Meatless Monday - Quinoa Burgers

I am not a fan of fake meat.  I generally don't like the taste or texture of fake meat - especially when they're bean based.  Plus, I'm not a vegetarian.  If I want to eat meat, I'll do just that.  I don't need the fake stuff.  (Shameless admission - the kids and I do actually like - yes, like - Quorn nuggets.  At one time they were a favorite lunch around here for the kids, and I would happily do clean-up duty on leftovers.  But as they're uber-processed little chunks of corn smut pretending to be chicken, we try to limit our use of them now.) 

And yet, today I'm writing a post about quinoa burgers...a patty that my son still thinks has meat in it somewhere despite being told the contrary.  A friend brought these to the playground a couple of months ago and let me try one.  It was love at first bite.  These patties do have a meaty flavor thanks to the portobello mushrooms in them, but these are not patties that pretend to be meat.  The quinoa gives them a distinctive, wonderful texture.  These patties are great on a bun like a burger or just on their own.  I like to munch on them cold the next day.

Do you know about quinoa?  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a nutrient-dense seed that has a kind of nutty flavor when cooked and an interesting slightly crunchy flavor.  Quinoa is protein rich, and unlike most plant-based foods, the protein in quinoa is a complete protein.  Quinoa is gluten free and a good source of fiber, as well as other nutrients such as manganese, magnesium, iron, and phosphorous.  Once a relatively unknown seed, I've seen quinoa recipes popping up in abundance lately.  For this recipe, I used Inca Red Quinoa from Ancient Harvest Quinoa, but my kids seem to prefer the traditional, light-colored quinoa in other recipes.

Quinoa Burgers
(I mixed in shredded zucchini in my burgers, but I think that shredded carrots or red bell pepper would also be good.)

2 portobello mushrooms (8 oz), stems removed, cut into 1" pieces
1 small zucchini
1/4 cup minced shallot (or substitute chopped onion and garlic)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup quinao, cooked according to package directions (about 2 cups cooked)
3/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup fresh whole-wheat breadcrumbs*
1/2 cup oats (I pulsed mine in a food processor to give them a crumb quality.  May use 1/2 cup breadcrumbs if you prefer.)

Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped.  Transfer to a bowl.  Shred zucchini, and squeeze out excess moisture in a towel.  Add to the mushrooms.

Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the shallot and red pepper flakes and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan, quinoa, and salt.  Let cool completely and then stir in egg, breadcrumbs, and oats.  Cover and refrigerate until cold and firm, about an hour.

Heat a TBSP of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Shape the quinoa mixture into small patties of the desired size.  My patties were between 1/4" and 1/2" thick.  Cook about 3 min on each side until crispy on the outside and cooked through.

Serve on buns or by themselves.  Makes about 15 small patties.

*To make fresh breadcrumbs, break bread into pieces and put into a food processor.  Pulse the food processor to make breadcrumbs.

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The disturbing reality of how our brain works

I'm back!  The family and I made our yearly trip back to Mississippi to visit family, eat fresh stuff that is a long way from being in season here, and reconnect with our Southern roots.  While traveling, I had an opportunity to read a book that had been provided to me through a book reviewer program.  (They provide the books, I provide the opinion.)  I found the book to be fascinating, so I hope that you'll indulge me as I give you my review!

The Invisible Gorilla:  And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons.

Are you the type of person that notices and reliably remembers little details?  Are you a good multitasker?  Do you have vivid, detailed memories of events in your past?  Are you an excellent driver even while talking on the phone?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book will rock your world.  Chabris and Simons break down these misconceptions to show how single-tasked our brain is and how malleable our memory and perception are.

The title comes from a psychology experiment that the authors performed.  They filmed a basketball game using their students as actors/players.  They then asked volunteers to count in their heads the number of passes made by players of one team while ignoring the passes of the other team.  Halfway through the one minute video, an actor in a gorilla suit came to the center of the screen in the video, thumped her chest, and then walked away.  The gorilla was on screen for a full 9 seconds.  After watching the video, they interviewed the volunteers and asked them, among other things, whether they noticed anything unusual in the film.  Half of the volunteers didn't notice the gorilla at all!  This kind of single-minded attention - when we are so focused on the task at hand (in this case, counting passes) that we miss things we think we couldn't possibly miss - is shown to be anything but unusual.

This book is not a textbook, but rather an intriguing and entertaining exploration of how the mind does (or doesn't) work through anecdotes that illustrate scientific studies.  I found it to be a quick and somewhat disturbing read.  I don't like to think of my memory as an ever-changing kaleidoscope.  I like to think that I'm decent at multitasking.  I'd like to hope that all of those people driving around and talking on phones - hands free or not - really can react the way they need to.  Reality and current research, however, don't support these misconceptions I have about myself and others.

Don't read it expecting answers on how to change the way you think to overcome these limitations of our brain.  Instead, this book makes you recognize your limitations, and by recognizing these limitations of our brains we can perhaps approach the information constantly streaming at us and adjust how we interpret it. 

Many thanks to PTA Interactive for providing the book for review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

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Meatless Monday - Homemade Pizza Sauce

If you're like me, you're sometimes torn between fixing a meal that your kids will eat and like and fixing something more "adult."  I'm a big believer that not every meal should be what is typically considered kid-friendly.  How are our kids' palates supposed to expand if they don't try new, complex foods?  And yet, it's oh so nice when adult and kid-friendly collide. 

To that end, I give you this pizza sauce.  Pizza - as kid friendly as it gets.  Homemade pizza sauce - more complex than what they'll get at Pizza Hut or from a pre-packaged sauce, and yet they still love it!

I've adapted a pizza sauce recipe that originally came from a wonderful, but now gone, blog called Eating Well Anywhere.  It's a surprisingly super-simple recipe that starts with tomato paste.  The recipe calls for red wine, but if that is not a staple in your household, an old trick of mine is to replace red wine with broth and balsamic vinegar.  Just a little balsamic vinegar - try a tablespoon or two - does a decent job mimicking the complexity that red wine adds to a recipe. 

If you're looking for a good pizza sauce, give this one a try!  It makes a lot and freezes well.  I tend to make a double batch and freeze the extra in ice cube trays so that the sauce is ready to use in small portions.  One of the best things about this sauce?  I know exactly what is going into it!  No worries about HFCS (which is rampant in pre-packaged pizza sauce) or other undesirable ingredients.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 TBSP olive oil
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup broth of your choice
1 6-oz can tomato paste*
1/4 cup water
1/2 TBSP brown sugar (more or less to taste)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBSP chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried oregano
salt to taste
5-6 fresh basil leaves, chopped (I'm not a fan of dried basil, so I just don't go there)

Saute olive oil and garlic in a saucepan over medium heat for about one minute.  Add red wine and scrape up any bits of garlic from the pan.  Add broth and tomato paste and stir until combined.  Add remaining ingredients through the salt.  Stir until combined and then cook for another couple of minutes.  Add water or broth to thin to the desired consistency.  Stir in basil at the very end.

You can leave it chunky or put the sauce in a blender (or use an immersion blender) to make the sauce smooth.  If you have picky kids, blending is probably a good idea.  My kids were a little put off (but not for long!) the first time they saw the bits of herbs in their pizza sauce.

*If you're concerned about the chemical BPA in canned tomato products, look for tomato paste in a tube.  And Muir Glen has announced that they are switching to a metal can packaging that does not contain BPA starting with the next tomato harvest. 

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Nutty Granola Bars - better than one from the store!

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on a box of granola bars?  While there are definitely some bars out there with decent ingredients, the ones I seem to see the most in lunch boxes have ingredient lists that disgust and shock me.  Take, for example, Quaker Oats Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars, a staple in our household before we started really paying attention to ingredients: 

GRANOLA (WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, BROWN SUGAR, CRISP RICE [RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT, MALTED BARLEY EXTRACT], WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED WHEAT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND COTONSEED OILS* WITH TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL WITH NATURAL TOCOPHEROL ADDED TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS, DRIED COCONUT, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY LECITHIN, CARAMEL COLOR, NONFAT DRY MILK), SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, COCOA BUTTER, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT), CORN SYRUP, CRISP RICE (RICE FLOUR, SUGAR, BARLEY MALT, SALT), INVERT SUGAR, SUGAR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, GLYCERIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL*. CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF SORBITOL, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, WATER, SOY LECITHIN, MOLASSES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BHT (PRESERVATIVE), CITRIC ACID.

Holy moly!  Partially hydrogenated oils are listed not once, but twice!  But, of course, they can still claim to be trans fat free because the total amount of trans fat is less than 0.5 g per serving.  They make a big deal out of being "Made without high-fructose corn syrup" but the bars still contain invert sugar (sucrose broken down to glucose and fructose) and corn syrup solids.  It's not all bad, but it certainly isn't good either.  But, to make up for the massive ingredient list, the taste is a definite kid pleaser.

Well, guess what?  The taste of my homemade granola bars is also a definite kid pleaser, and I can control exactly what goes into them.  They're a cinch to make, and probably cheaper per serving than store bought granola bars (though I haven't done the economic analysis to actually confirm that statement).

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you've seen my granola bars before...more than once even.  I've tweaked it just a bit and wanted to share the latest and greatest (in my opinion) incarnation of this recipe.  For this latest version of my granola bars, I've replaced 3 tablespoons of butter with applesauce.  This replacement did not significantly change the texture or flavor.  (I should note that I tried using even more applesauce and less butter, but I did not like the end result.) 

Feel to use whatever nut butter you like or leave the nut butter out all together.  I've had friends and readers tell me all sorts of wonderful modifications they've made to this basic granola bar recipe - mashed banana, coconut, raisins and other dried fruits.  You're only limited by your imagination!  (And maybe your child's taste buds.)

Nutty Granola Bars

3 cups rolled oats (quick oats are fine)
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon (optional)
5 TBSP butter, softened
3 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup honey
3 TBSP and 1 and 3/4 tsp packed brown sugar
3 TBSP nut butter of choice (optional)
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
3 TBSP flaxseed meal or wheat germ (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease a 9"x13" pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.

Firmly press mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 325 F for 20 min or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 min and then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.  (This is so important!  They'll be very crumbly until they are absolutely cool.)  On hot summer days, might want to store in the fridge so that they're not as crumbly and the chocolate doesn't melt.

Makes about 24 bars

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More HFCS-free ketchup options!

It's Memorial Day - a day to remember and honor those men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.  Take a moment to remember those people who gave their lives while serving your country where ever you should happen to live.

Memorial Day is also the traditional unofficial start of summer.  It doesn't matter that we were watching a parade in parkas and occasional spits of snow just two days ago, it's summer!  Tonight we will be firing up the grill and enjoying a slice of watermelon (my family's Memorial Day tradition).  For us, ketchup and grilling seem to go hand in hand, so I was thrilled to see that we have more ketchup options.

When consumers speak with their pocketbook, companies listen - at least the smart companies do.  Hunts is the latest company to remove HFCS from their products.  The entire line of Hunt's ketchups is now HFCS free!  Hunts' ketchup now consists of five simple ingredients:  tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt and other seasonings - no HFCS, artificial ingredients or preservatives.  Hunts says that the switch is "in direct response to consumer demand."  We have a bottle of Hunts ketchup sitting in our fridge now, and it is a good ketchup. 

Once upon a time, the only ketchup we bought was Heinz ketchup.   My husband was in love with the texture and flavor of Heinz ketchup over all other ketchups.  Then we gave up foods containing HFCS, and Heinz was no more in our household.  Most Heinz ketchups still contain HFCS, but they now have two HFCS-free options.  The first has been around a while - Heinz Organic Ketchup, a good but expensive ketchup.  The second is a new offering - Simply Heinz Tomato Ketchup.  The ingredients in Simply Heinz are basically the same as Hunts - simple with no HFCS, artificial ingredients or preservatives.

Kudos to Hunts for changing it's entire ketchup line and Heinz for introducing another ketchup that is HFCS-free with simple ingredients!  

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What kind of syrup do you buy?

Back when we dined in blissful ignorance on HFCS-containing foods, our favorite syrup was Log Cabin. The first ingredient in Log Cabin's list at the time was HFCS. So, we switched to pure maple syrup.  I am happy to report that Log Cabin has since removed HFCS from it's syrups, but we've stuck with real maple syrup even though it is more expensive.  (If you're avoiding HFCS, read those ingredients!  Most artificial maple syrups still use HFCS.)

Using real maple syrup has its advantages.  First, it isn't nearly as viscous as Log Cabin and the other artificial maple flavored syrups, and with the thinner consistency a little maple syrup goes a long way - and that's a good thing because it's expensive! Second, did you know that maple syrup actually has some health benefits? It contains a ton of manganese and zinc - two trace elements and natural antioxidants that are good for your health. It's also loaded with calcium - the same amount as whole milk! That just blows my mind - in a good way.  Of course, hopefully you're not consuming a glass full of maple syrup, but it is nice to know that it's in there.   Last, it has fewer calories than corn syrup.  (Though it doesn't have fewer calories than the "light" artificial maple syrups out there.  That "light" designation often comes at a price, though, as the "light" syrups are often full of other artificial ingredients.) With all of that going for it, I can overlook the steep price, I suppose, and not feel so bad when we have a syrup laden breakfast.

You might think that maple syrup is maple syrup, but not so. There are different grades and different classifications within the different grades, and they all have different flavors.  When we first switched to maple syrup, I was used to the more subtle maple flavor of the artificial syrups.  The flavor of the Grade A Dark Amber real maple syrup that I could find in my grocery stores was too intense for my taste.  With just a little digging, I learned that Grade B actually has a stronger flavor than Grade A, and that Grade A Medium Amber and Grade A Light Amber are most commonly used as table syrups.  It strikes me as funny that Grade A Dark Amber is what I can find in grocery stores.

Amazon came to our rescue, as usual.  We were able to order some Grade A Medium Amber maple syrup, which had a much less pronounced maple flavor that was just right.  We have since come to enjoy a deeper maple flavor and now buy Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup.  I won't lie, it is expensive.  I buy in bulk (a gallon at a time either through Amazon or directly from the farm) and store the extra in my fridge to save money.  A little goes a long way for us, so I don't feel bad paying the money for the real deal.

Just why is maple syrup so expensive?  Maple syrup has not always been so expensive.  Prices have gone up dramatically in the past five or so years.  The increase in prices isn't a conspiracy by the maple syrup producers.  We can blame the weather for the stiff increase.  Maple syrup is produced from sap collected from certain maple trees.  This sap collection depends on freezing cold nights and warm days.  Recent warm springs have played havoc with sap collection.  Add to this increasing demand for the real deal, and prices remain high. 

Ah, well.  I'm still content to be buying real maple syrup.  The benefits outweigh the cost in my household.

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Meatless Monday - Roasted pineapple and sugar snap peas

Now that we are fully committed to eating meatless at least once a week, I bought a subscription to Vegetarian Times last December.  This past month there was a recipe that just jumped out at me.  It practically begged me to make it.  So...I did, of course.  The crazy thing about this dish, pulled from the book Supermarket Vegan:  225 Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free recipes for Real People in the Real World, is that it's main component is pineapple.  With it's natural sweetness, Hawaiian-Style Sweet-and-Sour Roasted Pineapple and Bell Peppers definitely stretches how I define a main dish.  Served over brown rice, it works.  The only change I made to this dish was the addition of basil as a garnish.  The basil was a great addition and kind of cut the sweetness a bit.  I think that cilantro would work well as a garnish too.

Step out of your dinner comfort zone, dear children.  This is a thought that I express to my kids often.  If they had their way, it would be pizza and macaroni every night.  Alas, mom has different ideas about dinnertime.  My son thought that this dish was so-so.  He didn't love it, but he didn't hate it either.  My daughter steadfastly refused to eat it, but once she took her mandated bite, she declared that she liked it.  (She still didn't eat it all, though.)  My husband and I liked this pineapple dish a lot and will have it again.

We served the pineapple dish along with some sauteed sugar snap peas.  My kids seem to like raw sugar snap peas better than the sauteed version, but I think that they're both tasty.  To saute, simply heat a little butter or olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add the sugar snap peas and saute until they turn a bright green.  Don't over cook or they'll be mushy!  Add salt to taste.

Hawaiian-Style Sweet-and-Sour Roasted Pineapple and Bell Peppers
closely adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine

3 cups cubed fresh pineapple
1 medium red bell pepper, cubed
1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
1 TBSP tasted sesame oil
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP sweetened coconut flakes (optional)
1 TBSP lime juice
finely chopped basil (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Arrange the pineapple, bell pepper, and onion on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with the sesame oil, olive oil, and brown sugar.  Add salt to taste.  Toss to coat

Roast pineapple mixture for 30 minutes or until lightly browned, turning once.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with coconut flakes and then drizzle lime juice.  Toss well.  Serve hot or at room temperature over rice.  Garnish with basil if desired.

Serves 6

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