Black Bean Burger

So I scoured the internet for a good vegan black bean burger recipe & couldn't find one.  I decided to experiment in the kitchen a little & this is what I came up with.

Half of a small yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
2 cans of black beans
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp pepper

Finely FINELY chop the onion & garlic.  Put all ingredients into a bowl & squish it all together until you can form a patty.  My best tools for this are my hands.  Heat a good amount of oil in a pan on medium high heat.  Cook the burger on each side until a nice crisp forms, NOT BURNT....crisp.  Okay, slide that sucker onto some bread.  I like Nature's Own Sandwich Rounds, but whatever works for you is good.  Now hook it up with toppings!  Voila!!

The Picky Vegan

My husband and I have almost always been well aware of our health and like most people, have struggled with good vs. evil when it comes to nutrition.  I write "almost always" because there were those blissful years, before those thirties came along, when we could eat anything we wanted and not much stuck.  Aaahh...those were the days.  Unfortunately, those days are long gone and my metabolism is fading as well.  Because of this, I'm always up for a challenge when it comes to diet or exercise.  One of my favorites was last year's two week juice cleanse.  I had nothing but juice from fruit and mostly vegetables for two weeks.  TWO WEEKS!!!  I felt great and my energy level was through the roof.  Since then, I still juice a couple of times a week, not nearly as much as I'd like to, but I'm on to the next! lol

I actually went vegan in July.  I have a friend who was looking for some people to go vegan with him for the month of July and I decided to do it.  (By the way, if you're ever looking for a partner in anything that's not life threatening or illegal and most people think you're too crazy for even trying it, I'm your girl!)  There are certain months that are probably not the best months to try something like this out...or maybe they are, depending on if your a half full or half empty kind of a person.  I guess if you can make it through November or December being vegan, then you're pretty much set, right?  So I consider July one of those months.  First of all, the 4th of July brings picnics with grilled meats and all kinds of yummy side dishes full of creamy butters and cheeses, not to mention the platter of deviled eggs that always gets set out and desserts sure to have whipped cream or chocolate in them.  Also, July is the month that I ALWAYS visit the town that I grew up in.  That visit is chalk full of family and friends who almost always wind up sitting around a table with me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  So, yes, July was a difficult month to try this out in, but I made it!

I liked being vegan.  I liked the way I felt and I liked my thoughts of how my body just had to be running smoother on cleaner fuel.  Whether that's true or not, I have no idea, but it made me feel good.  So here I am, two and a half months later and I'm still at it.  No, I haven't lost weight.  That's usually one of the first things people ask when it comes to the benefits. lol  BUT, I notice different things about myself like my skin is smoother, I sleep better, I have more energy, etc.  So we'll see where this takes me.  Maybe I'll do it forever and maybe I'll get bored with it or as with other things, hear one day that it's bad for your health and then it's on to the next!

I named this post The Picky Vegan because a friend of mine told me that they were watching The Simpsons the other day and they panned a shot of the food court at the mall.  He said he saw a restaurant named The Picky Vegan and he thought of me.  This made me giggle.  I just love my friends.

Summer 2012

Summer 2012 has begun.  Yesssss!!!  It's 9pm and I did not spend one minute of the last hour chasing the kids around making sure that homework was finished and packed away for tomorrow morning or shooing anyone into the shower and smelling heads afterwards to make sure it was a good one.  I did not look at the clock every two to five minutes making sure that bedtimes were made.  I didn't have to send any emails regarding collections of any kind, whether for a teacher's gift or supplies for any class parties.  No lunchbox searching, no frantic searches for jammies or matching socks in the laundry room, no looking around for a pair of glasses that haven't been seen since the night before.  I did not have to explain about why bedtimes are set or argue over "one more minute."  Instead, this is how I spent the last hour.  I catnapped on our couch and ate a creamy bowl of sherbet.  That's it.  Summer 2012 has begun.  Yesssss!!!