Sidney's Black Bean Veggie Burger + Fries

Eating burgers while getting bikini body ready? Yes please! Our clean eating health nut sister (Sidney) kindly made these for all of us for dinner the other night, and they were so yummy we had to post!

Now, as a disclaimer, are these burgers juicy, Smash Burger yummy? Not quite. BUT they are delicious for a healthy alternative, and super clean! Even Regan (Mrs. Junk Food Junky) downed the whole thing (after it was smothered in mayo and ketchup, haha)!

Sidney used multi-grain buns, and topped the burger with lettuce, tomato, and hummus. She served the burgers with watermelon and oil-free, oven-baked fries! Now these were actually SO delicious.  Like, "we'd take these over In-N-Out fries any day" kind of good. 

See the full recipes below! The original recipes are from Forks Over Knives and From My Bowl. 

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

1 cup cooked brown rice (we used this)

1 15-ounce can black beans

½ onion, diced

¼ cup corn

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon chili powder

¼ cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons salsa

Preheat oven to 350º F. Lay a piece of parchment paper on sheet pan.

Sweat the onion in a sauté pan. Sweat means the moisture comes from the veggies so no oil is needed. Just remember to keep a lid on the pan. If the onions do start to stick, add a little bit of water. When onions become translucent add corn and spices. Cook for a few more minutes.

Add cornmeal, salsa, veggies, and rice to bean bowl. Mix everything together so there is an even consistency. Feel free to do this with your hands. Then form mixture into patties. A good thickness is about ½ inch and I like to make mine around 3 inches in diameter.

Place patties onto parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes at 350ºF. Flip the patties and bake for another 15 minutes. Serve between two leaves of romaine lettuce with tomato, onion, ketchup, and mustard. Or try putting the burger on a bed of fresh spinach instead of the bun…. delicious!

Oil-Free Fries

2-4 Organic Russet Potatoes, depending on size

Seasonings of Choice + Salt

Silicone Mat on baking sheet (or parchment paper)

Preheat your oven to 425F. Scrub your Potatoes clean, and peel them if desired.

Chop your fries into any shape of your choice; wedges that are between 1/2″ and 3/4″ are recommended.

Toss your Fries into a large bowl, sprinkle with any Seasonings and Salt you desire, and stir well.

Place the Seasoned Fries onto a baking tray lined with a Silicone Mat, making sure they do not touch.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Serve as desired.

Hope you enjoy(the burgers, and your bikini bod for summer ;)

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Fall Popcorn: White Chocolate and Caramel Corn

If you know us Salty Blondes well, then you KNOW all three of us love a good bowl of popcorn.  You can bet the very first thing each of us registered for when we got engaged was a popcorn popper.  

Our go-to is obviously freshly popped corn with a half a stick of butter and salt (obviously).  Sometimes we like to switch it up and, if we're feeling super UNhealthy, we go for the white chocolate or caramel corn.

WHITE CHOCOLATE POPCORN

This one is super easy.  

1. Pop your corn 

2. Pour about 2 tablespoons of melted butter over

3. Sprinkler with salt and mix

4. Melt about 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips

5. Drizzle melted white chocolate over top and mix

6. Add more salt if desired

Let the bowl sit out until the chocolate hardens or throw the bowl in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Tip: the white chocolate chips melt best in a double boiler.  We don't have one, so we make our own by boiling a little bit of water in a pan, then setting a glass bowl with the chocolate chips on top, making sure the water isn't touching the bowl.  Stir continuously until melted.  See picture below :)

EASY CARAMEL CORN

1. Pop your corn

2. Melt 2 sticks of butter + 1/2 Cup of brown sugar + 8 large marshmallows or 1 Cup mini marshmallows in pan

3. Stir ingredients continuously until melted and bring to a boil. Boil for about a minute. Keep stirring.

4.  Pour over popcorn and mix

Note: our original recipe calls for one stick of butter, but Paige uses two, which makes it a little less sticky, but obviously more fattening.  At this point though, does that really matter? 

These are both so yummy and perfect to bag up and give out at a Halloween party or even to trick-or-treaters! Let us know what you think in the comments if you try either of these!

Light & Fit Salmon BLT

This is a recipe we got out of Paige's Cooking Light cook book, and can we just say, it's SO delicious! (Especially the sauce :) Paige's Mother-in-law gave her this cookbook, and we highly recommend it. It has so many great recipes, all healthy and low in calories!

This open-faced salmon BLT has been one of our favorites from it so far. It only has 330 calories, and has 25 grams of protein! Here's how to make it:

Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

-8 slices precooked hickory-smoked bacon

-2 (6 ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)

-1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

-Cooking spray

-1/4 cup light mayonnaise

-1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

-1 1/2 teaspoons minted fresh dill

-4 (1 ounce) slices diagonally cut French bread, toasted

-4 green leaf lettuce leaves

-4 slices tomato, cut in half

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Cook bacon as desired or according to package directions (we make it on the stove).

3. While bacon cooks, sprinkle fish with 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Place fish, skin sides down, on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 10 to 13 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove skin from fish, and cut fish into chunks.

4. While fish cooks, combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, dill, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon dill mayonnaise on each French bread slice; top with 1 lettuce leaf, 2 tomato halves, 2 slices bacon, and one-fourth of salmon chunks. Drizzle remaining dill mayonnaise evenly over each sandwich.

Click Here for Printable Recipe

Enjoy!

Sidney's Skinny Omelet

As we've mentioned before, Sidney is somewhat of a clean-eating fitness guru. Today we're sharing one her favorite healthy recipes. It's SO healthy, and DELICIOUS you won't believe it.

This omelet is also super easy to make…and don't worry about that fancy omelet flipping skill you see in restaurants! 

To make it, you only need a few simple ingredients.

We like to buy three large peppers and chop them all up. You can keep the chopped up peppers in a bag in the fridge, and use them to make this recipe throughout the week!

To make the omelet, start by whisking together three egg whites and one egg yolk, and a little salt, pepper, & any spices you choose. Set aside and turn oven to broil.

 Then add a little butter or olive oil to your pan, and sauté your peppers (or vegetables of choice) for a few minutes. Add some spinach and sauté until it begins to wilt. 

Pour your egg mixture over the vegetables, and use a spatula to pull the center toward the edges to create even cooking (see video below). Cook over medium/high heat for a few minutes. 

Then stick your pan under the broiler, and let the top of the omelet cook until done. Add some Cholula hot sauce for a little kick and viola! 

Check out the video below for a quick tutorial on how to do this.

Enjoy!

Carrot Cake

This month our amazing dad turned 50!

We thought we'd share a couple throwback photos from each of our weddings, because we love both these pictures of our dad!

 We got to celebrate with him when our family came up to Utah to go skiing...and we wanted to share the recipe for this delicious carrot cake we made him :)

This recipe came from our grandma and is famous in our family. When we asked our dad what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday celebration, he said this one without any hesitation ;)

Mixer

Oven Mitts

Cake plate, old (love this one)

Carrot Cake Printable Recipe

Happy birthday Dad! We love you!