Vegan Bean Burgers

I was watching The Ellen Show yesterday afternoon and watched a clip on a vegan chef. I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian but I have been thinking about what I eat more and what is healthy. I have started to make a switch to organic foods and incorporating more fruits, veggies, whole grains and water into my daily diet. I always thought non-meat burgers were so disgusting but I decided to give them another try. I found out, after trying them for the second time, that I love bean burgers! They are so good, a lot healthier, and are a fraction of the calories in a real burger.
I thought I would share this bean burger recipe that I used and maybe you will discover you enjoy it too!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine
• 1 large stalk celery, chopped fine
• 2 - 4 cloves garlic minced (depends how much you like garlic)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup hummus
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 2 slices dry whole wheat bread crumbled into tiny pieces (hint: blender or food processor works great

Directions:

     

1. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium low
2. Sauté garlic & onion in oil until soft
3. Add the celery & pepper, fry until softened
4. Mix in the herbs & spices and heat through
5. Mash or puree half the beans
6. Add reserved beans and all other ingredients EXCEPT hummus and liquid seasoning
7. Mix well by hand
8. Food Processor: process 1/2 the beans with all other ingredients except hummus and liquid seasoning, then mix in the remaining whole beans
9. Add enough of the hummus or liquid seasoning to moisten mixture fairly well
10. Mixture may seem a little sticky, but it's better than a bit dry, because they WILL dry out while cooking
11. Form 10 flat patties and cook on medium until brown, approx. 10 min per side
12. Fantastic with a little brown mustard, horseradish and sweet pickl

Strawberry Shortsnake

My Mom is a Kindergarten teacher always looking for fun cute ideas to do with her kids. Since I am always par-oozing the internet I told her I would tell her about kid ideas that catch my eye. She brought up that her kids this year really love/enjoy cooking, baking and playing with their "play" kitchen. I found a cute recipe at FamilyFun.com that is relatively easy and best of all really healthy!

If you aren't a teacher don't worry! Do this at home with your kids they will love it!

Ingrediants: 

• SHORTCAKE BISCUITS:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
• 1 cup milk
• STRAWBERRY FILLING:
• 1 quart strawberries

• 4 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING:
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• GARNISHES:
• 4 whole strawberries
• Green fruit leather
• Mini chocolate chips or M&M

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut in the margarine with a pastry cutter. Or use a vegetable grater to grate the stick into the mixing bowl and let your kids take turns blending the margarine into the dry ingredients with their fingertips. Once the dough is crumbly, slowly stir in the milk.
2. Turn out the dough onto a floured working surface and gently roll or pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick rectangle (it should measure about 6 x 8 inches). For the best results, handle the dough as little as possible.
3. Slice the rectangle into four 1-1/2- x 8-inch strips. Place the strips on an ungreased baking sheet, then let your child mold and curve them into S shapes that resemble snakes. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown. Transfer the baked shortcakes to a wire rack (a parent's job) and let cool. Carefully slice the cooled shortcakes in half lengthwise or split them with a fork and then set aside.
4. Wash the strawberries and let your kids select four to use for the snakes' heads. Slice the rest of the berries lengthwise into a mixing bowl. Toss with the confectioners' sugar and let stand while you prepare the whipped cream.
5. Combine the whipping cream and confectioners' sugar in a chilled bowl and beat with an electric or hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
6. Just before serving, arrange berries on the bottom half of each shortcake, then cover with the shortcake top. Spread on whipped cream and add a layer of sliced strawberry "scales."
7. For the snakes' heads, cut mouth openings in the tips of the whole berries and place one at the end of each shortcake. Press a pair of mini chocolate chip or M&M's eyes into the sides of each head and add a forked tongue cut from green fruit leather. Serves 4.

Key To Your Heart

Tungsten are for the manly men but titanium is for the women! Men, take a tip and get your woman a titanium necklace such as this one. This unique necklace is trendy, fun and unique. Instead of buying her a typical diamond for your anniversary change it up with this heart shaped key necklace.

This antique inspired heart shaped key necklace is a new trend worn by celebrities. I always am surprised when my boyfriend decides to wow me out of the blue with something special like this. Its nice when my boyfriend knows the latest trends and completely shocks me! Grab this at Titanium-jewelry.com.

Tungsten | For The Manly Men

What man actually enjoys wearing rings? Not many that I know of that is for sure. I have always thought this about men until I recently discovered Tungsten for men. When I got married I didn't want my husband to be that kind of guy that doesn't wear his wedding band. I wanted him to feel proud and enjoy the look and feel of his ring, that's why we choose Tungsten wedding bands.

We decided to go with tungsten because of its benefits: scratch proof, durability and masculinity. While trying them I found myself loving Tungsten as much as my husband that I bought myself one! I know its kind of a "manly" type of ring but I loved the simple silver band and it really ties into my lifestyle. I, nor my husband, wants to worry about scratching up our wedding bands. I am happy to say my husband does     in fact wear and enjoy his Tungsten wedding band!

Dates In A Jar

If you are anything like my boyfriend and I you run out of fun date nights. Also, you run out of gifts to buy each other after being together for awhile. I would much rather receive a thoughtful, hand made gift or even note than a materialistic object. My boyfriends birthday is coming up and instead of buying him one gift I decided to take this route...

Dates in a jar! How fun? Write fun dates on Popsicle sticks, doesn't have to be expensive, and when your both free one night pull a stick and take the adventure. Like I said it doesn't need to be anything expensive it could be something like watch a movie, make dinner together, take a stroll around the block, be creative! This gift is meaningful and that way you don't have to try to think up dates; instead they are all ready for you to go!

So Kardashian

If you haven't already heard Sears has launched a Kardashian Kollection which includes: handbags/accessories, shoes, swimwear, sunglasses, women's clothing, jewelery, intimates, denim and the latest, home. I am a huge fan of the Kardashian sisters, especially Khloe and Kourtney. What is so unique about this Kollection (no it isn't spelled wrong:) is that you can tell the personality of each sister through the Kollection.

I haven't bought into the whole monokini swimsuit type until just recently. I always thought it looked um lack of a better word, striperish? But after seeing it season after season the style has really grown on me. What I like about this monokini is the color, and the style of it. It doesn't cover the whole tummy so you won't get as weird of tan lines. This suit is so Koutney!

Divorce Jewelery... Really?

As we all know the divorce rate among Americans is somewhere around 50%, which is just completely wrong in my book. In my eyes marriage is a once in a life time type of deal and it seems the trend isn't taking marriage as seriously as they should be. Instead of sticking with each other through thick and thin couples are easily giving up. Don't get me wrong I don't think divorce should never happen, there is always appropriate times, but I don't feel the 50% stat is based on important factors.

I had a "seriously!" moment today when I read about how popular divorce jewelery has become. People are really selling their jewels from their former beloved for cold, hard cash almost immediately signing the divorce papers, I know right?! They are evening having jewelry parties and Divorce jewelry sale. What will they come up with next? What do you all think of this?

RRR's

The three R's, and no I'm not talking about the two R's rest and relaxation, I am talking about reduce, reuse and recycle. Earth day is approaching (April 22), which I consider a very important holiday. We should always be practicing the three R's but this habit is going to the waste side and its a shame. With the new "go green" attitude that the USA is taking it is time for all US citizens to actually practice this form of life.

I know it is sometimes a pain to recycle all the time and not fun to reuse things but its the right thing to do. Start somewhere small such as bringing reusable bags to the grocery stores instead of using grocery store plastic/paper bags, or using a reusable water bottle, instead of purchasing plastic bottles and throwing them away. The three R's really will make a difference on the planet, but only if we all put forth an effort.

Easy Teacher Gift

Coming up with gifts for teachers is a tough thing to do. I always want the gift I give my kid's teachers to have a little meaning behind it and for the gift to be useful. I have thought up a few ideas but I really like this idea because the kids can help me make them. One Saturday morning the kids and I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Quick Bread then added them in glass bottles I bought at target and walah instant gift. Check out the recipe at the bottom to make your own!

Instead of putting a label (like the one in the picture) I had the kids draw their own special picture and message for their teachers. I gave this for Christmas and for the end of the school year I came up with a lemonade idea! Stay posted for more teacher gift ideas!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Quick Bread
1. In a large bowl, mix the contents of this bottle: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, and 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips.
2. In a small bowl, beat 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, 2 large eggs, and 1/4 cup melted butter.
3. Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients just until evenly moistened (batter will be lumpy).
4. Scrape into a buttered and floured 9- by 5-inch loaf pan (with a 9-cup capacity), and bake in a 350° oven until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.

Spring Cleaning Starts Here: Blue Print Rack

I think its safe to say Spring has arrived and you know what that means, Spring cleaning! I can say I haven't even started in fact I don't even know where to begin. Between windows, dusting, cleaning out closets, and mopping I feel like my list is never ending. Especially with school winding down I have accumulated so many papers and financial documents that are flooded all over my room.

I have struggled to find a decent way of storing these papers so I decided to just buy a big rack to store everything. I love the blue print storage rack from cuttingmats.com it is so useful and handy. The storage unit I bought fits on the wall so its not in the way and has a slot for every year i have been in school and the relating financial documents.

Itsy Bitsy Bikini

I have spring fever..BAD! I can't help but shop online waiting for the days I can layout in my cute swimsuit and accessories. I found this sexy swimsuit from Victoria Secret. I love everything about it, the print, the style and the colors. It is so bright, fun and flattering.

I don't have ahem...the biggest girls in the world so this push up top is a MUST. It adds a cup size to my girls and pushes them up to the sky. The print is so original and fresh. The bottom, shown in the picture, is low rise bikini which I like because it gives enough coverage in the back. There are so many different prints and solids to choose from to mix and match and different styles of tops and bottoms.

Maxi Dress

 Maxi dresses are all the rage this Summer. I am on board with this fashion fad because for once it is so comfortable. Who can resist one piece long, jersey knit dress? Comfiest thing ever! Even women that are on the short end of height, including me, can pull this dress off. I think shorter women look best in solid colors but I can't wait to try a striped one like this or a printed version. A part of me thinks print will be overwhelming on shorter women but I also think depending on the print it could work. As long as its not to overwhelming of a print it will work!
*A trick for shorter women wearing maxis: tie a small knot on either the left or right side to show some leg so it isn't dragging on the floor. I think this is cute personal touch!