In a final farewell to sweetness, last night both J and I indulged in *ahem* 4 pieces each of the delectable cinnamon toast crunch raw pie. Can’t say it was worth it, although every bite was so good, neither of us slept well and baby Mav was up all night. Too much energy for us all so late at night, oops. Needless to say we couldn’t ditch our coffee habit this morning. Although we both passed on the added cream and sugar regime. I did whip up a whole30 friendly version- a can of coconut milk and 2 eggs blended on high for 30 seconds. A good substitute for dairy indeed, though it is a bit odd to have raw egg in your morning coffee ( I didn’t tell J, he’d flip). I trust our eggs, they come straight from our 25 or so backyard chickens, I probably wouldn’t trust commercially raised hens. What a blessing to know where things come from these days.
No hardcore sugar cravings so far…I think the pie tied me over for a few days, at least. I must admit I was a grouchy mama bear this morning, pre coffee and breakfast. I don’t know how my houdini child, got his diaper off (he’s 2 1/2 months) in the bed and peed all over his own face. Ok it was pretty funny but it still made me feel like a bad mother, poor little guy.
On a tastier note, my plan remains to post a daily whole30 friendly recipe every day this month. Hope I can stick to that, double challenge for me folks. Today for dinner we had these epic loaded veggie burgers and spicy sweet potato fries, threw some carrots in there too. With some guacamole on top we all feel super nourished after such a meal. No bun, no worries, for real. The spice mixture I used is an Ethiopian spice Berbere. You can get it at spice shops or maybe a good grocery store but it’s easy to make your own, you likely have all the components on hand. This blend is highly addictive and great as a rub for meats or an ethiopian curry in its own right.
Berbere Spice Mix
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 3/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fenugreek
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 tablespoons of a combination of ground cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons of red chill flakes
Heat all dry whole spices in a skillet until aromatic. Let them cool and then grind in a coffee grinder or with a mortar & pestle.
ps. If you use your coffee grinder for both spices and coffee, I recommend grinding up some white rice to clean out the unwanted tastes of either spice or coffee.
pps. These burgers are a great way to sneak more vegetables into your beloved vegaphobes life (yes I just made that word up)
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of kale, really finely chopped, stalks removed
- 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic,minced
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1/2 a bunch of asian mustard greens (optional), finely chopped
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1 Tbs sesame oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbs tomato paste
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 1/2 tsp berbere spice mix (you could sub in regular chili powder or mixed herbs)
- 1/2 tsp good salt
- 1 avocado
- 1 thai chili
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- pinch of good salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400F
- Mix together eggs, beef, sesame oil and seeds, tomato paste, spices and salt.
- Add chopped veggies and incorporate well.
- I used a 1/2 cup of mixture formed into a patty.
- Place the patties on a pan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn once halfway through.
- While your burgers are cooking, mash up the avocado with a fork, add in oil,garlic,chill and salt and serve on top of the burgers.
- 1 large sweet potato
- 2 large carrots
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1½ tsp berbere seasoning
- ½ tsp good salt
- Heat oven to 400F
- Cut the sweet potato and carrot into ¼ inch strips, try and make them as even as possible for even cooking.
- Toss with oil, berbere and salt
- Spead a single layer on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for 30 minutes.
