Meatless Monday: Spicy & Sweet Morningstar Farms Black Bean Burger Stir Fry

Yesterday afternoon, we watched a friend's son and my daughter and he chose macaroni and cheese for lunch.  Since I can't have dairy due to my nursing son's milk allergy, I had a great excuse to get creative.  I am a BzzAgent which means I get to try all sorts of yummy products for FREE in exchange for my open and honest review of them.  I recently got into a Morningstar Farms BzzCampaign and purchased the Spicy Black Bean Burgers free with the coupon I got in my Bzzkit.

I pulled those out of the freezer along with some other items and decided I was making an East meets West stir fry.  Here's what I did:

Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger Stir Fry

yum!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white rice
1 cup water
1 tablespoon frozen chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil (separated into 1.5 tablespoons x2)
2 Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burgers
1 cup oriental stir fry frozen veggie mix
1 tablespoon Smoky Chipotle Paprika Seasoning Mix
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
Sea salt and ground pepper

1. Pour 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil into a medium sized sauce pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add garlic, salt, pepper, and frozen onions.
3. Stir until the onions defrost and add the rice.
4. Heat these in the oil until the rice is translucent and starting to tan just a little.
5. Add water and stir.
6.  Bring to a boil.  Once boiling, cover and drop heat to low.
7. Continue cooking rice on low for 15 minutes.  Then turn off heat, leave top on, do not touch for another five minutes.  DO NOT remove the top to your rice.
8. While your rice simmers, add the remaining oil to a frying pan or wok on medium heat. 
9.  Carefully add vegetables (water in the frozen veggies likes to pop!) to the heated oil.

Generic Frozen Veggies... cheap, quick, easy

10. Sprinkle Seasoning mix, cinnamon, and a little salt and pepper on veggies.  Saute veggies until they are defrosted.
11.  Microwave patties at 50% power for 1 minute to defrost them.
12. Cut patties into eighths (like a pizza).

Don't mind the sesame street plate...

13. Add veggie slices to veggies and oil.
14.  Here I bumped the heat up to medium-high ... almost high... and sauteed the mixture for another 5 minutes to get things a little crispy on the edges.

Sizzlin

15.  Serve over rice!

Yummy!

And a close-up... because it's artsy...

The seasoning mix I use:

We love this stuff.  $5 at Marshall's!

Ingredients... if you can't find some, make your own!

This post brought to you by:

The Music that Gets Me to Work

Every morning I am up at 5:30 AM.  I LOATHE 5:30 AM.  I have a three month old who can't nurse (more on that later), but I still would like him to get the benefits of breastmilk as opposed to formula, so I have to pump every 4 hours or so to keep up with the little fatty.  Don't believe me that he's a fatty?  This is my 16.4 pound almost 15 week old:

Someone is a healthy baby!

Fatty baby is good... he's a healthy baby, I just won't be able to lift him pretty soon.

So, back to 5:30AM.  I pump until about 6, get ready in a half hour, and I'm out the door in freezing weather (New England... it's cold).  I have to walk about a mile to and from the train station to get in and out of the city.  So, 6:30 AM, freezing January weather, oh, and it's pitch black out still.  The picture I'm trying to paint here: It sucks.  I've been trying to figure out how to make it a LITTLE easier.

As I walk to the train every day, I listen to music with my headphones.  Quality headphones are KEY when you commute on public transit.  Don't skimp.  I wear Bose ie2s and I would gladly buy 5 more pairs if I had to in order to sustain the level of comfort they supply me on my trek into the city.  My usual musical choices are loud, angry, and sometimes very depressing.  In order to help my mornings feel a smidge more cheery, I've instituted a new "chipper song" policy.  Here were today's chipper songs:

First: Hands are Clever by Alex Clare

I love Alex Clare.  His soulful voice pairs so well with a variety of songs as shown from this album... he can wear so many musical hats.  I also NEVER expected that voice to come out of him.  The upbeat ... beats... in this song just make me want to dance around.  To be honest, I don't even pay attention to the words, I just want to dance when this song comes on.

Next: We'll be Alright by Travie McCoy

That's a spectacular image right there^.  It's just about how the song makes me feel, too.  The upbeat song and lyrics make me want to have a little party... so I do.  Just imagine me in the darkness, walking down the sidewalk, bopping up and down to this song.  It's amazing I'm sure.  Unfortunately, I'm not the one who gets to watch.

Last, but CERTAINLY NOT least: On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons

These guys are my absolute favorite right now.  This song makes me dance.  I can't help it. It's involuntary.  Best part is: I really can't dance.  This song is so positive, the music is so upbeat, and I just love it.  It makes me all warm in the heart area which is pretty impressive because there has been some debate on whether I had one... a heart that is,

So, if you need a pick me up, grab some headphones, download these songs or use a program on your phone like Grooveshark (love it!) to give them a listen for an instant mood boost!

Review: riceworks: Gourmet Brown Rice Crisps Sweet Chili flavor

So, it's 4 PM and I need to pump.  Pumping means a couple of other things: I will be insanely thirsty and hungry immediately following.  Since I'm at work, I keep snacks on hand, but nothing is sounding good.  So, I venture out to the vending machines.  Since I work in higher education, we have quite a few, and I choose to go to the "healthy, natural" machine rather than the one that sells fritos and cheetos.  I notice these brown rice "crisps" on the top row and go for a curveball and try them.  I buy this:

riceworks: Sweet Chili packaging... fiery.

I scamper back to my office to take pictures and try them for the first time.  Judging from the packaging, one would think there's a kick to these "crisps."  I mean... there are chili peppers on the front with a background that sort of resembles fire.  I'm glad they showed a "crisp" on the front as well, because upon opening the bag, I'd have thought they accidentally filled it with chips.  The bag touts its inhabitants many achievements: Gluten-free, All natural, Wheat-free, whole grain, vegan and celiac friendly, no trans fat, no cholesterol, no preservatives, and I think something about shaving whales. Anyway, I open the bag, and I'm saddened to see this:

my ration of "crisps"

Apparently riceworks is trying to help me watch my girlish figure... The "crisps" are dense.  I pick one up and inspect it... it's light, but thick.  It's covered in flavor stuff, but the ingredients list is significantly shorter than their chip counterparts.  I continue inspecting... I taste a "crisp."  My teeth crunch through the brown rice to find a sweet, slightly zippy flavor as bold as what you'd find on "chips" but this is a "crisp"... obviously.

I probably should have used a banana to show size, but I forgot and it's a little late now.  Visualize it.

All in all, the flavor was good, they hit the spot for a quick snack, and they were only 180 calories, but there are other things I could choose next time for less calories, more flavor, and less money.  I would say that if I were grabbing a sandwich and these were a chip option I will totally choose them, but for an after pumping snack? I'll pass next time.

Hello World

New blog, first post.  Hooray!  Now that I'm done being pregnant and miserable (who remembers the Pregnant Bitch?), I'm ready to go with a new blog, new name, and a newly rekindled hankering for some SERIOUS life remodeling.  Who's ready?