Thai Sweet Potato Veggie Burger

I like veggie burgers. I know most people won't agree with me, but I just like the texture and taste so much better. This is a Thai Sweet Potato Veggie  Burger adapted from Oh She Glows. I also made these Sweet Potato Bean Burgers!

The burgers can be frozen (after baking and cooling). To reheat bake for 20 minutes at 400F. Just keep an eye on the burger so they don't get too dried out. To reheat an unfrozen patty I microwaved for 30 seconds. 

I served on these fresh rolls. 

I topped with sriracha and some soy sauce. 

Thai Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

8 patties 4-5 inches in diameter.

1 large sweet potato

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

3 teaspoons finely grated ginger

1/2 cup roasted and salted peanuts, chopped

3/4 cup rolled oats, processed into a coarse flour

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 egg

1/2 tablespoon sesame seed oil

½ fresh lime juice

½ tsp cayenne pepper

Salt/pepper to taste

Cook sweet potato: Slice off ends of potatoes, stab with a fork a few times. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Once soft take the peel off and slice into chunks. Puree it up in the food processor. 

To the sweet potato in the food processor...add in chick peas, garlic, ginger, peanuts. For a few pulses. Pour into a bowl. Stir in cilantro and basil.

Back in a food processor, add the oats and process until it looks like coarse flour. Add to the bowl. Add in egg. Stir in the sesame oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper all to taste. I found it easier to stir this mix in the kitchen aid with the paddle attachment, but a spoon also works.

Shape the mixture into 8 patties, packing each patty tightly between your hands so it holds together well. Place each patty onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then gently flip the patties and bake for another 15-17 minutes until golden on both sides.

Sweet Potato Bean Burger

Burger with red onion, cheese, and
salsa on a homemade bun!

Sweet potato bean burger, this was so yummy and very filling! This recipe was adapted from Peas and Crayons. Also check out these Thai Sweet Potato Burgers!

The burgers can be frozen (after baking and cooling). To reheat bake for 20 minutes at 400F. Just keep an eye on the burger so they don't get too dried out. 

I served on these fresh rolls. 

Sweet Potato Bean Burger

makes 8 patties

1 large sweet potato, cooked

1 [15oz] can of chickpeas or equivalent

1  [15oz] can of cannellini beans or kidney beans

1/2-1 cup of diced bell pepper

1 medium-large jalapeno, diced

1 cup red onion, diced

1 cup white onion, finely diced

3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced

2 eggs

1 ½ -2 cups of rolled oats

2 tbsp oil

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp each oregano and basil

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Cook sweet potato: Slice off ends of potatoes, stab with a fork a few times. Bake at 350F for 1 hour. Once soft take the peel off and slice into chunks. Puree it up in the food processor. Add in kidney beans and chickpeas and pulse a few times (I like it a little chunky). Put into a big bowl.

While the sweet potato is baking, saute the onions, bell pepper, and jalapenos in approx 2-4 tablespoons of oil with black pepper and a sprinkle or two of red pepper. After about 7 minutes or so, add garlic and continue to saute until the veggies are translucent and tender. 

Once your veggies are ready, transfer to a large bowl with the beans, sweet potato, and raw oats, and then add your herbs/spices to season.  Adjust spices as needed. I found it easier to stir this mix in the kitchen aid with the paddle attachment, but a spoon also works.

Shape the mixture into 8 patties, packing each patty tightly between your hands so it holds together well. Place each patty onto the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then gently flip the patties and bake for another 15-17 minutes until golden on both sides.

No Bake Nutty Date Bars

I made these after trying a Larabar. These don't take like Larabars but are a sweet nutty snack. Also check out the No Bake Granola Bites!

No Bake Nutty Date Bars
8 oz  pitted dates
2 cups of mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, peanuts, etc)

Put 1 3/4 cups of nuts in the food processor and pulse until crumbly and small. Pour into another bowl.
Put dates into the food processor and pulse until lumpy and chopped up. Add in a tbsp or 2 of water to thin the mix out.
Add chopped nuts back in and pulse until combined.
Once mix is done add in the remaining nuts and pulse to add some texture.

Scoop the mix into the muffin tins until you have your desired serving size. The muffin tins need to be lined with saran wrap or muffin papers because this is very sticky. Because I make these often I purchased the silicone muffin liners which also work as the "packaging."

This makes 6 - 9 muffin sized portions.

Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries

Chicken on the left, Zucchini on the right

Here was some tender and savory baked zucchini fries. The recipe comes from The Lean Green Bean and Chocolate Covered Katie.

I used the same process and dredge for chicken strips too. I did the chicken after the zucchini to prevent any contamination of the ingredients too.

Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries

2-3 small zucchini, sliced into fry shapes

¼ cup flour

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp paprika

1 egg

1 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450F.

In one bowl combine flour, salt, garlic powder, and paprika. In another bowl scramble an egg in a separate bowl. In a third bowl pour breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Dip each zucchini stick in the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs.
Place on a cooling rack or silpat mat on a cookie sheet. Bake 18-19 minutes. Check at 10 minutes to see if you need to flip them.

2014 In Review: Philadelphia, PA

Long awaited post on my birthday trip to Philly! It was a series of unfortunate events, starting with a big snow storm which caused all the museums to close. Then that night there was an emergency and the hotel was evacuated and we were stuck not sleeping in different hotel lobbies. But we still managed to have a good time and see some new sights!  

Lodging
Hampton Inn by the Airport - Standard hotel. Philly is pricey and by going a little out of the city dropped the hotel costs.

Places of Interest

Philadelphia Mint - Self guided tours that go around the coin minting operations! If you aren't in the area you can see the process here. We were there for about 30 minutes to an hour. This would be fine for kids, but it isn't very interactive. More information here from Wikipedia.

The Franklin Institute - We spent the whole day here! The original reason for visiting was so I could see the Pompeii Exhibit at the Franklin Institute. I had wanted to see it in Boston, MA a few years ago but wasn't able to make it. This exhibit was great and the museum had plenty to do for everyone. The science museum has exhibits on different inventions, aeronautics, IMAX, planetarium, electricity, health, etc. Unfortunately, this is a very expensive place to visit and the add-ons will raise the cost quickly. If you are going with kids be sure to bring snacks and drinks to help keep costs down. 

Eastern State Penitentiary - We spent a couple of hours here. There was a lot of exhibits and rooms to look at as well as interesting stories of those kept at the jail. The Eastern State Penitentiary was founded in 1829 and was abandoned in 1971. The wagon wheel design of the prison was the model for hundreds of jails and the concept solitary confinement to practice penitence rather than the leaving someone in the stocks was the beginning of our current jail systems. Check out their timeline for more details. 

Philadelphia Museum of Art - This is the home of the famous Rocky steps! We spent many hours in here. If you go the first Sunday of the month you can choose your own admission price. The exhibits included modern art, European artwork from many different eras, Asian artwork, etc. They boast of an almost 300,000 piece collection so you should be able to find one thing there you find interesting! The highlight for me? There was a beautiful Vermeer painting (Young Woman Seated at a Virginal) on display! Bring a snack as the food is overpriced and you can easily spend an entire day there.

Food

Fork - 306 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 1910; Great local, seasonal food options on a small menu. We went for lunch where you can pick 2 items for your meal for $25. I choose the Crispy Chicken Nuggets and Duck Confit Salad. Anthony picked Salad and the Gnudi. Delish!

Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant - This was my birthday dinner! Thai is a go to meal for eating out. We picked this place for the high reviews and ratings on Google and on Yelp. The food was served quickly, staff was helpful, food was hot. I'd go back but I'd also be ok with trying another food place.


My post for other PA activities

Homemade Nilla Wafers

Homemade Nilla wafers?? These don't have the dry crumbly texture of the Nilla wafers, but these are great buttery bite sized cookies that I used in banana pudding! These were eaten too fast to take a picture.

The outside is a crispy cookie/carmel/buttery cookie and the inside is sweet and soft.

The recipe is from Serious Eats.

Vanilla Wafers

makes about 100 1 inch cookies

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 large egg white

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

1 1/3 cups AP flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Cream butter, salt, sugar and vanilla. Beat in egg and milk until well incorporated.

Whisk together flour and baking powder and add to butter mixture. Mix until just combined.

Use a cookie scoop to create the same sized cookies. This made 3 cookie sheets of cookies, they spread a little but not too much so you can put many cookies (I did 5 x 6 cookies per sheet).

Bake at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned. Cool completely before storing. 

Homemade Peanut Butter

Make your own peanut butter! It is easy and as simple as a push of a button! While this is good in sandwiches, it is also very good in ice cream!

The process is pretty straight forward, and 1 cup of nuts yields just under 1 cup of nut butter. You can use walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts.. or any combination of them! You can also toss in chocolate chips if you want too.

Pour in the desired amount of nuts into the food processor. Turn the food processor on and let it go until the nuts are pureed! At first it will look a bit gritty, but if you let it go for a little while longer, the peanut oils will start to come out and the texture will get a lot creamier.

Store in a tightly sealed jar (I use the old pb jars!) in the fridge. 

Enjoy!

2013 In Review: New York, NY

I was able to visit NYC 2 times in 2013 to visit my brother, here are some notes from the places I visited! This was a trip with grown ups. 

Places of Interest

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

9/11 Memorial Open Daily, 10:00 am - 8:00 pm Cost: Free, visitor passes are required. Reservations made online or by phone carry a $2 nonrefundable service fee per pass. Passes for same-day visits are also available on a first-come, first-served basis. These passes must be obtained in person at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Site at 20 Vesey St. You will have to wait in many lines and go through security similar to the airport to get into the memorial. Don't bring any weapons (knives/guns). Going once was enough for me. I think we only saw the memorial for a half hour but waited in line for about an hour.

American Girl Store: My dream come true, I have wanted to go here for years but Santa never brought me. Total chaos, lots of small children running around. But very cool to go and see the dolls and the new displays. Spent about an hour wandering around. 

American Museum of Natural History 10am - 5:45pm / Cost: Free for Military (Blue Star Families > Programs: Military and dependents free/big discounts for certain museums, shows, or events during the summer), $19-$25 for people / Central Park West at 79th St. New York, NY 10024. So many things to see, I think we spent 4-5 hours visiting and looking at the exhibits. I would like to go back a second time to see some of the exhibits again. This would be a fun place to go with kids.

Central Park: Specifically the Bow Bridge and the Bethesda Fountain. The Bethesda Fountain has been in lots of movies including Elf! Lots of places to walk around, listen to people playing music, and people watch. There is a zoo hidden in the park as well. Many hours can be spent here. Bring a ball to play with or a book to read and enjoy the outdoors!

Alice's Tea Cup - Cookies, Scones, and
Fresh Brewed Tea

The Guggenheim Fridays 10:00am - 5:45pm, cost: $22, free with some employee discounts. This is a modern art museum. I simply do not understand modern art. I wouldn't pay to go here. But I also don't care much for art... So take my opinion with a grain of salt. I think we spent an hour here.

The Metropolitan Museum (MET) Friday and Saturday: 9:30am–9:00pm Cost: Suggested $25 Admission includes entrance to The Cloisters museum and gardens 1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street), New York, NY 10028 212-535-7710 We didn't make it to the Cloisters as it was not near any of the places we were. This place was huge! So many cool exhibits. We could easily spend several more hours looking at the exhibits. 

The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) Daily, 10:30am-5:30pm, Fridays 10:00am-8:00pm; Cost: Free for Military and 4:00pm-8:00pm on Fridays (Free Friday Night) 11 West 53 Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, New York, NY 10019. This was a modern art museum. I have no need to go back and I was glad to be able to get in for free. I don't understand the art that they have, but if you enjoy modern art this is a great place for you. I think we spent an hour there.

Smorgasbord - I wasn't sure if this should go under food or place of interest. Don't eat before going! It is an outdoor food court styled flea market in Brooklyn of all sorts of different food trucks that go around the NYC area. This wasn't a place offering samples but you can order a full meal from the vendors that are around the area. 

Theater
Peter and the Starcatchers: I love theater! This was an off Broadway production of the show at the New Worlds theater that is now on tour. Show was based off the book series Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. The books are the prequel to the traditional Peter Pan stories.

Keste Pizzeria

Food
Alice's Tea Cup - Yummy specialty teas and fresh baked scones. They also serve sandwiches. You can order tea by the Very popular tea house that now has three locations. Fun atmosphere!
Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company - Fresh bagels and lots of cream cheese to pick from, would go back!
Cafe 82 - Delish classy/fresh diner food, has a Gluten Free menu. Small place so it is likely there will be a wait.
Candle 79 - Vegan/Gluten Free restaurant, on the pricier side but ok. 
Five Napkin Burger - Amazing beet based veggie burgers! They also have Gluten Free menu. And they have "regular" meat items and gluten foods.
Keste Pizzeria - Fresh home-style pizza. Gluten Free menu. I'd go back!
Palm Restaurant - Absurdly expensive! You pick a cut of meat and then the table picks a few sides to share. I don't think we will be going back unless we hit the lottery.

The Smith - Went for brunch, mid range prices, fresh food, decent size portions, fun atmosphere and located in a cute historic area.

Smorgaschef - Had brunch here, it is a fancy restaurant with a small seasonal/local menu.
Zabar's - Went for breakfast food, it was good. I would try another place before going back.

Spinach and Ricotta Manicotti

We just bought a basil plant, so we have to make some fresh Italian food! Manicotti was on the list, it is a bit of a pain but makes for a special meal. I'm OK with making lasagne instead for a faster meal.

Spinach Ricotta Manicotti
Makes 10

15 oz ricotta cheese
1 bag baby spinach
1 bag Italian mix cheese
5 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Egg
Basil
Salt and Pepper
Jar of sauce
1 box of Manicotti pasta shells

Combine everything except for the sauce and the shells. I put the filling into a zip top bag and then sliced off a corner to pipe the shells.
Layer sauce in the bottom of pan. Fill each shell and place into the pan. Cover with remaining sauce and some cheese.
Bake at 350F for 30-45 minutes. Serve hot!

Presidential Traverse: Mt Madison and Madison Spring Hut

A place where adventures begin!

Yet another wilderness adventure in the beautiful NH White Mountain with Sarah! We decided to target Mt. Madison in the same Presidential Range as Mt Washington. This trip was no less exciting (or spontaneous) than the previous Mt. Washington hike.

As we are both very Type A, there was a lot of coordination to be done before this trip. We had to book the shuttle and reserve our nights in the hut, I had to book plane tickets and get time off from work. Closer to the trip we had to check for all our gear and its condition, test gear if we haven't used it before, plan our routes, get maps, and plan a menu. In case you didn't know, menu is code for peanut butter bagels, trail mix, and protein bars. Luckily, Sarah took care of most of this since I would be flying in and had limited space for gear. She brought her tent, packed all the food, snacks, maps, and other gear.

For our long weekend adventure I flew in late Friday night to Manchester Airport. Then we drove to just outside the White Mountain area where Sarah had already set up our tent. We slept for several hours and left early to the trail head by 7:30am to catch the shuttle by 8am.

On Gulfside Trail.
Yes we matched. What of it?! :)

Once we arrived at the visitor center we checked trail conditions, put on the rest of our gear, and found the shuttle. The shuttle (for a fee) drops you off at several trail heads. We started our hike at the Appalachia trail head.

While it is less than 5 miles to the summit, there is a substantial elevation gain taking you into the Alpine Zone, above the treeline. Madison Spring Hut is at an  elevation of 4,805 feet and the summit is 5,367 feet. So what does this mean? You should be able to run a couple miles to be comfortable on a hike like this at a pace that Sarah hikes :) Joking aside, I should have trained more and I would have been more comfortable on the trail.  It took us under 4 hours to get to the hut.

Madison Spring Hut is one of the lesser used huts due to the location and a more difficult trail. This means there were less crowds, an additional perk of the hut was that it was rebuilt a couple years ago and still new.

One of the few pictures below the treeline

Alpine Warning: The area ahead has the worst
weather in America. Many have died there from
exposure even in the summer. Turn back now
 if the weather is bad.

In the Alpine zone!

After some rock scrambles... we made it to the hut!

Madison Hut!

At the front door

We dropped off our packs at the hut then continued up the rocks to the Mt. Madison summit. By the time we got back to the hut it was time for dinner, sitting outside enjoying the view, and making friends with our fellow hikers!

The croo makes a hot dinner for the hikers this particular night a vegan was making us a turkey dinner! This was her first time alone at the hut and she set off the fire alarm....and no one knew how to turn it off! It was very loud if you were curious. But the turkey was great! After dinner Sarah and I hung out with the croo (all of them had these great mason jar coozies that I know Sarah is planning on making), and chatted. They had made these awesome musical instruments from items that were laying around the hut. This included a banjo/guitar made with strings and a large metal can that previously was used for tomato sauce.

View from the Hut

Our Cozy Beds with this clever tray
thing between the beds

After a solid nights sleep we had a hot breakfast and then wandered around Gulfside trail to see what we could see. We were able to check out the summit for Mt Adams and went part of the way to Mt Jefferson. There are no pictures from the top of Mt Adams either, but this excuse is that there were so many small black flying bugs that were landing on you and flying into your face that we didn't stay long. Overall, the weather was cloudy with patches of sun and bright blue sky. During one of the occasional blue patches we had a great view of Mt. Washington!

Heading to some new summits, hut is behind me

Living in the Clouds

We could see Mt. Washington!

We also found a nice perch for snacks and pondering the meaning of life while watching the clouds pass us by. When we were fidgety we left that spot and headed back towards Mt. Madison. On the way we found a pile of rocks we had to climb and so glad we did. It was just a tad off the trail so you couldn't hear the other hikers but the view was a fantastic unobstructed panoramic mountain view.

Could sit here all day and enjoy the view

After a full day of seeing the sights, we went back to the hut for a hot dinner, more friends, and then sleep.

Monday morning we woke up to pouring rain and had an epic scramble to get off the mountain, pick up the tent, and deposit me back at Logan Airport to fly back to Virginia. I felt bad for the people on the plane next to me. Although I certainly wasn't as bad as the man who took off his shoes in the hut...


The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) and the Huts 

The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is one of the oldest outdoor groups that organizes volunteers to maintain trails, perform training, and publish books/maps/guides. The AMC owns and maintains the 8 huts (or this link) along the Presidential Traverse which coincides with the Appalachia Trail.

For a fee you have a roof, hot meals, running water (no showers or hot water), and a bed (with bedding!). Was it worth it? Yes. Because it also means that we didn't have to hike in bedding, additional meals, tent, extra water, etc. While at first the cost seems very high we saw very quickly how our money was used.

At the beginning of the season bedding and some of the gear is dropped at the huts by helicopter. But for the rest of the year all the food they serve and trash that is left behind is hiked in or out by the people who are working the huts. This means they hike up and down the mountain at least once a week. If they want to visit friends that are also working the huts? They hike to the other huts which are all several miles apart. Crazy right??
Happy hiking!