Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

The Beyond Meat Beyond Burger Plant Based Burgers at Home!

The Beyond Meat burger has been available at A&W in Canada for some time and I quite enjoyed indulging in the plant based sandwich a couple of times when my family visited the restaurant. The patties contain several vegetarian ingredients like beets, apples, yellow peas, beans, rice, potatoes and even pomegranate seeds! The burgers are very satisfying and rich in protein. The classic hamburger toppings make this an authentic burger experience and I really enjoy having the combination of lettuce, tomato, onions, and condiments flavours back in my hot sandwich life! Since I am not vegan, I also added a slice of cheese. While the Beyond Meat burger is a filling treat it is still high in calories (and WW points) and I find it very rich, something I'll only have on occasion for sure. This is also especially tricky when going to the fast food restaurant leads to the temptation of French fries, onion rings, and root beer!

Last week I was quite excited to find out that the Beyond Burgers are now available in grocery stores. I picked up a package (on sale for $7.99 for 2 patties) and hubby bar-b-qued for the family on the weekend. The home version tasted almost identical to the A&W one and it was nice to participate in the grilled dinner with healthier sides we prepared. Of course these Beyond Burgers are great options for vegetarians but I think the health-conscious consumer who is trying to reduce meat in the diet will find these a super substitute for ground beef. They are a really tasty alternative and may just become a regular part of a family's meal plan.

Innovative Kitchen Composter by Polder

Mother's Day was a couple weeks ago now but I wanted to share what a great gift I received! This Polder kitchen composter is a practical and well designed addition to the counter. The kids (and my daughter's boyfriend) know that we are pretty serious about keeping those organic food scraps out of the landfill and in our garden. They also know that it is father's job to empty the container and the little one I was using was always full!

This cool design consists of a thick stainless steel stand and silicone bin liner with well fitting, ventilated lid. It holds one gallon of standard kitchen compost (fruit & veg scraps, coffee grinds, tea leaves, egg shells, pasta & rice {I didn't even know carbs such as those could go in!!}, etc.) and the lid adjusts for air flow with a simple turn to open the vents. It's easy to grab the bucket to empty into the outdoor composter, using the tab at the bottom of the silicone liner. Push it through to invert and dump the contents then rinse if needed. Simply pull the silicone bucket back in place.

The bin is actually dishwasher safe (not really a necessary step, but nice if things get real' bad!) and so far it has been wonderful. I love how easy it is to clean and the lid can be separated for a more thorough wash. My old system consisted of reusing produce bags from the grocery store held up in a dollar store plastic container. Inevitably rushed family members wouldn't extend the bag before casually tossing in fruit peels, leaving me to sort out the gooey mess. Also, the coffee filters and grounds were so drippy and wet, yuck. I'm glad to not have to use plastic bags any more and deal with trying to shake the compost out of them!

I was so blessed with a lovely dinner prepared by my kids at home and a gorgeous family-themed Pandora charm as well. The messages of love in the card and via text (from my city girl daughter) meant the most and I am such a lucky mother to have such thoughtful children!!!  One last surprise was a beautiful bouquet of colourful tulips from my son's girlfriend, a sweet daughter from another mother. My heart is full of gratitude to be surrounded by loving family!

P.S. I think they bought the compost bin from Costco!!!

My Pandora Bracelet: Purple for Mom

I have been 'working' on a purple Pandora bracelet in honour of my mom...for three years! Purple was her favourite colour and when I picked up a CZ purple pavé clasp bracelet in Vegas years ago I knew it would be the perfect one to use for this project. I had gathered several gorgeous charms to suit the colour scheme and played around with many design variations. I had two Muranos, one dark and one light (Purple & Dark Purple Shimmer), and the lovely Regal Beauty charm with purple enamel for the centrepiece. The retired Whimsical Lights and Ocean Wave were both excellent additions and I thought I might include some kind of elephant charm (mom collected elephant ornaments and decor pieces).

Once I started putting all the charms together the bracelet looked great but was simply too tight. The snake chain was new and stiff and the extra Murano glass beads and heavier accent charms were just too bulky. I removed some, re-arranged and still wasn't happy with the result. I never wore the bracelet and was disappointed I just couldn't get it right.

I finally had some time last month to pull out this purple project and figure out what I could do to make use of it. I think buying the purple leather bracelet gave me the idea to separate the charms and split the design into two. I also decided to break up the mega violet colour scheme with a complimentary Peridot green and a few charms I'd been able to buy pre-loved were perfect for the job. I also gave up having both Muranos on the bracelet at the same time and will swap them out or use one in a different design.

I was so pleased with the final style and absolutely love wearing the set now. They are comfortable and beautiful, reminding me of mum whenever I glance down. We just got back from a quick trip to Florida and I was finally able to score the last missing charms I've been looking for. I wanted a pair of Purple Petite Facets, gorgeous accent charms I'd never previously invested in (preferring to spend my budget on character beads instead) but sadly, they are retired and now hard to find. A small, local shop-in-shop in the town where we stayed had two and I was thrilled to finally add them to my leather design. This bracelet theme is now complete and I am so happy to wear them often. Sometimes with creative projects it turns out well to shelve them for a while until inspiration hits and the stars align, resulting in a renewed passion for the design process and a beautiful finale, whether it be a quilt, a bracelet, or another work of art!