Black Bean Burgers (Meatless Monday #3)

I love black beans. They make a great addition to any meal! I make them into refried beans, I use them in my salads, and I love them on wraps! Now that we are doing meatless Mondays, I have found a new use for them. They make a great substitute for meat! There is no picture for these. I did not think at the time that I would need one for anything and the next time I make them I will be sure to upload some photos for yall! 

Until then, here is the recipe for this amazing recipe! I have tried more than a few meatless burger recipes and this one is by far the best! 

2 c. black beans
1/2 c. green peppers, chopped
1/2 c. diced onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 egg whites or 1 egg
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
1/2 c. bread crumbs (go here to see my recipe for making your own breadcrumbs)

preheat oven to 375
Drain and rinse black beans and then mash with a fork into a medium bowl. Use a food processor and chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Strain pepper mix with a paper towel, cheese cloth, or coffee filter to get rid of excess water. Stir into black bean mash. Stir in egg whites and seasonings. Mix in bread crumbs. Mixture should be sticky. Form 4 patties or 16 meatballs. Place patties or meatballs onto a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes, flipping over halfway through baking.

Tips:
Rub a small amount of oil on your hands to keep the patties from sticking while forming the patties!

Variations:
you can add corn before forming the patties
use crumbled Ritz crackers instead of bread crumbs for a slightly different flavor
add cilantro into food processor with bell peppers

I don't need a box for these pop-tarts...

Sitting at a friends house my daughter saw a box of pop-tarts and wanted to know what they were. I realized then that maybe I had ruined my kid by never letting her have any goodies!! This meant, that because of my hatred of boxed and prepared foods, and the knowledge from too much research of how bad for you pop-tarts are, I would have to learn how to make them myself.

The result did not taste just like a cardboard box full of toaster pastries filled with chemicals and preservatives. It did lead me to a delicious breakfast dish that would not only satisfy the, "Ive never had a pop-tart" issue we were dealing with, but also give us a delicious new food to our menu to make for special occasions. 

I would not say that my first attempt at these was even close to being much better than the boxed version, simply because I was not sure how they would work out, and I did not want to spend the time hand making pie crust for a dud of an idea, so I bought the refrigerated kind. 

These were so simple! I just rolled out the crust, used a pizza cutter to make some even sized rectangles, brushed them with an egg wash and then they were ready to fill. 

For my filling I used some strawberry jelly that I had in one of my many mason jars I keep in my pantry. There is a recipe I found online for brown sugar cinnamon filling, but this was so much easier! I simply spooned a little in the middle of one of the pastries, leaving about 1/2 an inch of space around the edges to seal them with, then top with another square (egg wash side down,) Use a fork to make the edges by just pressing down firmly all the way around. Brush the top with more egg wash, then use a toothpick to poke multiple holes in the top. (This is an important step, if you forget, they will explode and it wont be pretty.)

Then place them back in the fridge for 20 minutes, this will help the crust firm back up. 

Preheat oven to 375, then place chilled pop-tarts into the over for 20-24 minutes. 

Let cool and then frost. 

The frosting is 

3/4 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. milk

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

(I added a few drops of food coloring for the kiddos, makes it more fun)

Whisk all the glaze ingredients together until a spreadable consistency. Pour and/or spread the glaze over the top of pop-tart and enjoy! 

They weren't the prettiest, but they were delicious! 

Southwestern Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing (Meatless Monday #2)

Salad Ingredients

• 5 c. chopped romaine lettuce
• 1/2 c. diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. diced avocado
• 1/2 c. black beans
• 1/4 c. green onions
• 1/4 c. bell pepper (any color, I used yellow because I had so many)

Place in bowl and mix together

Dressing Ingredients

• 1 c. loosely packed cilantro
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Combine cilantro, yogurt, garlic, lime juice, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, add olive oil and vinegar in a slow stream until creamy.

Meatless Monday Menu

Meat... What most people consider the main staple of ever meal. Sure, there has been a dramatic decrease over the past few years in the amount consumed. We are seeing more diets that eliminate most, if not all meat. That will not happen in my house though. One time for one of my bucketlist items, (See the bucketlist here) I went vegetarian for two weeks. It was not the most interesting thing off of the list that I have done. I am a Texas girl, born and raised, and we like our meat! That being said, we are working on being healthier and more frugal!

One of our first steps was something I read about online, Meatless Monday!

An idea that someone that came up with, that if you eliminate meat on one day you can save money. I think the blog I read said something upwards of $20 a week you would save. My own calculations looked something like this for a family with two adults and two small children.

(these are calculations from the brands we eat and the stores we shop, these are not exact calculations, just an estimate used to see what we saved)

Breakfast:
- nitrate free bacon (3.99/pack)

Lunch
- chicken breast (4.50/pack, prepped and using half)

Dinner
-ground turkey (2.99/lb)

=9.23 amount of money saved per week
36.92/month
443.04/year

Not enough to warrant a vacation to Disney World, but it is a start towards a financial frugality that we are working too

Here are a few of my recipes:
Cheesy Potato Soup
Southwestern Salad w/Cilantro Lime Dressing
Black Bean Burgers
Sweet Potato Tacos