This is a perfect showing of what I did yesterday.

Cabinets + Cook

You already saw meals number 1 + 2 yesterday. Well, I guess there were technically 3, if you count making 2 meals out of one sweet potato. I just slurped down that luscious + spicy soup a few hours ago. DEElish!

First, the cabinets. Let me work up your appetite…

Please give me the honor in introducing you to Ms. Lazy Susan.

This isn’t a traditional lazy susan cabinet, but it’s actually a hidden corner lazy susan cabinet. The shelves pivot OUT of the door! When I saw this cabinet, I knew it would be perfect for our small kitchen. It also avoids losing a lot of dead space from having a cabinet that does not extend all the way to the corner. The other option was the same cabinet, but with fixed shelves. We thought this option sounded much better, so you don’t have to reach really far back to grab what you’re looking for.

I’m very impressed with the shelf quality. They are extremely sturdy and move very easily!

Zoomed out view.

Next it was time to install the more traditional lazy susan in the other corner.

The 2-part door was the hardest part to install! I kept having to make adjustments with the screws so it lined up properly along the edges. [sorry for the dull + grainy images…it was dusk when I took the photos :)]

Spins like a charm!

Next I put together the drawers for this 3-drawer cabinet. I attached the drawer fronts + adjusted the screws so things lined up. At first the drawers were closing SO loudly. I remembered something about drawer dampers coming with the cabinets, but didn’t realize it was a separate piece.

I found the dampers and popped them on. They were a cinch to install! The drawers are also extremely sturdy. The sides are made of metal and they glide with ease!

Soon, this will be topped with a counter!

This is a 1-drawer + 1-door cabinet, that was holding a bunch of crap! It’s now cleaned out. :)

Okay…are hungry yet?? I am, just thinking about this meal!

If you’ve been around my blog for awhile, you know that one of my go-to recipes, are Angela’s In a Jiffy Veggie Spelt Burgers. They’re very adaptable spice-wise, and last night I made them gluten free!

This was the best batch I’ve made to date!

How do I have so much light at night?

Here’s how! Clamped on light with a “daylight” light bulb, pointing to the ceiling. The light bounces, instead of being directly pointed at the food. This helps diffuse the light, so it doesn’t look harsh. It gets the the job done for right now!

Typically, I throw these in the oven, per Angela’s instruction, but we all know that is not possible for me right now.

So, it was time for another grill-baking session. Again, it worked fabulously.

I’ve been avoiding gluten as much as possible, since my detox conclusions and feeling better. There is still something that’s throwing my stomach off, but not eating gluten is definitely helping. I’m still trying to narrow it down, to see if it’s all gluten or just certain types.

So this delicious looking sandwich below? Not mine. It’s Chris’s. I bought him an amazing loaf of marbled rye at that farmer’s market this past weekend. I have never seen bread marbled so perfectly. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a few small bites of this bread, while it was around this week.

Instead of eating with bread, I double stacked my burger and LOADED it up with toppings.

Chickpea Herbed Veggie Burgers [adapted from Oh She Glows]

1c cooked chickpeas
1 small carrot, coarsely chopped
1 small sweet onion, coarsely chopped
1/4c salsa [*if your salsa is very watery, drain some of the liquid, or per Angela’s instruction use 1/2 chopped bell pepper and add it to the food processor with the carrot + onion]
1/2c spinach, lightly packed
1/2t dried dill
1T oregano
1/2T parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4t fine grain sea salt
black pepper
pinch or 2 of cayenne pepper
1/4c unsalted sunflower seeds
1T pepitas
1T ground flax meal
1/2-3/4c millet flour

Preheat your grill to about 375* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. [not foil or wax paper]
Place the carrots, onion + garlic in the food processor and process for about 20sec. You don’t want to puree it, but just have it well combined and in similar sized small/medium pieces.
Add in the chickpeas, spinach, salsa, dill, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper and cayenne [if using]. Pulse around a handful of times, until just combined. *Be careful not to over process or the mixture will become too liquidy.
Empty contents into a bowl and mix in sunflower seeds, pepitas, and flax meal.
Start by adding in 1/2c millet flour [ground in a blender from whole, raw millet]. Mix until combined and test the mixture by trying to roll a ball in your hands. If the mixture falls apart or is not holding together add flour in 2T increments. The mixture should be fairly wet but still able to hold together. You want to make sure not to add too much flour. Add enough so they just hold together.
Form into 6 patties [this size works the best so they don’t fall apart], place on the parchment lined pan and then to the grill for about 15min..
Whey they are golden brown, flip and cook another 8-12min, until browned evenly on both sides.

*If your grill has hot spots, remember to rotate the pan 180* a few times while cooking.

*Do not put these directly onto the grill grates. They will fall apart.

*The most important part of this recipe is not adding too much flour. As mentioned in the directions, the mixture will be quite wet, which is what you want. Before the first flip, they should stiffen up and hold together without a problem.

*If you don’t have millet flour, or raw millet to grind into flour, you can sub chickpea flour, quinoa flour [grind raw quinoa], oat flour [grind oat groats or rolled oats], or buckwheat flour [grind from raw buckwheat groats], etc. If you don’t need this to be gluten free, you can use spelt flour [like Angela], or wheat.

Feel free to make this recipe your own by changing up the spices. This past summer, I made an Italian version and topped them with fresh tomato, basil + mozz. You could definitely make a curry style or a cumin Mexican spiced variation as well.

The best thing about these, is how easy they are to prep. It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but the burgers literally come together in the time it takes to preheat your grill or oven.