A day home cooking - I am in HEAVEN

 So I took today off to relax and basically needed to use a vacation day.  I decided I would do another batch of veggie burgers and I wanted to try this Sweet Potato Gnocchi.  This is my kind of day!

I changed up how I eat to more cleaner and healthier stuff.  I have cut out about 80-85% of processed foods and I make a lot more stuff from scratch.

One of the websites I follow is My Whole Food Life She is vegan but she has some pretty amazing recipes.  I had made her black bean burger a few months back and I liked it.  It was kinda on the bland side, but it gave me the opportunity to realize how filling these are.  Today's attempt is try #3 and it is a KEEPER.  This will be the one I make from here on out. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!  So full of flavor yumminess and so amazing for you.
Try to use as many organic ingredients as you can as you really don't want to eat the crap your making these from scratch to avoid.  I just read labels a lot more now and will look for items with the fewiest ingredients, Organic, Non-GMO verified or a combo of them all.

 

• 3 cans Black Beans (well rinsed)
• 1/3 C Milk (I used skim)
• 2 large red sweet peppers ( I roasted in the oven then removed skins)
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 2/3 C Panko Bread Crumbs
• 1/3 C Flour ( I used whole wheat)
• 2/3 C Cooked Quinoa
• 1 C Frozen Corn
• 1 bunch Cilantro
• 1 Onion (well chopped)
• 1 Lime
• Salt, pepper to taste
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon Cheyenne pepper

You can use dry beans and prep that way, this is my first attempt at the canned version and I honestly like this one better.

Rinse your beans well and add to your food processor or mixer (I used my ninja blender)

add your garlic, red peppers, cilantro and milk.  Blend well until everything is incorporated.

Saute your onions and add to mixture.

Remove mixture from blender into large bowl.  Add panko, flour and Quinoa and mix well.  You will want to use the juice from the lime and if you want you can zest as well and add to mixture.

Add your spices.  You can go crazy here if you want to.  I am not one for food that is too spicy.  But this amount gives me enough kick.  Add your frozen or roasted corn here and just mix until incorporated.

I used a 1/3 C to portion out my sizes. This made 16 for me, but if you make bigger, obviously it will make less.  But for 16 it is only 3 Weight Watchers Plus points.  Whoo hoo!

Spray cookie sheet and place patties.  Cook at 325 for 20 minutes then flip and cook for an additional 20 minutes (40 total)

These freeze amazingly well.  Wrap individually and place in large freezer safe Ziploc bag.  These will keep for awhile. 

I made a batch (my very first I will say) of homemade Red Pepper Hummus.  I am kinda a snob and I really only like Athenos brand but since I am making everything else right now why not give this a try.  It was good!  Ok, not as good as my Athenos but you know what, it tasted so good on my burger today that I LOVE it.  Super easy too.  Who knew making things from scratch was so much FUN and so much HEALTHIER!

Then after this I made these



Sweet Potato Gnocchi.  I know this will be a hit because both boys like sweet potato's and with pasta you can never go wrong.  I made a big double batch so I can freeze a bunch.  You can get the recipe HERE
Can't wait for dinner tonight.  Now off to downtown Dallas to get Circus tickets for the family.
Enjoy!
I will now get a chance to use some of the yummy homemade basil & spinach pesto I made last night.  ha, ha, ha....... I am on a roll.