Dinner 8: Lickety Split Burger Hash!

Hello Readers of this Blog Realm!

I love the word ‘realm.’  It makes me think of Lord of the Rings and adventure!  I always think of hiking the LOTR trail when school starts getting busy.  Anyway, this is Birdman and I’m flying solo for my adventure in the kitchen this week.  Giggles is crazy busy with school right now.

So for this week I decided to go with our favorite meal, which we’ve both made a couple of times together in the past.  That meal would be Lickety Split Burger Hash from Giggles’ Student Go Vegan cookbook.  Woohooo!!  If you’re going to try making anything from this blog, make this!  This is why I went with it; you all deserve to know this wonderfully delicious, easy, and healthy recipe J

Ingredients

Olive Oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 red bell peppers, diced

1 standard package of mushrooms, sliced

1 package of Boca burgers (4 patties)

1 15oz can tomato sauce

1 squirt of Dijon mustard

1 Tbs. maple syrup

Directions

1.)  On medium-high, sauté the onion and peppers in olive oil until they begin to soften.  About 6 minutes.

2.)  Add the mushrooms and sauté for another 3-5 minutes.

3.)  Crumble in the Boca burgers and add the tomato sauce, Dijon mustard, and maple syrup.  Stir, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.  Let simmer until it’s hot (about 4 minutes).

Prep Time = 10 minutes

Cook Time = 15 minutes

Serves 3-5 people

I recommend serving over brown rice (4 cups cooked) and having blue corn chips for dipping.  It’s so darn good!

You can easily split this recipe in half.  In fact, what I’ve provided is double the original recipe from the book.  But trust me, you want leftovers!  Every time I’ve made this it’s been awesome.  It gets 6/5!  And this meal is extra special because it’s the first thing Giggles and I ever made together!

For a movie this week I broke away from my movie list and saw No Strings Attached.  It’s a decent movie.  I don’t feel like I wasted my time by watching it, but it wasn’t life-changing either.  I’m a fan of Natalie Portman, especially in V for Vendetta, and she was pretty good in this movie with Ashton Kutcher.  Some friends of mine also told me Black Swan (with Natalie Portman) is a good movie, so maybe next week I’ll try that.

If you’re looking for a good quality movie to watch, some of my recommendations are:

          Gran Torino      Slumdog Millionaire

          The Matrix        Office Space

          Fight Club        V for Vendetta

          Miracle             Inception

          Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

          Yes Man           Avatar

          LOTR Trilogy    Bourne Trilogy

Today I’m starting what’s become a standard cleanse for me: three days just fruits and vegetables, then two days adding grains, nuts, and seeds back into the diet.  It’s been a long time since I cleanses.  I think the last time would have been five days of just fruits and vegetables with Giggles back in December.  So I’m due for a cleanse.  Plus I feel like I’ve been steadily losing my sense of mindfulness when it comes to eating and living in general.  My mind is restless during meditation.  I don’t actively listen to others as well.  I waste more time watching television.  I don’t exercise as much.  I feel heavy.  And I feel sluggish.  That inner fire is fading.

Everything seems a bit more rushed and the world is closing in.  It’s like tunnel vision that gets worse and worse, and you find yourself worrying about the small stuff.  A cleanse is one of the best ways to get out of this collapsing tunnel.  When you focus on your eating, it allows you to see all aspects of your life for what they are.  You gain perspective.  You refocus on life.  You see the big picture.  And that inner fire can re-ignite!

I would recommend doing a cleanse to all of you.  Through my experience, I’ve created some tips and things to be aware.

1.)  If you’ve never done a cleanse before, then start easy.  Try just one day with only fruits and vegetables.  Or try going three days with eating just fruit for breakfast.  I actually eat only fruit for breakfast everyday, because it’s good for digestion, makes you feel nice and light, and provides quick energy.  Plus eating only fruit follows good food combining habits.  Basically, proper food combining is fruit all by itself, vegetables with grains, and vegetables with proteins.  You should not combine grains and proteins because they don’t digest well together.  And since fruit digests so quickly, if you eat it with grains or proteins, then it could take 3 hours to digest and it will just sit and ferment in your stomach.

2.)  You may feel terrible on the first day.  This is because there are lots of toxins being transported out of your body, which is good.

3.)  You will have to pee often!  Again, because you’re flushing toxins out of the system.

4.)  Drink lots of water, fruit juice, and herbal or green tea.

5.)  Plan for your cleanse.  Give yourself at least a few days to mentally and physically prepare for it.  Think about what you might experience and know how you’ll deal with cravings.  In fact, work on eliminating cravings ahead of time.  Finish off that ice cream and that bag of chips.  Also, plan what you’re going to eat and go to the grocery store to stock up before it.

6.)  Potatoes are awesome!  I rely a lot on potatoes during the fruits and vegetables period.

7.)  Dried fruit is helpful because it gives you something crunchy and more solid to eat.  I love having banana chips, raisins, dried figs, and dried pineapple.

8.)  Other foods I usually eat during the stage with fruits and vegetables include:
Fruit: bananas (a filling fruit), apples, grapes, and maybe melon, pears, kiwi, etc., and fruit juice.
Vegetables: potatoes, salads, vegetable soup (make sure it doesn’t have chicken broth), sweet potato fries, hash browns, carrots & celery, and other creative recipes you can find.

9.)  Clean other areas of your life.  Organize things.  Clean your room/house.  Get things done so you can clean up your to-do list.  Manage your finances.  Set goals.

10.)  And most importantly, KEEP A POSITIVE ATTITUDE!  There will be many times when you’ll think about how great it will be to have grains again, but resist these thoughts.  Enjoy the cleanse!  Think about the love you show your body by consuming only natural fruits and vegetables, and giving yourself the chance to get rid of all those toxins that have built up over time.  Find joy in being internally clean!

Make today the best day of your life!

Birdman

Love, Listen, Learn, Laugh J