Hello all!
Well today started off lovely and sunny, and kind of went downhill didn’t it?
After work I had to go to two (yes two) seperate post offices to collect parcels from yesterday. No idea why on the same day they ended up in 2 different places. And one of them was closed (grr)- but one parcel was my order from the natural collection (which I ordered at the start of August!!)- some peanut and cashew butters, tea, cacao nibs (fancied trying them) and spices. So that was a nice surprise! I had half a trek brownie for some fuel.
After that I went out on a run- a steady 4.5 miles- it was soooo windy! While running I listened first to a program on radio 4 about omega 3 oils, and then the food program which was about ice cream! Sort of opposite ends of the spectrum! I took with me some nuun (this time I tried the citrus flavour) to see how I got on drinking it while running.
It was fine to drink while running as it was not fizzy at all. It has a weak lemon squash type of flavour, so not too strong to take on. I prefer the berry flavour, but this one was fine too.
Once home I did the shred (realised that I didn’t do it this monday as I was resting after my run on Sunday-oops), and had the other half of my trek brownie bar.
Then it was time to make some bean burgers! Since getting the Veganomicon
So I half followed the recipe from the book, and half made it up!
In a bowl I mashed a box of kidney beans, and then added some wheat gluten (40g ish ) and some millet flakes (30g ish- I didn’t have breadcrumbs!), along with tomato puree, a tiny bit of water, garlic paste, chilli powder and paprika. There was supposed to be an onion in there too but I didn’t have that either! Then I mixed them together (it went very doughy and stringy- you could see the gluten at work holding it all together) and shaped them into patties.
Then I baked them in the oven for 30 minutes, turning them once half way through. They were supposed to be fried, but another recipe for beanballs said they could be baked so I gave it a go!
Alongside the burgers I had some tomato quinoa, with balsamic roasted beetroot, pepper, tomato and courgette. Delicious!
And some gherkins! Love it!
The burgers were really tasty- they were much firmer and less squishy than other bean burger recipes I have tried, and I think it must be the wheat gluten. Now I am looking forward to going off road and trying different onces. I have some chickpeas in the cupboard so maybe chickpea burger-ball things next. What fun! Next time I would add a little more spice as I was pretty conservative with it.
Plus I made extra quinoa and roasted veggies so for the next 2 days for lunch I have my own version of an innocent veg pot! I put the left overs in those soup tuppaware things with the screw top lids.
Any dinners that you love to double up and have as lunch?
I was thinking of adding the bean burgers in but I don’t think they would be so nice cold.
After that I watched Jamie’s American Food thingy which was really interesting. And in a minute I am going to catch up with the great bake off, alongside a cup of tea and some conscious chocolate. I was sent some to review.
The chocolate is hand-made and raw, free from gluten, dairy and soya. The one I am trying it “The Nutty One” made with brazils, cashews, hazelnuts and walnuts. The other ingredients are cacao solids, cacao butter, agave nectar, cacao powder, wild carob, cinnamon and himalayan salt.
The bar is in a lovely card sleeve, and wrapped in greaseproof paper. The chocolate is deep and rich; if you like very dark chocolate then I am sure you would love this. It is really rich, but the nuts add some crunch and texture. It does have a soft texture, which maybe is because it is raw. It says on the pack it can be stored in the fridge so I think maybe I would try a bar next time from the fridge. I think that a couple of pieces is my limit as it is so rich though!
Gosh that was a long post! I only meant it to be a quick one!
