Evening!
I hope everyone’s Monday went well!
Tonight I decided to make an interesting sounding burger I read about on Fun Foods On A Budget!
Pumpkin Chickpea Burgers
Here is my take on the recipe:
- 2 cups chick peas, cooked
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tbsp water
- black pepper
- 1/3 cup Spelt flakes
- 1 Sweet onion, cooked (I only used half in the burgers though and ate the rest) :)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 cup pumpkin
I cooked the onion and garlic and then threw everything into my food processor to mix. Then I handshaped 8 patties and placed them on the skillet.
These burgers turned out quite bland for our taste so we added some Tipsy Whiskey BBQ Sauce on top and that added a great kick to them. Something was definitely missing in these burgers (maybe hot sauce???), but I am not quite sure what it is.
All and all they were ok with all my toppings (Spinach, avocado, BBQ sauce, pepper, tomato)….but so are a lot of things loaded with good toppings. :) I much more preferred my version of Black Bean Burgers that I made last month.
Anyone know how to improve these burgers and give them some kick??
With the sauteed sweet onion on the side:
Notice that I have re-introduced my toast since the photoshoot is over! :) I didn’t really miss it too much. What I need to do is make another batch of my organic spelt tortillas!!! Those rock.
The Wedding Photoshoot: Part 3
So what happened to my dress, you ask?
Well, it was finally time for the other two models and I to put our gowns on after lunch. I was pumped and a teeny weeny bit nervous that it may not fit. I reassured myself that it would since I had just tried it on the other day with Eric.
I knew that I needed Eric to hook the clasp for me, but he was no where to be found because he was in the changeroom putting on his suit.
So I asked the girls to hook the clasp but none of them could do it- they were scared of hurting me or breaking it. I was starting to get a bit worried that no one could clasp it up for me! Finally Eric showed up and I asked him to hook it.
Well, wouldn’t you know it he BROKE the clasp! hahaha.
It was like slow motion, I heard that dreaded ‘s-n-a-p’ sound and then the faint clicking of a tiny piece of metal hitting the tile floor.
My mouth gaped in horror. The girls tried to reassure me and one went to get a safety pin, but it wouldn’t go through the thick fabric of my dress.
Luckily my dress has a gazillion buttons that go over the zipper so once those were up the zipper held in place….all day long. It didn’t come down on me once. I was so relieved.
He is just too strong and powerful for his own good. ;)
Hate that the burgers were bland for you, I’m going to season them up well with the following seasonings: paprika, chili powder, fresh chives and parsley, red chili flakes and cumin.
I’m much more motivated to eat well and take care of myself when I have a goal in mind. I’m headed back home to my brothers wedding in about 5 weeks and looking forward to it has been great at keeping my eating habits in line.
well the burger might have been bland but those toppings look like they made up for it! I looove adding fun toppings/sauces to things! yummm
Sorry to hear about the bland burger! Yeah I usually try and get motivated for the summer months or if there is a special occasion! It does actually work :)
i would add some cumin, chili powder, hot sauce to those burgers :)
Isn’t it funny how things like that happen? It’s always something we don’t prepare for!
I’m always more motivated when I actually have “something” other than just normal life coming up – I don’t know why that is, but those little goals keep me going.
The burgers have a lot of potential! Maybe you should add a bit more ‘hot’ spices as well as a little hot sauce? I always like a kick to my veggie burgers.
And I am most definitely more motivated to eat healthy and exercise in order to look great when I have something coming up! :)
for more flavor, try adding a few chopped olives, ground cumin, ground coriander, more garlic and a bit of salt
Did yours have pumpkin in them? I didn’t see them in the ingredient list. Lovely pictures at the end. :)
hey angela!!
thanks for the sweet comments on my wedding pictures! and yes it was hard to maintain my wedding weight. i got married in 2005 and in 3 1/2 years i gained almost 50lbs!!! yikes..talk about letting yourself go! but as you could see from my progress pictures i’m almost back to my wedding day weight…only 7.5 more lbs to go! and i hope to be able to maintain this loss now!
ps i love your blog!! you are so creative with your foods and so beautiful!!
OMG tiny babyyyyyyy!!! I love her!!!
Those burgers sound like they need a bit more brightness and some spice. I’d definitely add some paprika and cumin, and maybe chopped cilantro and/or lemon zest, too. I made something similar to that a couple of months ago and I had the same reaction – so when I made it again I added all of those things and they were DEE-LISH. (But I tend to over-spice my food, so you might want to use a lighter hand than I did.)
Oh, p.s., your dress story made me laugh and gasp in horror at the same time. I felt like a spaz. :)
Hey Angela, I think you would love Crunch’s Yoga Sculpt video! I live in NYC and took the actual class at Crunch and it was awesome..it was more like a personal training session that used yoga moves if that makes sense! Highly recommend it!
I tried to lose some weight before the wedding, but I didn’t go crazy. I wasn’t at my goal weight then, so I’m still working on it :)
First wanted to say that you and Eric both look fabulous in the photo shoot. Love the photos and the clasp story (hey — both the flowers for my hair AND the wedding rings got lost on my wedding day. . . I was so happy, it didn’t matter, though).
Whoops — pressed enter by accident. Second: I’m going to do my own version of the “crap free” week. When I first read about it, all I could think was “why would you ever cut all sugar out of your diet?” But I’ve noticed I’ve been kind of over-doing it myself these last few days, and have decided to see how a week w/out sugary treats goes. Perhaps it will get me back on the road of “moderation”. Thanks for giving me the idea (and motivation).
At first, when I saw your question I thought, “nah I’ve never done that.” Then I remembered that I lost 30 pounds to look good in my prom dress! If course, it ended up being more than that, but at the beginning of my sr. year in high school, I told myself I needed to lose weight so I’d look good for prom. Little did I know that would lead to a total 180 in my diet and exercise habits (for the better, of course).
Oh gosh! what a story!
It’s definitely motivating me to prepare for this summer!
Yes, I did some occasional modelling years ago, and there was this runway show, and I prepared 2 months for it and lost 3kg, but I only did it for the money, it was good paid (300 euro for 2 days), yes, and it was fun to experience something like that altough I’m not into this whole model-thing in general.
You are really a an inspiration to get fit and healthy…! I’m so jealous…I’ve been so lazy and not motivated the last months…but I’m living in Europe in a small country where we haven’t seen the sun for ages and that gets me really depressed.
I WANT THOSE BURGERS!! But to add a kick = add some red pepper flakes.
Awww love your new niece!! So precious!!
Aww beautiful pic with your niece!
I haven’t lost weight specifically for an event – even though I have wanted to. However, I recently went to science formal at my school and I lost weight leading up to it – but I had already been losing weight for the last 8 months so I guess it doesn’t really count. I actually lost 4 pounds in 4ish weeks between buying my dress and going to formal!
I just made the burgers with a few adaptations and THEYRE AMAZING. Ive found a new favourite food. =] Thank you for the idea!
(http://toastandtofu.blogspot.com/2010/11/vegan-mofo-vi-burgers-and-gravy.html)