Handmade Veggie Burgers

Hello. I've been away for a while. I was busy with unimportant things that kept me from being creative but I got fed up with those unimportant things and now I'm back to creating important things, such as  veggie burgers and to-do lists of crafts I'd like to do. I have retrieved my creative spark back from the deep, dark, depressing place it went to hide when I started a certain job over a year ago... Hooray! I hate long intros to blog posts (just give me the damn recipe already!) so I will cease and desist and show you what I made tonight.

I love to eat veggie burgers, but not just any burgers...the Chez Marie ones in particular, because they don't taste like baby food mushed into a patty. The only problem is that they cost 4.50 a box...for 4...and I eat two at a time. But they're SO delicious! Anywho, I found a recipe and knocked them out. BAM. BURGERS. The taste is very comparable, but the price, thankfully, is not.

These, as previously stated, are 4.50/4 burgers/10 oz. = $1.12/burger (That's a darn delicious dollar though...and still cheaper than a latte (I compare everything I buy to the price and value of a latte)).

These beauties are .25 cents a burger! At the rate I eat them, I feel better about that price for sure and for certain. I'm a thrifty little bugger and saving money by making something myself makes me so very exuberant!

I also devised a geeeeenius way of wrapping them (in my humble opinion), at least for someone with sensory issues who hates getting their hands all yucky. 

Step one: Line a small container with a square of saran wrap.

(Hi foot!)

Step two: Scoop burger mixture into bowl and spread to edges.

Step three: Fold saran wrap in and squish down a bit.

Step four: Well hello there perfectly shaped and wrapped little burger! 

Best part is they all come out the same size, shape, and thickness and they're

already wrapped for freezing! And my hands were clean!

Here's the recipe I used, with a few alterations. Make Your Own Veggie Burgers

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins (Gluten, Egg, Dairy, Sugar-Free)

I found a particular gluten-free blueberry muffin recipe a while back from a beautiful Canadian blog called Pocketfuls (another example of Canada's awesomeness!) that I make all the time. The blueberry recipe is absolutely excellent, but it doesn't quite satisfy when I'm craving double chocolate chip muffins, so using Lisa's recipe as a base, I created one that would work for my chocolatey desires.

Here is my adaptation! They're creamy, moist, and richly delicious even though they don't have dairy, eggs, sugar, or gluten!

Dry Ingredients:
1/2 cup Millet flour
1/2 cup Sorghum flour
1/2 cup Tapioca starch
1/2 Oat flour (I grind up oatmeal)
1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup cocoa powder (I know it's a weird measurement, but it's perfect.)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients
2 mashed bananas
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
4 TBLS honey
1 TBLS Applesauce
1 tsp Vanilla
A handful of my Handmade Honey Chocolate Chips

1. Make chocolate chips ahead of time to give them time to set.
2. Mix together all wet ingredients and add into mixed dry ingredients.
3. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Pour into a non stick muffin pan and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes, but check at 20 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

Thank you Lisa from Pocketfuls for your beautiful blog and inspiration!

1/25/13: I randomly decided to add raspberry jam in the middles of the next batch I made. De. lic. ious.

Fill up half of the muffin cup, put a blob of jam in the middle, and then scoop more batter on top. 

(Pardon cruddy cell phone pictures.)

Oozy, yummy, gooey raspberry. :)

Homemade Sugar-free, Gluten-free (Two Ingredient) Chocolate Chips!

I don't know why I never thought of these beauties before. They're extremely fast, easy, and actually taste and hold form like regular chocolate chips! Just take a look and you'll believe me!

No more chocolate chunks that require many ingredients, melting on a stove, and storage in the freezer because they melt at room temperature!

Just get a box of Unsweetened Baker's Chocolate and some honey and you're good to go!

1. Melt the chocolate blocks in the microwave in 1 minute increments. 

2. Mix in about 1-2 teaspoons of honey per block

3. As you stir, the honey will cool the chocolate down and solidify it a bit.

(EDIT: My friend, Becca suggested I add (gluten-free) vanilla extract and they turned out even better!) 

(Add 1/2 tsp per block of chocolate)

4. Spoon the mixture into a baggie and cut the tip off an end, making a

piping bag. 

5. Pipe the mixture onto a greased cookie sheet into little chip forms.

6. Stick into the refrigerator if you want them to harden quickly. 

They can be stored at room temperature! 

Enjoy!! 

Gluten-free, Egg-free, Cane Sugar-free Chocolate Protein Bars

Whew, that was a mouthful of a title.

The day before I found out about my egg and sugar intolerances, I was spending time with my friend Lexi and we attempted to make Macarons. I already knew about my gluten intolerance and Macarons are gluten free so we decided to go for it! Macarons use almond meal for their main ingredient so we had a bunch left over when we were done.

I was poking around at it and mentioned to Lexi, "This would make a great base for a protein bar, wouldn't it?" Being the awesome, innovative lady that she is (she makes the most amazing things just by guessing measurements and they always turn out delicious!), she got right to it.

The next morning I found out that I was intolerant to sugar cane and eggs and was about to go crazy when I remembered that I could eat everything in the bars we had made the day before. I won't lie, I was addicted to sugar. I eat pretty healthy except when it comes to the baked goods department, and then I'm sunk. So, to know that I could still get my sweets fix and not be poisoning myself at the same time, that was great news. :)

These bars taste so good that sometimes I'll bite into one and get instantly scared that I'm eating something I shouldn't be. Yep. Guilty pleasures that aren't so guilty. :) Also, they're "free" by nature, not by replacement so they aren't really that expensive to make. That's a huge relief to me too, I've been really overwhelmed by the prices of gluten free baking ingredients.

Lexi and I made this up and I've further tweaked it so there's not really an exact recipe. It's just kind of one of those "sense it as you go" type of deals. You can substitute or tweak it as much as you want and I'm sure they'll still turn out great.

Approximate Recipe:

2 cups almond meal (We bought bulk almonds and ground them in a food processor)
1/2 + 1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut (found it in the bulk section of my grocery store)
1/4 cup cocoa powder (dark is super tasty but regular is really good too)
1/4-1/2 cup Gluten-free oats (the only specialty thing you need. It's pricey, so I just used a little)
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey (pretty much use as much as it takes to make it all stick together)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Grind the almonds in a food processor or blender.
3. Leave about 1/4 cup of almond meal in blender and add 1/2 cup raisins.
4. Blend the 1/2 cup of raisins and almond meal (the almond meal helps prevent the blended raisins from becoming a sticky mass).
5. Mix almond meal, blended raisins, extra 1/4 cup of whole raisins, coconut, cocoa powder, gluten-free oats, and salt together.
6. Mix in honey until is all sticks together. Using your hands works the best. :P
7. Put into a lightly oiled 8X8 pan and bake at 250 for 10 minutes.

The salt adds a little bite to it all, without it I thought they were too sweet. Baking really firms them up and into and actual bar. For some reason the taste changes. Don't ask me why. :)

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Here's Lexi's blog too, if you want to check it out!
Mrs. Lemonmint

Rachel

And thus, my journey begins...

I've been struggling with my health for quite a while now, but especially in the last year. I found an awesome naturopath in my area and she ended up recommending that I get tested for food allergies and intolerances. I did the allergy test and everything came back negative (I used to be allergic to peanuts and now I'm not anymore!) so she decided to test my intolerances as well.

She had already suspected gluten so I had been off of that for two weeks already when the test came back. I wasn't feeling any better so I knew there had to be something else. It turns out that I have a 6/6 intolerance to eggs (both the white and the yolk, as well as duck eggs) a 4/6 intolerance to wheat gluten, wheat, spelt, and rye, and a 4/6 intolerance to cane sugar. Cray-zay.

I was beyond thrilled at first because I finally know what is probably making me sick!! I have muscle aches, joint pain, constant headaches, horrid stomach aches, depression, anemia, and a really low energy reserve. And now I've found out that I can start feeling my age again?? AWESOME. This high lasted a little while until I realized how drastically my lifestyle would have to change. It's a good trade off, honestly, and I'm really not complaining...but it was still a shock.

I let myself be upset for a little while and then I kicked my butt into gear and decided to do something about it. If you know me at all, you know how much I love to bake...and not having cane sugar, gluten, or eggs at my disposal makes things a bit more difficult. Not impossible...but difficult. And more expensive...but more healthy. I know all of the plusses of eating healthier and all of the substitutions I can find, but it STILL SUCKS, okay?? I had just perfected my chocolate chip cookie, guys. For reals. So basically, yes I was upset.

This isn't tragic by any means, but it's still a little depressing to walk through the supermarket and know I can't eat 75% of what's there. And apples and almond butter are great snacks, but not when you want a delicious, sugary brownie or a creamy hard-boiled egg.

Plus, I'm a frugal person. Knowing that I might have to spend 3X the amount on special flours than I was previously spending did not make me a happy camper. But, knowing my nature, I'll find frugal ways of baking once I get into my groove.

I know I'll have moments of ups and downs, but I'm doing alright now. Yesterday I made my own allergen free chocolate chips and today I made an allergen free chocolate protein bar.

YES. I can do this!