Southwest Black Bean Burgers

*******THIS POST IS FROM 2013 AND I'M JUST SEEING THIS. SORRY FOR THE DELAY*******


Let me first start off by saying, these are YUMMY!

These were supposed to be dinner on Wednesday night, but we had a late lunch and were still full at dinner time. So I went ahead and made the burgers and baked them then let them completely cool in the pan before putting them in the fridge. I was kind of skeptical about the taste because I have had black bean burgers in the past, but I didn't like them. So I found it odd to be craving black bean burgers Tuesday evening, but I gave in to my cravings and decided to make them for dinner on Wednesday. Lately I have been eating at least 1 jar of jalapeno slices a week and craving really spicy foods, I guess when you hit your 30's weird things start happening! =) But I wanted to "spice" things up for this burger so I decided to mix some spices together and see where it would go from there, boy was I surprised by the taste. Even my 8 year old said they were delicious, coming from him that meant something because he does not like "fake meat" as he calls it. =) But the recipe is mine made up off the top of my head. If you try it I hope you like it!!! Enjoy!




Southwest Black Bean Burgers

1tsp. garlic powder
1tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. paprika
1tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
salt to taste
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1/4 large green bell pepper, finely diced
1 tbsp. sofrito
1 tbsp. garlic, minced
1 - 15oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 cup oatmeal, ground in the food processor
2 tbsp. butter *YOU CAN USE ANY OIL OR BUTTER TO SAUTE THE VEGGIES IN*


I started off by sautéing the onions, peppers, garlic, sofrito and the first 8 ingredients on the list in the butter over a medium heat until they were tender. I then added the oatmeal to the food processor and let it process until it was a like a chunky flour texture the set it aside in a measuring glass. Next I put the whole can of beans in the food processor and let it go until the beans looked like a can of refried beans. I scooped the mashed beans into a mixing bowl and added in the sautéed veggies & seasoning and 1 cup of oatmeal flour. I stirred up everything and shaped them into 5 patties, placed them in a glass baking dish and baked at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes until they were firm. I topped my burgers on onion rolls with homemade guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce, sour cream & cheese. You may use whatever toppings you choose, it should still taste fine. I hope you guys enjoy, until next time!

Influenster - Ivory Brand Challenge Winner

I was notified about two weeks ago that I had been chosen as one of the Ivory brand challenger winners, which I was shocked to find out. But after waiting for a couple weeks, the mail came today and my box was in it! I already knew what was going to be included in the box, but was shocked to find out that the hand soap was larger than they said it would be. =) So in my box I received 1-24oz Ivory body wash with aloe, 1-24oz Ivory 2-in-1 hair & body wash in the scent refreshing, 1-10 pack of Ivory original soap bars, and the surprise which was supposed to be 7.5oz, but instead was 16oz the liquid hand soap. I never even knew that Ivory had a liquid hand soap, since I mostly use Softsoap or the Wal-Mart brand of hand soap. The Ivory hand soap has such a clean fresh scent that other hand soaps don't have and hopefully it wont irritate my hands or dry them out since I'm an OCD germaphobe and am constantly washing my hands. If you would like to find out how to receive free products like this for testing purposes, log on to Influenster and sign up today!

Change of mind...

I have had a change of mind about moving our homeschool blog to here. I'm just going to leave it the way it is for now. You can come check us out over at SonLight Christian Academy

Homemade Garlic Dill Pickles

I have been having a craving for some pickles and we had about 12 large cucumbers in the crisper drawer in the fridge. We had no idea what to do with all of them, so I searched the web and found a pickle recipe that was simple and cheap to make. The recipe I used is the Duggar family garlic dill pickle recipe. I halved the recipe since I only had 5 glass jars and 2 plastic storage containers. We made the pickles on Monday as a homeschool project and was supposed to wait for 10-12 days before eating them, but we opened a jar today to see if they were ready, which they were. We could not resist it and before we knew it, the whole jar of pickles was gone. They were so delicious!! We have never had homemade pickles before, so I figured why not turn it into a homeschool project so my son could see how to make pickles. He really enjoyed helping out and was even more excited to be the first taste tester of his pickles. =)

We will no longer purchase store-bought pickles since we now know how to make them. During making the pickles I did notice the large amount of salt their recipe called for so I just reduced it to 1/3 cup since I was only making half the recipe. The pickles that were in the jars were better tasting than the pickles in the plastic containers, I guess it's because the pickles in the jars were hot from the oven and with the added boiling liquid it helped them process better than the ones I put in the plastic containers in the fridge. However, both tasted really good!! I hope you go check out the recipe and consider making them for your family.

-Nikki

*The recipe can be found here*

Product Review: Ivory 2-in-1 hair & body wash

Hi Guys! It's been a while since I have done a product review or posted anything to this blog, but I am here today with a product review of a NEW body product that I received complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. The product I'm talking about is the new Ivory 2-in-1 hair & body wash. It is suppose to cut down on the hassle of applying shampoo, conditioner and body wash while leaving your body clean. And if you guys are anything like myself and short on time to shower, then this is the product for you.

I received this product this week(Tuesday) and began using it the very same day on myself. It has a clean, crisp refreshing smell that lathers very well using a wash cloth. I washed my body only because this product does have SLS(Sodium Lauryl Sulfate)and I try to avoid washing my hair with sulfates because it dries my hair out. After using this product, my skin was not dry nor itchy at all, it felt moisturized and soft. However, using this product on my son who has eczema & atopic dermatitis, it dried his skin out to the point that he was scratching constantly. It didn't cause any new skin flare-up, just itchy skin for him. So if you have sensitive skin, then this product may not work for you.

On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this at 8.5 just because it does have SLS and Dimethicone in it. I would repurchase this product again because it does clean the body, has a nice smell and it's not overly expensive.




~*I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.*~


-Nikki

Where was God?

Product Review: Bake Shop Butters!!!

Well I'm back again with another great product review that I am SO excited to be blogging about y'all!!! Let me first start off by saying that I was not paid for my review nor am I in any way affiliated with this company. =) So let's begin...about maybe the middle of November a fellow Youtube vlogger *NUREKAD* asked folks if she should sale her homemade body butters that she makes herself. Of course her response from people on YT were, HECK YEA!!! LOL I didn't respond because I KNEW that it was gonna happen. ;) So she launched her website on November 30, 2012 and she sold out super fast of her favorite scent, which is "lemon cake". With that being the scent that I wanted, I had to wait a couple days for her to make more to add to her website. I had no problem waiting because after seeing the reviews on YT about how great the body butters wer, I knew I getting something of quality! Her butters are made with organic products which in my opinion is great since it will be going on the skin.

Fast forward to today.....and the excitment I had when the mailwoman dropped my package off!!! I felt like a kid waiting in line at Disney to get on a ride =) I ordered the Lemon Cake 8oz. size and received a sample of the Vanilla Buttercream. Before I could even get the sealed package open all the way, I got a whiff of something sweet that reminded me of my Lemon Pound Cake and my mouth began to water like a baby that is teething :-D I had to close up the container because I was so tempted to taste it!!! The smell is right on point about being Lemon Cake and the consistency is like a thick, but soft butter that melts and absorbs into the skin and leaves your skin soft and moisturized.

She says that her Lemon Cake brings all the boys to the yard, so I must see if that is true! hahaha ;-)

My package came with with a personalized note which made me feel even more special. I love when people go the extra mile for their customers and make them feel special, because you never know who's day you may change. :) And for that very reason I will always buy from her. Her website information is http://bakeshopbutters.storenvy.com

She offers 6 different body butters. Snickerdoodle, Lemon Cake, So Fresh & Clean, Vanilla Buttercream, Coconut Vanilla Cupcake & Key Lime Pie. And 3 different sizes. 4oz for $7, 8oz for $12, and 16oz for $20. The prices are not considered high seeing that she makes it herself and uses organic ingredients. The shipping is a flat rate of $7, but if your order is over $45 the shipping is free.


Please visit her store/website and make a purchase of some of the 6 scents that she has, your skin will thank you. Until next time, stay blessed!!

Worldwide Culture Mini-Swap for the holidays

A week ago we signed up to take part in the Worldwide Culture Mini-Swap for the holdays. This will be our first mini-swap since we did our big swap last month with Canada, England, Australia & Texas. For this swap we were paired with a family from South Africa which is really awesome because we have studied South Africa in homeschool recently. So my son was thrilled when I told him what country we were paired up with. :-) If you are a little lost as to what a mini-swap or a regular swap is, then head over to worldwidecultureswap.com to sign up. In a brief description it is a swap where 5 families are paired up to swap packages amongst themselves. Two of the five families will be from the US and the other three from different countires. You choose how ever many items describing what it is like to live in your state/country. It can be whatever items you want to choose that would represent your state/country well. I don't remember much of what we included in our swap and I forgot to take pictures before packing them up. So hopefully when one of the families receive a package they will post the pic so I can upload it here.
So for our mini-swap for the holidays here is a picture of what we sent. It was supposed to be between 3-5 items showing how your family celebrates Christmas, but with Christmas being our favorite family holiday, we added a little more than what was asked. ;-)

This is what we included in our swap!!
1. Letter from the family

2. The Christmas Story

3. Family favorite Christmas songs

4. Holiday kitchen towel

5. Mini snow globe

6. Mini candle

7. Jumbo holiday ink pen

8. Christmas pencils

9. A light-up snowflake

10. Christmas candy - holiday peppermint wreath, pop rocks, legend of the candy cane poem & Christmas tree-shaped krabby patties

11. 2 homemade Christmas ornaments by little one. It's a reindeer & snowman :) & 1 mini nativity ornament

12. Santa & snowman bendable figurines

13. 2 hot cocoa packs - family favorite is the peppermint hot cocoa

14. bell-shaped cookie cutter

These swaps are really fun to be a part of and I hope you sign up too. Until next time, Be Blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wordless Wednesday

Image from www.christart.com