Burgers & Smoothies

Yesterday after work I wasn’t feeling great so I just spent the afternoon relaxing on the couch with the fur baby.  I wasn’t really feeling up to solid foods but was hungry so I decided to make myself a smoothie. In the smoothie I had original 1 cup unsweetened hemp milk, 1/4 of a cantaloupe, 1/2 banana and about 1 cup of frozen mango.

It was so cool and refreshing I think it is my new smoothie love.  I also tried out my new GlassDharma straw which I absolutely love! It as a little weird to drink our of at first but I really like it.  Above is just one of the straws I have and I can’t wait to show you the others! Not only are these straws pretty but they are sustainable, dishwasher safe, kid friendly and they have a life time guarantee; you can’t beat that! Also at first I was like how am I supposed to clean this thing?  Well GlassDharma includes a cleaning brush which makes things so much easier because otherwise I would have had a hard time getting that smoothie residue out of the straw. They are also part of my new OpenSky Shop where right now until August 16th you can save 25% of your total purchase when you use coupon code EXCITE25; this a one time use only so make sure to check out other items on my OpenSky shop as well as others shops before checking out!

Finally dinner time rolled around and I knew the Hubz would not be down for a liquid dinner so I decided to use up some veggies and rice that was in the fridge and make bean and rice burgers.  This is one of my favorite things to make when I have left over grains, veggies and beans in the pantry. I also love how easy it is to make these because there is very little work that I have to do; I just stick everything except the spices, condiments and rice into the food processor and pulse.   In last nights mix there was: 1/2 parsley, 10 olives, 1 carrot, 1/2 onion and 1 can of drained and rinsed white beans all tossed into the food processor.

Pulse everything until it is pretty well combined but there are still some small chunks.

Once the mixture has reached the right consistency dump it into a bowl and start adding the remaining ingredients: 1 cup of cooked rice or grain (I only had white rice; need to restock the pantry), 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, 1t salt, 1/2t black pepper, 1t chili flakes (optional), 1t paprika, 1 heaping tablespoon each of dijon mustard and tomato ketchup, 1/2 tablespoon hot sauce and 1t garlic powder.

Mix to combine all of the ingredients and then scoop out onto a parchment lined baking sheet and place in a 425F oven for 23-27 minutes, flipping part way through.  I then topped mine with a little BBQ sauce and served it up with roasted broccoli.

I get this question a lot of time from friends and family: “I really want a food processor however they are a lot of money, do you have any suggestions for a lower cost one?” YES! I do have a great suggestion!  I have always wanted wanted a really nice Cuisinart 14 cup food processor, however these are around $200+ and just not in my budget at this time.  I one day was checking out reviews online for lower end food processors and came across the Black & Decker Quick & Easy and decided that the price was right and that I would get one.  I have now had mine for a few years and I love it! I can make hummus, dips, veggie burgers, cookies and baked goods, and my favorite banana ice cream in it with no problem.  When I was looking through OpenSky to see what items that I love and use in the kitchen I was excited to see that they actually had this food processor so now you can have it too!

For now I am going to be glad I have a good food processor that works but I still am dreaming of the day when I will come home to a nice big Cuisinart food processor.

Q: What one appliance do you wish you had but don’t?