Have you ever tried making black bean burgers? I tried probably at least 50 variations back in my DR apartment with minimal success. These were definitely my fave. I think it was the Panko – which of course I didn’t have in the DR. The texture seems much better than it is with oatmeal or whole-wheat flour.

I was Googling party ideas for a friend when I noticed Pioneer Woman’s meatball slider sandwiches in 16-minute meals. That gave me the idea to Google “black bean sliders”, and I landed on bakedbree.

Ingredients: 1 (14-ounce) can black beans, drained (reserve some of the liquid), 1 medium onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1 Tablespoon taco seasoning, 1 egg,  1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup corn (I used frozen corn), 1/4 cup cilantro, and 2 Tablespoons olive oil for cooking

You can find all Bree’s impeccable directions here, but basically you just combine the ingredients and make a cute little patty!

We topped the burgers with nonfat plain Greek yogurt, hot salsa, a little mozz cheese, and cilantro. On the side were some Buffalo Wing Pretzel Crisps + leftover Crunchy Crust Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Isn’t that little plate combo adorable? I can’t wait for my colorful Fiestaware back, and I especially miss my ramekins! I should have all my kitchen goods in my new Denver apartment around the 15th. Hooray!

Yesterday I was thinking about how I want to mail Christmas cards now that we’re all cute and married. And then I thought, wow, we should probably mail our wedding Thank Yous first. I’ve been wanting to do them forever. I loooove writing thank yous. I really do. Predictably, the only reason I haven’t done them is that I can’t commit to a style for the cards. I originally wanted to do something that coordinated with the invitations, but I’m over that. And I know Kevin would be fine with never seeing happy tape again.

So I’m considering these photo cards from Pinhole Press.

What do you think? Of course then I’d have to agonize over the pictures to choose. I know if you got one of these with our faces plastered all over it, you’d stick it on your fridge ASAP!

Do you like writing thank yous? I always loved writing them after Christmas to my grandparents and my aunts & uncles.

If you’re married, do you remember what kind of thank you cards you used? How long did it take you? I still have time, people!

Do you like meatless burgers? I don’t like most flavors of Boca burgers but I do like the Morningstar Spicy Black Bean burgers. I liked making my own too, but I didn’t like making the patties. It felt gross on my hands. Just like raw meat. Yuck.