Quinoa Black Bean Burger

1/4 cup quinoa

1/2 cup water

Bring to a boil, cover, cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.

Mash 1 can of drained and rinsed black beans in a small bowl. The recipe I was following (that I canNOT find online anymore) used the phrase black bean "paste" (bleh) so, now that you have that lovely visual, let's move on.

In a medium bowl mix:

your cooked quinoa

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 tablespoon kosher salt

(to be honest, I didn't measure the above 3, just did a couple "shakes" of each - we love LOTS of seasoning)

2 tablespoons minced onion

1/2 tablespoon Franks RedHot sauce <-so unexpected, but right up my alley

then mix together your mashed Black Beans - with your hands!!

(then I found a picture of what I can only assume will be me and Franks RedHot in 30 years)

Makes 5 patties. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Place patties in heated oil to cook. 3 minutes on each side.

Our favorite - Hawaiian sweet bread buns :)

Blake did pepperjack and A1 sauce

I did feta and avocado!

Pinterest - making the world better, one pin at a time

Lemon Oat Bars

You betcha. This happened last night. Old fashioned oats + Lemon cream filing = one very satisfied Johnson household.

Did you need a close up of the lemon gooey goodness?

because, here it is again...

Recipe:

(1) 14 oz can of sweetend condensed milk

3 teaspoons of grated lemon zest

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

mix together in small bowl, set aside.

1 cup oats

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

mix until crumbled. pack 1/2 of dough into an 8x8 pan, bake @ 375 for 10 minutes.

Take out and pour lemon filling. Bake another 20 minutes.

Don't even bother with letting it cool, just dig in. And, for some reason I feel healthy eating it - I mean, it's lemon and oats, right?? Don't correct me if I'm wrong, please.

I love living with a boy, but..

If I didn't, I'd totally live in this super feminine master bedroom.

and yes, I'd have a permanent glass of wine on my side table.

I think you can click on the picture to see it bigger.

via olioboard.com. It may look like I have a lot of time on my hands, and let's be honest - I do, but more than that, this site is a perfect release and sort of like therapy.

Easter 2012

also known as, Easter weekend photo overload. If you're not interested in seeing a lot of pictures of Blake and me, in coordinating outfits, then you should stop now... :)

group shot.

the kids.

I talked about the Johnson Easter last year, but the way we celebrate Easter there may be one of my favorites. They start with a church service on the patio. It is so special. Everyone participates in either reading a prayer, playing worship songs, or passing out communion.

Over the weekend, we got to celebrate Blake's cousin, Zach, and Kelly's upcoming wedding with a fun shower. Wouldn't have been complete without a margarita and a round or two (or til 4 am in Blake's case) of 42.

I got a little carried away with the 1960s filter on Picnik. Did you know that Picnik is free for everyone until they close on the 19th?? better get to editing!

It's times like these that make me a little sad to be so far away in Dallas, but on the other hand, I think it makes the couples days at home just that much sweeter.

Happy Easter!

here's to spring

My dad refinished this old Schwinn for me for some spring time bike riding. I got to choose the color, so went with this bright aqua blue :)

I took it for a spin this weekend, and it's one nice ride. I was a little nervous on the corners, the last time I rode a bike I think I was in elementary school. I even got a bell.

now, I need to get out there and cruise, before the Texas heat moves in.

GRO, House of Blues

One of my best friends is married to a rockstar. Pretty cool story. He and his fellow band mates are super talented, and they just made a new album, that in my opinion, is their best yet. My momma came in town, and we went to see the show Friday night at House of Blues Dallas. Family, friends, Press Box for dinner, and sweet songs to fill the night.... man, I've missed live music.

We even got a picture with the lead singer!!!!!!!! ahhhh!!!!!!!!!!

a flower bed.

well, this weekend started as a little "spruce up the front yard's flower bed" project, but soon enough turned into a complete front yard overhaul. Blake tackled the mowing, while my mom and I picked up lemon zest, annuals, and plumbago from Home Depot. I had to take some before shots. This yard was wild.

We, with hoe in hand, drew out where our flower beds would eventually lay. It began as a half circle on the left and a half circle to the right.

Then, the mulch came out. We used cypress mulch, and then everything started looking real, real nice.

Here is your right side. Like I mentioned above, we were planning on 2 half circled beds, but Blake got a little carried away and continued the bed around to the back. Have I mentioned yet that Blake and I may be the best tenants any one could ever ask for??

Below is the left side of our sidewalk. Fushia and white annuals, one plumbago, and one lemon zest fill up our new flower beds.

(this, above, might not be too impressive, but if you only knew... you'd know that we de-weeded that entire thing, trimmed some crazy trees growing - thanks to our squirrel friends that buried their loot around our yard, pulled weird grass, and ripped up other strange growing things- needless to say, I'm sore today)

The pretty stuff.

And Dakota.

We added a few more solar lights along the pathway for some added ambience, or "awesomeness" as Blake would put it. Speaking of little Blakey, here we are... proud new yard and flower bed makers.

We had a total of 3 neighbors let us know what an incredible job we did. One said, and I quote, that, "that bed has NEVER looked that good" thank you, thank you.

Our unspoken, spoken, goal before we move out is to achieve and receive the neighborhood's Yard of the Month sign. If there's ever been a month to get it I think this might be it. So, fingers crossed, and I'll keep ya updated.