Baked Vegan Pineapple Black Bean Burgers

I love black beans. I’ve passed the love onto Kaylin…she can house them! Then her entire face gets covered in black bean “juice”. We call her the coal miner ;). I wanted to make up a batch of black bean burgers, but I wanted them to be on the lighter side:

 

Baked Vegan Pineapple Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

• 15 oz black beans, drained and rinsed (I used Bush’s low sodium- always do!)
• Crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup panko (or bread crumbs)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mash the black beans to desired texture using a fork or potato masher (I like mine a little on the chunkier side). Add 2 tablespoons of the crushed pineapple in pineapple juice, onion, bread crumbs, ground red pepper, and flax seed. Mix until just combined. Form into 4 burgers.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the burgers on the paper. Bake for 8 minutes on each side.

I used the burgers to make burger bowls. For the bowls,I  mixed some of the remaining crushed pineapple in with cooked brown rice. I topped the rice with steamed vegetables, the black bean burgers, and avocado. mmmm….

Pre-bake:

In the bowl, pre-avocado.

These were super tasty. Are you a bean burger fan??

Happenings & Chicken Roll-ups

First- I promise our Disney recap is coming!!

Next-Did you have a good weekend? I hope so! Friday, I ran my last long run (12 miles). I ran in the pants pv.body sent me- I adore them!!:

For more info about pv.body, check out this post.

Friday night, we attempted to go out to dinner, but it was pure madness everywhere. We ended up getting a quick bite at Qdoba, which was wonderful. Kaylin loves their black beans. I like anything that involves guacamole.

Saturday, I taught Body Step and then went to coffee with Amelia. After, I got a bit of baking done, went for a walk with Kaylin & her Aunt Lori, and just relaxed!

Sunday included a quick run, brunch with friends, and learning choreography for our upcoming launches. Other than that? A lot of playing:

 

Its secret recipe club time again!! As a part of the club, each month you’re assigned another Secret Recipe Club blogger to make a recipe from. If you want to join, click here to sign up. This will be my last month participating. I have enjoyed exploring new blogs!!

This month, I was assigned Sweet Beginnings. Jaida, the author, lives in Texas with her two adorable puppies. She is a lover of food and likes to share her creations with friends, coworkers & family. I choose to make her chicken roll-ups (minus the red pepper sauce, since Josh isn’t a red pepper fan).  

 

 

The rollups made for a great, light dinner. Josh and I enjoyed the leftover chicken on salads as well. Thanks for a great recipe Jaida!!

Have a nice Monday!

Quick & Easy Vegetarian Bowl

Last nights dinner was a tasty and easy one! I saw Jessie post about her go to Vegan Protein Bowl and it made me crave my own favorite quick & easy vegetarian (or vegan) bowl. I usually make this dish by roasting my vegetables, but I went a slightly different route last night so I could use my new steamer insert that my friend Mandi gave me for my birthday.

 

I chopped up a parsnip and sweet potato…

 

and steamed them up…

 

I mixed the steamed veggies with Bush’s reduced sodium pinto beans…

 

and Success Brown rice. The mixture was topped with salsa. For a little extra yum factor, I usually place shredded cheese on top.

 

Delicious & healthy.

And for workout Wednesday, here is my plan for the week:

• Monday: Ran to warm up, Taught Body Pump
• Tuesday:  Taught Body Attack
• Wednesday:  Ran outside
• Thursday:  Teach 45 minute Step, 45 minute Pump
• Friday: Off
• Saturday:  Teach Body Step
• Sunday:  Walk with Lindsay

What is your favorite healthy meal? Any workout plans for the week?

Happy Birthday to my sister, Kim!!!! (Her birthday was yesterday but I didn’t post!)

Last Day of Clean Month/Fun Packages

Hi everyone! I know you are feeling the TGIF as much as I am! Today is the last day of clean eating month! I had written up a great post about this month on my laptop, but it is STILL not fixed :(. So here is just a quick summary:

I have really learned a lot this month about what more natural eating can do for your body. My tummy has been functioning VERY well and I never felt that "overstuffed" feeling after meals. I also (bonus) lost a few pounds. I think the biggest surprises for me were how easy it was to give up bars (which had become a very regular part of my diet), that Starbucks treats do not require flavored syrup to taste good, and that natural, healthy snacks are much more filling than their faker packaged counterparts. I am definitely going to be increasing the percentage of my eats that are "clean" and am hoping to have 85-90% clean days. I have been missing packaged pasta and a few of my other favorite "treats." To finish up clean eating month, I will be having a clean din din tonight of eggs, asparagus, fresh fruit, and potatoes!

Ok- I received two fun packages yesterday. First, POM juice- I can't wait to review this juice and use it in some recipes:


And....the BEST baked goods ever from Gina.

Macaroons, chocolate macaroons, and super charge me cookies!!! She also included a VERY sweet card. Let me tell you- I had a nibble of a macaroon yesterday and it is clearly the BEST cookie I have ever tasted! I plan to gobble another few tomorrow after clean month ends! Thank you so much Gina!

Today will be filled with work, teaching body step, enjoying my clean eating and relaxing! What is your Friday looking like?

Reversed Day

Happy Wednesday! We’re more than halfway through the work week! Since Josh and I have tons going on this afternoon/tonight, I switched my day around and took Body Pump at 5:45 this morning. It was a great way to kick off the day! I then came home and had an apple with peanut butter and a little granola and coffee.

My initial lunch plan was sweet potato based (after seeing Jenn’s awesome looking sweet potato fries). However, I soon realized I have tonssssssss of salad stuff and I don’t want it to go bad, so…I had the usual salad (romaine, carrots, tomato, corn, black beans, olive oil, balsamic vinegar).

I also had (ANOTHER) apple with cinnamon

For a snack this afternoon, I am planning either a banana or a piece of whole wheat bread and potentially some more coffee… We are going out to dinner tonight with Josh’s parents, so I will try to take some pics and post them up tomorrow. I also plan to do 3 sets of push ups and some more stretching (for BBBC). Have a great night (Lost is on!!)

More Tilapia ;)

First off, you guys are SO sweet!! Thank you for all the compliments about the baby shower and my family! A few of you asked some questions so here are the answers:

• Yes! This is my first niece and I am very excited to be an Aunt!!
• The little girl is due at the end of April
• The cake was vanilla with chocolate filling ;)

Today was a coffee day ;). I knew there would be multiple cups consumed! But the good news is, due to some extra work hours over the last week, I get to take tomorrow off…HOORAY! So today went a little something like this- work, abs workout based on this again (I did three sets of 30 crunches, 20 pikes, 30 flutter kicks), OSG BBBC Challenge Day 4 (3 sets of tricep dips-30, 25, 25), body pump, dinner, relaxing!

I forgot to mention in my post yesterday that we are into Clean Week #2. Things are going well so far! My body feels fabulous from all these clean eats!!

For breakfast, I had hard boiled egg whites and coffee (no pic).

For lunch, another salad (yes, I know I need a change ;)) with romaine, carrots, celery, black beans, tomato, olive oil, balsamic vinegar. I also had a blueberry chobani and some no sugar added applesauce.

Snack 1, Non-fat cappuccino (very necessary!). Snack 2, Apple with Peanut butter and a piece of homemade whole wheat bread (no pic)

Dinner was tilapia, green beans, wheat berries

And a second serving of green beans!

This was my first experience with wheat berries and I cooked them based on Kath's directions. I also had another half an apple after din din.

For those of you who asked, here is a pic of Frank getting his bath! Excuse the face, he truly loves it ;).

Whats your favorite new product you've tried this year??

Baby Shower/Lots of Coffee/Little Cheating

Hi guys! Sorry I have not done much commenting this weekend- it has been a busy one! Both today and yesterday, I got up at 3 am to catch planes! Phew....I am ready for bed. Below are some pics from my sisters baby shower and a summary of my MOSTLY clean eating! I did cheat and had a little cake at my sisters shower, I felt I had to help celebrate the baby/thought it looked yummy ;).

The tables (pink rose centerpieces, a little "Its a girl confetti" favors- little babies feet soap and candy- york peppermint patties and pink Hershey's kisses that say "Its a girl!")

The gift table:

My preggers sister:

Preggers & Me:

The Preggers Family:

Preggers & To be Grammy (aka my mama)

Cake (homemade by one of the guests):

The food- course 1 salads (I ate mine and my cousin's ;))

Pasta course (not pictured, I didn't eat any but heard it was awesome)

Main course (choice of chicken, fish, pork...I got the chicken and scrapped off the sauce and breading and had only a few bites, I ate all my veggies):

The Cake (aka my cheat, I split this with my Aunt):

My mom's side of the family (back row: My Grandma, Me, My mom, Sister, Aunt, front row: Cousin, Aunt, Aunt):

The shower went SO well! My sister got lots of awesome stuff! Can't wait to meet the new baby girl :)

Here is a quick summary of my weekend and eats.

Saturday:

• Up at 3 am, took 2 planes to get to Connecticut. On the way, I ate two apples and had a cappuccino with skim milk and a little sugar
• Lunch at shower
• Dinner out- large house salad with olive oil and vinegar and a side of broccoli)
• Dessert-fruit

Sunday:

• Up at 3 am, took 2 planes to get back to South Carolina. On the way I had (shockingly) two apples.
• When I got home, I had a few slices of homemade wheat bread and then went for an awesome 6 mile run. I also did yesterday's (2 sets of lunges, 2 sets of squats) and today's (3 sets of planks) activities for the Oh She Glows Bikini Body Boot Camp.
• Lunch was a Jay Robb Egg White protein shake with 1 cup 1% milk, 1 banana.
• Next, I went food shopping and had some coffee with skim milk.
• Snack was grapes and a few other nibbles of veggies while baking/cooking (another loaf of Whole Wheat bread, Granola, Snack bars for Josh, hard boiled eggs for the week)
• Tons of Laundry
• Frank bath (picture to come)
• Out to dinner with Josh and his friend Jeremy (who is in visiting from PA). We went to East Bay Deli and I got the salad bar (mixed greens, broccoli, carrots, chickpeas, hard boiled egg whites, mixed fruit, baby corn, olive oil, vinegar)

Ok, my eyes are closing :) I promise to do more commenting tomorrow! How was your weekend?

King Street Grille

Happy, happy Friday! I am so thrilled this week is over! After work today, I decided to shorten my workout to a half hour (my tummy had been bothering me all day :(). I went for a 2.5 mile run and then came home to do my workout for the Oh She Glows Bikini Body Bootcamp challenge- 3 sets of push-ups (each set was 10 full range push ups on my toes, 10 on my knees) and then a bundle of abs exercises from here.

Onto the days eats! Breakfast- Egg whites, Coffee.

Lunch: Yogurt, apple, carrots/celery, PB


Snack: Two pieces of homemade bread and walnuts

Din Din: Salad at King Street Grille (sorry the pic is dark!!) with romaine, black beans, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, hard boiled egg- very yum!

Sort of a light day of eats. I am about to do some snacking ;)

I'm headed out to Connecticut tomorrow for my sisters baby shower!! I won't be posting all day but will be back on Sunday! What are you up to this weekend?

As Clean As I Could Be!

Today moved at a different pace than the rest of my week (the change was welcomed!). Work was semi slow, as I was up to date on most of my projects and there was no rush, rush to get things done! After work, I got huge at Body Pump and ran a mile on the treadmill. Josh’s friend Jeremy is in town visiting us for the weekend (and looking to potentially move down to SC!!!). To celebrate his arrival, we went out to dinner. The thought of going out to dinner tonight totally scared me! How will I eat clean if I go out to eat? I thought back to MizFits post the other day on Clean Eating and thought I would take her advice on eating out:

“Back in the proverbial day (when I was a personal trainer) Id often tell my clients not to even bother picking up a menu when they went out to eat.

In response to the inevitable look of perplexednessment I’d respond that if it wasnt a cheat meal/treat meal then their order was really quite simple:

grilled/steamed/poached (you get the idea. depends on the restaurant) fish/chicken/lean beef, steamed veggies (baked potato if they choose with everything on the side) and a salad.”

Josh and his friend wanted to go to Mexican. I thought of my biggest downfall (chips and salsa) and thought ok, I can make it through this! I am happy to report I did not have even 1 chip! For dinner I ordered chicken breast with rice (and it came with a mini salad). Unfortunately, I don't think the chicken or the rice was cooked using a "clean" method, but I felt it was the best I could do! I ate about half (sorry for no pic- I went right to the restaurant from the gym....yes, sexy in workout clothes haha).

As for my other meals, breakfast was the usual apple/PB with coffee (no pic).

Lunch: Blueberry Chobani and leftover stuffed potato filling with a sweet potato

Snack: No sugar added dried papaya from a bin at WFs (very yummy)

All in all- I felt I did PRETTY well today. I actually selected this week to start my challenge because I thought this would be a tough weekend eats-wise. With Josh's friend visiting, I knew they'd want to eat out. Also, on Saturday, I am headed to my sisters baby shower in CT! Hopefully I can handle all of the challenges of the weekend! How do you avoid going overboard at restaurants?

Egg Filled Day

Today seemed to fly by for me! My day went a little like this- work, teach Body Step, clean up more boxes (we're ALMOST done), din din, and now its almost shower time!

As for my clean meals today:

For breakfast, I had hard boiled egg whites and coffee (no pic).

Lunch- big salad:

Chobani:

Applesauce:

Piece of homemade whole wheat bread:

Before Step, I had an egg white protein shake (1 scoop protein, 1 cup milk, ice). I got this protein from Best Price Nutrition (free shipping!!):

Din din- egg whites cooked with black beans, broccoli, apple:

I also just had a snack of more apple and PB (what can I say- I am an apple addict!).

Hows the weather where you are?

Friday, Preview: Clean Eating Breakfast Day 1

Hello All!

I seriously had an awesome night(and I hope you did too)! My night started with Body Attack- I taught and shot my video for my certification. I was totally nervous all day…I could not concentrate at all at work but the class went SO smooth! Heck yah ;) I’d love to share a clip with you, but its on a VHS tape. If I can figure out a way to get it onto a DVD, I will def post it up!

After class, Josh and I went to a local deli for dinner and I got the salad bar. Everything was so fresh and healthy, it was heavenly. Then we went to Lowe’s (which is a Friday night hot spot haha ;)

Thank you all for the kick butt comments on my Eating Clean post. Lots of fabulous feedback! If you are interested in trying it at all- I say go for it! Try it for a day or a few days- you don’t need to commit to a whole month (I know that is a big commitment!!). Also- feel free to make modifications! If you need 1 glass of (maybe organic) red wine or a dark chocolate square- do it! Some of you made some fab suggestions and I’d just like to highlight a few :

Michelle from What Does Your Body Good?- suggested I try green tea instead of coffee. I have never been a tea person, but I haven’t tried green tea. I asked her for some advice, so I may give it a whirl ;)

bHealthier from Body Mind Soul-Mentioned that tilapia is farm raised and that wild caught Salmon is a better choice. I completely agree. Here is the thing….I don’t like fish. GASP! I know I know. Tilapia is pretty much the least fishy fish, so its all I can handle. Anyone have any other suggestions?

And….because it rocks- did you all see the awesome tortilla recipe up on Heather’s Blog???

Ok, so I threw together the start of breakfast tomorrow...

Equal parts milk and oats (1/2 cup of each for Josh, 1/4 cup for me), threw them in the fridge to "cook" over night". Tomorrow I plan to add Flax and maybe a few walnuts:

Maybe a dash of natural honey to mine and some natural PB to Josh's. Tell me about your Friday night- do anything fun?