Cutting Back + {Black Bean Quinoa Sliders}

I received such a sweet comment from a new reader recently: "Hello there! I came across Nosh and Nourish through Pinterest (someone pinned your amazing butternut squash mac and cheese, yum!) and now that I've navigated through your website, I wanted to say that you are amazing, inspirational and beautiful on the inside and out! I'm looking forward to keeping up with your adventures. <3" which makes what I'm about to say even harder:  It is time for me to cut back significantly for a season. I love blogging so much!! I am passionate about what I share on here, about creating healthy nourishing recipes for my own family as well as yours, and about photography and the whole presentation. I LOVE IT.

But, there just are not enough hours in the day to fit in everything I want to accomplish. And so daily I have to choose what to focus on and what to ignore.

It changes. Sometimes it's the dishes that pile up and then sit there for a couple days. Sometimes it's a delayed blogpost that I "promised" on Facebook.  Sometimes it's the workout that I promised myself I would do, but just don't have the energy for. Sometimes it's the time I meant to spent reading God's word, but don't sit down to do for the billionth day in a row. But more often than not, it's my family that is being negatively impacted.

Some hard truths:

1) I am not being the mom I want to be

As you know, my daughter (lovingly referred to as Babycakes on this blog) who will be 3 in August, is the reason I started getting healthy in the first place. She is my pride and joy...and I delight in who she is becoming. She makes me SMILE. And I love involving her in healthy living - she is becoming quite the helper --- so curious, so helpful, and so amazingly capable.  I mean, really, let's just stop for a minute and admire her:

So beautiful. So perfect.

And yet I've been ignoring her.

She doesn't take 2 - 3 hour naps anymore. Some days I'm lucky to get one at all... but more often than not, it's about a 45 - 60 minute window.  That's the free time I have to accomplish ___________ whatever I deem most important at that moment. And if I choose to spend it exercising or cleaning the house or calling the car dealer about getting my windshield replaced (ugh, that's no fun!) then I squeeze in blogging, photographing, editing, etc... when she's awake and craving my attention. Recently:

  • I've put her down on the couch in front of a Dora (OR THREE) so that I can blog. This is not what I want.
  • I've even tried to squeeze in blogging while she's in the bath -- and then YELLED AT HER for splashing my computer. This is not what I want.
  • I've said, "No later, sweetie" one too many times.

2) I am not being the wife I want to be

I love my husband. (I have for ten years!!) He shares my love for the outdoors, for photography, and for really living life! He does not naturally share my love for vegetables though. I find great joy when I make a healthy meal that he actually enjoys, like these Vegetarian Double Decker Tacos and today's sliders. But, I've been ignoring him too. Our "together" time is so limited -- when he gets home from a long day at work, we "do" Babycakes' bedtime - bath, jamjams, running around the house being silly, 8,000 stories from her Jesus Storybook Bible (she adores this book and literally wants to sleep with it), songs, and night-night...and then we decide how we want to spend our one (or two) free waking non-child time together.  Blogging during this time is not what I want.

3) I have gained about 8 pounds since January

Since starting my new part time job (having even less time to squeeze everything in) and moving to the mountains, I have gained weight. Each pound makes me cringe. And yet, I've accepted it and rationalized it as there are more important things to focus on. But I really want to use the little napping time that Babycakes gives me each day to exercise and get those endorphins flowing. I still want to lose probably another 25 pounds...and gaining 8 is not the way to do it. LOL.

Sooooooo, what does "cutting back" mean?

  • I plan to post one new blog post / recipe a week - every Monday. Having a consistent day to post new stuff will make it easier for YOU to know when to visit my site (though you're welcome to come any and every day even to peruse old posts and recipes!!)
  • I plan to post to Facebook once a day only - in the evening. If you're one of the 7,000+ who follow me on Facebook, you'll probably know that this will be HARD FOR ME. I like posting! I like interacting! But I get too consumed, checking my phone for updates, and ignore other important things (as mentioned above). 
  • I'm not sure how long this season will be. I'm not giving a timeframe. I will see how this goes. I have been struggling with this decision for a couple months, and feel it is the right thing to do for me and my family... but I love blogging / recipe developing / photographing too much to cut it out of my life completely. So I hope I can achieve more balance by cutting back and be able to enjoy ALL of the aspects of my life more fully.

Thank you for being awesome, for sending me inspiring comments and emails, and for going on this journey with me.

I appreciate you more than words can say.

So without further ado, here are these awesome black bean quinoa sliders, made with juicer pulp.

It all started when I went over to my friend Lee's blog (Fit Foodie Finds) to search for the perfect quinoa recipe. I had some leftover red quinoa that I needed to use, and Lee has about 8,000 quinoa recipes to choose from... so, the search began.  I looked at 28+ pages before deciding on her Black Bean Quinoa Veggie Burgers. I printed it out, went upstairs, looked at my fridge, and then began butchering her recipe. LOL!!! I promise, it wasn't on purpose!! I was just missing more than half the ingredients. So, only 4 out of the 12 ingredients stayed the same, as I created my own version: Black Beans, Quinoa, Egg, and Flour.

I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Even Dear Hubby enjoyed them more than anticipated!

Nom. Nom.

PS. I promise next Monday's post won't be so verbose!

Black Bean Quinoa Sliders

Black Bean Quinoa Sliders

Description

Black Bean Quinoa Sliders // @noshandnourish

Ingredients

1 can Black Beans (rinsed and drained)
1 1⁄2 cup Cooked Quinoa (I used "red quinoa")
1 Egg
1⁄2 cup Juicer Pulp (* - or substitute finely chopped red pepper and/or carrot)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 teaspoon Cumin
2 tablespoons Ketchup
1⁄2 cup Gluten-free Oat Flour (or sub other kind of flour)

Notes

* I used the juicer pulp from this {Pink Power Juice} - essentially beets, limes, a few fruits.

Instructions

  1. Cook quinoa, if not already done. Mine cooks 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/4 cup boiling water for 15 minutes.
  2. In a medium bowl, mash a can of black beans (rinsed and drained) with a fork.
  3. Then add in all other ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
  4. Let it firm up in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  6. Generously spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
  7. Scoop a large spoonful into each muffin cup.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes.
  9. Serve on slider buns with various burger toppings. (optional)

Yields 12 Sliders