Greetings from the North Pole
Holy moly! This is the view from our breakfast room:
The snow has been falling steadily all morning, and shows no sign of stopping. We had hoped to go snowshoeing at some point, but the wind gusts are insane—it’s a blizzard out there! Some of the gusts are apparently upwards of 40 mph! It’s actually hard to tell how much of the snow is new, and how much is just old snow being blown around by the crazy winds! So, yeah, we’re staying INSIDE! 
But, on the plus side, we’re both getting a lot of work done! This morning, after a leisure blog reading breakfast, I wrote for about an hour and a half. Then, inspired by the new O magazine, which centers around getting organized, I cleaned out my closet and got together a big bag of things to take to goodwill—I am so bad about keeping things I never wear! I have clothes from HIGH SCHOOL in my closet still—I think it’s time to let them go!
After my closet cleaning bonanza, I got a workout in—four miles on the treadmill, plus two of the 10 minute segments from my 10 Minute Solutions Abs DVD. It was a good workout!
Around 1:00, Ryan and I headed downstairs to make some lunch. I’ve had this box of Fantastic World Foods vegetarian “Nature burger (lol)” veggie burger mix forever, so we decided to finally give it a go:
The ingredients list is non-scary:
Brown rice, dehydrated vegetables (yellow peas, green peas, onions, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, celery, carrots, red bell peppers), barley, organic bulgar wheat, whole oats, sesame seeds, textured soy flour, wheat gluten, wheat flakes, soy sauce powder (wheat, soybeans, salt), yeast, expeller pressed canola oil, yeast extract, sea salt, spices.
And the directions couldn’t be easier: mix 3/4 cup of the mix with 3/4 cup of boiling water. To spice things up, I also added some dried spices (rosemary, dill, oregano), some fresh basil, and some minced carrot and red bell pepper:
You just mix it all together, and let it sit! We let it stand for 15 minutes, at which point it was supposed to thicken up…ours was still a little liquidy after 15 minutes, so I added about a tablespoon more of the mix, which thickened it right up:
Although the mix was still a little wet, I scooped out 1/4 cup of it, plopped it on a plate in a “patty” shape, and put it in the microwave for a minute and a half. When I pulled it out of the microwave, it had solidified quite nicely!
Veggie Patty Nature Burger:
Veggie Burger:
Veggie Burger with apple:
I like the taste of this burger! It kind of reminds me of the sunshine burgers, actually, with a little more chew and crunch—a little more texture, I guess. Half of the package made three big burgers, so it’s a pretty good deal too—you could easily get 6-8 burgers out of the box, if you made the burgers a little smaller.
Yum! I also snacked on some Somersaults while I waited for the mix to thicken up.
I was going to put ketchup on my burger, but…I’m trying for a grand total of ZERO added sugar grams today, so I abstained! I’m still at zero so far…do you think I can do it?!?
Well, I guess there’s nothing to do but…more work! I have some online grading that I need to do, so I suppose I should get started. Bleh!
I can’t believe we didn’t stock up on wine before the storm—what were we thinking?!? Maybe we can send Ella out to get some…she’s always been a big fan of the snow:
See you for dinner!
Awesome on the 0 sugar grams. now would you count a lara bar as added sugar? It’s made from all natural ingredients. Adorable pic of your little lady. Sounds like you have been SO productive today. Way to go! I think I’ll rock out some Kale chips tonight. Thanks for the tip.
Hey Lindsay,
I would still count it as zero added sugar, because it’s all from the dates! Enjoy the kale chips!
I’ll have to be on the lookout for that mix! Can you believe all of this snow? Nuts!
OOh I def wanna try that mix..looks great!
Stay warm with all that snow.. I just talked to my parents and both of them were sent home early from work today! WOW, hang in there
What???? Snowed in with no wine? Better start hiking!
That brand also makes a good falafel mix. I haven’t used the burger mix in ages, but it’s soooooo easy and you can add in extra spices and goodies if you want.
We have a ton of snow, still! It is really blizzarding outside.
Goodness gracious that’s a LOT of snow!! No wine? Oh no!!!!
Oh my goodness, that is a lot of snow! And look at Ella’s jump! I have seen this mix in the store, but have yet to try it!
that veggie burger looks divine! i never saw/heard of a “make your own” veggie burger mix…very cool!
Ahaha, Ella is adorable! Brandi (my pooch) loves the snow too and will spend forever bounding around in it. If you throw a ball in it, she’ll spending way too much attempting to find it (which is usually impossible). It’s a good way to keep her occupied although sometimes I end up feeling bad.
That veggie burger looks so good! Nutritious and delicious.
I’m impressed on the zero sugar, you can DEFINITELY do it! And that is a looooot of snow!
Holy moly, that’s a lot of snow! I hope you get to stay in tomorrow, too! I love that picture of Ella, the wonder dog.
I should photoshop a cape on her!
Great job on the sugar! You can definitely do it. Stick with the mustard…I put it on everything. I mean everything!!
Let it be a lesson to you–stock up on wine when the weather is to be inclement in any way! You could give it a try with Ella–sort of the St. Bernard to the rescue in reverse. Here in the Chicago area, we had about five inches and an earthquake. Yes, a 4.+ tremor at 4:30 a.m.. I didn’t feel it but apparently Argos did. He wouldn’t leave my side for hours! I thought we left that possibility behind when we moved from southern California!!!!!
I saw that earthquake– crazy!! Animals always know, don’t they?
It’s been snowing all day long here too!! I’m over it.
That snow is crazy. I know it’s a huge pain, but I have to admit, I’m a tiny bit jealous.
This snow is driving me insane! It better not interfere with my trip!
That veggie burger looks ahhh-mazing.
I know, I hope you still get to go!!!
Those patties look amazing! I’m going to have to try them
How’s Baxter doing on his potty breaks?
He’s not doing that badly…we’ve had a few accidents today…and one big one yesterday (#2), which Ryan stepped on as he was walking out the door to go to a faculty meeting…WHOOPS!!!
Wow, looks the same there as it does here. Glad you’re staying inside and warm, and enjoying good food.
We have more than 3 feet here now — insane!
Wow! And I thought we got a lot of snow here! Those burgers look delicious. I love Sunshines so I’ll have to give these a try if I see them!