple bites of veggies and then took a bite of chicken and it started. What I thought was the beginning of an allergic reaction. I excused myself from the table and went outside because the restroom was full. I have had these reactions before and I am usually home, and it goes away in about 15-20 minutes max. What happens is my throat closes up a little and I have a hard time swallowing, talking etc. I seem to accumulate a lot of mucus and have to throw it up and it eventually goes away. However this time it did not go away. I came back to the table and the girls were of course wondering were I went and what was going on. It continued for about a half hour. The girls were done with dinner by this time and I just went back outside because I needed to keep calm and have space.

Amber got her car but as she was going to get it I knew I needed immediate assistance. Jenny called 911 and the Fire truck came within a minute and started me on benadryl and oxygen. They then transported me to South Coast Medical to the E.R for further observation. I felt better but it was not going away completely. The doctor gave me an adrenalin shot, prednisone and something else. Needless to say I was looped. But it was not getting better. I explained what was going on with the mucus and such. She came back and said that she did not think it was an allergic reaction because it would have gone away by now with all the medicine.

She then told me she thought it was an esophageal spasm. What happens is if you eat something too hot, too cold, too acidic, too fast, not chewed enough a reaction occurs. Your esophagus starts to contract and it feels like your throat is closing up. It can take up to thirty minutes for it to relax but past that you need to see a doctor. So if I think back to all of my "Allergic Reactions" this is what has happened. Because there was nothing in the chicken that I was allergic too, to my knowledge. This has happened since 1994. So for the past fifteen years what I thought were reactions were actually spasms, but this was by far the worse one.

The doctor finally gave me a sedative to relax my esophagus and it finally went away. Needless to say I am a little gun shy with eating, I mean too hot, too cold... really?!? I just have to think about the foods that have triggered it in the past and I am trying to stay away from them. I am eating slower and smaller bites, thoroughly chewing each bite and taking my time eating. It is amazing how fast I am getting full, haha. I have to find a doctor up here and then get an referral to a gastrointologist and see how I keep this under control. So I am okay, had a little craziness and I am thankful that I now know what is going on :)

Pancake Saturday

As you might have guessed it we love our Saturday morning panckaes! I try to make them every Saturday morning as a tradition I wanted to start with the kids. Once we went gluten free it took many, many recipes to find the best GF pancake recipe in my opinion and many others in our household that were not gluten free. They were great. But then sadly we went into allergy mode again trying to figure out what the kids are now allergic too and have gone off all dairy, eggs and corn. The last few Saturdays have been back to the drawing board and many mishaps of egg free pancakes. :(

They are definitely not the same without egg. I found one recipe online and I changed it drastically to make it GF and DF (Dairy Free). It was the probably the second best but nothing in comparison to my favorite and as Eric told me his too. I tried using a 1/4 cup of mashed bananas as a substitute for each egg but it of course was too banana-y.

I have been researching all of these possible allergens and what kind of symptoms and degrees of intolerances. Now allergic reaction is different than intolerant, which I knew but not the degree of difference. Allergic means an immediate reaction to the food. Whereas intolerant is more a slow effect, maybe an half hour after you eat or so or even maybe later that day depending upon your intolerance.

I did not know this but as I was researching egg allergies/intolerance I found out that you can be allergic to the gas that is let out as the egg is being prepared! Meaning if I am scrambling eggs for Eric's breakfast I could get a hay fever reaction! What?! How crazy is that, just from the gas of the egg.

It has been since the 19th of May since we have been off Dairy, Eggs and Corn, a little over three weeks. I pretty much know that the kids and I are intolerant if not allergic to dairy and I am okay with that. We have made subtle changes in order to make it work. I was looking for a butter replacement. Well all of the vegan butters had corn in them and I tried goats milk butter which was not bad but oh so expensive. It was about $7 for two cubes of butter, Ouch! I even tried making my own olive oil and canola oil butter. It was not hard at all. All you do is mix a small amount into a ziploc container, I used the 1/4 cup size, the smallest one, put it in the freezer overnight to solidify it and then you keep it in the refrigerator after that. The only thing I did not like was the harshness of the olive oil. I mean we really only need butter for our toast and pancakes everything else I have substituted cold pressed oils for. Then I started thinking what about Coconut oil...it is always in a solid form, Ah ha! By George I think she has got it. So a bought a jar of coconut oil from New Frontiers the health food store in SLO, which I love, it is like Whole Foods but smaller and cozier with a great deli. The coconut oil is perfect and you hardly need any in order for our rice bread toast to be buttery. Kids did not even think twice about it...sweet.
Butter dilemma solved.

Now to the eggs, so today I decided to make our beautiful pancakes with eggs. I made those pancakes with oil instead of butter and put in the eggs required. Oh did I miss them, they were so fluffy and light and airy..as the kids say now "yummy in my tummmmy!" Now I was not quite sure how the reaction be, would it be like the Wahoo's incident last year when he had gluten on accident and projectiled vomitted everywhere? Would it be later on in the day with his first bowel movement? Nope, it was about a half hour after we ate and his nose was running like a faucet! I mean uncontrollably running. Clear snot coming out ALL day long. Poor bub, he started saying, "momma, nose, nose, runnin, help me." I would not have even thought it was the eggs except for reading about the hay fever reaction, are you kinding me. Clearly he is not allergic per se, but why would I torture him with a runny nose because I need my fluffly pancakes. Yet another wah wah Wahaa.

Of well so much for that experiment, on to the next Corn!
Wish me luck!

***As I was proof reading this Enzo can storming out of his room with his fireman's hat on and knight sword looking for me (it is 11:30 p.m.) I love that he takes the time to get ready to look for me even in the middle of the night. Too cute!