Tummy rumbles

Now the problem with writing about food is that you have to also think about it. And while this doesn’t necessarily seem like an issue – it is. Your tummy rumbles looking at amazing pictures, your mouth salivates reading delicious recipes, your eyes tear up at the thought of all this yumminess.

And then you realise you’re stuck at work and can’t actually do anything but sit at your desk and listen to your tummy throw a little tantrum.

I’m one of those people who has to eat every couple of hours. My blood sugar levels drop, fatigue sets in, and I get shaky. I also get cranky. Not cranky like some people, but I do become Miss Cranky Pants. Just ask L-whack!

On Tuesday evening, I decided to bypass the gym and instead do some cooking. I had bought some coriander (or is it cilantro…… I know this is a raging debate for some!) on the weekend, and knew that it needed using. So I decided to cook some burgers.

Instead of following a recipe, I just kinda threw some ingredients into my food processor and hoped for the best. And it turned out pretty well. Except they’re a bit crumbly. So I might need to add a little liquid to bind them together next time?

Chickpea & butter bean burgers

Ingredients

1 x 400g can chickpeas drained, rinsed, dried

1 x 400g can butter beans drained, rinsed, dried (you could use any other bean I am sure)

1 carrot, chopped into small pieces

½ bunch coriander

½ cup rolled oats

Method

Throw all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until all the ingredients are mixed up and mushed together. You may need to scrape down the bowl every so often.

Put mixture into bowl and place in fridge for an hour or so.

Mould mixture into pattie-like shapes with your hands and pan fry until golden on either side.

Eat!

Chickpea & butter bean burgers

I enjoy mine in a wrap. Depending on what’s in the fridge, I’ll add spinach, corn, capsicum, cucumber, carrot – and top it off with sweet chilli! Sometimes I also spread hummus (or something similar like spicy pumpkin dip, which actually isn’t spicy) on the wrap too. I’m a big wrap person. It’s like my fast food, when I cannot be assed to cook anything. Pasta used to be my go-to meal, but now it’s wraps. You can throw whatever you have in the fridge/cupboard and you’re guaranteed a tasty, healthy meal.

Fast food Ess Mick style

I had a totally blonde moment whilst making the burgers the other night. My brain simply decided to not work properly. Maybe it was the heat, maybe the train delays, or maybe just the fact that I am known to do stupid things.

When I got my food processor, it came with a spatula/scraper utensil.

So the other night, I would pause the whizzing to scrap down the sides of the bowl every so often to make sure it was all mixing nicely. However, at one point some of the mixture got stuck and wasn’t whizzing around as it should, so I decided it would be a good idea to move around the mixture by sticking the spatula down the spout thingie……. The next thing I knew, the top of the spatula had been almost sliced off.

Meh. That was stupid. Move on Ess Mick, you’re tired. I tore off the broken bit, paused the processor to scrape down the sides and put the lid back on to continue whizzing.

But then I did it again. Yep. I don’t know what the eff I was thinking, but I did. A little more mixture was stuck, and my brain had clearly suffered amnesia of the last 3 minutes. Another ½ cm was severed.

Sigh.

So now it’s looking a little stumped, and not as nicely rounded and curved as it used to be.

My poor spatula. Also you can tell they use crap material because after 3 uses, it's already stained!

For L-whack’s birthday on Saturday, we’re having a dinner at his parents place. I found out this morning there’s going to be about 20+ people there… We opted to have dinner in, instead of going out or getting takeaway, because having a home cooked meal is so much more personal and pleasant. I’m going to take a dish to share, and after much thought I’ve decided to do a roast vegetable and burghul salad. It’ll be very similar to the Christmas Eve recipe (see below), but I might try the Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe that’s in Appetite for Reduction this time.

Christmas Eve

I’ve been meaning to write about Christmas Eve for a while now – better late than never!

Christmas Eve was spent with my mum and L-whack, and I cooked us a vegan feast. I had researched and constructed a menu that I thought was well rounded, tasty and healthy. And I was right J

Christmas Eve feast!

PS – sorry about the not-so-good quality of the pictures. They’re taken on my phone, which isn’t an iPhone.

Spanish green beans and tomatoes – tasty, although very tomatoey so may add a little stock next time

Crash hot potatoes – by far the MOST amazing potatoes I’ve ever eaten. Mum, L-whack and I actually bickered over who got the last one! (I won as I used the argument that I had cooked them, therefore deserve it!)

Smashed chickpea salad – which I forgot to make until the last minute (it got lost amongst the other recipes), so instead of mashing them, I just mixed the ingredients. It still turned out yum!

Vegetable bulgur salad – L-whack helped mix this one together, he did a stellar job!). Instead of eggplant, I used capsicum instead – YUM!

Roasted broccoli with garlic and red pepper – which was nice, although the trees got a bit brown so next time would put them in the oven for a little less time.

I also baked a chocolate banana cake to take to L-whacks’ family for Christmas Day shenanigans. I veganise it by using ‘No egg’ and Lindt 70%. I also omit the streusel as the cake is tasty enough as is – maybe sprinkle some icing sugar. Yum.

On Christmas Day, we had a white Christmas! Seriously. Even though it was 30°c, it hailed BIG time – it was insane!! We were in the middle of doing presents when it bucketed down! Luckily we escaped any major damage (mum’s kitchen got a bit flooded) but it was certainly a day to remember! There was continuous thunder & lightening right until we crashed into bed about 1am.

The path at L-whack's family home