Flor's Amazing Lentil Hamburgers

The thing I hate the most when I tell people that now I’m vegetarian, is this obvious yet inevitable question: “What’s going to happen with your protein intake?”. I’ve got a simple answer: NOTHING. Nothing’s gonna happen. First of all, I’m vegetarian, not vegan (if you want to know the difference, check my last post or just Google it!) therefore, I’m going to eat protein with my eggs, cheese, milk... BUT, since I’m planning on going vegan (and I have to admit that I’m starting to avoid some of those dairy products already) I can also tell you that there are A LOT of protein sources that you probably don’t know, and I’m not talking about supplements, I’m just talking about vegetables. Amazing, right? All the greens, beans, some seeds... Basically everything has protein in it. It’s just this “animal protein” you find in meat, it’s well-known as a “complete protein”, because it has all the essential amino acids your body needs to perform all vital functions. But the good news is that you don’t need to eat those products to have access to all the amino acids your body needs, you just have to know what and how to mix your greens, legumes and seeds to obtain this “majestic-amino-acid-power”. Hell yeah! 

Let’s take a look to some of the good sources of non-meat protein: 

Quinoa and Other Whole Grains

Whole grains are an important source of protein. The best is quinoa which is originally from South America. It contains all nine essential amino acids. Hence it is considered a -complete protein- just like meat. Although quinoa is technically a seed, it is usually regarded as a grain and can be found next to other grains in your local grocery store. Other good whole grains are brown rice, barley, buckwheat and whole wheat. These grains lack the amino acid lysine and are best eaten with nuts or legumes. (E.g: beans, lentils, peanuts, peas)

 Nuts and Seeds

Almonds, walnuts, cashews, pine nuts, and peanuts (which are classified as a legume) are all good protein sources for vegetarians, as are sesame and sunflower seeds.

Unfortunately, they are also high in fat, so they should not be the main source of protein. Walnuts are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

Legumes

Kidney, garbanzo/chickpeas, white, black, pinto, edamame (green soybeans), and lentils are just a few of various beans available. These beans are easily digested and have twice as much protein as wheat and three times more than rice. But they are missing the amino acid methionine and are best eaten with a whole grain.

Tofu, Tempeh and Other Soy Products

Tofu, tempeh (fermented soybeans) and other organic soy products are excellent low-fat sources of protein. Although tempeh has a mild nutty flavor, tofu is relatively flavorless. 

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I know maybe it’s not important to you right now, but at least you can use this information either to try new recipes or to avoid bothering your vegan friends with the same question everybody does! ;)

Last but not least, I want to share with you my AMAZING LENTIL HAMBURGERS which I’ll be having for lunch today. Yummy! There we go...

Flor’s Amazing Lentil Hamburgers

Ingredients

-Lentils 16 Oz. (1 bag), cooked.

-1 Big Onion

-1 (to 2) Carrots

-1 cup of Bread Crumbs

-Spices! (it’s up to you!)

Recipe

  

1. Place the lentils in a pot and cover them with water. Let them soak for about an hour.

2. Bring water to boil and cook them for about 40 minutes.

3. Slip and mash the lentils a little bit. Let them cool down.

4. Sauté finely chopped onion with the shredded carrots.

5. Add the chopped onions, shredded carrots and also the  spices you like to the “lentils paste” (I personally like salt, garlic powder, parsley, oregano, pepper, paprika, black pepper, thyme, bay leaf. But it’s up to you.)

6. Add the bread crumbs. At this point, you should have a very moist mixture that you can easily form into twelve 1 1/2-inch-thick patties. You can always add more bread crumbs a bit at a time to firm up the dough if need be.

7. Bring the hamburgers to the oven until they look brown on both sides.

8. ENJOY!

Simple, huh? I learned this recipe when studying Nutrition back in Argentina and since then, I couldn’t stop cooking these delicious-meat-less treats!

Anyways, I hope you enjoy them as much as I will do.

See you next time! Big hugs.

Flor.-

My first day as a vegetarian.

I've been thinking for a while, and finally decided to change my eating habits and become a Vegetarian. For those who do not know what a Vegetarian is, (don't look at me that way, I've known people who think that vegetarians don't eat red meat but they can eat fish and chicken, so...) I will give you the basic explanation: "A vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat, (any kind of it) for moral, religious, or health reasons."
So basically, I decided to stop eating meat. From now on, I will be eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, beans, milk, eggs, cheese... WAIT. I want to open a parenthesis here and say that my goal is to become a Vegan someday. And now I'm gonna give you the definition of Veganism: "Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, as well as following an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of sentient animals. A follower of veganism is known as a vegan."

Let's clarify this. During my whole life (24 almost 25 years) I've been eating every kind of food. I have a great mom who taught me that eating a colorful meal (including meat, of course) is a good thing to do, and since then I've been eating that way. I'm not picky at all. Well, I have to admit that I hate celery... (ewww I can only juice it!) But besides that, I can define myself as an "omnivorous".  But now that I'm a grown up (or so), therefore I can choose what to eat or not to, and after an exhaustive research, I decided that I want to go vegan. But of course, it's not a simple thing to do since as I told you before, I've been eating meat and dairy products for a long time.
So I think you will agree with me when I say that the most intelligent thing to do is start becoming a vegetarian to slowly switch into a vegan. And here's the main question: Why do I want to be vegan? That's a good one. First of all let me say that a couple years ago I used to think that vegetarianism and veganism were two stupid ways to ruin your life by not eating the most tastiest things in the world! (yeah, exaggerated is my middle name.. lol)  But after a while I learned to be respectful and I also learned that there are a lot of reasons why people would choose these eating habits: religion, health, personal beliefs, and so on.
Now, I can say that I want to be vegan because of two reasons: First and most importantly because I'm personally against animal cruelty. Call me "fundamentalist"if you want to, but not without taking a look to the videos I'm going to show you down below! And second because I find it very healthy. As simple as that.
With this I'm not trying to convince you to become a vegan not even a vegetarian. I'm only exposing the reasons why I decided to make such a big change in my life. It's going to take time and I know it, mostly because right now I'm living with a family since a year ago and I feel that I can't switch my eating habits out of a sudden. And also because going vegan is not as simple as it sounds. So, long story short, I'm starting with Vegetarianism. "Baby steps". That's the key to succeed.

It would be a pleasure to me if you want to join me into this life-changing challenge. Giving me support and maybe even experiencing it as well!

See you next time! Big hugs.

Flor.-

Hey you!

So, before I start with this I want to say "I'm sorry" for two things: first of all because, as you may know (or if you don't I'm telling you right now ;) ), I'm a Spanish speaker and sometimes I will be blogging entirely in Spanish because it's easier for me (but hey! don't you enjoy using Google translator?? huh?). Second of all, (and because of the same reason) I want to apologize if sometimes I screw it up with my English. I promise I'll do my best!

Had said this, I want to thank you for being here with me today. As you could read in the "Description" part of this Blog, I will try to share with you all my knowledge and all the things I'm learning; related to Nutrition, health, fitness, workouts, healthy recipes, and so on. I would also like to share my life with you as well, the things I do, the things I like, my adventures, my achievements and failures... Everything. It would be nice if we could start some sort of  friendship, (don't you think?) and that's why comments and feedback are very welcome!

Anyways, I don't want to be super cheesy in my first post, I just wanted to kinda introduce myself and the purpose of this Blog, and see what happen... :)

Thanks for being there, big hugs!

Flor.-