I randomly mixed the following ingredients and I have some suggestions for next time I make these veggie burgers/patties/mash.

Here is what I did:

• 3/4 can of chickpeas – drained.
• 1/3 of a large onion – chopped
• handful of spinach
• 1 big squirt of spicy mustard- 1 Tish (I was hungry and didn’t measure)
• 1 tsp.  (a few splashes) of worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper
• garlic powder

Next time I would add whole wheat bread crumbs and an egg or egg white.  This mix was really wet and needed some binding ingredients.  I just cooked it until it got more firm and tossed it on the bun!

I agree – it is not the prettiest , but it did taste good!    I will work on this recipe and let you know how it goes.   Brady’s burger was good, so I hear.  I made some green beans (frozen Trader Joes’s, cooked with a little EVOO and garlic wine seasoning), but we didn’t even eat them.

We watched an episode of the Wire (we are obsessed with it – from Netflix) and I watched the radar to see if there was hope for a snow day.  This morning, I woke up (after 3 trips to the bathroom in the night and a glance out the window each time – yay for the third trimester!) at 5:15am.  I debated on going to spinning because there wasn’t much snow, about an inch, and we had not been called off school yet.  I decided that it would be my luck if I didn’t go workout, we would not have a snowday because we have a staff meeting and I have company coming over for dinner so I would not get a chance to go again.

So… I went to spinning at 5:45 and in the middle of class (I brought my phone just in case:) )we got the call that school was canceled! I finished the rest of class, stopped at the grocery store to get some supplies for the snow, aka green beans and mushroom soup, then came home.

As of now, I just took a hot shower, had breakfast with Brady who is working from home and am ready to get started on cleaning out my school stuff that I keep in the basement…after one more episode of the Wire!

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I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I can’t believe it is already Sunday night! We had such a nice weekend – I’ll rewind…

Friday:

After work and school we headed to Grandview to meet Katie and Kurt and a few other friends for drinks and dinner at Brazenhead.  I had great portobello quesadilla and a salad.  Everyone enjoyed drinks and we had fun catching up on life, babies and weddings!

Saturday:

Saturday started early with a spinning class that kicked my butt!  The instructor is one of my favorites (she is the type that yells at you and you feel like she is personally talking to you – I can’t go as hard as I did before I was 30 weeks pregnant, so I am looking forward to returning to her class after the baby gets here!) Then I came home, showered and we headed out.

We ended up going to Polaris so we could go to a bunch of places at once.  I was excited to find some great deals at Old Navy in the maternity section!  Then we met up with friends from college at Panera!  It was so great to see them!  We had fun catching up and then we were on our way, and so were they!

We hit up Costco for a restock on fruit/veggies and food for Feb. (update on the Gain Green Challenge coming soon).  Then we stopped at Home Depot for some baby closet organization planning, Target for random odds and ends and a few other places.  We came home exhausted and with a full car.

We were greeted by the delicious smell of Mama Pea’s Spicy African Peanut Soup cooking in the crockpot.  We unloaded and were ready to sit down and eat.

I altered the recipe just a little bit because of what I had in my pantry:

Spicy African Peanut Stoup

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 t. curry powder
• 1 T. cumin
• 1 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1 T. garlic powder
• 1 T. tahini
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes, in juice
• 1 can light coconut milk
• 3 c. water plus boullion cubes of your choice (I used chicken)
• 2 T. natural peanut butter
• 1c. lentils,  rinsed

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and turn to high for about an hour.  This gets your crock pot good and going, then switch it to low for the next several hours.

This stew was so good!  Both Brady and I loved it!  Add this to your must try list!

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Today was such a nice day in Columbus – it got up to 70 degrees! I was lucky enough to have recess duty today (I never say that!)so I got to enjoy the weather a little bit during the day. After school I had a meeting that went until 5pm then I came home and took a walk (2-3 miles). I was going to run, but I kept chatting on the phone so I just enjoyed the brisk stroll that helped to stretch out my legs. When Brady got home, I talked him into a bike ride before dinner!

It was a nice day for easy, low impact fitness activities. I am hoping to be back to working out more normally tomorrow!

I have been in a dinner rut this week – we had leftovers last night so I didn’t find them worthy of a post- so I decided to try a new sauce I bought at Trader Joe’s this summer. It reminded me a of a recipe I wanted to try from Eating Well magazine.

The nutrition stats were really good! Sometimes I am discouraged with the high fat and calories in some Indian dishes but this was not the case.

The ingredients were all simple and readable. Love that!

So in order to fit both of our needs, I made two simple dishes with this sauce.

Chicken Curry Simmer – Brady

• 100% all natural chicken (antibiotic/hormone free)
• 1/3 of a jar of Curry Simmer Sauce from Trader Joe’s

1. Trim chicken then cut chicken into small cubes
2. Cook in curry powder and water until chicken is cooked.
3. Add sauce and simmer together

Lentil Curry Simmer – Ali

• 1 c. lentils – cooked
• 2/3 c. organic chickpeas
• 1/3 of a jar of Curry Simmer Sauce from Trader Joe’s

1. Mix cooked lentils and chickpeas in a saucepan and simmer!

As you can see, we enjoyed this easy dish with steamed veggies and bulger.

I am hoping to make some yummy recipes from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan this week!

We have homecoming for Wittenberg this weekend! We are super excited to see our college friends so I need to make them some treats!

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Farmer’s Market Quinoa

• 1 c. quinoa cooked as directed
• 1 can chickpeas
• 15 baby carrots – cut into pieces
• 1 zucchini cut into pieces
• 1 ear of corn – raw, kernels cut off the cob
• balsamic salad dressing
• reduced fat feta cheese

1. Make quinoa as directed.
2. While quinoa is cooking, cut carrots, zucchini and corn.
3. Open can of chickpeas and drain liquid from can.
4. When quinoa is done cooking add all veggies to the quinoa. You can keep the dish like this for a day or so before serving and then you can serve cold or heat up.
5. Right before serving, drizzle as much dressing as desired on dish and add feta.
6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper!
7. Enjoy!

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Veggie Burgers:

• 1 c. brown rice
• 1 green pepper
• 1/2 c. egg whites
• 1/2 c. bread crumbs
• 1/2 can of chickpeas
• salt and pepper

Process together until blended. Cook in a pan with non-stick spray.

**Next time, I would add other veggies – mushrooms, zucchini, squash, broccoli or onions.

They were really good but would be better with more veggies!

Carmelized onions:

John and Ashley’s Amazing Salad:

Grilled Squash:

My plate:

Plus lots of salad!

Yay for great friends and great cookouts!

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While I was gone, Brady set to work on dinner. This is what he came up with. It HIT the SPOT!

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This salad included:

• romaine
• spinach
• arugula
• grilled salmon
• avocado
• tomato
• chickpeas
• grilled sweet peppers
• black beans
• quinoa
• mango-peach salsa
• cucumber

It was just what I needed.

Tomorrow’s lunches are packed with leftovers and ready to go. My kids have their huge state test – the Ohio Achievement Test (OAT) tomorrow so I am hoping they got to bed early tonight!

Hope your Monday is great!

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•   writing papers for grad school
• getting my kids (third grade students in my class, not my own kids!) ready for the state test on Monday
• unpacking/laundry
• making cookies for a wedding shower this weekend
• packing for my 1/2 marathon this weekend in Nashville – a Rock and Roll series run

I stayed late at school today after I tutored to finish a paper for grad school, and when I got home it was already close to 7pm. Since the sun had come out, Brady and I ran a quick 3 miles before starting on dinner. We just wanted to make sure we didn’t forget how to run before Saturday.

Then I started making dinner, grilled chicken for Brady and tofu for me. I saw a post on lemony chickpeas with tofu and it sounded wonderful so I took the idea and went with it.

Lemony Sesame Tofu with Chickpeas and Veggies with Quinoa

• 1/2 block of extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
• big handfull of fresh broccoli
• 1/2 can chipeas
• 2 small onions chopped up
• baby bella mushrooms – cut into pieces
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• goat cheese

1. Cook onions and mushrooms until soft and tender.
2. Add all remaining ingredients and let it heat all the way through.
3. Serve over spinach and quinoa.
4. Sprinkle with goat cheese

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Breakfast was my usual fruit with GoLean vanilla oatmeal and coffee with soy-milk plus a splash of SF creamer. Then lunch was leftover Ali’s feast. It was delicious and filling – still. I snacked on celery and PB in the afternoon, while the kids were at art.

I was hungry when I got home. Luckily, I had planned ahead and marinated a piece of salmon in lime, cumin and mexican seasonings. I threw it in the oven on broil for about 10-15 min.

While that was cooking, I boiled up some diced sweet potatoes and heated up some quinoa from last night. I threw it all together with black beans and chickpeas. Served with baked kale and fresh tomato and guac. It was delish and very clean!

Super Simple Quinoa SBC (Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Chickpea)

• 1 c. cooked quinoa
• 1/2 can of chickpeas
• 1/2 can of rinsed black beans
• 1/2 sweet potato (diced and boiled)

Mix all together and enjoy!

You can guess what my lunch for tomorrow looks like!

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So we came home and Brady started to make dinner:

Brady’s Bourbon Sesame Shrimp

• shrimp (we boiled our raw shrimp for a few minutes first)
• bourbon (equal parts with soy)
• soy sauce (equal parts with bourbon)
• sesame seeds (as many as you like)
• sesame oil (enough for your tastes)

1. Boil or cook shrimp so it is not raw.
2. Marinate shrimp in bourbon, soy and sesame seeds and oil.
3. Place shrimp in marinade on a cookie sheet
4. Broil for 5 min.
5. Serve and enjoy!

His Plate:

Hers:

I mixed mine with Kashi pilaf, chickpeas, cucumber, tomato, feta, snap peas and mushrooms! It was delish!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!

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Breakfast: Usual – fruit and oatmeal

Lunch: leftover salad and popcorn

Snack: low fat brownie treat (will post this weekend)

Workout: 5 mile run with Katie and Heather! We had to bundle up to handle the 35 degree weather – yuck! Where did 77 go/

Dinner: Black Bean Chickpea Burgers with Kale Chips and Honey Dijon Fingerling Potatoes

Black Bean Chickpea Burgers

• 1/2 can of black bean burgers
• 1/2 can of chickpeas
• 1/3 c. bread crumbs
• 1/4 c. fresh salsa
• cumin
• salt and pepper

Blend all ingredients together in the mini food processor and cook in a non-stick pan!

Fingerling Potatoes

• 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tso. olive oil

Cut potatoes into small pieces and mix with dressing. Bake for 25 min. at 430.

Brady wanted his burger, made with extra lean beef, showcased as well, so here it is! I put it on an Sprouted EZ. Grain Roll!

Off to work on the paper! Yay for Friday!!

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