Saturday, February 27, 2010

(Raw) Falafels!


Snow Day! Yesterday I woke up at 5 am to get up to go to spin and looked out the window. It was clear I WAS NOT going anywhere. The streets were not even close to being plowed and the snow was still coming down. I turned on the news and saw that, of course, every other school district besides NYC was closed. I tried to go back to sleep but I was stressing over if I would call out or not (I live so close to school, but it was SO bad out). Finally at 5:35 my friend saved the day and texted me, "no school" so I was able to go back to sleep until 7 because I can't sleep physically sleep later than that for awhile.


I love snow days because they are an excuse to do nothing. Last snow day I made it to the gym, but it wasn't this bad this fast. I knew I was staying in all day so I set up camp on the couch. Eventually I did do a Rodney Lee Power Yoga dvd, which was okay. I found it more of a relaxing, stretching yoga than a heart pumping workout. Again, I am so new to this yoga thing, but I did like it. It really made me stretch and I can definitely feel it today. Also I did find time to do some cleaning so we don't have to do it over the weekend. I was pretty excited I didn't have to make lunch either because I had packed it for school. 

I did add some extra goat cheese and finished up my flatbread with it.


After sitting and catching up on blogs and reading new blogs (yes! I love finding new ones!) I decided to cook and bake some things. Like I've said before we are trying to save every penny we can for our Costa Rican vacation, so we are trying to not eat out until we go away. After sitting down to make a budget we realized we were spending $100 on food for the week and then $150-200 over the entire weekend eating out. So we canned eating out as much as we can (without being anti-social) and started saving. We can't believe how much money we HAVEN'T spent, since I've stopped shopping and we've stopped eating out. It's a huge reality check and something we should probably be better at after our vacation is over. 
Next week we need to buy more food than last week, because our fridge is bare. (Mind the Jell-O, which doesn't count because I don't eat it anymore but I haven't thrown it away yet.)
EMP-TY. Our fridge almost NEVER looks this bare. How sad it that??

So after checking the blog world, I thought about what I could actually make with nothing in the fridge. I came up with:
So when I was done I ended up with the following:
This soup.
Yum.
and my favorite...in cookie form too.

For dinner last night we had the lentil soup and the falafels. (Danny also had leftover pizza, which I am SO sick of even though I had to have a bite anyway!) The falafels came out unbelievable. I wasn't sure how Danny would or if he would like them but he loved them!  I had to make a couple of small changes to the original recipe..but here it is!

Sunflower seeds ground up into a flour in the floor processor. (That's garlic in the corner)
After all the ingredients were in the bowl: onion, garlic, flax seeds,
sunflower seed flower, white beans, parsley.
Mixed together.
Put into balls. 
Over spaghetti squash and leftover veges.

Falafels the (almost) raw way:

Ingredients:

1 can cannelloni beans (drained and rinsed well)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup soaked flax seeds
1 T dried parsley
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tsp cumin
a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak 1/2 cup flax seeds in a 1/2 cup of water. Let sit for about 1-2 hours. 
2. Put sunflower seeds in food processor and ground up into a flour consistency. Place into a large bowl.
3. Put onion and garlic into food processor and also place into bowl.
4. Do the same with the cannelloni beans.
5. Add remaining ingredients to bowl (flax seeds, parsley, olive oil, cumin, sea salt, pepper)
6. Mix it up well. 
7. Form into balls on a non-stick sheet. 
8. *Here is where you can make it raw or not. I was in a rush, so I cooked these for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees. (I flipped them halfway through.) You can also dehydrate them for beginning at 140 degrees for 1 hour and then
reducing heat to 116 for 4 to 6 hours. Or you can put them in your 170 degree oven with the door cracked for that amount of time. 

I wanted these for dinner, so I dropped the raw part of the recipe. They were SO good and a great protein and healthy fats source. They would be great in a pita or over a salad or over spiralized squash!


I don't have many plans this weekend, but I am celebrating a friend's birthday at a Haiti fundraiser. I cannot wait to get outside because I have cabin fever and I'm tired of sitting!!

(Happy Birthday Jo!) What are your plans for the weekend? 

19 comments:

christie, honoring health said...

Yum, those raw falafels looks awesome!

We have a pretty laid back weekend planned, nothing major but the usual errands.

Sweet and Savory said...

Thanks for posting on my blog - love yours as well! I hate to say this...but my fridge looks like yours right now! I am scrounging to find things to put together!

Muffins look delicious:)

Divina Pe said...

I wanted to do something raw like this one. Hope to have a dehydrator soon. This one looks really fresh and really healthy.

Lemonade Makin' Mama said...

This looks really healthy and delicious! I've never seen these falafels before.

Thanks so much for visiting me and leaving some comment love! Enjoy your weekend!

Blessings,
LMM

Simply Life said...

YUM! I'm so impressed - very creative! My husband and I stick to a weekly budget with groceries and going out throughout the entire year and it's amazing how much you can save (and still eat GREAT) when being mindful of it!

healthyexposures said...

Glad you enjoyed your snow day - looks like you were busy, busy! :)
The falafel looks great - way easier and healthier than my old stand-by. Will have to give it a try, for sure! I've been loving your recipes, thanks so much for posting them :)

Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) said...

your food is beautiful!!!! and yes, I do cook alot...it's kinda insane but I love it :) thanks for stoppin by my bloggie!

Travel Eat Love said...

I looooove falafel! This looks great!

Lori said...

Those look interesting! We were amazed at how much all the little eating out trips end up costing in a month. Coffee here, a bagel there, a quick pizza stop. $$$ out the window!

pegasuslegend said...

I love those chickpea's could eat a whole plate of that. love how you incorporate networking other delicious foods in these posts you have great pictures!

Trix said...

So are you trying to gradually go entirely raw? I could never give up pizza! These falafels look really good. I just had roasted chickpeas - I cannot get enough of them.

THE ACTORS DIET said...

looks pretty darn good!!! my fridge is pretty empty as well.

Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction said...

Wow... Everything looks so great, and very healthy! I don't know much about raw cooking/eating, but this is a recipe I would love!

Fresh Local and Best said...

Blogging adds so many possibilities that I would not have otherwise known. Those flax crackers look soooo good! And god job on saving $$$ by getting creative in your kitchen!

moretolifethanlettuce said...

i love falafels, i've gotta try these ones! those muffins look really really good. that's a sad lookin fridge, you must restock pronto!!

livelifeeatright said...

YUM! I love falafels and this looks like a great recipe!! I'll have to give it a try!!

Bria @ WestofPersia said...

From someone who practically eats falafel for a living, I must say yours look great. Awesome that they can go both ways--raw or cooked :-)

Claire (Culinarygoddess.com) said...

falafels are the best, yours looks great!

Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly said...

Those falafels look delish! I haven't ever had falafel but I have been dying to try. I am going to give your recipe a whirl! This is great! Thank you so much!

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