Category Archives: Recipe

Jul 26 2012

Who Doesn’t Love Chocolate Pudding?

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Yesterday = crazy busy, and I needed to work through lunch. Plus I got a sunburn. I told you I never know what I’ll be getting myself into at work! Had I known, I would have brought sunscreen.

Anyway. I missed lunch. So by the time I got home, I was staaaaaarviiiiiing. It’s a good thing I whipped up a batch of chocolate protein pudding Tuesday night!

Chocolate Protein Pudding

  • 1 package of fat-free chocolate pudding
  • 2 cups of cold milk (I used 1%)
  • 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder (I use Jillian Michael’s chocolate whey powder)

Stir together (follow the directions on pudding box). Let it chill. Eat it all up.

It’s so easy! I had planned to indulge in some of it for dessert on Tuesday evening, but ended up having last minute plans and had to let it stay in the fridge. I’m glad it was waiting for me when I got home yesterday (call it an appetizer before dinner?!). I topped it with a helluva lot of crunchy peanut butter on top. But I didn’t eat the whole recipe – oh no! It serves four. Apparently. But I’m going to eat it all myself.

Today is going to be a crazy day! I’ve been up for a while now already and am on my way to an out-of-town shoot. I’ll be sitting in the director’s chair for a live production … and needed to LEAVE our local office at 5AM. That. Is. Too. Early.

I’m glad I have leftover pudding to eat after work today too :)

Jun 28 2012

Black Bean Burgers

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I accomplished another one of my June goals, guys. Look at me go! That’s my second in a week.

This time, I decided to try out a new recipe. Now, I’ve always liked black bean burgers. They’re a nice alternative to meat if you’re not into that kinda thing (which I am, but I do like my options). I had a really delicious black bean burger at a local cafe last week, and I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

So I went searching for a recipe. I wanted needed to make my own.

I used this recipe from The Foodie Physician blog for inspiration, but ended up changing quite a few of the measurements and dropping some of the ingredients. Here’s my version:

Black Bean Burgers
1/2 cup quinoa
1 teasespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 egg
2/3 cup cooked corn (I used canned)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 teasespoon cumin
1 cup rolled oats, ground up

Bring one cup of water to a boil, and then add the quinoa. Let it cook and absorb all of the water and then take it off of the burner. While that’s happening, pour one and a half cans of black beans into a bowl and mash it all up into a paste (that’s an arm workout, FYI).

Sautee the garlic in the olive oil (I used extra virgin), and then dump that into the black bean paste. Mash that up some more, for good measure. Then throw in the remaining half can of black beans. Mash again. Then add in the tomato paste, egg, corn, cilantro, and cumin.

Then guess what? You’re going to stir it up. The next two things to go in the bowl are the cooked quinoa and the ground up oats. Then stir some more, and shape the concoction into six (monstrous) patties.

I stuck them in the fridge for two hours, and then baked them in the oven at 400 degrees F. Since I made 6 large burgers instead of 8 or 10 smaller ones, these needed more time than I originally planned. But I ended up baking them for 15 minutes, flipped them, and went for another 15. They turned out well … and really held together better than any other burger I’ve attemped. I recommend giving this recipe I try :)

After I made them, I realized I didn’t have any hamburger buns/english muffins to put the patties in (whoops!), so I compromised.

I put a poached egg on one:

And I crumbled leftovers into a tortilla with jalapeno Greek yogurt dip and cheese (this was SO GOOD):

Yayyyyy for accomplishing goals! I’m kicking June’s butt ;) Have a wonderful Thursday!

Apr 10 2012

Lentil Lovin’

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10 months, 3 iPhones.

Seriously.

Apple is sending me my third phone this week. The one I currently have keeps spazzing out. It will be fine one second, not working at all the next second, and then completing freaking out the next.

Eeeeeesh. Here’s hoping that the third time truly is the charm :)

*****

Last week, for the very first time, I made lentil soup.

I used a couple different recipes for inspiration and developed my own.

In the mix:

3 cups of water
1 3/4 cups of lentils (soaked the night before)
3 cups of vegetable broth
3 stalks of celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1 can of low sodium tomatoes
a shake of oregano
a small spoonful of garlic puree
salt and pepper

I threw everything into my slow cooker (seriously, one of the best inventions since the beginning of mankind). It simmered for about 6 hours, and left me with tons of filling soup.

I ate it by itself, and also paired it with rice to form a bit of a lentil jambalaya.

I ended up having a lot of leftovers, so I have two big containers waiting for me in the freezer for the next time I come home from work and don’t feel like cooking (this will probably be tomorrow, haha).

Are you a lentil lover? What are some ways you eat them? I like to add leftover lentils into mac and cheese.

Also, if you didn’t see it yesterday, head on over to Sub-three to see the guest post I wrote for Charles…

Have a wonderful day!

Apr 5 2012

A Little Bit Of Heaven

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We had a pot luck lunch at work yesterday. I love those days ;) This one was a little bit different though, because it was tied into the food bank drive we’re currently having.

The assignment? Bring in a dish for everyone to eat … and then bring in the non perishable ingredients to donate. Great idea, right (I’m on the committee, of course it was)?

My contribution was heavenly. The recipe came from a friend of my mama. I tried it one time, and needed to have the recipe. It’s not healthy. At all. It’s not friendly to people with particular diets. At all. But it is incredibly simple, and it will impress even the trickiest of people.

Here’s the recipe for what I’ve started to call “Heaven In A Pan” (you can call it whatever you want … as long as you pay tribute to the wonderfulness):

Step 1 (Rice Krispies squares)

1/2 cup margarine
400g mini marshmallows
8 1/2 cups Rice Krispies

Step 2 (Caramel Sauce)

1 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp white corn syrup
1 can condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)

Some of the ingredients, thrown onto my kitchen table/paper holder/blogging space.

First up, make the rice krispie squares. If you’ve never done that before, wow. Hahahaha. But I’ll walk you through it.

Melt the marshmallows and margarine in the microwave. Stir it up. Add the rice krispies. Stir it up. Press it into a pan. Whew. Tough, right? ;)

Now, just put all of the sauce ingredients into a pot. Are you still with me? Keep it on low heat until it changes color (about 7 or 8 minutes). I highly encourage taste testing to make sure it has reached it’s full caramelness. I did, a lot. I actually ending up giving myself stomach ache!

Once the sauce has reached it’s full caramel potential, pour it onto the squares. Let it set (I put it in the fridge, although I wouldn’t call that necessary).

Then you can serve it to people and let them honor you.

The picture DOES NOT do them justice.