Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Let me get this out there.  I love burgers.  When I was a kid, I would look forward to going to my grandparents because they made the best barbecued burgers.  Then as an adult, I would make hamburgers like they were going out of style.  Then in 2009, when I decided to stop eating meat... the first thing I thought was, "well, at least I don't have to give up burgers!  I'll eat veggie burgers!"  Of course, I started off on my veggie burger adventure with the store-bought frozen versions... until I learned how to make homemade versions that had so much more flavor that to buy the premade frozen versions just seemed so pointless... blah.

Now over the years, I've tried plenty of homemade veggie burgers... and I have never been disappointed.  BUT... there is one that I make all the time and one that I would happily make to my most carnivorous of friends and family.  Behold:

When I posted the above picture of  my lunch (which happened to be leftovers... shhhh) on Instagram & Facebook... comments blew up with:

"Yummmmmm!!  Recipe please!"                "You amaze me...."

"You're crazy!!!! Looks amazing!!!!"                    "It looks like a sloppy fat beef burger..."

"Post recipe, please!"               "teach me your awesomeness"

Well, I knew that I was going to have to share my favorite homemade burger recipe! :)  So friends here you go... awesomeness is yours!

Homemade Black Bean Burgers

2 (15oz) cans black beans (rinsed and drained) 

OR 1 cup dried black beans* (soaked and cooked)

2 large organic pastured eggs 

1 TBSP olive oil* + for frying

1 tsp cumin*

1/2 tsp salt*

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper*

1 red bell pepper, chopped fine

1 shallot (or equivalent amount onion), minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs**

1. Place beans in food processor and pulse until beans are mostly smashed with half beans still remaining.  (Don't over-process or the burgers will be mush.)
2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs together with 1 TBSP olive oil, cumin, salt, cayenne pepper.  Stir in beans and remaining ingredients until just combined.
3. Make 6 patties from the mixture.  I like to form 6 semi-smooshed balls. (I flatten when in pan) If the mixture seems too wet and your patties aren't holding together, just add a little extra breadcrumbs (or vital wheat gluten).  Remember you can always add, but you can't take out!
4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add burgers (don't overcrowd!) and cook until well browned on both sides (about 4 min each side).
5. Serve. 

My favorite way to eat devour mine is on a homemade burger bun with caramelized onions, bbq sauce, jalapeños, and avocado. (...and sometimes cheese)   YUM.

* ingredients bought in bulk with my own containers

** Homemade bread crumbs:  Every time I have bits of leftover bread, I run it through my food processor to create breadcrumbs.  I store my homemade breadcrumbs in a glass jar in my freezer.

Also, just in case you missed the link: 
Plastic-Free Recipe: Burger Buns

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing.  It's one of those crazy versatile salad dressings... it's pretty much good on everything.  French fries, wraps, sandwiches, crudités... you name it.  As good as it is... store bought versions are lackluster, often chemical tasting and filled with funky ingredients that no one should be eating.  Over the past couple of years, I've been making the majority of my salad dressings and have learned that they are one of the easiest and fastest things to whip up!  So quick and easy!!  AND as usual, homemade tastes SO much better than any version we could ever buy in a store!

After sharing the above photo of my homemade ranch dressing on Instagram with the tagline "Hidden Valley ain't got nothin' on my #homemade ranch"... my friends immediately starting asking for the recipe to my homemade organic ranch dressing! :) So friends... this one's for you!!

Homemade Ranch Dressing*

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/4- 1/2 cup milk, whatever you have on hand-- whole, buttermilk, almond, soy

1/2 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

1 small shallot minced (if you don't have shallot, substitute 1 TBSP red onion)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 TBSP finely chopped fresh herbs, my preference is cilantro (others: parsley, tarragon, dill, or chives)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice (if you don't have lemon juice, substitute white vinegar)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper

Put all ingredients into medium size jar and shake until smooth and combined.  Store refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Don't like to chop?  You can alternatively throw all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If you don't want your ranch to have a green tint, add the fresh herbs after processing.

*All ingredients are organic

Homemade Potato Chips

For all of 2011, I told myself... I'm going to make potato chips.  I can do it.  I mean, how hard can it really be??  But I time after time, I talked myself into not making them.  It wasn't until November when we had dinner with Beth, Michael and Manuel that I finally decided that I was really going to do it.  What happened during dinner??  I was inspired.  Manuel was telling me about how his sister was craving jalepeño potato chips.  Hey... I crave those too!!  Instead of buying her a bag chips, he went to the store and bought everything to MAKE the chips for her!  Color me impressed... I vowed from that moment, that before the year was over that I was going to MAKE potato chips.  Aaaannnnndddd..... I procrastinated until December 29!!

YES.... they were so incredibly yummy that we ate the whole batch in one sitting.  My kids were crazy impressed to see that chips can be MADE!  If anything, I feel like that was the best reward of making potato chips.  I really love when my kids see where food comes from and how it's made.

And how potato chips are made is one of the easiest things I've ever done!  (Yes, I say that a lot, but it's true!!)  This is all it takes:

Homemade Potato Chips

2 lbs russet potatoes

Peanut or canola oil (I used both.)

Sea salt

Slice the potatoes very thin with a vegetable slicer or mandolin. Soak the potato slices in cold water. Drain, then soak again.  (This step will help eliminate some of the starch which means crispy chips!)

Place 2-3 inches of oil in large pot (one with high sides is best) to 375 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Drain the potatoes and pat them dry.  (Remember water makes oil "pop"... so dry them well!)  Place a handful of potatoes into the hot oil and fry until they are golden brown.  This takes a few minutes, so be sure to gently toss them around to ensure they cook evenly.  Remove the chips with a slotted spoon and drain. Season with sea salt or whatever other seasonings you like :)  Repeat frying with remaining potatoes.

Ok... now as awesome as the homemade potato chips were, I do have a couple of issues that I feel are important to share.  One thing that I wasn't crazy about was having a hot pot of oil on my stovetop.  In fact, that was my main reason that I kept procrastinating on making the chips.  Of course, it wasn't as bad as I had made up that it would be... BUT.... having kids that like to be actively involved in whatever I'm making in the kitchen made me a bit nervous.  In order to have them be involved in the chip making, I kept them at a distance from the oil and had them pat the potatoes dry to prepare them to be fried!  The other thing is that when I was done frying the potatoes, I was left with a pan of used oil.  I was so perplexed as to what I should do with it that I let it sit on my stovetop for a day!  Not completely sure what to do with used oil, I dumped it on my compost pile.  (Yes, I know... it was probably the wrong move.)  Any ideas?? What would you do??


That being said, I think that everyone should make homemade potato chips.  The end result is so much more rewarding than tearing a bag open.  And even though I'm not crazy about all the oil,  I would totally make potato chips again.  It's definitely something special...  potato chips are a rare treat in our house (I bought 7 bags in 2011!).  I'm hoping that making potato chips will trump buying them.  BUT...  I'd like to try making them differently.  I think my first stop will be here.

Salt Dough Ornaments

I wouldn't normally consider myself a crafty person-- maybe it's the season or maybe it's me taking time away from the beach...I'm not sure-- but as my kids and I began making salt dough ornaments.... a wave of creative inspiration came over me.

  ....and I created this ornament with a cookie cutter and plastics removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC. 
(yes, I'm proud)  

So what is it??  Salt dough painted with water colors, decorated with small plastics that I found on Wrightsville Beach... and it's hanging from littered fishing line (that I also found on the beach).

Wanna make your own?  YAY!!  It's super easy and lots of fun.  <--- says the very uncrafty girl ;)

Salt Dough Ornaments

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups hot tap water

4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325˚ F.  

Dissolve salt in hot water.  Mix flour into salt water until completely combined.  Kneed briefly until soft and pliable.  

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough ball out into an even thickness of about 1/8"- 1/4".  Cut shapes using cookie cutters, then add a hole at the top. (TIP: I cut the dough ball into 4 pieces... one for each of my kids and me)

Place on cookie sheets and bake at 325˚ F until hard, about 40 minutes to an hour.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Decorate:  Get crafty and use what you have.... or go hit the beach for some inspiration ;)

P.S.  Before we decorated them, my husband thought they were cookies and took a bite! YUCK!!  Do your loved ones teeth and taste buds a favor and let everyone know that they are not cookies! ;)

Homemade (Plastic-Free) Tortillas

Two weeks prior to going camping in the NC Outer Banks, I had my friend and her two kids over for dinner.  As we were eating, my friend said, "Can we do Mexican night when we go camping??"  Ummm... YES!!  I thought it was an absolutely brilliant idea!  I immediately became super excited about having Mexican night while camping because:

1. I could live on Mexican food. 
2. I knew that the meal could be plastic-free!  
3. My kids dig quesadillas.
4. I had no doubts it would be quick and easy...
5. ...and GUACAMOLE!!! mmmmm :D

So... over the weekend, my family and I went camping with our friends in Ocracoke and had our Mexican camping dinner!  Check it out!!  So YUMMY!!

Quesadillas made with homemade tortillas and plastic-free cheese**

Black bean corn salad (yup, some of us put it IN the quesadillas!)

Homemade guacamole (made before the trip and stored in a glass jar... and it stayed bright green!)

Local watermelon and cantaloupe

We will definitely be doing Mexican night every time we go camping... No joke... this was the best meal that I've had camping.  In fact, I loved it so much that I would make it when we weren't camping and even serve it to company!!

Ok...so I've been waiting procrastinating sharing my homemade tortilla recipe.  ...and I think that today is the day that it needs to be shared!  As I'm striving to reduce the amount of plastics we use...homemade tortillas have become essential.  When I don't have any bread, don't have time to make bread... etc etc etc... tortillas are quick and SUPER easy to make (why didn't I do this years ago?!?) and are so versatile that they can be used for so many different things.  Sure we make quesadillas with them... BUT...we also make pizzas, wraps-- egg salad, hummus, pb&j--, tacos... you name it.  Did I mention that they're SO much better tasting than store bought??  oh, right... everything is.  

Homemade Flour Tortillas

From: The Bread Bible

4 c unbleached flour* 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder*

1 1/2 tsp salt*

1/2 c organic butter, cut into 1" chunks

1 to 1 1/2 c warm water

To make vegan or low-fat tortillas:  In lieu of using butter, take 1/2 c of the flour and blend it with 1/2 cup of vegetable or olive oil and freeze for 2 hours.  Then use in place of the butter. 

1. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  (If you don't have a stand mixer, use a large bowl with a fork or pastry blender.)  On low speed, add the butter. When the butter is incorporated and the flour mixture looks crumbly, add the water in a slow stream with the mixer running, just until the dough sticks together and clears the side of the bowl.  NOTE: Don't add too much water... not only will the dough be sticky and difficult to work with... too much water makes for tough tortillas!  Knead briefly-- no more than 10 times-- until a smooth ball forms.  Shape into a cylinder and cover with a dish towel.  Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

2. After the dough has rested-- for 8"-9" tortillas-- divide the dough into 15 equal portions.  Shape each portion into a ball, cover with the dish towel and let rest for 20-30 minutes.

3. To roll out the tortillas, place the ball on your thumb and make an indention creating a "mushroom" shape.  The air pocket inside helps the dough roll out into a (near) perfect circle :)  Flatten the ball then roll it out into a thin circle just like you would for a pie crust.  Start from the center, making quarter turns often and never pressing the edges.

Tip: I roll my tortillas out right next to my stove, so that I can flip them off the pan and on the pan quickly when I'm cooking them :)

4. To cook the tortillas, heat an ungreased cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.  Place as many tortillas in the pan that will fit without overlapping.  Cook until bubbles start to form then flip to the other side.  Also, as bubbles form just take a spatula and press them down.  When the tortillas are done, the dough will look dry and have brown spots.

Remove the finished tortillas to a cooling rack (ummm... I always throw mine on top of my toaster!) and let cool.  Don't worry about the tortillas overlapping each other... not a big deal.  You can use the tortillas right away or let them cool.  Once the tortillas are cool you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week.

Storage Tip: A 9x13 pyrex dish with a lid or round glass baking dish both work really well for storage :)

Mmmm... all this talk of food and I'm all out of tortillas... see ya later! ;)

**Last month, I bought an entire wheel of cheese from Tidal Creek.  It came in a wooden box with no plastic.  I shred and chop it into cubes then freeze it until we're ready to use it  :)


*Using my own containers, I buy these items in bulk at Tidal Creek.

Plastic-Free Recipe: Burger Buns

Since the end of September, I've been striving (that means making a conscious effort) to purchase no foods in plastic.  By the way, if you haven't seen my guest post on Fake Plastic Fish My Plastic Free Life ... please check it out and share :) Collect Your Plastic. Change Your Life.   Over the past few months, one thing that I've struggled with is bread making... and I had even succumbed to purchasing some in plastic during the past few months... but I'm over it... I'm no longer purchasing bread in plastic...and tonight I wanted burgers... so I had to make buns!!!!  

For real... I made homemade burger buns with my two hands!!  

(Is my excitement shining through??)  

I have to say that when I found the recipe... I was cautiously optimistic as I've looked up so many bread recipes these past few months... only to learn that I can cook and I can bake... but I fail in my bread making skills.  BUT... after the dough rose, and I formed buns... and the smell filled the house... I learned tonight that I CAN make bread!!!  Happy Dance!!!!! :D 

Burger Buns

Recipe from: Ultimate Veggie Burgers

Makes 8 buns

Ingredients

1 cup warm water

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP honey

130 g whole wheat flour (I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)

260 g bread flour

1 tsp salt

1 TBSP yeast

Method

1. Mix together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle.
2. To dissolve the honey, mix it into the warm water.  Add the honey water into the well, then add the olive oil.
3. Mix everything together by hand to form a dough ball.
4. Knead the dough by hand for about ten minutes. 
5. Let the dough rise in a bowl until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
6. Divide dough into 8 pieces (do this by cutting the dough in half, then quarter each half). Roll out to flatten each piece. To form a ball, bring 2 opposite ends together and then bring the other 2 ends together.
7. Place the dough balls seam side down on a baking sheet.  Cover with a towel and let buns rest until they rise. (about 1 hour) 
8. Bake in pre-heated 375F/190C oven for 15 minutes.

By this point this should come as no shock... dinner tonight ROCKED!!  

I was dancing in my kitchen because I was so over-the-top excited about my victory! ;)  Check out my 100% Plastic-Free and oh so YUMMY dinner!!!!  

Homemade Black Bean Burgers on my homemade buns, with roasted potatoes and green beans!!! YAY!!  

A Vacation

It's been three weeks now since we packed our bags and then headed out the door for our California vacation. No doubt, traveling is hard on the environment... all the fuel needed to get our family of 5 across the country makes me feel all guilty.   And believe me...as much as I would love to take a different route--like drive in lieu of flying--quite frankly, driving 1000 miles is my maximum right now ;))

Just like I am always thinking and acting on how we can minimize our impact on the environment everyday...  it only makes sense that we do the same while traveling. 

SO... we started off our trip with our 6 (empty) water bottles, two coffee (in my case, tea) mugs and some homemade granola bars for the LONG flight to Los Angeles.

Our water bottles are well traveled and our pockets are well lined because of it. As we visited so many different places along the SoCal coast... we could only imagine the money that we would've spent on bottled water (or flavored drinks) if we hadn't brought our own.  They've been everywhere we've been...

3 different airports, on a ride down the coast from LA to San Diego (and back again), Oceanside, El Cajon, San Diego Wild Animal Park, The Midway, San Diego Maritime Museum, Balboa Park (San Diego), a Bushwalla and Dawn Mitschele show, Legoland (2x!), strawberry picking in Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Santa Monica (2x!), Disneyland, a couple of beaches and everywhere in between! 

Seriously, anyone who ever says that they can't afford to buy a reusable water bottle hasn't done the math... I'd venture to say that had we not brought our own reusable water bottles that we would have easily spent hundreds of dollars on bottled water. How do I figure? Well, between a family of 5 we easily drink at least 6 (big) bottles of water a day-- if not more-- while we're out and about.  Airports and places of interest charge out the wazoo for bottled water... most I saw were $2.75 each. We were traveling for 11 days...

Really though, we don't choose not to buy bottled water because we're frugal... we don't buy it because it's more than just a waste of money.... bottled water is a waste of resources.  The companies that produce bottled water do so at an environmental cost to the communities that they extract the water from... and as I learned from Sara of The Daily Ocean... "if you fill a plastic bottle about 1/4th of the way up with petroleum... that is approximately how much petroleum needed to make that one plastic bottle."  With the man-made disaster in the Gulf of Mexico... that's a visual that we all need to start thinking about when we see plastic bottles.

Speaking of Sara, we met up with her in Santa Monica to participate in doing a 20 minute beach clean-up.  For 20 minutes, we talked and walked... and as we walked we picked up litter off the beach.  Read about the time we spent with Sara and how much trash we picked up in a very leisurely 20 minutes: http://thedailyocean.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-130-july-16-2010.html

Of course, our litter picking up didn't start or end in Santa Monica with Sara.  (Sure, I know that we were on vacation... but it doesn't take much time to bend over, pick up and put the trash where it belongs.) We picked up litter everywhere we went... Oceanside, Corona del Mar beaches, and ALL of the places we walked.   Unfortunately, we could never get it all... but picking up one piece of litter is better than doing nothing at all.  (Please take that phrase and insert any impact that you have doubt about... like this: " ___________ is better than doing nothing at all."

 Which as I'm typing I realize that I've gone on an unexpected tangent... but here were are.  And now I'm thinking about starfish...

"A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

 

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t possibly save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

 

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

 

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

 

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined...."

 

Just imagine the possibilities :)

 

Doing SOMETHING is still SOMETHING... 

and it ALL matters.

We Make It: Popsicles

Whenever I look at my trash, I'm overwhelmed with the fact that all I throw away are plastic type wrappers and bags that cannot be reused or recycled. In an effort to throw away as little as possible, I'm always trying to think of ways that I can eliminate waste and reduce the amount of trash we send to the landfill.

Like all kids, my kids are crazy about popsicles. Doesn't matter if it's winter or summer... they practically devour a box of popsicles before I can get the groceries put away.  Awhile back, my mom gave me some popsicle molds (double pop and push pop), which I've used sporadically over the past 7 years.  I've mostly used the push-pops molds and made creations such as blueberry cream, vanilla orange yogurt, and chocomole.

A few months ago, I thought about not buying popsicles anymore.  I got to thinking about how I don't buy a lot of things because they're individually wrapped and full of nastiness (e.g Fruit snacks)... so I thought... why am I buying popsicles??

I figure that there is no better time to try something new than during the slow season ;)  So... last month, as the kids finished their last box of popsicles, I told them that we weren't buying popsicles anymore. If they wanted popsicles... we would make popsicles.  Now, they still ask for them at the store... at this point it's still habit.  I just have to remind them and let them know that we can make popsicles when we get home.  Also, we've saved nearly all of our popsicle sticks and run them through the dishwasher to be used in our double pop molds. So they'll still get to read funny jokes on their popsicle sticks such as:

"What did the girl melon say to the boy melon when he asked her to run away with him?"

"We're too young, we canteloup." (Can't elope)

And, of course, the kids are on board.  Popsicles are popsicles, right?  And now, flavors are only limited by their imaginations... I have a feeling I'm gonna need some more popsicle molds come this summer. ;)

Valentine Cards

So the other day, my girl Jennifer and I were talking about Valentines. She was telling me how every year she spends hours making Valentines and is wondering why not just buy them? They don't really cost much... and there really isn't that much packaging. I, of course, got on a tangent about how much more meaning a homemade card has vs. a store bought card. Not to mention, the plastic wrap surrounding a box of store bought Valentines. I'm not sure why I kept talking because talking to Jennifer (my super hero friend) is like preaching to the choir. ;)

From the moment my kids had their first Valentine's party in preschool, I made the decision that we would always make Valentine's cards. Not because it was the environmentally responsible thing to do. But, more so because it would be a good learning activity for my kids. Cards made by my kids (and not from a box) are individual, creative and offer a well-rounded learning experience. Sure if we get a box of "character" valentines they can write their names and the names of their friends. BUT, if they make valentines then they get to create and design by cutting, coloring, writing, and sometimes gluing.

They also learn that gifts (and tokens of appreciation) don't have to come from a store.