The Veggie Burger Search Continues

A few posts ago, actually, quite a while ago I made my own veggie burger blend. A few days ago I discovered Javant’s Healthy Vegan Eating on YouTube. I made it. It is pictured below. His mix is made with no oil and no soy, so I had to give it a try. It was very good. I guess the walnuts along with the mushrooms gave it the fatty moisture mouth feel, aka texture.

I had forgotten that I made a veggie burger mix posted in My Vegan Burger. There are differences that could make a big difference to some people. First of all,Javant’s recipe is to be cooked. It uses cauliflower, walnuts, mushrooms, carrots, red onions and seasonings. Javant’s ground is designed to be used for multiple purposes.Therefore, no specific seasoning was used. It was very general. Mine is raw; designed for raw vegan lifestyle. My mixture included mushrooms, carrots, green onions,ground flax seed, soaked sunflower, jalepeno, and liquid smoke. There were other seasonings used, but they were specific to burger flavors, or at least they might have conflicted with Italian or Mexican flavors. I thought I had resolved my search for a homemade vegan burger blend. I’m down to two. I’m going to take a little from his and and add to mine. I will then cook a batch and dehydrate another batch. I learned a lot from Javant. I will continue to checkout his videos.

Javant’s Veggie Grou

After 1.5 years I did it!

I have tried other people’s recipes. I have experimented with my own. Today I accomplished my goal. I just threw ingredients in a bowl. Stirred them and put them in a cast iron skillet. What is it you ask?

Oil-free, vegan, gluten free Cornbread

It tasted good. It did not break-up or crumble.

What’s that? Oh, ingredients.

1. Gluten-free oat flour 1 cup
2. Organic cornmeal. 1 cup
3. Pureed banana. 1
4. Cashew milk. 8 oz
5. Aluminum free Baking powder 2.5 Tbls
6. Puree banana in milk
7. Bake 375° F for 20-25 minutes

It was great with vegetable soup. I guess the best happens when you are not trying too hard.

Enjoy

Finally Oil-free Waffles

The struggle continues to find substitutes for oil that works in my food. I finally succeeded with my waffles. I have tried pureed applesauce with no success. Tried a blend of pureed applesauce and avocado. That was better but not quite right. Saturday I decided to try just pureed avocado. Success! I added this to my vegan, gluten-free mixture and found success.

Now I will try this with my cornbread. Southern upbringing requires good cornbread. Anyone out there with a good cornbread recipe? Biscuits? Not sure I’m ready for green biscuits.

Back In The Kitchen

I am so excited. I have been trying for a while to create my own veggie burger raw and cooked. I have used other people’s recipes. Some were good and others not so much or at least not to my liking. What are my motivations for making my own. I could just buy them. Right?
Motivation 1. Mastering my refrig

I also wanted to confidently create my own with whatever I had in the kitchen. That’s what so many said they did in their experiments so why can’t I?
Motivation 2 Cost

Buying them can be a budget buster. They are expensive. Here in Texas they are approximately $4.50 and up for 4 patties and they may or may not be vegan.
Motivation 3 Satisfying The Cardiologist

This is the hardest. Carl’s doctor has so many requirements. First it was raw so the body could heal itself. Then it was you can add in cooked but must be vegan,gluten-free, oil-free and clean as possible. Vegan was easy. We had already eliminated dairy and most flesh. Gluten-free required learning how to use different grains and seeds and the flours made with them to make waffles, bread etc. Keep in mind the raw, clean and oil-free parameters. Oil-free is easy to understand but no so eary to accomplish. You don’t want dry burgers, or dry anything. Still working on that one. Then what’s clean.

Clean eating is a deceptively simple concept. … At its simplest, clean eating is about eating whole foods, or “real” foods — those that are un- or minimally processed, refined, and handled, making them as close to their natural form as possible. fitnessmagazine

Minimally processed is the kicker. How can you know if it is minimally processed unless you make it yourself?

I finally found a recipe from The Spruce Eats that was very close to the #Dr. Praeger patties that I buy and fit within the parameters set by the Doctor. So with a little modification here is my offering.

Recipe

1 2/3 cup beans (this was a mix of kidney, lentils and leftover black)

1 cup cooked quinoa

1/2 c chopped on onion

1/2 c chopped yellow bell pepper

1/2 medium fresh jalapeño

1/2 medium avocado

1 Tbls brown rice flour

1 tsp chia seeds in 2 Tbls of water

3 Tbls of liquid aminos or to taste

Pinch of cayenne

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until well blend. Form patties and bake at 375° F for 45 minutes or desired firmness.

The brown rice flour made them a little crusty on the outside but were moist on the inside. I will try next time with oats instead of quinoa.

7 burgers that were 4″ in diameter and 1/4″ thick

The flavor was great and now that I’ve made them it will be a quick process next time.

I would love to read your comments and don’t for get to follow me at Pat’s Random Thoughts

All In The Head

It’s been a little over a year since we began this raw vegan/vegan lifestyle change. I have learned how to prepare meals which is a real accomplishment; I never liked to cook. I am still learning because my husband’s cardiologist wants as much gluten-free, oil-free, clean food as possible. This is no easy task. Eating out is hard and cooking requires learning how to make good food with these substitutes. The journey has begun again.

I discovered one other thing, your mind is still the main battlefield. Occasionally my mind still test me when I am tired. Catfish and fried chicken, Chinese and authentic Mexican screams at me. The struggling vegan pops up and shouts substitute. That is my present objective; substitutes and the changing of my mind, again.

“…..but Be transformed by the renewing of your mind….” Romans 12:2

This is the key to all lifestyle changes. It all begins with how you think. When you determine to make the change and settle it in your mind the rest is easy.