Homemade Meatless Burgers

So, I promised if these turned out good I would post. So here I am! 

They are kind of involved to make, but this recipe makes about 8, so the ones you don't use can be frozen and reheated for later meals. I had one fall apart on my first try, so I ate it the next day crumbled with spaghetti sauce and quinoa noodles for a good meat free Italian dinner. :)

This recipe DOES contain an egg, so if you are casein free or truly vegan, you will need to sub something else. Possibly some olive oil or bean paste of some sort would do the trick! If you find any good options, feel free to comment below. Use organic and/or locally sourced ingredients when possible :)

Without further ado, here's the recipe!

HOMEMADE MEATLESS BURGERS:

1 cup water

1/2 cup quinoa

1 tbsp olive oil (or other plant based oil)

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups (approx) finely chopped mushrooms, I used white button

1 tsp minced garlic (I used garlic paste)

1/4 tsp dried oregano

Dash sea salt

1 egg

1 cup cooked mashed black beans

1/3 cup quick cooking oats

1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari

Rinse quinoa and combine with water in a saucepan. Bring to boil and reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat let sit covered for 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Set aside to cool. 

Cook and mash the black beans, or mash a can of drained and rinsed black beans. 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet pan and sauté the onions about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic, oregano, and salt. Sauté another 5 minutes or so until everything is tender. Set aside to cool. 

In a bowl, beat the egg, then add the quinoa, beans, onion/mushroom mixture, oats and soy sauce. Mix until well combined. 

Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Using 1/2 cup scoops, form the mixture into pressed patties. (I used the Tupperware hamburger ring and press shown in the pics). Slide a top part of a broiler pan under the parchment paper and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until browned and crispy. 

Allow to cool for a few minutes and use like a burger, or crumble in a bowl while still warm for a good ground beef substitute! Allow extras to cool and then later between wax paper and freeze for later use. (I plan on reheating in a cooking sprayed skillet, just like the store bought ones!)

Enjoy! Until next time, Ciao!

Michelle

Shrimp fried rice- cheap! With a soy free option!!

In honor of my friend, here is a cheap dinner that is dairy free and gluten free and has an option to be SOY FREE!!! 

All prices are as of August 2014. 

2 cups dry rice, prepared to make 4 cups+ .... About $.50

1/2 pound salad shrimp... $2.35

12 oz Frozen peas and carrots... $1.09

2 eggs... $.33 to .65 (depending on what eggs you buy)

Prepared soy sauce or THIS SOY FREE SOY SAUCE RECIPE!!... $.50

http://stephaniecooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/homemade-soy-sauce-soy-free-soy-sauce.html?m=1

Prepare the rice. In a large wok pan or skillet, heat 1/4 cup of oil (I used certified organic canola oil, but safflower oil would be a good GMO FREE alternative) over high heat. Put rice and frozen veggies in pan and stir around to combine... Should be frying!! Add shrimp undrained and "some" soy sauce. Fry until everything is hot and combined. Make a well in rice in the center of the pan all the way to the metal. Put scrambled eggs in the well and stir until fully set. Mix the whole thing again, adding some soy sauce if desired. Serve it up!! Total for 4 big servings... $4.77!!! 

Quick, easy, and cheaper than takeout! Enjoy! -Michelle :)

Almond milk making per request!

I posted a thing about commercial almond milk today on my Facebook page, and since I make my own, I am honoring a request to post a how-to....

Making Almond (or other nut) Milk...

1 cup of Raw Almonds (or other nuts)... bulk section is great for this!
4 cups of filtered water
vanilla (if desired)
sweetener (dates, honey, cane sugar simple syrup, etc) if desired

You will need a blender and a "nut bag" (which I find hilarious to say or type, by the way!)... or a new knee high pantyhose stocking, or cut the leg off of some that no longer fit since you bought them ;)

1. Soak the almonds overnight (8+ hours) in enough water to cover them.
2. Drain the water off, and place almonds in the blender.
3. Add the filtered water and blend until the contents are milky white and the almonds are little bits.
4. Add the vanilla and sweetener, and blend a little longer.
5. Strain the milk through the nut bag aka pantyhose into a pitcher, and then squeeze the liquid left in the hose into the pitcher.

There you have it! The milk will stay good in the fridge for about 2 days, so it is best to make it in these small batches.

As a bonus, if you spread the remaining almond meal out on a cookie sheet and dry it out in the oven on the lowest setting until it is dry and crumbly, you can use it as almond meal or almond flour in your recipes... nothing goes to waste, and no expensive almond meal to buy!

Happy milk making!
Michelle

New blog for ROAD TRIPS!

Hey y'all, just stopping in to invite you to check out my newly created blog about the alive and well American road trips we will be taking, starting with one in 34 hours! Check it out...

Road Trip Blog

Enjoy! All is well here in the Life of Cordes... but moving too fast to blog much. Peace to all, and Happy Independence Day!

Ciao!
Michelle

I feel like crap.

I have promised much blogging I have not delivered on. I have pics and ideas ready for a post on how to cook and use an entire chicken, recipes I've created out of necessity, and gluten free news I've discovered. I have not forgotten, and I have plenty more food and nutrition information to share. But....

Right now, I'm trying to figure out why I feel like crap. I have taken all of my regular supplements. I have had plenty of sleep... In fact, I have been so fatigued and exhausted that I have been sleeping almost 15 hours a day. For a week. I ate some food I shouldn't have (aka doughnuts and too much yummy Starbucks), but I have gained 8 pounds in 10 days. That is 10% of the weight I have lost since my surgery!! I'm foggy headed, no concentration to study, no attention span, and zero energy. I am usually pretty in tune with my body, but I don't know what it's trying to tell me. (Unfortunately, it doesn't talk as much as my mouth... lol!) 

At first, I thought I was hungry again, which is weird since the part of my stomach that produces ghrelin, the hunger hormone, is no longer there. So, I ate some bad for me shit because I was lazy. In the last few days, I've deciphered that it's not hunger. It's a craving. But I can't figure out for what. Nothing has worked yet, but clearly my body has been trying to tell me what it's missing. 

I think I have narrowed it down to two possible deficiencies. (By the way, all of my labs were normal 3 months ago, so anything abnormal would be new...). My problem could be one or both of these, and possibly more I haven't thought of. (Don't suggest to eat bananas... Lol... They make me sick...)

First, an iron deficiency. I was anemic a lot as a kid, and none of my supplements have iron (my old crappy Centrum did), so I began taking an iron supplement tonight. I can't eat red meat well, I don't have room in my tiny tummy for dark leafy greens, and I haven't eaten many eggs lately.... So I'm sure my iron is probably low. 

Secondly, I think I am lacking in Vitamin D. My It's Vital has vitamin D, but I can't drink milk and with being gluten free, I don't generally have fortified grains and cereals. Plus those same leafy dark greens are good for calcium and Vitamin D... So the spinach, kale, and broccoli I've been missing are a double whammy! I've been bad about my Greens, so I am going to add that to the extreme priority list, and I am going to go tanning for a few days and see if that helps....

Alright, before the indoor tanning attacks begin: from age 16 to 21, I tanned 5 days a week. I went to a tanning salon, tanned and then ran on the treadmill they had. I was healthy and thin, and in excellent shape. I don't burn with "normal" sun exposure, and I wear sunscreen if I'm going to be outside for a length of time when burning could be possible. I have a lot of melanin which, statistically speaking, makes my risk of melanoma minimal. (Notice that melanoma rates aren't higher in Africa and other equatorial societies?) I do skin checks, so I am always on the look out for basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma, both of which won't kill you if caught early, and many times they are. During the winter in the northern states even a blue sky day doesn't yield strong enough sun to make our bodies produce Vitamin D and increase serotonin production. This is the first winter in yeeeeeeears I haven't tanned at least once a week. So, I'm going to go for a few days and see if it helps... If it does, I will tan until the year I can move south. I just can't hang with this lack of energy and low brain capacity. 

So hang in there with me, guys. I'll let you know what I figure out and get to those blog posts. I promise :)

Hasta luego! 

Michelle

Cranberry Pumpkin GLUTEN FREE Muffins!

By request (and since I am dilly-dallying going out for my run since it's a lazy Sunday...), here is the recipe for the yummy muffins that I posted on Facebook 2 weeks ago! Happy baking!

Cranberry Pumpkin Gluten Free Muffins

2 cups Gluten Free Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Flour)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps xanthan gum
1 tsp GF baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup softened butter (I used Organic Valley pastured butter, YUM!)
1 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (C&H pure cane... non-GMO)
2 eggs (from a local egg farm, just sayin')
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup organic pumpkin puree (Trader Joe's is the best price)
1/3 cup soy milk (you can also use regular, almond, or coconut...)
1 cup fresh cranberries (you can break them up a little with some sweetener if you find cranberries too tart on their own...)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease 24 mini muffin or 12 regular sized muffin tins.
3. In a large bowl, use a whisk to mix together GF flour, baking soda, xanthan gum, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until well combined.
4. In another bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter until its white and fluffy.
5. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
6. Add the eggs one at a time and beat.
7. Put aside the mixer and stir in the pumpkin puree with a wooden spoon.
8. Stir in half the dry mix, then half the milk, then half the dry mix, and the other half of the milk.
9. Stir in the cranberries.
10. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Tap the tin to settle the mix.
11. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.
12. Let cool... if you want it more like a cupcake, mix together powdered sugar and cream cheese to make a cream cheese icing for them :)

Enjoy! I put mine in individual freezer bags so I could grab one in the morning and it would be defrosted by afternoon snack!

Freelance nails and wraps!

Hi guys! Longer post later... As you know, life at light speed! 

I am officially done with my time at Gene Juarez, and am doing some freelance nail appointments in addition to my wrap business... Around school of course! I am also able to do events like wedding parties and fill in at salons for event parties :) 

Call or text me at 253-753-4009 or email me at michellecordes@me.com... DON'T FORGET TO GET YOUR FALL WRAP SESSIONS BOOKED TOO AND PERSONAL NUTRITION ANALYSIS!!

Talk to you soon! More to come!