Labor Day Recipes You'll Love

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We used to celebrate the end of summer and the start of the new school year with a Labor Day party. But the start of the new school year is early this year, and while the weather mandates poolside lounging, my kids are currently focusing their efforts on studying. Since Labor Day has increasingly become a convergence of back to school, the start of the new sports season, and a farewell to summer, I decided to host one last end-of-summer BBQ thanks to our partners at Smart & Final. Smart & Final is your go-to for everything you need for everything, and I shopped at our local store for the ingredients for our end-of-summer celebration. In addition to shopping for healthy side dishes like fresh fruit, I also picked up everything I needed for a homemade apple pie and the best black bean burger recipe!

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Smart & Final

I grew up shopping with my parents for practically everything at Smart & Final. The brand dates back to 1871, with both warehouse and grocery stores located in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Montana. Their Smart & Final Extra! stores are likely what you are most familiar with, since they look a lot like your typical grocery store. These stores have the advantage of offering club-sized groceries and supplies for larger households, businesses, and organizations. Their produce section is expansive and features farm-fresh varieties. Throughout the store, you will also find natural and organic options, including their Sun Harvest brand which offers families simple, organic, earth-friendly groceries and products.

Vegetarian Labor Day Menu

I put together an easy Vegetarian Labor Day Menu with the help of Smart & Final. Our main dish consisted of an amazing Black Bean Burger recipe paired with condiments, fresh vegetables, and pretzel hamburger buns, which I have not been able to find until now! I also picked up popchips, fresh cut fruit (located in the produce section), all of the ingredients for a homemade apple pie, and Martinellis Sparkling Blush.

Smart & Final offers everyday low prices (often lower than your conventional grocery store) without a membership fee (or a card!). Before you shop, be sure to pick up your local weekly ad to take advantage of additional savings on select items.

The Best Black Bean Burger Recipe

I adapted this Black Bean Burger recipe from Tasty (mainly the spices) and it is one of the best I’ve had! Unlike many store or restaurant-bought vegan burgers, this recipe uses real ingredients with some healthy benefits!

Black Bean Burger Recipe

Ingredients

1 15 ounce can Black beans drained and rinsed
1/2 cup Brown rice cooked
1 cup Corn heated
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Dried onion
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs

Instructions

In a large bowl, add black beans, rice, corn, seasonings, and egg.
Use a potato masher to combine all ingredients until thoroughly mixed together.
Add the bread crumbs and mix to combine.
Take 1/4 of the mixture and shape it into a patty using your hands. Repeat with the remaining mixture to create four patties.
Heat a small amount of oil over medium heat.
Once heated, add the patties and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side.
Serve with pretzel buns, lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion, ketchup, and mustard.

This black bean burger is my favorite veggie burger! It is filling and satisfying to the palate and mostly guilt-free. Serve it without a bun if you are trying to cut carbs. I also like to use whole wheat bread crumbs. You can see my other recipe for Black Bean Burgers using dried beans below.

Vegetarian Black Bean Burger Recipe

Homemade Apple Pie Recipe

Homemade apple pie is one of those dishes that sounds fancy and looks and tastes amazing, but does not actually require a lot of time or effort. I picked up a frozen pie crust from Smart & Final and a handful of apples for my apple pie. I then adapted Epicurious’ Favorite Apple Pie recipe!

Homemade Apple Pie

Ingredients

2 Frozen pie crusts
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tbsp milk
3 Large apples
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp Lemon juice
4 tbsp butter

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and set aside.
Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4-inch thick wedges.
Place apples in a large bowl and mix with 1/4 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and lemon juice.
Fill the bottom pie crust with the apple mixture, packing apple slices as tightly as possible.
Brush the rim with egg and milk mixture, reserving the excess.
Top pie with the second pie crust press over apples to minimize excess space between apples and crust.
Press the top and bottom crusts together and trim the top crust to a 1-inch edge around pan.
Tuck top edge under bottom edge and crimp.
Cut five vents in the top crust for steam. Refrigerate pie for 30 minutes to set the crimp.
Brush top crust with egg wash.
Place pie on a preheated rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust begins to turn golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
Rotate sheet, move to center rack, and reduce oven to 350°F. Continue baking until the crust is golden brown and you can see the apple mixture bubbling, an additional 40 to 50 minutes.
Cool on a rack 3 to 4 hours to allow pie to set before slicing.

Shop your local Smart & Final this Labor Day weekend for everything you need for everything,

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Caryn Bailey

Caryn is a NICU nurse by day, blogger by night and mom 24/7. She savors the warm Southern California sun and loves to travel, shopping, baking, reading and frequenting her local tea room. Caryn created the column Lavishly Green for Peekaboo Picks Magazine to share her best tips for going green in style, she is the Former editor for Family Review Network, former OC Family Magazine online contributor, former Orange County Moms Blog contributor, former Evenflo Savvy Parent contributor, former member of the Totsy Advisory Board and former freelance writer for CBS Los Angeles.