Recipe: Sweet Potato and Chickpea burgers

I decided to try a new recipe on Friday and made us sweet potato and chick pea burgers and they were SO good. I used a recipe from Self magazine but ended up tweaking it a little because we didn't have some of the spices that the original called for. The original recipe can be found here!
The original recipe uses tahini, which is a sesame seed paste used in hummus, but we didn't have any so I left that out and added a little garlic powder. I think next time I would add something else to the chickpeas while they are in the food processor, like roasted peppers, for even more flavor. They could also be made spicy but we kept them toddler friendly :)

My favorite part is the cucumber salad that is served on top... it just screamed summer!! 

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Burgers
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 medium baked sweet potatoes, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

In a food processor or blender, blend chickpeas until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend.  (The mixture will be pretty smooth; I actually didn't think they would stay in burger form but they did!) Place scoops of mixture on baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and spray top with baking/olive oil spray. Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Flip patties, spray top, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Cucumber Dill salad
1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (we used dried dill, probably about 1 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp extra  virgin olive oil

Combine ingredients and let sit while burgers cook. Enjoy!

Hope you enjoy!!
xo,
Mary

Five on Friday!

Cheers to another Friday! And the last Friday of February! These months are just flying by. I can't believe that next month is Easter. Weren't we just celebrating Christmas???

I feel like this week was a bit mundane; there were bursts of spring-like weather in between downpours and we certainly took advantage of every bit of sunshine we had. My mom had a surprise day off on Thursday because her office had no power so we hit the playground, saw a few old friends, and enjoyed the sunny and warm weather. By the time we were home, the clouds were out and it was raining again so our timing was perfect. So for today's five on Friday, I am listing Gabriella's current 5 favorite books. Now that she's 1, she is enjoying books that are simple but silly, have a rhythm, and have bring pictures. 

1. Anything and everything by Sandra Boynton

 

 These books are great! We were introduced to this author through our library's story times and I love them. They work on colors, sounds, and toddler words. I think that Gabriella has started recognizing different animals and their sounds because of these books! My personal favorites are Moo, Baa, La La La!, Are you a Cow?, and Blue Hat, Green Hat. 

2. The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

 

This is such a classic book and I think everyone owns it but recently Gabriella has loved it. She loves to try and skip to the fruits and vegetables and stick her fingers in the holes so I use it to work on counting. 

3. Pat the Bunny

 

This book is decades old but Gabriella is obsessed with it. We have read it so many times that she will actually do everything on each page, smell the flowers.. and her face is pressed to the page sniffing away. To be honest, I am so sick of this book but I can't help but laugh when she looks in the little mirror and says, "hi!" to herself. 

4. B is for Bear

 

Another daily read here is B is for Bear. It is an alphabet book but what makes this book different is that it is also a touch and feel book plus the pictures are actual photos. Gabriella loves the pictures of real children. 

5. The Pout-Pout Fish

The Pout-Pout Fish is an adorable book with silly words and rhymes. We have read it at the library a number of times and it is a huge hit among all of the toddlers. Our library had Pout-Pout come for a visit and I was so sad that we had to miss it but it was when Gabriella was sick. There are several books in the series but we haven't read those yet!

These are just some of our favorites these days! Have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend!

xo,

Mary