To veg or not to veggie burger

Veggie burgers, veggie patties, disks of doom and evil... whatever you call them, lets face it they are here to stay! I've enjoyed my fair share of veggie burgers in the past. There was a year in my life where I ate veggie burgers every single day. I liked the Morning Star ones that were chunky and full of veggies, and I totally despised the Boca Burger disks of ground up shoe soles- those things are just nasty! However, I come to find out a few months ago (thanks to the news on GMOs) that my beloved veggie burgers are probably full of chemicals, GMOs, black holes, and the tears of children. That would probably explain why the year I ate nothing but veggie burgers was also the year I had to get my gallbladder removed. Things to think about when you get older... "Why did I do that to myself?!" "Oh so now health food is death?!" In any event the choice is either continue to eat that delicious poison, or make it your dang self! Actually, it's incredibly difficult to find vegetarian anything here so the option has always been make it yourself fool.

The video explains how I made this particular veggie burger: http://youtu.be/gther9eipyI

However, there are so many ways and flavor combinations to make a veggie burger I don't think listing what I used is necessary. I think the process is important to see, but the flavors are endless.

What you really need is a binder: beans and maybe an egg. 1 cup at least of cooked beans will do and an egg. Now think of another cup or two of flavors. These "cups" of flavor need to be cooked and cooled for the combining portion. Let me help: broccoli and cheese; spicy TexMex; sweet potato and cheddar; rustic veggie; mushrooms madness; Mediterranean meadows; and so on.

With the TexMex for example I would have cooked 1 1/2 cups of corn, peppers, onions, potato, jalapenos, garlic, and so forth with the other 1/2 cup maybe being cheese or more spice.

Broccoli and cheese would have also been easy. I know broccoli has a lot of water so maybe just 1 cup broccoli and a 1/2 cup of cheese.

So there you have it! And you can change up the bean! Black, red, white, whatever!

Think of the shape: patty or a ball?! What would your kids most likely eat? I think a broccoli and cheese ball! I'd call it a Dragon Ball... cause I'm awesome.

So here's the video: http://youtu.be/gther9eipyI

sizzle....

my bean mash with cooked veggies

saute veggies first then let cool before adding to bean mash

Please check the video for this particular veggie patty/burgers ingredients/instructions.

Nut Butters (aka Peanut Butter, Cashew Butter, not the kind that moo's)

Aaa. Another food made out of nuts. What a great piece of food. The mighty nut! I could get poetic but nawww. It's been the last few years now that nut butters have taken off. First, as we all know it's the kid brands of peanut butter full darkness and a future of lost dreams. Then we got all organic or all natural with peanut butter and then it took an exotic spin to cashew and almond butters. Supposedly, Nutella was (once) good for you because it had hazelnut butter in it. Well, lets be honest, none of the store bought nut butters are any good for anyone. The back of each and every single one has a label (most likely) filled with sugars, salts, thickening agents, oils, the Dark side, etc.  Now, it's been a while since I've lived in America, maybe there are better options. Though, there's no better option then the one you make by yourself.

You can get quite creative with nut butters. A few months ago it seemed like every nut was available in the stores here. I made a nut butter with walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, peanuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds (all at once!). It tasted great and healthy! Seed butters are also popular. The super expensive  tahini (at least it was in Guangzhou)  is made from sunflower seeds. You can get super creative with just one nut as well. I saw recipes for a cinnamon walnut butter, chocolate hazelnut (sound familiar), and so forth.

Some advice if you're doing this for the first time. A food processor is always great but a blender is just fine. Start off with a cup of whatever cooked nut you want. Sometimes peanuts come with a thin skin (not the shell duh)... I still processed it fine. Now, be patient when blending. You may have to stop the machine a few times (esp if you are using a blender) and scrape down the walls. Resist the urge to add oil. Trust me in two to five minutes of blending it'll come together. Just like in my video: http://youtu.be/TYynSWIvcsY

If you'd like a creamer consistency use 1 tbsp of an oil (coconut is always preferred) and keep adding a tbsp at a time until you are happy. However, I never really need it, though I've done it once and it was a pretty tasty nut butter.

Lets think of another reason why we use peanut butter. If we're making Thai noodles we don't want to use a too sweeten version of the nut butter, now do we precious? Most smoothies and sandwiches are going to have an already sweetened element in them, whether it's a banana or jelly, why should our peanut butter also be covered in sugar. So when making yours think reasonably in how you are going to use it and challenge the notion of sweetening it.

So here's the video: http://youtu.be/TYynSWIvcsY

My nuts in the blender

Precious nut butter

Ingredients:
1 cup roasted nuts and/or seeds
Optional ingredients:
1-2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
Optional flavors:
cinnamon
chocolate

1. If you're nuts/seeds aren't already roasted, place raw nuts/seeds on a baking sheet and cook for about 10 minutes at around 170C. You are looking for a little bit of roasting, some browning on one side. Please keep an eye on them if you've not done this before.
2. Let cooked nuts/seeds cool for around 15-20 minutes.
3. Blend cooled nuts/seeds in a food processor or blender scrapping the sides when necessary, for around 2 to 5 minutes.
4. Optional: for creamer nut butter add a tablespoon of oil at a time. Additional flavors can be added as well.
5. Nom nom nom!

Making Nut Milks

You're nuts! Especially if you don't make your own nut milk!! ZINGGG....

I think I feel better consuming a product that my own hands make. I know there is nothing in this product than what I put into it. Nuts & Water! Which sounds like a book I should write.

I don't need to worry about how much sugar, sodium, carcinogens, or if I'm supporting a morally unsound corporation when I consume this milk. I know for certain it's harder to know where or how these nuts were grown (GMO or not), it's also harder to know the type of labor that was put into making this product. If I purchased it from Malaysia my assumption would be it came from here or a major almond producing area. Why am I talking about this? Well, my generation no longer accepts packaged products as is. We want to know what's in it, how did it get here, it's environmental footprint/impact, and sustainability. We want to know the ethics of a product. Is it so worth having a kiwi in the middle of winter if it came from Chili on a huge plane (gas) and then numerous vehicles (gas) and so forth... Is it worth having that cup of coffee if a person lost their very basic human rights? These are the questions we are asking. We want a more transparent world.

Anyways. Nut milk. It's easy. Pick a raw nut or two (except maybe raw peanuts... that one was weird). Fill 1 cup up with said nuts. Place in a cup of water in the fridge overnight. Take those sprouted nuts and blend them with 3 to 4 cups of water the next day, strain, add your favorite ingredients (sweetener, extracts, etc), and enjoy. This only lasts about 5 days or so, so freeze some of it if you don't plan to use it all. I suggest in ice cube trays, easier to throw them in a blender.

Please visit the video and hit LIKE, subscribe, and leave a message: http://youtu.be/Y214yh1D-44

Almond milk and pulp

With the pulp from my nut milks I've made a few other treats with them, below are cracker, biscotti, and pizza dough.          

Cauliflower Rice and thoughts on Modern Eating

What prompted me to take something so delicious as rice and replace it with something a lot of people consider bland and rather boring? Well, maybe you look at cauliflower and think, "hmm it's kind of like broccoli," and attempt to cook it the same way expecting the same results. Or maybe you've tried the various complicated recipes out there for cauliflower mash, cauliflower pizza dough, or even cauliflower rice and threw up your hands in frustration! Well, I've tried all of these recipes and certainly couldn't figure out why on EARTH such a seemingly DRY veggie could possibly posses so much dang WATER! It's like the recipes themselves were meant to help you find water in a drought. Apparently there's enough water in a cauliflower head to support a family of six for 3 months! Truly! If I have to first cook/steam a veggie and then strain the hot scalding mass to get out the water out (or worse wait four hours for it to cool off) just for it to remain soggy anyways, I don't want to do it.

I was frustrated. I knew however that cauliflower was an exceptionally important veggie to have in ones diet. I still used it occasionally, but I had truly given up on its other identities. And then it dawned on me. Maybe I should skip the steaming part of the recipe (at least for cauliflower rice) and see if it turns out the same. SURE ENOUGH! It worked! Heck, if you grate the cauliflower first it's probably easier then to make the mash and the dough as well. Speaking of, I took my cauliflower rice and mixed it with egg and chives and it came out to be a perfect pancake on the stove..... sounds like a pizza dough ready to be made!!!

Hey, I have nothing against rice, but we all know if it's white rice we're talking about a lot of empty nutrients and even possible contamination due to the soil it grew in. If any of us are on a low-carb diet, we all know white rice is enemy number one. I actually never liked rice growing up. In my family rice was in a bag boiled on the stove top, or it came from a Chinese restaurant cold and salty. It wasn't until I lived in China did I understand the variety, cooking styles, and tastes of just white rice! It's a main food source for a lot of societies. It's so important and so meaningful in some peoples lives it would be like taking bread, potatoes, or even vegetables out of ones diet (if you consume it for at least two meals a day). I understand it's significance, I truly do. What I also understand is the growing obesity epidemic on this planet. Rice was a source of energy for us when we would worked on the fields and were burning a lot of calories a day. You could eat a high carb and fat diet back in the days if you were toiling with the earth or in a labor intensive occupation. However, we aren't doing that much anymore, life is sedative. We created technology to help us work less, but instead it made us work more, just sitting down. There were days that I could literally sit at my desk for 8 hours and never get up if I choose too. Eating the same ancient way with the modern work style doesn't seem to match anymore. Thus, we have to choose a healthier diet now or face the modern medical crises of our planet tomorrow.

Growing up I was exceptionally obese. I remember when I was 17 I hit the scale at way over 215lbs. I didn't touch a scale for a long time after that (I didn't want to know), so I could have easily surpassed it. I knew nothing about nutrition even though I was a vegetarian. In my 20s I began the yo-yo dieting. Lose 50lbs here gain 30lbs back, lose 60lbs here, gain 20lbs back. I was about 23 or 24 when I went on the Southbeach diet and really lost a lot of weight. It has taken me about 7 years to put on 20lbs again though someone recently said that she knew someone who could gain 20lbs in a month, so I guess 7 years of gaining weight isn't utterly bad. However, there's a point where you know your goal weight is 40lbs or more away and you really really want to achieve it. That push and drive to get there can easily escape you as quickly as it came. I had to, numerous times, sit down with myself and say HEY this time... really THIS TIME... we're going to plan and work this out. So, I'm back on Southbeach. I'm not 24 so I know it'll take me longer, but that's the long term plan. I guess what I'm trying to say is it wasn't until my mid-20s did I finally understand nutrition and what's important to consume and what's poisonous to consume. I think now a lot of us understand nutrition more than we did a few years ago, especially because it's clearer. Thus, a lot of my videos are a bit odd. I'm subbing out things for more nutrient based things and cooking in a style that is hopefully more beneficial to my health.

In the end we all struggle with our goals whether that be career or health wise goal. Setting realistic goals and allowing yourself to heal and be happy are important. Eating healthy and losing weight is my goal. I hope to achieve my ideal weight within a year or two, but I know it's not going to happen by next month.

Good luck to those who are striving to obtain their goals. I hope you enjoyed my cauliflower (fried) rice video. Here's the link to watch it: http://youtu.be/WXizCqv-lFQ

** sorry it's blurry ** cauliflower fried rice in a "sushi" wrap and a side of cauliflower fried rice with kimchi

For the cauliflower rice you'll only need a grater and a head of cauliflower.

For the fried rice you'll need your essential ingredients you use for your own regular fried rice (minus the rice).

Suggested:
1/2 carrot
1/2 cup chopped pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped cabbage
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp ginger
a protein

use olive oil or a healthy oil

the more veggies the better!

Thanks!

Malaysian Kimchi

Say what!? Isn't kimchi Korean? Well, yes... of course, but all of my ingredients came from Malaysia, even the most crucial of the ingredients (chili powder), so it's more fitting to say Malaysian kimchi.

Malaysian Kimchi

I wanted to try this recipe for a while, especially after watching a lot of kimchi YouTube videos and reading recipes that use the simplest of ingredients.  Fish oil/sauce is used in a lot of recipes, even seafood is thrown in there, not my thing. But I liked how kimchi appeals to the Malaysian taste buds: spicy (check), savory (check), and versatile in flavors. I just want people eating more vegetables and if this is a simple way of it - woohoo!

There are a few things I did with this kimchi that I'd like to share with you. I made: kimchi with scramble eggs, kimchi soup (video coming soon), kimchi fried cauliflower rice, and kimchi stir-fry. I have a small jar of it left!!! It got better as time went on and I hope to make kimchi daikon soon.

Kimchi scramble egg

Kimchi & cauliflower fried rice

Kimchi stir fry

Kimchi soup

Here are the ingredients for the kimchi that I made in the video: http://youtu.be/h9U34JqGfEE

2lbs cabbage
1/3 cup chives chopped
1/3 cup green onions chopped
1 1/2 cup of chopped daikon radish
1/4 cup garlic chopped
2 tbsp chopped ginger
1 cup of yellow or white onion chopped
1/2 cup to 1 cup of chili powder
1 tbsp of hot cayenne pepper
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water

1. Wash and cut your cabbage.
2. Add salt and water to cabbage. Every 25 minutes rotate cabbage. It'll be done in an hour and a half to two hours.
3. Take onion, garlic, and ginger and place in a blender or food processor, blend until smooth. Add water if necessary (one tbsp at a time). Take onion paste and add chili, chives, green onions, and daikon radish. Mix until smooth.
4. After cabbage has soaked for at least an hour and a half (and has been rotated) rinse the cabbage a few times and add the paste.
5. Once paste has been added it's free to consume. You can store in a dark place for a day (for fermentation) or place directly into the refrigerator.

I hope and wish you all a Happy New Year!