How I am Staying on Track when My Body is Saying Hell No (thanks to my loving and overprotective dog)

 Injuries suck. Big time. And none of them are the same so how you approach exercise when you are injured is going to vary greatly based on your injury. But whether you are too injured to work out or just  need to take it down a notch, there are things you can do to make sure your injury doesn't throw you completely off course.

This is what I tried to do after my 80 lb dog  and another large dog decided to not play so nicely at the park. I was knocked down and drug around on my back by two very angry, very large dogs. I ended up being bumped and bruised and sore for almost a week. I knew bouncing around with Chalene Johnson was not going to be an option when I woke up the day after our little party and my back ached.

Keep your schedule in tact 

This might mean taking your typical work out time and going for a walk or changing your workout routine to something your doctor advises (like low impact modifications.) Whatever you do don't use the time to sit on the couch and play games on your tablet or phone (or watch bad tv) because the more of a bad habit you build here, the harder it is going to be to get back into your workout routine when you are back to normal.

I walked. I did yoga because it actually helped my achy back. Don't do anything your doctor doesn't recommend or that causes you pain but talk to him or her about what they recommend. And listen to your body. Mine was telling me to stretch and not sit still (it hurt more if I sat for long periods of time) so I listened. No, I didn't burn crazy amounts of calories with a intense workout like I was used to and that was okay. My body was recovering. I did however keep the good habits I've built these last couple of months in check. And that makes all the difference.

If any exercise is off the table use the time you would exercise to do things like cleaning out the pantry, catching up on your meal planning, reading about health and wellness, planning what workout program you are going to tackle next or to set new goals. Do something that keeps you focused on getting started again as soon as you are cleared.

Eat at the times you typically eat. Keep that meal schedule in tact. I know when I don't feel well all I want to do is eat pizza or mac and cheese (hello comfort food) but giving in to these cravings now will make it that much harder to get back on track later. Besides, let's build some new habits and maybe break the I-got-a-boo-boo-I-deserve-a-cookie habit that was so lovingly formed in our youth.

Tighten up on your meal plan

I looked at my meal plans and saw where I could cut and trim. No extras the week I was off my normal workouts. I wasn't burning the calories to allow the expenditure. I made sure there were no little slip ups with cheese (the one dairy vice I can't quite seem to quit completely) and no extra bread at dinner. I upped my veggie intake and lowered my fruit intake. I tried to eat around 1200-1300 calories a day instead of 1500-1800.  And while I didn't lose any weight, I didn't gain any either. That for me is a win.

Look at what you typically eat and cut out the obvious (and easy) things. No alcohol (which if you are on pain meds or anything like that you probably shouldn't have anyway) no dessert, the little treats we allow ourselves for having a great week need to go when you aren't working out.

Get lots of good quality sleep

Look at your sleep habits and try to improve them while you are healing. Sleep is a luxury in this house (by morning I have a toddler and a terrier fighting for space in my bed!) but sleep can make you feel so much better while you are healing (and our bodies need it!) Plus banking some shut eye also helps with the food cravings and cheats. I know I am much more likely to go off the rails when I am cranky and tired. Being super sleep deprived also has me craving pizza like a crazy person, so sleeping (as well as I can) is a tool I try to use whenever possible.

I was extremely grateful my injury was not severe and I started feeling better within the inside of a week. I was able to walk and do yoga and am looking forward to jumping, punching, squatting and kicking with Turbofire in a few days. I also know that by working really hard to keep my days structured the same as they were when I was working out has really helped me stay eager to jump back into my scheduled workouts (and miss them too!)

Always always always talk to your doctor (or physical therapist) about any injuries and exercise you may want to continue doing or new exercise you want to try. These suggestions are based on my own experiences and what worked for me, personally and are not in any way medical advice.

The next best thing to salt and vinegar chips (and how I handle those crunchy, salty cravings)

I've never been a huge chip girl. I am more of a chocolate or artificial cheese flavored popcorn kind of girl. But every once in a while I get a hankering for some greasy, crunchy chips, preferably salt and vinegar flavored. The stronger, the better. I could eat them until it feels like there is a hole being burned in the center of my tongue from the vinegar-ness. They were the one snack food my mom would cave and buy if I was having friends over. (Typically we lived in a no junk food house.) So eating salt and vinegar chips not only gives me a party in my tummy but there is that deep seeded association that they are for super fun times. (Yay sleepovers!)

I am trying to avoid processed foods and really commit to clean eating, I knew I had to find another way. And since I don't really eat meat, I knew if I could get some more protein in my diet, it would be killing two birds with one stone. I turned to my friend the garbanzo bean. I knew they could be roasted and get super crunchy but I always found that I burnt them before I could get them good and crunchy. They were often burned on the outside and still soft on the inside.

So I channeled a much more patient person and tried to get them to take over my body to cook these
babies for me, because I knew what I had to do. Lower the temp and lengthen the time. (I am so not patient. At all.) I picked a time when I knew I would be home and I knew I would be preoccupied (like sitting at the dining room table and writing a blog post.)

I set the oven temp to 250 and let the oven preheat while I rinsed the garbanzo beans (Typically I use dried beans - it's super easy as long as you think ahead. I had some cans on hand for dinner emergencies and since we are moving across the country again I figured it would be smart to use them up.)

Make sure to dry the beans after they are rinsed. This really helps. I like to cook mine on parchment paper so if the paper gets wet from the beans it takes even longer for them to roast (and for this impatient chick right here, it takes long enough as it is. I don't need to add any extra time to this recipe.)

And I set the timer for 25 minutes. And I stirred them. And I set the timer for 25 minutes. And I stirred them. And I set the timer for 25 minutes and I stirred them (you get the idea.)

They roasted for probably 2 1/2 to 3 hours. This will vary based on your oven temp too. It is pretty easy to tell when they are done. They shrink up really small and sometimes crack in the middle. Once they aren't so hot they will burn a hole in your mouth, test one. If it is crunchy, they are done. If it crunches on the outside and is still soft in the middle, give 'em another stir and stick them back in the oven.

I have also had better luck getting them crunchy dry roasting them instead of tossing them in olive oil. I just rinse, dry and throw them in the oven. When they are done and it is flavor adding time, I can toss in olive oil and any seasoning I am feeling like. Plus I like the idea that I don't have to commit to making a whole batch one flavor. I can flavor them before I eat so I have lots of options depending on what I feel like (and anyone who has traveled with me knows I need lots of options, hence the entourage of suitcases I typically travel with.)

So for the salt and vinegar chip goodness, all I do is toss them with a little malt vinegar and some salt
and whala I have crunchy salty burn a hole in my tongue vinegary goodness. A really great, protein packed crunchy snack that is even good thrown on top of salads.

These babies, although they have lots of good for you nutrients, do have calories. All legumes pack a lot of calories (think along the lines of almonds and other nuts.) I like to have about a 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup of crunchy chickpeas with half an apple as a snack. The apple combined with the protein really helps fill me up.

Happy Eats!

The Omnivore's Dilemma (and why we should be thinking about our food in ways other than calories and fat grams)

My favorite reaction when I tell people I try not to eat meat or dairy very often is when they look at me, almost bug eyed and utter (and sometimes whisper) but what do you eat? It is a shock to people that a meal can be filling and full of veggies and grains. This journey of really looking into what my family is eating started about a year ago with the documentary Forks Over Knives. I went crazy for a few months but not in a good way. If it was vegan, I assumed I could eat it. No problems. Well there is a problem when vegan junk food is on the market and sugar is still vegan. I never particularly cared for the taste of meat, but dairy was more difficult to give up. (I still go crazy over some really yummy creamy goat cheese.) Fish and seafood never really left the picture.

But the important part was I started thinking about what I ate. Not in the way of calories and fat grams but what it was and where it came from. So many of our meals are consumed in a rush, on the go, in the car or at our desks while we work and even in front of the television. There is no thinking about what we eat as much as there is let's get shove this in my mouth real quick to get rid of this hunger feeling and move on with what is really important in life.

But our food is important. We spend so much time eating. Our bodies are literally made from what we feed them. From our food is where our bodies get the energy to move, to create new cells, to repair what needs fixed, to fight off infection....what we eat every day could be the most important decisions we make. And it goes even further than that because not only are we affected by what we eat, but we are affected by the food our food eats. The quality, the nutritional value, the taste.... Unfortunately, most of what we eat today isn't what our great-grandparents ate even when it looks like it used to. A steak today is different from a steak 50 years ago. There are farmers out there striving to bring farming back to it's roots and Michael Pollan was able to find one of them.

I just finished reading the The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I actually read the young adult version as that was what was available from the library (libraries rock!) I expected the book to lean away from the processed and toward the real food movement (even toward a plant based diet.) And while Pollan did not hesitate to admit his personal preference after all of his endeavors, the information is presented in a very matter of fact way (which this English major can appreciate.) The book is set up around his four meals. His goal is to eat one meal that is a direct result from each of the ways to produce food. His first meal is a meal that is produced thanks to the industrialized food industry -- McDonald's and is eaten like many Americans eat fast food, in the car.

He starts off visiting the farms that produce the majority of the food here in America. The industrialized corn farm and the industrialized beef farm. He goes as far to purchase a steer so he can follow the steer until it meets his end (where he was not allowed to visit -- journalists, among others, are not permitted in slaughterhouses and on many industrial farms.) He interviews a corn farmer about how working on a farm has changed. And it is explained (in a way that is both scary and fascinating) how a single kernel of corn is processed. How all parts of the corn are used and extracted and turned into something else. Things I didn't even know were made with corn -- like glue and fireworks. (Seriously. Fireworks. Mind blown. This was the part of the book where I kept waking John up every five minutes to spout off something new I learned about corn. He was nowhere near as enthusiastic as I was.)

For the second meal, he visits an industrial organic farm. While many of these farms started out as small endeavors, they have grown into a billion dollar industries and are run much of the same way as non-organic industrialized farms. They do not use pesticides or hormones, they do allow chickens access to the outdoors but it is  a small sad yard that has a tiny door that isn't even open until the chickens are 5 weeks old. For the remaining two weeks of their lives, they rarely venture out doors.  These are not the happy chickens lives and farming practices that consumers are led to believe they are supporting. There is the fact that these farms are brining organic food to places that normally wouldn't have access to it. They are keeping farmlands from being sprayed with pesticides. There is good here and as a reader (and an eater) we are encouraged to take in the facts, do our own research and decide for ourselves if eating seasonally is an inconvenience we are willing to suffer.

His third meal he calls "beyond organic." Pollan found a farm that farms the way farming used to be done. (And apparently I was trying to see how many times I could use the word farm in a sentence.) He visits Polyface Farm in Virginia which practices sustainable agriculture. He has pasteurized beef and poultry and uses a rotation system so the cows don't destroy the pasture and then the chickens clean up after the cows and fertilize the pasture. Joel Salatin, the farm's owner, refers to himself as a grass farmer and an even more than that an orchestra conductor as he is doing the movement and organization but the animals are doing the work. He will not ship his meats instead he truly practices and believes that burning all that fossil fuel to ship his products is not sustainable. He sells directly to consumers, local restaurants and at farmer's markets. And this is what led Pollan to him in the first place. Because Salatin won't ship a steak to Pollan's home in California, Pollan instead visits, stays and works on the farm in Virginia experiencing it all first hand including processing (a nicer way to say killing) a chicken.

When it gets to the fourth meal, I am wondering really what is next. What kind of farm could he possibly visit to finish this book. But he doesn't visit a farm, instead, he chooses to create a meal from things he has hunted and gathered. Who does that now? Being a Western PA girl I am used to meals made with deer meat but not an entire meal that is foraged. Pollan stays true to the course and learns to hunt wild pig,  how to hunt mushrooms and even gather yeast from the air to make bread (again mind blown. Yeast from the air? Crazy business.) He even attempts to try and gather his own salt from the bay.

After being present at all of Pollan's meals through his writing, I was happy to find him encouraging his readers to think about what we are eating. With the obesity epidemic, we are so conditioned to think of food in terms of calories in and calories out but it is so much more than that. This book was a great way to begin to address that rumbling in our tummy in a much kinder way than just shoving whatever we can grab in our mouths to shut it up (and stay under our recommended calories for the day.)

I am eager to read the adult version of this book (and just ordered it in paper form so I can highlight and make notes in the margin and flip back and forth between chapters when I need to. Sometimes there are things an ebook can't provide. Like the lovely smell of an old book. Mmmmm.)

For more information on Micheal Pollan and his work please visit  http://michaelpollan.com/

Betty Goes Vegan Tacos (my adventures into the world of Tempeh)

After reading many recipes and blogs in the vegetarian and vegan world, I started to become familiar with the things that are used to substitute meat. And out here in the Pacific Northwest, many of these things are available in grocery stores. I can find things like bee pollen, veganaise, tofurky and soy yogurt and cheese (yet I cannot find whole wheat lasagna noodles. *shakes head*) I can also find plenty of substitutes for meat. One that I have heard a lot about is tempeh. I have seed many comments on recipes and blogs from people who aren't too crazy about tofu but love tempeh. So I grabbed some at the store. And it sat in my fridge.

Every time I opened the fridge, the tempeh and I kind of had a I know you are there but I am going to ignore you if you ignore me relationship. Then it got to the point where I had to acknowledge the tempeh by either cooking it or throwing it in the trash. Since I am not a big fan of throwing my money away, I chose to attempt to cook it. My default to attempt anything I know nothing about is to

*google*

*google*

*google*

And those searches brought me to ohmyveggies.com which is a delightful site I was happy to add into my rotation of sites to search for dinner ideas. On there I found a recipe for tempeh tacos and who doesn't love a taco (I actually didn't love tacos for a long time. They totally grossed me out. And then I met Moe's which lead to a love affair with Chipotle which has turned into me making vegan/vegetarian tacos in our home a lot and I am always looking for a variation on the black beans as protein.) So this was how I decided to cook up the tempeh in my fridge. It was starting to dare me, all I know you can't cook me. There is no way you can do this.

The recipe I found was from the cookbook Betty Goes Vegan. While I have read and tried things from many cookbooks, this was one I had yet to pick up (or borrow from the library. Libraries rock!) The blog put in lots of pretty pictures and even made me want to use crunchy shells (I am team soft taco.) My trip to the grocery store that carries weird but not basic things out here lead me to find that they do not in fact carry organic taco shells or hard taco shells. Seriously. So I went with wheat because at least the GMO chance there is lesser (as there isn't supposed to be any GMO wheat but the whole thing with the wheat in Oregon make me skeptical.) So soft tempeh tacos it is.

When I took the tempeh out of the package it was slimy and chunky. It has whole and halved soybeans in it and at that point I was missing the smooth texture of tofu. (And trying not to gag - visually the texture- I just can't.) I started breaking it up into pieces and then all urges to be sick disappeared. I mixed it up with the seasonings and the lime juice added some onion and was done. Super easy. (These are the kinds of recipes that make me all I love cooking. Especially when they turn out awesome and it is something that sounds kind of scary -- like tempeh sounds super intimdating. It makes me feel very victorious inside. It's the little things kids. Sometimes they are what you need to get through the day.)

So I threw it all in a pan until it is heated through (another one of the bonuses of meat free cooking. I don't have to worry about if things are cooked all the way through because someone could die. I just have to heat and serve. Whoop!) Then I threw it all in a warmed taco shell with some avocado and olives (for me and B anyway. John is an olive hater.) Balance out with a green salad with a cilantro lime vinigerette and whala dinner is served.

The link to the original recipe is here. I skipped all the liquid smoke and other things that sounded strange and just used what I had in my pantry. Maybe they would have been better had I included these ingredients, maybe not? I also skip the spicy and rely on John to use his own special blend of 85 million hot sauces that live in my cupboard.

Here is what I did:

For the Filling:

1 8oz package of tempeh
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2  red onion minced
3 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried oregano
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs water

You will also need:

Taco shells and toppings (I used avocado, pico de gallo and olives)

Instructions:

Crumble your tempeh into a large mixing bowl.

Then mix in the garlic, cumin, onion powder, oregano and lime juice.

Once the spices are well mixed, add the onion.

Drizzle the water in 1 TBS at a time into your mix while stirring.

Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Spray a skillet with olive oil  and heat to medium heat.

Add the tempeh mix and stir a few times so it browns evenly.  (About 10 minutes)

While the tempeh is cooking you can warm your taco shells and prep any toppings you may need to prep.

Fill, top and serve.


Once cooked up I really enjoyed the tempeh. It gave the tacos more of a ground meat texture than bean or another meat substitute does. The spices are true to what a traditional taco spice mix would be. All in all it was tasty and I count my trip into tempeh land as a success. (And it might be a place I come back to visit every once in a while. Especially when I am bored with my regular dinner rotation.) I was also so excited to eat my creation that I forgot to take pictures. Luckily, John came home late that night so I was able to play food photographer with his taco creations and I took photos of my leftover tempeh mixture (which was also yummy on a "taco" salad the next day for lunch.)

How Jen Lancaster Kept my Mind off New Kids on the Block (and how the Tao of Martha made me want to clean the spice cupboard and make Father's Day Cheesecake)

So it was a rainy Tuesday in Portland. Shocking, right? It seemed like everyone I knew was at the New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees concert in Pittsburgh and I was bummed. Who doesn't want to go relive their childhood with a bunch of middle aged women getting drunk and oogling washed up 90's boy bands?

Instead of mopping and checking facebook like a crazy stalker to watch the newsfeed action, I talked my husband to spending the entire day in Portland so I could see Jen Lancaster. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, this is an awesome experience. She is funny, down to earth and you can really see how her books are written and how her brain works. Mid topic she will be reminded of something else and you will follow her down the verbal rabbit hole until she gets back to the orginal story ten minutes later. All of her books have had places that made me laugh, tears streaming down my face and trying so hard not to shake the bed as to wake my slumbering husband next to me -- some books more than others. This woman can entertain me with antics of her mis-behaved pets, projects gone awry and pretty much anything she wants to talk about for hours.

I was so excited to see her again (I was able to attend her Portland book signing of Jeneration X last year too.) I always have these big things in mind when I see people who I absolutely love. I want to tell them how their work (be it musical or authoring some of my favorite books) has impacted my life or thoughts or gush about how much I love them. Instead, I just stand there awkwardly and don't know what to say. (Or blurt out strange things that probably make them look into bodyguards or restraining orders.) As I stood in line to have my book signed, I kept trying to think of something witty and adorable to say. Something that would make Jen think I wasn't a crazy stalker and that if the time and place were right (for example not when my toddler is running around Barnes and Noble using the escalators as an amusement park ride) that we would be BFF's and go for cocktails. I too could entertain her with tales of my poorly behaved pups. We could bond over a love of Barbies and booze. She would soon become my mentor and guide me into the publishing world (of course in this scenerio I also have a book of poingant yet hilarious stories that is in pristine edited condition in my handbag to share with her.) We can laugh about our husband's crazy building projects and how yes, John and Fletch would probably be BFF's too. She would invite me to her next soiree and we would all fly to Chicago and B could play in her pool with her lovable and crazy pitt bulls and chase her asshole (her word not mine) cats.

BFF plan fail.

After an hour and a half in line all I could think of to say was are you going to Pittsburgh again this year? So now I am in her head as the idiot Pittsburgh girl who is always in Portland.

She did tell me she is going to Primanti's this year if it kills her and I told her the Colossal Fish Sandwich is the best (there may also have been blabbering about minced meat fish and how gross that is. What I need is a BFF to go with me to this and smack me when I start to ramble about gross and inappropriate things.)

So all in all one of the most exciting (and embarrassing) nights I have spent in the Pacific Northwest (and I know I don't get out much. Most of my nights consist putting a screaming toddler to bed, a drink, the dvr and my husband who falls asleep about 7 1/2 minutes after sitting down on the couch. Needless to say, he no longer holds the rights to the remote.)

I really enjoyed The Tao of Martha but it was in no way what I expected. It was much more an Ode to Maisy. If you read her blog or follow her on social media, this will be a sweet (and yes still funny) and sometimes tearful book. If you have no idea about her life or her dogs, I suggest you don't choose this as the very first Jen Lancaster book you ever read. There were less hilarious escapades and more profound moments than I expected. Spending a year looking to Martha certainly taught her a lot and that is expressed in the book along with all the love she had for her first beloved dog.

I was, however, inspired by the trip to the Container Store and storing everything in my pantry in glass jars with super cute labels. That is some organizing I can get behind. I also love the idea of going above and beyond for every party. This is always what I aspire to do and turn into a crazy ball of stress who can't have any fun because the party is not going the way the party should be going in my head. I run around and snip at everyone until John puts a cocktail (or five) in my hand an suggests (orders) me to drink and calm down because everyone is going to leave and never come back and I might not let you ever host a party again.

Her book made me realize that maybe if I was more organized ala Martha and less let's make two dozen jellyfish out of coffee filters and crepe paper for B's Nemo party for three days, things might come together a little more enjoyably for everyone involved. Maybe I need to get my creative brain in check instead of letting it show up to the party a day or two before and insisting I start a bunch of different arts and crafts projects (or making butter molded into the shape of easter eggs and bunnies) when in reality it is too late for such beautiful details. Can I train my creativity to come out to play earlier than it typically does? Wouldn't that be a crazy and amazing thing to do.

Today is Father's Day and as we are pretty much as far away from family as we could possibly be, I wanted to do something special, especially after reading this book. A little what would Jen as Martha do? so to speak. One of John's favorite things is cheesecake and since I have become a teeny bit obsessed with clean eating/giving up animal products/not eating GMO's sugary treats in this house have been few and far between. 2 hours and $50 worth of organic junk food later, I started mixing and trying to convert and Oreo Cheesecake bar recipe into something that could be made a teensy bit healthier (every little bit counts!)

So I cut the sugar in half. Switched the sour cream out with plain greek yogurt and used flax for the eggs. At least my cheesecake will have protein, probiotics and omega-3's (that is if all those things survive the heat of the oven, which I am not positive they do.) And crossed my fingers it comes out for the best.

The recipe I adapted I found on mybakingaddiciton.com and the link is here (if you are interested in going whole hog.)


This is how I rolled:

For the Crust:

1 package Annie's Bunny Grahams in chocolate

2 TBS Earth Balance Spread (or grass fed butter)

Preheat the oven to 325

Pulverize the poor little bunnies any way you choose. I used the food processor to grind them into fine crumbs.

Melt 2 TBS butter

Add melted butter to graham crumbs and mix well.

Press mix into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan (I like to use a fork for the mixing and the pressing.)

Bake at for 10 minutes - (and start working on the filling)

Leave the oven on when the crust is done

For the Filling:

2 8oz packages of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 flax eggs (or regular eggs at room temp)
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 (or so) coarsely chopped "Oreo" cookies (I used Newman-O's)

Beat the cream cheese until smooth and slowly add sugar. Mix until the sugar is well incorporated into the mix. (So it's all smooth and not gritty)

Add the "eggs" and mix well (If you are using real eggs the original recipe called for them to be added one at a time. I just dumped all my flax eggs in as I made them at the same time in the same cup.)

Add the vanilla and the yogurt. (make sure to keep scraping down the side of the bowl too!)

Once everything is all smooth and dreamy fold in the chopped Oreo or substitute Oreo cookies.

Pour the entire mix over the crust.

Bake at 325 for 40 - 50 minutes (the middle should still be jiggly)

Let them cool for 2 hours.

Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight before serving.

So there was a lot of time involved for cooling and chilling so this isn't for a last minute I need a desert super quick kind of event. (Luckily my last minute this time was in the morning and not the afternoon as I didn't read the entire recipe through before deciding to make it. This is a bad habit I need to fix.)

But they were really good. Not as creamy as real cream cheese but they made my (desert deprived) tummy and husband happy.

Happy Father's Day all!

Happy Grilling Weekend (a recipe for those of us who might be grill-less, want to go meat-less or both)

Tis the season to fire up the grill! But seeing as we are in the land of it is June and I wake up and still have to put a hoodie on to go outside (and I still might be cold) chilling grill-side isn't really something we look forward to doing. That combined with an upstairs apartment makes you get a little creative around here if you want to grill.

My other major problem when it comes to grilling is finding a meatless patty concoction that holds it's
shape and won't fall apart while cooking (resulting in huge mess on a grill, not that much of a mess in a pan.)

Now I found this recipe on Skinnytaste.com. I dig this website. (When I was eating meat I found a recipe on there for herbed pork chops. They were O-M-geee amazing. Every once in a while the thought of eating that recipe makes me want to cook up Wilbur again. My apologies buddy.) This time I found spinach and quinoa patties. I am always trying to find more ways to get greens into my dinner and into my toddler's mouth. So in burger form with sweet potato fries this was a win-win twinkle in this mama's eye.

A word about quinoa. If you haven't heard about this rockstar grain yet you need to get it into your pantry! It is a complete protein source (which is a huge deal for those of us that don't eat creatures for whatever reason) and super easy to cook. As easy to cook as rice. It make a great rice substitute too (my hubby likes to make quinoa and shove it in his burritos.) Technically, this superstar is a seed and super easy to flavor. Think being able to douse it with cinnamon for breakfast but cooking it in veggie stock for dinner. It is one of my favorite things to eat. And we tell B that they are seeds like birdies eat. So many a times we sit around the table tweeting as we eat (and not the kind you do from your smartphone. Welcome to the crazy house.)

So as my quinoa spinach patties cooked up they got all crispy crunchy on the outside and were still pretty gooey on the inside (a combo that makes my taste receptors go all it's a party.) These babies were great but I don't know how they would fare on a grill. They stayed together pretty well in a pan and once all crunchy on both sides. I was also thinking how it would work if you made them ahead of time and refrigerated so they were a little more chilled together (and if you wouldn't be all quinoa sticky hands in the middle of your grill-fest party.) It was just me cooking for our little family out here so I wasn't too concerned about the sticky hands mess but since I like to have hoards of people around me when I am home (ask John how many time I thwarted his chance to propose because I had to invite everyone I knew to go with us everywhere. The more the merrier - unless you want to get engaged.) I always try to come up with way to make it work in a party or small get together or anywhere I would rather be drinking a beer and hanging out with friends than locked in the kitchen making a mess.

While the texture of the patties was great, the flavor was kind of underwhelming. Since I was tasting as I was mushing my quinoa and spinach and (flax) eggs together I just started dumping in spices. I added (in addition to the traditional salt and pepper) some cumin and extra garlic as well as some basil. I think in making these again I would cook the quinoa in veggie stock instead of water to give it some more flavor. So I highly recommend flavoring these to your liking.

I would also like to try it with more spinach. The spinach was more of an accent in this burger. I wanted it to be the main event. I know there would be a risk that the patties wouldn't stick together as well but I intend to play with adding more spinach next time. You can view the original recipe here.

This is how I cooked them up:

1 cup uncooked quinoa (I used Bob's Red Mill brand.)

2 cups of water (or veggie stock)

4 flax eggs (or regular eggs)

1 onion minced

1 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)

1 cup steamed spinach

minced garlic

salt & pepper to taste

basil to taste

cumin to taste

olive oil (I used my Mistoto spray olive oil in the pan)

Directions:

Rinse the quinoa and bring the 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the quinoa and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until the quinoa is tender and has absorbed the liquid -- about 15-20 minutes.

In a large bowl combine the quinoa (you may want to let it cool a bit first) the spinach, the onion, eggs, salt, pepper and any other spices you want to throw in there. Mix it all up and let it sit a few minutes to absorb the liquid and get gooey. Make into patties.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Cook each patty about 8-10 minutes on each side or until they are golden crunchy and delicious looking.

Serve with or without buns.

Shakeology - The thing I never knew I needed (and the post where I learned that I am really bad at spelling protein and caffeine)

A shake whose tagline is the "healthiest meal of the day." On youtube there are countless videos raving about how great it is. A quick google search will bring up pages and pages of blogs and websites that talk about how great this product is. It is actually hard to find anything that speaks against this product -- and that was what made me completely skeptical.

It was like Beachbody paid someone to delete every negative thing that could be said about this product (or bury it deep in the blogosphere.) I couldn't find anything negative about this product. I went through pages and pages of google results. And then I found I actually knew people who used it. And loved it. And raved about it on Facebook and on blogs. But before I can talk about how I got hooked on Shakeology there are a few things about me you have to understand.

Not so many years ago, I was a breakfast hater. I didn't want to eat when I was dragging myself out of bed. I wanted a gallon of coffee (intravenously if possible.) Caffeine and more caffeine. That was all I needed or wanted, sometimes until mid afternoon. I reached a point where I had read enough and heard enough about how important breakfast was and how to maintain a healthy weight it was necessary (the Special K commercials probably had something to do with that.) Just knowing that wasn't enough. I couldn't take my knowledge and use it to create an appetite. Smoothies were starting to gain popularity so I started throwing some juice and protein powder in the blender and calling it breakfast. And I was hungry. In like a half hour. So I started using juice that had more fiber and that helped a little.

Then I changed up my protein powder to one that was a little pricier but some of my family members had been using and they loved. It was super yummy and tasted like cake. (Yay cake!) It kept me full and I was obsessed. It was worth the price because it did what it was supposed to do. And then I started looking into the ingredients and was bummed with what I found -- artificial sweeteners and the like. I was at the point where I was trying to cut that stuff out. (I was seriously a Splenda addict. I could have my sweet tea and no calories too! Whoop!) I was at a place in my life where I was more concerned about health than weight. (So no more diet pills or crazy starvation diets. Because believe me I tried them all.) I had read enough books to really believe that food should be our fuel and our medicine -- that food should be something more than something that tastes good and ends the rumbling in our tummies. I was starting to expect more from my food.

So I was starting to educate myself on what nutrition meant and had started seeing some of my Facebook friends talk about this shake. Girls I had worked with in the past were posting recipes and talking about how it was nutritious and kept them full and tasted yummy and pretty much did everything except clean their bathrooms. So I thought I would give it a whirl. I did some searching in the land of google and found the price and almost fell off my stool. I remember this moment very clearly, sitting at the small high top table in the corner of my dining room that I have commandeered as my desk thinking, John will kill me.

But I figured if I love it and it does what it is supposed to do and all the crazy claims are right, it is worth it (and I could feasibly keep the cost a secret until the credit card bill came.) I can stop buying multi vitamins and other protein powders and expensive (yummy) fiber filled juices to mix with it. Plus it has a bottom of the bag guarantee (from Beachbody's FAQ page):

So I could return it - the company stands behind it and it seems like everyone who tries it stands behind it too. So I logged on and hit the confirm order button really quickly, possibly with my eyes shut (sometimes it seems less painful when I hit the button quickly with my eyes shut. Yes, this is how my brain works. Scary.)

It came. I tried it with water and ice (which was dumb) and I gagged. All I could taste was the wheat grass (which if you are unfamiliar it tastes kind of like what you would imagine lawn clippings to taste like.) I was sitting on my stool in the dining room again literally thinking, Well I will be sending this shit back and going right back to my yummy cake tasting deliciousness -- artificial sweeteners and all. This is so not going to work for me. But I had that bottom of the bag guarantee in my head and figured if I am going to send it back I am at least going to get everything out of it I can (I like to think of it as being frugal.) The rest of the day my tummy rumbled and I was sick. I thought I had the stomach flu. So I googled and read and there were a bunch of people out there with the same reaction. Their advice - cut your serving in half. Sometimes it takes your body time to adjust to all the "good stuff." (Again with the good stuff -- after researching my thoughts are that I was reacting to the probiotics and the Yacon Root which is known for promoting good digestion.) Plus I was regularly having tummy troubles due to the absence of one gall bladder which was taken that fall. My body was still getting used to digesting everything.

I continued trying the shakes. Day two I was really nervous about drinking it and it took me probably an hour and a half to consume it. I took teeny tiny sips (only using half the serving size) and it was better. No problems. It still didn't taste great. Tastes like a chocolate milkshake my ass.

After about a week, it didn't taste like lawn clippings anymore and I had been messing around with what else to add. A cup of almond milk, frozen strawberries and half a banana seemed to be my favorite. The banana cut some of the grittiness that comes with the vegan formula and the frozen fruit gave it that yummy, creamy texture I wanted in a shake. After one week I was hooked. (And I had lost 5 pounds - never to see it again as I continued on with my challenge group and clean eating journey.)

Before I knew it the month was up and I was hooked. I felt great. My digestive system was running in tip top shape (which is something I could never ever say before) and that whole helping with cravings thing -- so not a lie or a gimmick to get you to purchase. Maybe all those crazy people weren't just trying to bait me to buy from them. Maybe they actually believe in this product.

I went ahead with my order for a second month. By this time I had done a lot more research (and moved across the country.) I also found I could sign up as a discount coach and get this Shakeology stuff for 25% off (less the $15 monthly coach website fee.) Despite the fee, it would still save me a little less than $20 a month. So I jumped on board, because who doesn't want to save some money. (And I wish I would have written about Shakeology before I signed up to coach. The biggest reason I didn't trust it was because it was being endorsed by people selling it. There's a sucker born every day folks, but I am not one of them. I worked in sales. I am onto your shenanigans. Now I guess the shoe is on the other foot because here I am admitting to the blogosphere that I was wrong. (Ask John how I feel about being wrong and then how I feel about admitting it. To people. In writing.)

Shakeology has really changed my habits. It has kept me on track and I look forward to drinking it every day. My two year old also loves drinking "Mom's shake" (I make her a mini version with 1/4-1/3 a scoop of powder instead of a full scoop.) If we every get rid of Mom's shake in this house I may have a world class melt down on my hands, since she asks for it every day.

**UPDATE**

Last night Shakeology announced it's newest flavor, vanilla. This has been in the making for years. And while I am bummed it is a flavor only available in the whey protein (for now I hope!) and I know this won't work for me, the excitement behind it is contagious! I also am really geeked about the fact that they worked so hard to find the right flavors to make it without chemicals and additives. I am so impressed by the quality Beachbody strives for in its ingredients and products. This flavor has been asked for by customers for years. Beachbody could have taken (chemical) shortcuts to meet consumer demand, however they held off until they found ingredients that met the integrity of what Shakeology is all about. This video made me very proud to be a part of this company--And just as excited for the vanilla flavor as everyone else who is going to actually get to use it. (Fingers crossed vegan vanilla is next!) 

For more information on Shakeology check out the link below:

http://doesitreallywork.org/shakeology-review


Send me a message  or an email (I would love to chat with you!)

Or do your own research. Information is powerful and it's up to you to gather it and make your own assessments. (And yes, that is the English teacher in me rising up and taking over. Remember all those research papers you had to write in school? All the note cards you had to make? Who said it would never come in handy...)