beans – Life is a Journey

A saucy dinner

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Libby Withnall

Up early today and headed out on a walk. It was cold and drizzly so a cup of tea was in order upon our return.

Later I made pancakes for Christy since we had no bread. I decided to have one too – topped with banana and maple syrup.

After I dropped the girls at school I headed to gym for a cardio workout. 20mins on the eliptical and 10min on the bike and I was a sweaty mess. Home for a shower and a chocolate protein shake.

Then I was off to get the groceries. Had to visit both Coles and Aldi today. Lunch was a black bean burger on country grain bread with tomato, cucumber and some cheese.

Afterwards I finished the chocolate bar I nibbled on while shopping :-).

I was in a real funny mood this afternoon so found myself wanting to nibble and snack. I tried not to. I had some crackers and cheese for my planned snack.

There was also a few handfuls of tiny teddies :-(.

Dinner was roast vegetable pasta.

I wanted to improve on the tomato sauce so I cooked up some grated carrot, zucchini and sweet potato, with some baby spinach added at the last minute.

Then topped with the jar of sauce.

Served over the pasta with a sprinkling of cheese. Delicious.

I wanted some ice cream but opted for a low fat Billabong instead. Hoping to be in a better mood tomorrow.

Cookies and beans

Posted on May 24, 2010 by Libby Withnall

Boy was it chilly out this morning – so I was glad today was an indoor workout day. After my workout I made a green smoothie for myself, scrambled eggs & toast for Amy, and toast & fruit for Christy.

Amy wasn’t well today so stayed home from school. I did a bit of tidying, got Christy off to school, had a shower and sat and relaxed for a bit.

Part two of breakfast was some cruskits with spreadable cheese.

Then on with the house cleaning. After doing downstairs I stopped for a cup of tea and handful of tiny teddies!!!

I then cleaned upstairs. Lunch today with stirfried veggies and tofu with red quinoa. I’m not sure if I ate too much or it just didn’t agree with me today but I felt so sick afterwards (and I didn’t eat the whole bowl). It was very strange.

A few hours later I was feeling better and enjoyed a small orange choc bar with yet another tea.

Once I was feeling better I made some more oatmeal cookies and got started on tonights dinner – Black Bean Burgers. Both were made in Mum’s food processor – so much easier than the Vita Mix. I did have a blender but gave it away a few months ago as I NEVER used it!!!! Now I need to buy one – oops – but I least I can buy a better model :-).

Mum & Dad got home from a 3 week trip today and bought us these goodies.

I especially look forward to trying the tea.

Afternoon tea with a bowl of leek and potato soup.

And one of the cookies – which was just as delicious as I remembered. You’d never know these have chick peas in them :-).

Tonights dinner was black bean burgers – which unfortunately got left in the oven too long and therefore were a bit dry, mashed potatoes and corn.

The burgers were tasty though so I will definitely try them again.

After dinner we of course had to sample some of the goodies Mum bought back from us. I had two of each. So yummy!

Another fantastic day

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Libby Withnall

Another 6am start. Before heading out the door I started a loaf of bread in the breadmaker, then set off for a walk with the dogs. I was rather underdressed this morning as it was quite cold outside. It was still nice but my ears hurt by the time I got back. I warmed up with a cup of tea and a couple of crusktis and spreadable cheese.

Later I had a most unusual breakfast. A lentil pattie topped with BBQ sauce, a sprinkling of grated cheese and some tomatoe slices. Yum, yum!

Once I dropped the girls at school (had to drive them today as both are under the weather) I headed to the gym for my cardio workout. I did 20mins on the eliptical and 20mins on the bike. It was a hard slog but I got it done and burnt up over 380cal in the process.

Came home just in time to catch the delivery man delivering my new pots :-).

After my shower I enjoyed a green smoothie.

The only problem with doing such a workout is that I really am quite exhausted for some time afterwards. I did manage to cook some quinoa in my new pot for todays lunch, do a bit of ironing and I also sewed up a breadbag.

Around 1pm I was hungry enough for lunch. I had the red quinoa I’d cooked earlier, the last of the roast vegetables and some tofu with ketsup manis (love this). I ended up leaving a bit of everything.

Around 4pm I had some vegetable soup and corn thins with hummus.

Then it off to the groceries while Christy was at singing lessons. Back home I was rather hungry and dinner was not quite ready, so I finished off the hummus with a handful of vegetable tortilla chips.

Dinner tonight was Caribbean, Sweet Potato and Kidney Bean Hotpot. I didn’t have any curry so used cumin. I also subbed four bean mix for the red kidney beans, and served with some basmati rice. It was delicious.

The recipe is courtesy of Adam Guthrie of I Feel Good and I’m hoping to get permission to share the recipe. You can also subscribe to his recipes (he’s a vegan chef) on his website.