Veggie Burgers

Okay, so once I was at Costco. They had free samples, and there were veggie burger patties.
Ever since then I have craved veggie burgers. I don't like eating a whole lot of hamburger so I thought this  could be a perfect substitute.
After about a year of procrastination I found a great recipe and made it for dinner yesterday.
They were great!  Even better served with a side of freshly cut baked sweet potato fries.
There are a few consequences, however, with eating these. They are silent but deadly... if you catch a wiff of what I'm saying. ;)

Here's the recipe from AllRecipes.com (GREAT site!)

Homemade Black Bean Veggie Burgers




1 (16 ounce) can black beans,

• drained and rinsed
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
  1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
  1 tablespoon chili powder
  1 tablespoon cumin
  1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
  1/2 cup bread crumbs
  
  
  
  

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), 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. 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.

Halloween cookies

Last week we made some Halloween cookies. 

They looked nasty. They didn't taste that great either. 

 It was fun making them, though. Even if most of them ended up in the garbage. 

My sister helped me make them. Amy was proud of how real hers looked so she stuck her finger by it to compare. :) 

Fingers.. YUCK!

{witch finger cookies}

cookie ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablepoons icing glue (see below)
50 pretzel sticks [for the finger bone]

directions

1. in a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
2. add the sugar, egg, peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix well.
3. add the flour, baking powder, and salt and beat until completely mixed.
4. cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes. [very important that they be chilled at least 30 minutes before baking so that they will keep their shape after they are baked.]
5. preheat the oven to 325°F.
6. with your hands, roll a heaping tablespoon of dough into a finger shape around a pretzel stick for each cookie. if the dough gets sticky and hard to work with, put it back in the refrigerator for a little while. Place fingers on an ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Place sliced almonds on the end of each cookie.

7. use a butter knife to make knuckle marks on the finger cookies. slightly flatten the front of the finger to create a nail.
8. bake 20-25 minutes, until fingers are slightly golden. remove from the oven and let cool. 

To make it real nasty looking we brushed them up with cocoa powder to give them that dirty look.