Another wonderful recipe experiment!  I had put whole bananas in the freezer so they wouldn’t go bad, but I didn’t have the energy to make banana bread.  I didn’t know what to make with them, so I started googling.  I kept finding vegan websites with banana “ice cream” recipes.  I decided to try my own version and I have had this 3 times in the past week…

Below is a picture of the ingredients and tools:

2 frozen bananas, peeled (how to peel a frozen banana is next)

1 Tbsp of Hershey’s dark chocolate powder

1 tsp sweetener

1/4 cup vanilla almond milk

First things first – how do you peel a frozen banana?  It was actually pretty easy to do.  I waited a couple of minutes for it to thaw just a bit and then sliced off the 2 ends.  Then, you make a slit down the middle and peel it.  Super easy!

Next step – make the banana “ice cream.”  Below is a picture of the yumminess.  I just put the 2 bananas in my mini food processor and blended until smooth.  Because it was frozen, it came out with the perfect consistency.

Next step: Chocolate syrup!  Add the ingredients together and mix very well.  You can adjust the milk and sweetener to your liking.

Finished product!!  Frozen banana ice cream with chocolate syrup 🙂 Mmmmmmmm!

Enjoy! 🙂

Yummmm!!!! This veggie burger was so tasty! I would highly recommend making one.  It has a great nutty flavor with cilantro, cumin and a cayenne kick!  It is also vegan friendly.

This recipe will make 2 burgers:

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup bulgur

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup pinto beans

2 tsp flax seeds

3 Tbsp sunflower seeds

1 Tbsp soy sauce (I used liquid aminos since it has much less sodium)

1 tsp cumin

1/4 cup cilantro

1 tsp cayenne

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp Smart Balance (I used the vegan version)

Instructions:

Saute the onions in a saucepan until brown, about 6-8 minutes.  Add bulgur and water and simmer until bulgur soaks up all of the water.  This will take approximately 10-15 minutes.

Add the pinto beans, soy sauce, and bulgur onion mixture and mix well.  Then, add the cilantro, cumin, cayenne, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, garlic and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

Pat into burgers and make sure to pat well because there is not much of an emulsifier keeping this burger together.  If I had one complaint, it would be that it does not stay together very well.

Melt the margarine in the pan and cook the burger for about 6 minutes on each side.  Depending on how thick it is, it may need more or less.

I served mine with a cilantro-lemon mayo.  This of course would not be vegan friendly, but you could use a plain greek yogurt or vegan sour cream in place of the mayo.  This would make it vegan friendly.

Cilantro-Lemon Mayo

1 Tbsp mayo w/ olive oil

1-2 Tbsp cilantro

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together and serve.

I put my burger on top of a whole wheat bun with lettuce and tomato.  It was fabulous 🙂

Nutrition Facts (1 nutty veggie burger patty + bun + mayo)

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 burger + bun + mayo (171 grams)

Amount per Serving

Calories 424 Calories from Fat 217

Total Fat 24g

Saturated Fat 5g

Polyunsaturated Fat 11g

Monounsaturated Fat 8.3g

Cholesterol 5mg

Total Carbohydrates 41g

Dietary Fiber 9.4g

Sugars 8.1g

Protein 14g

Vitamin A 20% · Vitamin C 27% Calcium 10% · Iron 17%

Enjoy!

I am so excited for my garden this year!  I spent all day yesterday planting 🙂

Here is the finished product for our raised bed.  I wish I had taken a picture of the before!  Oh my goodness, it was a mess!  There were weeds and baby pine trees and who knows what else growing in there.  The rosemary bush in the back is still out of control, but much better than before.  I am going to trim it down today and dry the rosemary.

I planted 2 different types of tomatoes, some heirloom and beef steak.  I went ahead and put bamboo stakes by them for when they start growing.  I also already had a cage for tomatoes, so I used that one for the beef steaks.  Behind the tomatoes, are the cucumbers.  And then I planted some butter lettuce seeds.  I also put some of the seeds in a container to see which would grow better.  I am hoping to have a lot of lettuce and tomatoes!  We eat so much lettuce and so many tomatoes, I hope there will be some cost savings here… 🙂

Here is another picture of the raised bed.  We have now put wooden stakes all around it in hopes of keeping the dogs out of it.  Odie and Izzy (picture below) already tried napping in the cool soil when I was tilling it…

Odie above and Izzy below 🙂

Yum! I planted an herb pot with basil, mint and cilantro.  I will probably have to move the mint because it will probably try and take over the basil and cilantro… My mint from the fall is actually sprouting again as well, so I might just move it all into the ground. Anyways, I am super excited to have fresh herbs, and these 3 are my favorites!

This pot has my favorite – hot peppers! There are 4 jalapeno pepper plants and the killer habanero 🙂  I can’t wait to have some peppers.  I have to wait about 70 days though… the countdown is on!

Another picture of my herb pot and my new watering can ($5 at Big Lots).

The herb and pepper pots.  I also planted some flowers and lettuce in other containers… we’ll see how they do!

One day down and look how great they look!!  I think the mint has already grown!

I was so surprised to see the tomato plants this morning!  They look amazing!! This one (the beef steak) looks like it has almost doubled in size! I cannot wait to have some yummy homegrown tomatoes!!!

Happy gardening 🙂

What a yummy surprise!

I decided to make a regular lasagna for my dad’s birthday tonight, but since I had never made it before, I did not realize how much real cheese it contained!! And since I am lactose intolerant, a real turkey lasagna was not the smartest choice for me… so, I created a last minute tofu lasagna for me 🙂  Here is my last minute recipe:

6 pieces whole wheat lasagna cooked al dente

1 8-oz package medium tofu sliced into 8 thin pieces

1/2 cup marinara sauce (either pre-made low-sodium or no-sodium tomato paste + basil, garlic and oregano)

1 cup raw spinach leaves

2 garlic cloves

1 bunch fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup vegan mozzarella

Preheat oven to 375F.  Cook pasta to al dente and rinse with cold water.  Then in a small square pan, add 3 pieces of pasta on the bottom (part of the lasagna will be above the pan).  Then, top with 1/2 of the sliced tofu, 1/4 cup of the marinara sauce, 1/2 cup spinach, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 of the basil and 2 Tbsp mozzarella.  Then, add 3 more pieces of pasta on top and the same ingredients as previous.  Make sure to coat the top with the vegan mozzarella and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese starts browning.

Wait to cool a bit (about 5 minutes) and cut into slices.  Enjoy!!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: serving = 216goz = 28ggram = 1g

Amount per Serving

Calories 215 Calories from Fat 103

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 11g   18%

Saturated Fat 2.8g    14%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3g

Monounsaturated Fat 1.3g

Cholesterol 7.1mg   2%

Total Carbohydrates 16g   5%

Dietary Fiber 3g   12%

Sugars 3.3g

Protein 15g

Vitamin A 36% · Vitamin C 15% Calcium 24% · Iron 15%