Three Weeks Plant Strong

We are 3 weeks plant strong and I think we are finally getting a hang of this.  My BP is hovering around 114/70.  It's awesome.  I was in the 130's/upper 90's on bottom when I started.  It feels like magic.

I've been doing my supper recipe planning and it's been kind of a breeze of late.  I'm getting comfortable with the ways of vegan cookery.   I've learned you can make a veggie burger out of just about any veggie you love.  Today I made one out of sweet potatoes and beans!  I was going to add quinoa but I chickened out at the last minute and went with a more straight forward recipe.  Next time, I'll add it.  I was inspired by several different recipes all over the web and I combined a few to make the recipe below.  They came out great!  Nick told me I should make them again.  

I would like to encourage anyone to try a recipe or two on the web to get a feel for veggie burgers  and then get creative and try your hand at it using the tastes and spices your family loves.  It's fun, easy, and delicious, not to mention way better and cheaper than the stuff in the freezer section at the grocery store.

My recipe was as follows:

2 medium sweet potatoes

3 cups white beans

1/2 cup wheat gluten

1 Tb tahini (yes, I added a tiny bit for a little depth, a modest cheat)

1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

2 tsp maple syrup (I was going for sweet and smoky)

1/2 cup whole wheat panko crumbs, seasoned (To season I added just a touch of salt to this mixture as I find I can reduce the salt if I add salt last, i.e. to the outer most layer or final stage of cooking)

Voila!

I basically baked the sweet potatoes in the microwave and then removed the skin and mashed them.  Then I added and mashed the white beans.  Then, I mixed in everything else but the crumbs.  I formed the mixture into 7 patties and pressed the patties into the seasoned panko crumbs.  I baked them for 450 on parchment for 10 minutes and flipped and baked for another 10. 

  Calories 178.7
  Total Fat 1.5 g
    Saturated Fat 0.2 g
     Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
   Monounsaturated Fat 0.5 g
  Cholesterol 0.0 mg
  Sodium 107.1 mg
  Potassium 466.7 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 29.0 g
    Dietary Fiber 5.0 g
     Sugars 2.9 g
  Protein 12.3 g

Here's an example of last week and next week's menu plan.  You'll notice a burger of some kind, a veggie pasta, and pizza are on the weekly rotation.  Some things are just worth repeating every week.

Mon- portabello burgers, roasted potatoes and cauliflower

Tue- veggie enchiladas

Wed- "meat"loaf muffins and mashed potatoes

Th- veggie fajitas with fat free refried beans

Fri- cheeseless pizza, salad, broccoli

Sat- sweet potato veggie burgers, asparagus, cauliflower

Sun- pasta bake, broccoli, salad *

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Next week, I think it will go something like this:

Mon- soup and whole wheat yeast rolls

Tue-falafel on whole wheat pita, side veg

Wed-veggie chili, vegan cornbread *

Th- sloppy joes, asparagus, salad

Fri- cheeseless pizza, broccoli

Sat-  mushroom burgers, sweet potatoe fries, side veg

Sun- 'beet'balls and pasta

* - contains soy.  I try to keep soy not so high on the rotation

Not bad, eh?  :)