Black Bean Burgers

I have been bragging about Scott's black bean burgers for a while now, so I thought I'd better share the recipe. They are AMAZING. The combination of flavors is incredible!




2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1/2 heaping tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 heaping cup seasoned bread crumbs

Mix first 7 ingredients in food processor and then add bread crumbs and mix thoroughly. Then it will look like this:Make into patties. Lightly coat a frying pan with olive oil and fry.Now this is important - garnish with:
cheddar cheese
mayo
lettuce
tomato
dill pickles
Mmmmmm, yummy!
If you can manage it, be sure to eat them on the patio on a beautiful fall evening with family.

Ducks in a Row

Well, I survived the move. All the furniture survived. Whew! Muchas Gracias to Michele's husband and Melody's husband for helping Scott with the heavy lifting and to those who gave us boxes and helped in other ways. We have awesome friends!

I've spent the last couple of weeks getting my ducks in a row. I'm feeling pretty settled now and ready to get back to every-day life and just regular craziness.

Moving

I have discovered the secret to a (fairly, comparatively, sort-of) stress-free move.

1. Move into a fully-furnished house. Make sure it comes equipped with a hot tub and a 60 inch plasma TV.

2. Take 2 weeks to do it.

We are fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity to live in the home of some friends of ours from church who are in Norway serving a mission for the next 23 months. It's a beautiful home with some great amenities (like the hot tub and TV!) We keep saying that we feel like we are on vacation.

Still, though, I have to move my stuff.

I do NOT like to move my stuff. When you move stuff, things get broken and scratched. (I'm still upset about a scratch my dining table got in our last move.) And since the house is completely furnished, a lot of our posessions are going into storage in the garage. That adds another opportunity for my OCD to come out because everything has to be packed, wrapped, cushioned and protected just right. So, I'm driving Scott crazy with things like making sure all like items are in the same box, double wrapping, double taping, using the same size boxes so that they will stack well, etc.

Then there's the actual moving. Saturday we are planning on moving all the big stuff. The heavy stuff. The stuff where when the guys pick it up you hear things like,

"Ughhh. Ehhhhhhh. Errrrrrrghhhhhhhhh!"

"You got it?" "Wait, wait, it's slipping!"

"Maybe if we tip it this way....Noooooo!"

I have decided that I will be hiding in the bedroom while this coccurs. I just can't watch it.

The last week has been fun - slowly transporting the small stuff and getting settled and then soaking in the spa after not working very hard.

But on Saturday morning, my moving tranquility will be demolished. Hopefully, none of my furniture will be destroyed along with it.

Serenity now!