Chickpea Tuna Sandwiches

For lunch yesterday we had tuna sandwiches, roasted potato wedges, leftover hoppin john salad and carrot chips. I admit, I was a little leary at making the "tuna" filling. First of all would I like it and second of all would the picklets like it? Yep and yep. I was happily surprised at the outcome.

Chickpea Tuna Gerky's Way

1 can drained and rinsed chickpea, mashed

onion, minced

1 stalk celery, minced

1 carrot minced

1/2 red pepper

garlic powder, to taste

kosher salt. to taste

red pepper flakes, to taste

big spoonful of zucchini relish

1 dollop of mayo

Put all in a bowl and use the imersion blender until blended. Serve on wheat roll with tomato and lettuce (if you have it which we didn't)

Happy New Year

Remember....
The people you love...
The places you're a part of...
The memories you hold on to...
And those unforgettable moments when you close your eyes and breathe in life with a smile.

A new year is a reminder to celebrate all the things that are good in your world.

Happy New Year from the Pickle Family

Egg Substitutes

In my quest for better health this coming year I have been trying different lower fat/lower cholesterol egg substitutes.

For making scrambled eggs and omelets I have found that Better-n-Eggs is pretty darned good. Around here they are cheaper than Egg Beaters and they are recommended by "The Best Life Diet", something I have been extremely interested in. One thing I have found though is NOT to mix it with water when making omelets. It does NOT work out.

For baking I have found several things to work. For cookies and pancakes I like half a banana smashed. Or 1 TBS flax meal mixed with 3 TBS H2O for each egg called for. For brownies and cakes I like 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 2 TBS flour and 3 TBS H2O mixed together for each egg. I have been known to use all three in any given recipe.

Of course if you don't have any of the following but do have eggs on hand try mixing 1 whole egg with 11 egg whites. Use 1/4 cup mixture for each egg called for.

Don't throw that yolk away either. You can use it for custards or you can feed them to you dogs and/or cats for a shinier, thicker coat.

Butter Bean Burgers

This recipe was also a hit! Chip, the picky pickle, ate it and asked for seconds. I will double the batch next time so we can have seconds.

Butter Bean Burgers

1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper (I used red and green pepper)
6 saltine crackers, crushed (I used panko bread crumbs)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (Only used 1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil (didn't use)

In a medium bowl, mash butter beans. Mix in onion, jalapeno pepper, crushed crackers, egg, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Divide into 4 equal parts, and shape into patties.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; use more or less oil to reach 1/4 inch in depth. Fry patties until golden, about 5 minutes on each side. (Instead of frying I sprayed each patty and put on a cookie sheet and baked at 350º for about 10 minutes on each side.)

I served this with sweet potato fries, a lettuce salad and soy chocolate shake.

Pumpkin Wontons

These were pretty good. I am not sure where this recipe came from either.

Pumpkin Wontons

egg roll wrappers
1 cup pumpkin
2 TBS maple syrup
3 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
cinnamon and sugar
cooking spray

Mix pumpkin, syrup brown sugar and spices. Take wonton wrapper, cut in half using pizza cutter. Put 1 tsp pumpkin filling in wrapper. Seal with water. Place wontons on cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray (on both sides) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (on both sides). Cook in preheated 400º oven for 5-7 minutes. Watch carefully.