Sweet Potato and Red Kidney Bean Burger Recipe

This recipe came about when I had both baked sweet potato and a container of kidney beans in the fridge. I never thought about combining these two ingredients until I saw a bean burger recipe and voila, this happened. I ate this burger with some coleslaw but it is delicious on it's own. Give it a try,you won't be disappointed.

Sweet Potato and Red Kidney Bean Burger Recipe

1 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potato
1 cup of red kidney beans (I used canned variety)
1 small onion
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp. yellow mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp oil
2 tbsp. chopped green onions
salt and pepper to taste

1)In a pan heat oil. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 1 minute and then add chili powder, cumin, yellow mustard, cayenne, soy sauce, salt and pepper.
2)Mash kidney beans with sweet potato.
3)Add seasoning mix to beans and potato. Add chopped green onions.
4)Keep in fridge overnight or at least 2 hours for flavours to blend.
5)In a hot skillet, warm some oil and make burger patties. Cook until brown and heated through on both sides.
6)Serve on a bun with skinny coleslaw.
Makes 4-4 inch burgers.

BONUS
Skinny Coleslaw Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups Dole Coleslaw mix
3 tbsp. Greek Yogurt
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. Rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Directions
1)Mix Greek yogurt, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl.
2)Add dressing to coleslaw mix.
3)Keep in the fridge for 1 hour. Serve on your favorite burger.

 

Chocolate Banana Whole Wheat Pancakes Recipe

It was pancake Sunday yesterday and I made a batch of pancakes. They're healthier and chocolate. What more can you ask for. The best part was eating these babies while watching the Canadian Men's Hockey team win gold in Sochi. It also took extra long to make them cause I was tuning in to watch. But at the end, the boys won gold and the family got fed. Really simple pancake recipe.

Chocolate Banana Whole Wheat Pancakes Recipe

Ingredients
1 1/3 whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup milk of choice
1/2 cup mashed bananas
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar or sugar substitute
1/4 cup greek yogurt
2 tbsp. chia gel
3 tbsp. hemp hearts
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp. cocoa powder

1)In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.
2)Create a well in the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients.
3)Combine all the ingredients but don't over mix.
4)In a heated griddle or pan, add spoonfuls of pancake mix. When one side bubbles, flip.
5)Makes 10 3 inch pancakes. Enjoy with Canadian Maple Syrup.

Cranberry Yogurt No Bake Quinoa Bars

Granola and protein bars are so easy to make. You can create delicious bars that are healthy and cheap. Isn't it great that you know what's in the bars you are eating? I looked around online for a yogurt bar recipe but didn't find one so I came up with this. The bars are packed with super foods like chia seeds, quinoa and hemp hearts. I only made a small batch because I wasn't sure how it would turn out but this is yummy and I will make it again. My kids enjoyed it as well so that's a bonus. Because it has yogurt, you must keep it in the fridge or freezer in a tight lid container.

Cranberry Yogurt No Bake Quinoa Bars

Ingredients
1 cup of puffed quinoa
1/2 cup of Kashi 7 grain puffed cereal
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 slivered almonds (optional)
1/2-3/4 cup almond milk
3 tbsp. melted coconut oil
1/3 cup almond butter
3 tbsp. hemp hearts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup pomegranate Greek yogurt (any flavour can be used)
2 tsp acai berry powder
1 tbsp. chia seeds

Directions
1)Combine all the dried cereals, slivered almonds and hemp hearts in a bowl. Add almond milk and acai berry powder and mix well. Add milk mixture to cereal.
2)Mix coconut oil and almond butter. Add this mixture to cereal and milk. Gently combine all ingredients.
3)Press mixture into an 8 x 8 pan. Spread Greek yogurt on top and sprinkle cranberries and chia seeds.
4)Place pan in freezer for atleast 2 hrs before cutting into squares. Makes 8 bars.

Bars must be kept in the fridge in a tight container. Best consumed within 4 days.

Honey Banana Twist Bread

Happy love and friendship day! One of my weaknesses is bread. I have many fond memories of growing up in the Philippines and loving all the bakeries that baked fresh goodies everyday. We used to wake up in the morning and go to the bakery and buy fresh pandesal. I would go again during the afternoon to grab fresh pastries.  I found this recipe for banana whole wheat  yeast recipe from Salad In A Jar blog. I don't have a bread machine so I made it the traditional way. I also didn't add any raisins just a couple of nuts on top but next batch I think I will add some and maybe some more cinnamon. I also added hemp hearts to make it more healthier. I stuck with the recipe but next time I will try to use only whole wheat flour and see if it makes a difference.

Honey Banana Twist Bread

Ingredients

1 egg

⅓ cup warm water

1 tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 small ripe banana, mashed (or approx ½ cup)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1¾ to 2¼ cup all purpose flour

2¼ tsp  instant yeast

3 tbsp. hemp hearts

 

Optional:

½ c. toasted pecans or almonds

⅓ c. raisins

¼ c. chopped dates

 

Topping

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

 

Directions

1) Mix yeast with warm water and honey. Let stand for 10 minutes until yeast is activated.

2) Add egg, salt,1 cup of flour, butter, hemp hearts, and mashed banana. Use paddle hook on kitchen aid and start mixing.

3) Slowly start adding the extra flour a little at a time. I ended up only using another 1 1/2 cups of extra flour. Add extra nuts if you want.

4) Cover and let sit for 1 hour until double in size.

5) Remove cover and divide dough into 3 equal sizes. Roll into long ropes and braid. Also, another option is to place entire dough into a loaf pan. But you must punch down on dough and shape accordingly. Leave dough again for another 2 hours. (second rise)

6) Mix milk and cardamom and slowly brush on top of bread. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture.

7) Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35-45 minutes depending on how thick you rolled your bread.

8) Remove from oven and let cool. Enjoy. It's usually good for 1 day and can be kept in an air tight

container.

 

Quinoa No Bake Protein Bars

I see so much pictures of people working out and pictures of their protein bars and being the frugal mama, I can not see myself spending $3 on a protein bar that I know I can make for pennies. I have all the ingredients and I know I can make it taste good and I can make a lot. So basically I came up with this recipe by combining many recipes from the internet. You too can make this by simply adding what you have. You can make it healthier by choosing less sugar products and adding more nuts. I keep my protein bars in the fridge to keep it firm. And since I added chocolate, I cut up mini squares to eat when I'm craving something sweet. I used puffed quinoa which they sell at the health food store and Bulk Barn.  They are basically quinoa but puffed like rice crispies.  If you can't find quinoa puffs, you can substitute oatmeal for the entire recipe.

Quinoa No Bake Protein Bars

 

 

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

1 1/2 cups puffed Quinoa
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup of variety of nuts either almonds,pecans,walnuts
1/3 cup of sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds or both
3 tbsp. chia seeds
3 tbsp. hemp hearts
1/2 cup dried coconut

Wet ingredients
3 tbsp. melted coconut oil
3 tbsp. peanut butter
3 tbsp. almond butter
2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder
1/2 - 3/4 cup of almond milk

Topping
1/3- 1/2 cup dark chocolate or chocolate chips melted

Directions
1) Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2) Dissolve protein powder with almond milk. Add rest of wet ingredients to mixture.
3) Mix dry and wet ingredients.
4) Press mixture into a pan lined with wax paper.
5) Pour melted chocolate over mixture.
6) Place in freezer overnight or atleast 2 hours to harden. Remove from freezer and cut into squares.

Keep in fridge in a tight container. These bars are sweet enough for me but if you want it sweeter then add more nut butters. I can't wait to make another batch. Maybe something more tropical!

Ginger Soy Tofu Recipe

Been busy these last couple of days but I wanted to share with you my favorite way to make tofu. I like preparing tofu because it's economical and easy. Last week I read an article about the fact that tofu uses GMO ingredients and that it's not as good for you as it seems. Well, I contacted Sunrise Soya cause that's the brand of tofu I use and they said that indeed their products are Non-GMO. It's on their website, the whole explanation so I won't get into it but I just wanted to say, "yippee!!!" So now for the recipe. It's simple and there is a process but if you follow my technique, let me tell you how often you'll be eating tofu and adding it to your noodles or stirfrys.

Ginger Soy Tofu Recipe
1 block of Firm Tofu
1 thumb size freshly grated ginger
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 tbsp. honey or other sweetener
salt and pepper

Directions
1)Remove tofu from packaging and place on a shallow dish. Place a plate on top of tofu and add some weight on it, I use a can of beans.
2)Wait for 15 minutes, and then drain liquid. Do this every 15 minutes for 1 hr.
3)In a bowl, mix rest of ingredients.
4)Remove weight from tofu. Slice tofu into 1/4 inch thickness. Pour sauce on tofu and let marinate. Cover and keep in fridge for atleast 15 minutes. I usually leave it for a couple of hours.
5)Heat a pan with some oil. Gently, lay tofu and pan fry each side for 3 minutes until golden brown. If you want, you can also beat an egg and dip each tofu slice into it and fry.
6)Serve with rice,vegetables or stirfry.

Gangnam Style Chicken Skewers

This recipe is inspired from one of Jamie Oliver's recipes. I like the simplicity of the recipe and I had all the ingredients to make these for our Korean style dinner. I used chicken breast instead cause the kids prefer that over chicken wings but any part of the chicken can be substituted. I also added sesame oil which wasn't in Jamie Oliver's original recipe. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Gangnam Style Chicken Skewers

Ingredients
1 lb of chicken breast
2 tsps Chinese five-spice powder

Small piece of grated ginger

4 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp  honey or agave syrup

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 cloves of crushed garlic

 

Directions

1)Heat oven to 335 degrees. Cut up chicken breast into bite size pieces and sprinkle with Chinese five spice powder. Bake for 40 minutes.

2)Mix ginger, ketchup, soy sauce, crushed garlic,sesame oil and honey/agave syrup. Make a glaze with this mixture.

3)Remove chicken from oven and apply glaze over chicken.

4)Return to oven and bake for another 30 minutes.

5)Remove from oven and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

 

Enjoy with some Kimchi Fried Rice and Soy Bean Sprout stirfy from my favorite Korean Recipe Blog, Maangchi.

 

 

Dates and Almond Energy Balls

I love snacking. There I said it. Sometimes I can't quite explain what exactly I want, whether it's a sweet treat or a salty crunch but when I want it, I better have it and fast. It's important to surround yourself with healthy snacks so I scoured the internet for a recipe that included both my sweet craving but the need for a salty crunch. This recipe is really simple and easy to prepare. It can be kept in the fridge and when you want a snack, it's ready and very satisfying. You can easily substitute the almonds for walnuts. You can also keep it simple and just have the dates and almonds with no other ingredient but I wanted to add the extra health benefits of chia seeds and hemp hearts. Try to find dates that are not too dried up so it can easily be made into balls. I found mine at No Frills for $2.50 and I ended up using just a quarter of the little container for this recipe.

Dates and Almond Energy Balls

Ingredients
1/2 cup of dates
1/2 cup of roasted almonds
3 tbsp. of almond butter
1/3 cup of hemp hearts
2 tbsp. chia seeds

Directions

1)Place ingredients into a food processor and blend.

2)Roll into balls.

3)Put in an airtight container in the fridge.

 

Makes 12 1 inch balls.

Look at these beauties. So delicious and guilt free.

 

Whole Grain Buttermilk Sweet Potato and Chocolate Chip Pancake Recipe

My kids love pancakes. They especially love chocolate chip pancakes. This recipe was inspired by my friend Tania who used to make these for her boys. She used to add condense milk into hers and it was crazy delicious. But I am trying to watch the calories so instead I came up with this recipe. I love the taste of sweet potato and it's a great way to add more fibre into their diets. I use one baked sweet potato and mash it for this recipe. However, their are times when I use a jar of baby food as a substitute when they didn't have any sweet potatoes in the store. I played around with the ingredients and you can definitely use what you have to make these easy pancakes.

Whole Grain Buttermilk Sweet Potato and Chocolate Chip Pancake Recipe

Ingredients
3/4 cup of sweet potato mash
1 1/2 cups of whole grain flour
1 cup buttermilk *
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp. melted butter
1/4 -1/2 cup chocolate chips

*Make regular milk into buttermilk by combining 1 cup milk with 1 tbsp. white vinegar.

Directions
1)Combine sweet potato mash with eggs, butter and buttermilk.
2)Add all dry ingredients together
3)Mix dry and wet ingredients. Don't overmix, just enough to combine
4)Add in chocolate chips.
5)Heat pan and drop spoonfuls. When one side bubbles,flip until brown.
6)Enjoy with agave or maple syrup.
 Makes 20 2 inch pancakes.