Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Valentine's Day 2011

1:00pm (Nap Time)
This past Thursday we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by eating out at Sala Thai (we had Pad Thai no peanuts and Pepper Steak) and going to the movie theatre to see "The Dilemma". We hadn't been to the theatre in years! This was a special treat, especially since there were only three other people in the theatre with us.

Well since hubby is working today, I decided to do a special treat for the big V-day. Sometimes I'll make goodies and bring them to him and his coworkers. Unfortunately we will not be able to go see him today, but I will have the goodies ready for him when he gets home!

My first project is something to do with fire. He's a Fire Fighter so that's a given! I was dipping both the regular and the stick pretzels into the red chocolate I had melted. The stick pretzels were difficult to get half way dipped because I was using a tiny melting pot. A few of them came out looking like MATCHES. DING DING DING! I decided to make a bunch of edible matches. I am now in the process of decorating a large match box and figuring out a cute little quote, saying, or poem to put with it. So far I have either: "Come on baby, light my fire." or "Love is a friendship on fire." I'm still trying to find or create one a little corny-er than those!


Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers

adapted from allrecipes.com

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 20 min
Yields: 4 patties

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce (I used hot sauce)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (takes a LOT more than that) OR Ritz crumbs

Directions:

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 F, and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. (I don't have a processor so I diced them by hand.) Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

Note: I added corn (about 1/3 can drained) to mine. I plan to use frozen or fresh veggies next time and home cooked black beans. I also made a "meatloaf" out of this. The whole family loved it!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Just Starting Out

Well, I am trying to learn this whole blogging thing. Please bear with me as I get into a groove. My goals are to post crafts, homeschooling "stuff", recipes, how to's, and much more. I hope that you will find this blog insightful, as well as fun and creative.

Let's get started...

I have a goal to accomplish at least one new thing every month. That post will come later...