Tag Archives: veggie burgers

Unhealthy “Health Foods”

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Everywhere you go, people are talking about the next healthy food or diet craze.  I pin to many health boards on Pinterest, and I see unhealthy “health” pins all the time.  I am here to hopefully shed some light on the myths.

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1.  Low Fat /Fat Free Foods -  Fat is not a bad thing.  In fact, your body needs healthy fats to thrive.  Fat makes your skin glow and your hair shine.  Fats are crucial to every cell membrane in the entire body.  The structural components of the cell membranes within the brain, and also the myelin sheath that lines the nerve cells, are made up of fats.  Often not only are fat free foods lacking in healthy fats, but they often contain extra sugars or artificial sweeteners as you will see in my Yoplait Exposed post.  It is important to check all labels to be safe.

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2.  Energy or Nutrition Bars -  Most nutrition or energy bars contain soy protein isolate or whey protein isolate, which are hidden sources of MSG.  You can see that in my Kashi Bars Exposed post.  It’s important to check the label for those ingredients.  I would also advise you to keep track of the sugar content as well.  1 teaspoon of sugar is equal to 4.2 grams.  The American Heart Association recommends that you keep your daily intake of sugar at about 6 teaspoons.  You can easily make my larabars or granola bars.  I make clif bars as well.  They would save you money as well.  Once again, check the labels to be safe.  If you need a decent store bought option, you can look at Nature’s Path.

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3.  Sports Drinks and Vitamin Water -  Did you know that a Vitamin Water contains almost as much sugar as a can of coke?  Gatorade contains artificial sweeteners and also artificial dyes.  If the artificial dyes aren’t enough of a reason to stop drinking these, watch this video.  Warning, it’s a bit graphic.  Coconut water is a natural electrolyte replacer.  If you don’t want to drink coconut water, you can try these options.

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4.  Reduced Fat Peanut Butter -  As I said earlier, your body needs healthy fats.  Often, when fat is removed from a food, artificial sweetener, sugar or chemicals are added in to make it taste as good as the full fat version.  You can see that in my Peter Pan Exposed post.  Did you know you can make your own healthy peanut butter in 5 minutes?  All you need is peanuts.  You will never believe how easy it is.

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5.  Store Bought Veggie Burgers -   Most store bought burgers contain chemicals, additives and GMOs.  You will see that in my Boca Burgers Exposed post.  Another thing to take note of, is that most veggie burgers don’t even contain actual veggies.  A lot of them are made up of soy protein isolate which is a hidden form of MSG.  Again, check the labels to be sure.  I have several veggie burger recipes on the blog.  If you need a better store bought option, try Sunshine Burgers.  Their burgers have been non GMO verified and have a much cleaner ingredient list.

 

Adzuki Bean Veggie Burgers

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I love veggie burgers.  It seems you readers love them too because my Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers is one of the most popular recipes on the blog.  As you may know, most store bought versions are not very healthy.  That’s why I make my own.  So much cheaper too!

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My younger daughter Olive loved these!  She is mostly tube fed and still learning how to eat by mouth so it was kind of a big deal to see her stuffing this into her mouth.  You can read more about her in the About Me section of the blog.  We liked these so much that I made a second batch yesterday.  Adzuki beans are mainly grown in East Asia.  They are tiny red beans, but don’t let the size fool you.  These little beans are packed with healthy nutrients.  They are high in iron, potassium and folic acid.  I got mine out of the bulk bins at Whole Foods.

Adzuki Bean Veggie Burgers

3 cups cooked adzuki beans
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 an onion chopped fine
3 carrots chopped fine
4 T bbq sauce
salt to taste
1 egg (I used a flax egg replacer)
2 T water
2 T oil (I used avocado oil)

Preheat oven to 400. In a pan, saute the onions and carrots in the oil on med/high heat for about 5-10 minutes. In a food processor, pulse the beans several times until they are half mashed. In a bowl, mix the quinoa, beans, onions, carrots, garlic, bbq sauce, egg and water until everything is incorporated. Add the salt to taste. Using your hands, form patties and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes. This recipe may seem like it has a lot of steps, but you can cook the beans and the quinoa ahead of time. You can also chop the onions and the carrots in the food processor ahead of time as well. That’s what I did. Enjoy!burgers1

Chickpea and Spinach Burgers

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For those of you new here, my quest for a lot of different veggie burger recipes started after I wrote about Boca Burgers Exposed and also Morning Star Burgers Exposed.  These burgers are another delicious Pinterest find!  I found these on naturallyella.com.  Her blog has some pretty amazing looking food.  I suggest you go visit and take a look for yourselves. :)

Chickpea Burgers

My picture doesn’t look near as nice as hers, but I am still a newbie at the food photography thing.  I promise these are so yummy and really easy to make.  These would be great with a side of my Healthy French Fries.

Chickpea and Spinach Burgers

  • ½ cup chickpeas (drained, if using canned)
  • ¼ cup onion, diced
  • 1 cup spinach, packed
  • 1 T olive oil
  • ½ T soy sauce
  • 1 T oregano
  • 1 T smoked paprika
  • 2 T sunflower seeds
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • ½ cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
  • pinch salt
  1. Combine chickpeas and onion in a food processor, pulse a few times to break up the chickpeas. Add in spinach, oil, soy sauce, oregano, paprika, and sunflower seeds, pulse a few more times.
  2. Add in egg, salt, flour, and bread crumbs, pulsing until mixture comes together and is well blended. Remove from food processor, run your hands under water, and shape patties. If grilling out, bake in an oven for 10 minutes in order to get a start on the burger. If pan frying, you can use right away.
  3. If pan frying, cook over medium-low heat for roughly 6-8 minutes on each side. The outside should be browned and crispy.

I baked my patties in the oven at 350 for about 15-20 on each side.  They were crispy on the outside and softer in the middle.  They reminded me of falafel.  I spread my White Bean Pesto on top of these and it was delicious!

Chickpea Burgers