This post has been a long time in the making, with an abundance of trial and error. I have decided to transfer hosts, and have moved my blog to Wordpress. You can now find me at http://almondoats.wordpress.com/.
I decided to transfer hosts because Wordpress offers a lot more in terms of extra features; the only reason I didn't do this sooner was because I couldn't find a theme that allowed me customization. I hope you'll follow me to my new location; I'll still be blogging!
Kaitlyn
Since I spent about ten dollars on coffee and chocolate today, I decided that dinner would have to be entirely homemade. I had some leftover chickpeas sitting in the fridge, and some sweet potato fries in the freezer. The obvious presented itself in the form of burgers.
I've only had one chickpea burger before, from a cafe in Media, but it was rather dry and plain. In order to make mine better, I searched the web for chickpea burger recipes and found quite a variety of recipes, many from which I borrowed ideas, but none that I fully followed. Since I didn't have any fresh veggies on hand, I decided to flavor the chickpeas with a boatload of spices, and wished for the best!
Ingredients:
1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans, de-shelled
1/2 c. rolled oats
2 tbs. water
1 tbs. ground flax
1 tbs. cashew butter
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried onion
red and black pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, add garbanzo beans and oats.
3. In a small bowl, combine water with flax and mix. Add to chickpeas and oats.
4. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire, cashew butter, salt, cumin, garlic, dried onion, and
pepper to the chickpea bowl. Stir until ingredients are thoroughly combined, and spices are evenly distributed.
5. Place mixture into a food processor, and blend until the chickpeas are sticking together. (Depending on preference, you can either blend the mixture thoroughly until the chickpeas make almost a paste, or blend very slightly so that chickpeas are still coarse and somewhat whole).
6. On a non-stick cookie sheet, form the chickpea mixture into patties.
7. Bake for fifteen minutes on each side. Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Sunflowers courtesy of Whole Foods -- free!
I was a bit hesitant at serving these burgers to Jay, because he actually doesn't like garbanzo beans. However, with the right trimmings, he really enjoyed it! Next time, I would mash the garbanzo beans instead of processing them, because they had a slightly boring texture as they were. I would also add some veggies to spice things up!
These burgers make a simple, quick, veg-friendly and vegan-possible dinner; just skip the worcestershire! I will definitely make these again!
To celebrate the completion of my first week of school, I took a nap. I went shopping. And I also bought some treats.
Coconut Cream Pie White Chocolate Mocha, topped with homemade whipped cream and toasted coconut flakes.
Fluffy, divine, perfection.
Paired with some un-pictured dark-chocolate covered espresso beans, and a book, this was one of the most relaxing afternoons I've had in a while.
So, I think it's safe to say I missed it. The WIAW party train, that is. I even took pictures on Wednesday, promise, I just didn't have the time/energy to post. This seems to be a recurring theme, and I'm guessing it will be, since I started both school and work in the past week.
Wednesday was my first day of school, and I woke up slightly nervous. I showered and dressed, and made it to the first break of the morning, which was also pretty fast:
Maranatha Cashew Butter + Crofter's Superfruit Spread on Great Harvest Dakota Bread. Name-drop much? You can tell how early it was because of the terrible lighting, (which is also regretfully in part due to my lackluster camera).
My first class, Astronomy, was interesting, to say the least. To put it this way: I found my post-class snack much more interesting than syllabus details:
Lifeway Vanilla Biokefir + Kashi Honey Almond Flax + Blueberries.
My second class was cancelled, so I drove around looking for a dance shop to supply me with a leotard and pink tights (ballet class, a requirement!), but I only found one that catered to ages ten and below. I decided to drive to Whole Foods early and have lunch before work:
Some chipotle squash + teriyaki tofu. I also had some asparagus salad, steamed kale and cabbage on my plate, but I saved it for dinner, by which time I was moaning and sweaty from pushing carts in long pants. I don't have the right shoes yet, so my feet ached, literally ached after being on them for four hours.
Dinner consisted of:
A field greens salad with feta, cabbage, steamed kale, and asparagus salad. I also had a nectarine and two thawed, homemade chocolate banana cookies:
Probably the most moist (can I say that?) cookie you will ever eat.
Check with Mama Pea for the recipe.
I pushed some more carts, sobbed a bit, and then went back to pushing carts. I'll spare you the details, but be forewarned: during my second break, I bought ice cream, or something very similar.
After my break, I pushed carts. Did I mention that I push a lot of carts? And that they're more than half my height? And that I have a very short arm span?
I know that pushing carts won't be my job forever, and I know that, as a cashier-in-training, I am at the bottom of the chain, etc. But those eight hours were quite painful. Quite painful -- it bears repeating.
When I finally arrived home around 10 p.m., I took a long, scalding hot bath to relieve the tension in my feet. And then I grabbed my beautiful second-break discovery, pistachio gelato, and spooned myself a big bowl. Or mug. Whatever.
Unlike my last store-bought gelato experience, this brand, Ciao Bella, was delicious. It was creamy, savory, indulgent, perfect. The perfect end to a stress-filled day.
