Ready for Spring!

I must admit that I am very ready for the weather to turn warm! It seems like the flu season hit much later this year than usual and there are some nasty bugs going around, so I have been keeping the kids home as much as possible to avoid the bugs. But the weather hasn't given us much opportunity to play outside and Caleb is getting a bit stir crazy. We try to get out to the park and play in the backyard as much as we can on those rare sunny days. I was able to do a few fun pictures with Natalie last week when we made it to the park.

In recent news, Natalie is sitting up on her own very well now and her second tooth just popped through! She is also able to roll around to get the toys and other interesting things she wants to look at. I found her several feet from where I set her down yesterday after walking into the kitchen to prepare some food. Time to teach Caleb which of his toys can be dangerous to her!

I have been doing a lot of cooking, experimenting especially with beans. I found a recipe for lentil burgers that is very economical (under $5 to make 12 large burger patties). And the best part is, Jason loved them! Take 6 cups of cooked lentils and mix it with 8 eggs in the blender or food processor along with any salt until it is the consistancy of a runny hummus. Then transfer it to a bowl and add 1 chopped onion and and any spices you like. Stir in 2 cups of bread crumbs and let it sit for a few minutes to soak up some of the liquid. It should be pretty moist, but you can add more bread cumbs if it is drippy. Then just form it into patties and freeze or cook in a skillet with a little olive oil. I made a bunch and froze them to use as we want. Jason got me a food processor for Christmas and I have also been making many bean soups and dips. One really easy idea is to take a jar of salsa (Winco has some on sale right now for $.98) and process it up with a can of black beans. It makes a delicious, protein packed dip that tastes homemade!