The Beyond Burger

Chloe Vaughn - The beyond Burger
The beyond Burger

Recently, I had the pleasure of trying the beyond burger. I know I’m late but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Both meat eaters and non-meat eaters alike can agree that a great veggie burger is not easy to come by. On a personal level, I mostly struggle with texture. Most veggie burgers, to me, are too soft or mushy in texture. I know that for some people this is not an issue; they choose a veggie burger and texture difference is just one of those things. For me, however, I need variation from the already soft bread, perhaps the soft avocado and all the other plant based toppings. The beyond burger really did it for me for the following reasons.

 The Ease 

It was pretty easy to make and it was quick! I didn’t need any additional oil. I just threw it in the pan. It only took 3 minutes on each side and dinner was served. I’m super busy so dinner in under ten minutes is a win in my book.

Chloe Vaughn - BB Cooking
Simple cooking instructions

The Realness 

It looked real both before it was cook and after. For some this might be weird or off putting but I like it. It’s even pink in the middle when it’s cooked. This means I can still bring my own burgers for the grilled during family BBQs without getting the first degree about where I get my protein.

Chloe Vaughn - Raw Beyond Burger
Raw Beyond Burger

The Macros

Speaking of protein, the macros are pretty good. It has 20 grams, not too shabby considering there is no soy . It’s pretty low in carbs (6 grams) for those who care. But beware, it does have about 22 grams of fat. Basically, the macros are close to that of a regular burger of the same size.

Chloe Vaughn - BB Package
20 grams of Protein

The Texture

Don’t get me wrong it’s not an exact replica of beef but it comes pretty darn close. It’s only a little softer in texture compared to real meat. The texture that the burger gets when cooking in its own oil is very similar to the burgers I used to eat before I went plant based. I like it a little crispy, what can I say.

Chloe Vaughn - BB Texture
Texture Shot

The Taste  

It tastes pretty darn good. To be sure, I didn’t add any extra seasoning to the burger which is so unlike me. I could eat it as is and that’s saying a lot. What says even more is that I had a few meat eaters try it and they liked it! Some even came back for seconds.

Chloe Vaughn - Burger Salad
Burger Salad

This burger for me is a game changer. I’m looking forward to throwing some of these on the grill this summer. I hope you try it, if you haven’t already!

Happy eating! 

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Green Smoothie Bowl

Green Smoothie Bowl

This has all the goodness of a green smoothie but in a bowl. This is a great way to get your fruits and veggies in but somehow is more satisfying than a traditional green smoothie… must be the toppings! I hope you enjoy!

The Main Ingredients

  • 2 ripe frozen bananas
  • 1 cup frozen pineapple
  • 1 cup frozen mangoes
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 4 scoops of It Works! Greens

The Toppings

Like with all recipes that include toppings, these are completely interchangeable based off of what you like or what you have on hand. For this recipe and most of my others, I usually add about a tablespoon of each topping as I usually add quite a few for variety.

The toppings I included mostly focused on protein and healthy fats (pretty typical for me) so I included a good amount of nuts and seeds as follows:

  • almond slices
  • chia seeds
  • pumpkin seeds
  • hemp seeds
  • shredded coconut

I also needed a little added sweetness

  • fresh strawberries slices
  • fresh pineapple slices

The How-To

You guys can probably guess this but put all the main ingredients in your high powered blender (the NutriBullet is what i use). You’ll only want to start out with 1 cup of orange juice. You’ll want the final result to be thick; if it is to thick to blend add additional water until you get the consistency you like. You can use anything other nut milk or even water as a liquid if that is your prefence.

Once everything is blended, add it to a bowl and try to make the surface smooth with a spoon. Now design your masterpiece by topping your smoothie with your choice of nuts, seeds, granola, fresh fruit, etc. Make it pretty so it’ll taste better.

Next, snap a Instagram pic if your “extra” like me and hashtag it #chloevrecipes (This is not a thing yet so help a sista out and use the hashtag thing so that this non-thing can become a thing. It’ll be fun.)

NOTE: This is meant to serve two people. It is roughly 509 calories each serving if you use the same toppings and liquid.  The approximate macros are below for those who care. If you are looking for more protein, feel free to add your favorite protein powder to the blender when blending your main ingredients. ItWorks has a great plant-based protein powder that you can order here.

  • Fats: 15 grams
  • Carbs: 86 grams
  • Protein: 13 grams

 

Here’s to healthy breakfast! 

 

 

 

 

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Cream of Wheat | Quick Protein Packed Breakfast

Cream of wheat

It’s Monday and I’m sure that I’m not the only one who was not ready! But alas, it is here and though I feel somewhat caught off guard, I plan on starting my day off right with a nice hearty bowl of cream of wheat. I know it feels like a flash back to when you were 5 years old but don’t sleep on the simplicity. I think our parents knew what they were doing.

This recipe is short, sweet and packed with plant protein!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups Plant Protein milk (I like Silk Protein Nutmilk. It only has 2 grams of sugar but 10 grams of protein per cup!)
  • 1/3 cup of dry cream of wheat (The brand is not that important. Usually one serving is roughly 5 grams of protein)
  • 1 tablespoon Agave per bowl (I used Madhava Organic Maple Cinnamon Agave Pancake Syrup because I was out of maple syrup but you can use whatever sweetener you prefer)
  • Optional
    • Additional water if your like a thinner consistency.
    • 1 Tbsp Vegan butter (I know there is this stigma with the fats and whatnot but my mom used it and I like it. Just leave it out if you don’t like it.)
    • Toppings: Fruit, nuts, seeds etc.

See simple ingredients. Serves two by the way.

Put the milk in a pan and bring to a boil. I like to start at a low heat and then increase it to a boil. I don’t know why or if it’s logical, I just do it because it make sense in my mind. Do want you want.

Once the milk is boiling, add the cream of wheat slowly while whisking. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover for about 2 1/2 minutes until thickened. Confirm this on your box instructions just in case; these were the instructions one mine.

Cut the heat after it’s done and let rest for a minute or so. Add butter or don’t add butter and split portions into to bowls.

Here you can sweeten and top your bowl however you like from this point. Fruits can be used to sweeten for a healthier option. I sweetened with agave and still added plum slices but again, do want you want. The bowl as is has 15 grams of protein but if you want/need more add nuts or seeds for an extra serving!

Macros for those who care (without butter or additional toppings) – Calories: 380 Fat: 8.5 grams Carbs: 61 grams Protein: 15 grams

Happy Monday!

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Acai Smoothie Bowl

Acai Smoothie Bowl
Acai Smoothie Bowl

I don’t know many people who don’t enjoy a good smoothie bowl. It’s a fairly new trend in the sense that my smoothie bowls are the first many of my friends and family have ever had. They make great breakfast alternatives for those trying to break away from the traditional oatmeal or yogurt parfait. They are also a cool and refreshing start for those hot summer mornings to come. This is the first recipe in a series of smoothie bowl recipes I will be sharing with you beautiful people. I hope you enjoy!

The Main Ingredients

  • 1 packet frozen acai puree
  • 1 cup frozen mangoes
  • 2 cups frozen strawberries
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1 cup fresh spinach
  • 1 to 2 cups of water or plant based milk
  • 4 scoops of It Works! Greens

The Toppings

Like with all recipes that include toppings, these are completely interchangeable based off of what you like or what you have on hand. For each of the recipes I share, I will give suggested toppings but you can add whatever suites your fancy. I usually add about a tablespoon of each topping as I usually add quite a few for variety.

The toppings I included mostly focused on protein and healthy fats (pretty typical for me) so I included a good amount of nuts and seeds as follows:

  • almond slices
  • chia seeds
  • pumpkin seeds
  • hemp seeds
  • shredded coconut

I also needed a little added sweetness

  • fresh strawberries
  • vegan chocolate chips
  • Love Crunch Granola – Dark Chocolate Macaroon (I’m currently madly in love with this granola. P.S. I know it already has chocolate chunks but a girl can treat herself, right?)

The How-To

You guys can probably guess this but put all the main ingredients in your high powered blender (I have a NutriBullet and it works pretty darn good). You’ll only want to start out with 1 cup of water or plant milk as you want the final result to be pretty thick; I used water. You can add a little more as needed if you blender is struggling to get all that good stuff blended together.

Once everything is blended, add it to a bowl and try to make the surface smooth with a spoon. Now proceed to the fun part: decorate your smoothie with all the toppings. This is important as pretty food taste the best!

Next, snap a Instagram pic if your extra like me and hashtag it #chloevrecipes (This is not a thing yet so help a sista out and use the hashtag thing so that this non-thing can become a thing. It’ll be fun.)

NOTE: This is meant to serve two people. It is roughly 560 calories each serving if you use the same toppings and use water as your liquid like I did. The approximate macros are below for those who care.

  • Fats: 26 grams
  • Carbs: 70 grams
  • Protein: 18 grams

 

Wishing you a delicious breakfast,

 

 

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Manifest Monday! | August 29th, 2016

Sunnies

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” – Maori Proverb

I like this quote because I know that (at least for myself) it is easy to focus on everything that goes wrong and run with it. This quote reminds me to focus on what is good in my life and everything that I have been blessed with. Instead of looking towards the darkness, face the sunny part of your life and allow it to warm your heart… just don’t forget to wear your sunnies!

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Cherub | Story Time

Gym Time

It happens to the best of us right. The daunting realization that you’ve put on a few pounds, or in my case quite a few. Well, I’ve seen the light… Well actually, it was my grandmother that saw the light. My grandmother is 72 years young and if you know anything about the older generation, you know that they tell it like it is. After all the years that they have put in on this earth exceeding their contribution to society, they say what they want with no apologies.

“Hm, looks like it’s time for us to put you on a treadmill”. Yep, absolutely no apologies.

Except one that came from me, “I’m sorry?” Not that I was actually sorry but more so I was looking for clarification. Had my sweet nana really just shade me to the point of a severely over casted sky? Yes. Yes, she had.

At first, like I usually take shade-like commentary, I called my sister and gave a monumental vent/rant (we can start calling this a vant to keep it short) and then proceeded to take it with a grain of salt. But like I said that was just a first. Then I started to realize that my clothes were in fact tighter and that I was sucking my no longer toned tummy in a lot more and that maybe a treadmill would in fact be conducive to my life. But let’s face it, I was busy so I took it as seriously as I could in that moment. Turns out, I was only serious enough to make it into the gym every once in a while and eat well throughout the week for the most part and then binge on the weekends. It wasn’t a lot but it was more than before and that gave me enough comfort to kind of not make any progress.

It wasn’t until my dad called me his little cherub that things started to change. The definition of a cherub is this: a winged angelic being described in biblical tradition as attending on God (Google). Aw shucks, cute right? Daddy’s little angel. False! The image of a cherub (I’m roughly quoting Google here) is depicted as a chubby, healthy-looking child with wings. So correction, I was Daddy’s CHUBBY little angel. As you can see, I blamed my nana’s age but clearly my whole family is great at shading, even if it is coated in an angelic compliment.

I guess I’m just someone who needs clarification because as I sat in the shadiest part of my mind lost my thoughts under this imaginary tree with a plethora of branches covered in leaves so thick that I could not see the sun, again my response was, “I’m sorry?”. Only I wasn’t sorry, I was chubby. However, I did get more clarification from my dad, which was different than my previous interaction with my nana. He told me that he loved me and that I was beautiful but that I had gained weight.

So again, (I am who I am) I called my sister to vant! Went through all points of the conversation and she was very supportive just like before but something had changed. I believed him. I believed my dad when he said he loved me. And I believed him when he said that I was beautiful. And despite my despair, I believed him when he said I was chubby. Then I thought back to my nana, and even though I still believe that “mature” people say what they want even if it’s rude, I also believe that she loves me too and only said what she had out of love. It was shady love but love none the less.

One thing that my dad did mention that stayed with me, is that if I was okay with the weight than he was too. That’s was really made all the difference. This is because it actually challenged me to really think about it. Was I okay with the weight?

The answer was clear and immediate. No. No, I’m not okay with the weight. Not just because I looked chunky. The truth of that matter is that I hold my weight pretty well. I am bottom heavy so most of my weight is in my lower half. Which is why it crept up on me like a thief in the night trying to steal my joy. I had changed more than just my size physically and that’s what I want to change. I was ALWAYS tired. I was ALWAYS thinking about my weight. I was ALWAYS sitting. ALWAYS. It had to change.

You might be wondering what my next step was? My next step was to start doing better. Eating better. Training better. Sleeping better. Thinking better. Not just to lose the weight but because I want to be a better me.

So, this particular portion of my blog will be dedicated to health. Full of encouragement to love yourself no matter what that devilish scale tells you. I hope it can build a community where people can share tips and tricks and support each other. I, of course, will be posting here about what I learn, my progress and anything that I think can be helpful. Now, let’s get healthy peeps!

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