Friday Fixings

Last night - there was an incident involving southern biscuits.  And lingonberry jam.  Look I had to get a fruit serving after I had this healthy bottled sports beverage that said it was Pomegranate and Yumberry. I should have been suspicious and read the small print on the bottle. Look, there IS no such thing as a yumberry and the ingredients listed absolutely no pomegranate, just "natural flavor". So, feeling ripped off,  I had to add an extra fruit, therein lies the jam.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

Even in the dimming evening light it's easy to see  - diet fail!

Today was better.  1/4 cup of Nutty Crunchers (generic "grape nuts").  Watch the calories on cereal  - this one is very high if you eat a full serving.  At 200 calories for a 1/2 cup the serving on the front of the box would be about  all the calories I can eat in a day and don't even THINK of adding an ice cream bar chaser.

I served it with a smoothie made of a couple of oranges, spring water, green foods powder and a big handful of baby spinach.

I was teleworking, so lunch was a quick veggie sandwich on Ezekiel sprouted bread.

The Hilary's Veggie burgers are really good.  They do NOT taste like a burger, as some veggie burgers try to, they taste like savory grains and veggies, with a nice little crunch of you pan fry them with a little olive oil.

Ingredients:  (all organic)  millet, quinoa, coconut oil, sweet potato and greens (one or more of the following -arugula, beet, chard, collards, dandelion, kale, parsley, spinach, turnip), psyllium husk powder, arrowroot powder, apple cider vinegar, Redmond's real salt, garlic and onion.  They have other "flavors" as well, with varying ingredients, though all seem to have onion and/or garlic in common.

Tonight is pizza night - I'll be busy as it's our Friday "date" night (at home) so here is a picture from the last one made from this recipe, a thin crust cornmeal crust pizza cooked in the cast iron pan and topped with veggie sausage.

The veggie sausage is worth the time to make and is good for breakfast or crumbled in other recipes.  It has no animal products at all and is surprisingly good (use all the spices though, and fresh ones). The texture is very similar to typical sausages. (recipe from ChrissyG at food.com).

1 cup cooked brown rice
3/4 rolled oats (not instant)
2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
3 Tablespoons spring water
1 teaspoon molasses
2 Tablespoons canola oil (divided)
1 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (not the same as yeast used for baking)
1 and 1/2 Tablespoons tamari
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon thyme.

Directions:

Stir together the flax and water in a small bowl and set aside.

In a food processor or sturdy blender, add dry oats and pulls six or seven times, add the rice and pulse a few more times.

Add remaining ingredients, including  1 Tablespoon of the oil and blend until just mixed.  Do NOT over process, you can finish mixing together with your hands.

With dampened hands, form balls the size of a ping pong ball and flatten into patties about 1/4 inch thick.

Pan fry in remaining oil in non stick pan on medium heat until they are browned.

You can also bake at 400 F for 20 minutes to cool and freeze for instant "brown and serve" sausage any morning.

Transfer to paper towel to blot off any excess oil and serve.