Without getting on a total sidebar, as my time to post is fairly limited these days, Justin and I have reverted back to our vegetarian/mostly vegan diet. Well, Justin has. I'm still eating fish while I'm breast feeding as it seems to be the one source of protein that doesn't royally tick off Owen's stomach (thank GOD the protein of choice is not something like pig. Barf).
For people that haven't been reading this blog for years, I was vegetarian/vegan for YEARS. I started eating meat about a year ago as a naturopath that I was seeing to help me regulate my cycles (and get me to actually have a period) recommended that my body type really needed animal protein. You can see all of that post here. Turns out the "period" that followed was implantation bleeding and that animal protein actually helped us to create a baby and QUICKLY. The goal of seeing the naturopath to regulate my cycles was so that we could have a baby SOMEDAY... it just happened about 4000000 times faster than anticipated. I believe that I was deficient as a result of all of the running I was doing which was coupled by not eating the right amounts of protein. That being said, after a year of eating meat (or rather struggling in my attempts to eat meat) like I haven't eaten meat in, oh, 15 years, I have researched the hell out of vegetarian diets and I truly believe I can get the right amount of protein from a plant based diet. I can't say that I will NEVER eat meat again or that there might come a day where I need to eat meat again, but Justin and I both agree that we feel better eating plant based diets so that is what we plan to do the majority of the time. We also hope to raise Owen in a similar manner.
So. (that was way more long-winded than I anticipated it being)....Going back to these roots of mine, I've gotten creative in the kitchen. I spent years perfecting ways to cook vegetarian meals and I relish in it...so much so that when I was told to eat meat last fall, I was at a serious loss in the kitchen. I had no idea how to cook anything anymore so it all fell on Justin. You'd think that cooking tofu could just translate to chicken but I just couldn't get it to work. There were nights of pinterest, recipes, raw meat sitting on my counter staring at me because I had no clue what the hell to do with it. And it sounded REVOLTING to me (I seriously do not like the taste of meat), so it usually ended in tears and Justin taking over and making something that actually turned out to be edible for me. Needless to say, I'm glad I'm not trying to force down beef anymore (the naturopath actually said last year that liver would be awesome for me... again, HURL).
One of my favorite things to make are veggie burgers because they are SO easy and so delicious. They are also very filling and so good for you... plus, the recipe can change every time you make them! Sadly, I can't eat these right now as the little guy is not tolerating beans either, but I have made these a couple of times for Justin and they were a big hit.
(excuse the crappy iphone photo...hey, I tried).
Cilantro Veggie Burgers with pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup gluten free oats
1/8 cup pumpkin seeds
1 can beans (you can use any kind- garbanzo, black, kidney, etc)
2 tbsp tahini
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp hemp oil (if you don't have this, just use olive oil)
handful of cilantro
1-2 carrots shredded
1/4 cup spinach
1 tbsp garlic (approximately- to your taste)
1 tsp sea salt
Water
I usually modify the above recipe some but the above is my basic guideline (it's all approximate as I usually just throw these together). I usually have fun with the spices... add in some red peppers to make more spicy, throw in some hot sauce, put in some black pepper. And I usually throw in different types of veggies- celery, onion, etc...whatever I have on hand or that sounds good at the time, but the above was what I did the other night.
To make: put the oats and pumpkin seeds in a food processor and process until a fine consistency. Add in the remainder of the ingredients (except water) and pulse (don't make too mushy). I often just stir here as I like them more chunky. Add in water to get to the right consistency to hold the burgers together. To heat, you can either throw them on the stove in some olive oil or bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 or even put them on the grill. Mmmm, enjoy!
