Green Chile-Bean Burgers

Meatless and Yum-O! (found this on pillsbury.com - I modified it a bit)

Ingredients:
1 cup refried beans (I did mine from scratch, but canned ones work great too)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used oatmeal instead)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped green chiles
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tbsp olive oil


Directions:

In large bowl combine beans, bread crumbs, corn, onion, chiles, cumin, salt and egg. Mix well.

Heat oil in non stick skillet over medium high heat until hot. Spoon mixture into skillet forming 4 mounds - flatten each to form 1/2 inch thick patty. Cook 6-8 mins, turning once.

Place on buns with your favorite burger toppings!

Breakfast Smoothie (really, its good for anytime)

2 cups soy milk (you can use any kind of milk you like)
1 cup plain non fat yogurt (you can use any yogurt you usually buy)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
4 large fresh or frozen strawberries
1 banana
1/4 cup oat bran (or oatmeal)
1/4 cup ground flax seed

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth (may need to add more milk depending on the thickness you want your smoothie to be).

Makes approx 5 cups

YUMMY!!

Bean Soup

1 lb dry beans ( I use pinto, but it would be great with black as well) sorted and rinsed
8 cups water
2 cloves garlic
1/2 medium onion
1/4 cup cilantro
1 can diced tomatoes (or you can chop 1 cup fresh tomatoes)
1 cup fresh or frozen spinach chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Place beans, water, garlic, onion and cilantro in crock pot. Cook on low overnight or on high for approx 5-6 hours (until tender)

Spoon beans into a blender along with the onion, garlic and cilantro, spinach and *bean broth (few spoonfuls at a time – all may not fit in at once)
* use more or less bean broth depending on how thick you want your soup to be

Blend until pureed (you wont even see or taste the spinach - its great!!)
Add diced tomatoes
Add salt and pepper to taste

Fun ideas…

Top with
crunched up tortilla chips
green onions
shredded cheese

For extra health punch...

Stir in 1/4 cup oatbran

Flax Seed Crackers - YUM! (different recipe than the one posted a few weeks ago)

The dough
The crackers before they are baked

The finished product. I cut them in different sizes (regular size for adults and smaller ones for my daughter). You can see you dont need to have perfect square shapes.

1/4 C flax seed

1/4 C ground flax seed

1 1/2 C wheat flour (or all purpose flour)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp margarine or butter, softened

1/2 C skim milk

In a bowl of a stand up mixer, add flax seed, ground flax,flour, baking powder, salt and margarine or butter. Mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (or you can do this by hand with a pastry blender).

Stir in milk and mix until mixture forms a soft dough (can do this by hand as well)

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 10 minutes

Divide dough into quarters. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out very thin to a rectangle 2mm (1/16 inch) thick. Cut into 6cm (2 1/2) squares

Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet

Repeat with remainder of the dough

Preheat oven to 325

Bake 20 minutes until crisp and golden

Variation:I added 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese and 1 tsp italian seasonings to the dry ingredients