Five on Friday

Happy Friday Friends! I'm linking up today with 4 of my favorite blogs for their weekly 5 on Friday link up! Thanks for hosting April, Christina, Darci and Natasha! 

One

I'm in love with my new celebrate plate! The football at the top comes off and can be replaced with another charm for different holidays. I can keep the plate displayed year round changing it for each holiday. Swoon! The football is for Superbowl Sunday! 

Two

I have been off work/snowed in the house since Tuesday. That's basically a whole week off work. It sounds nice but seriously, no. I have been going stir crazy stuck in this house! Today marks the first day in 72 hours I have left my house. I have been the happiest girl in the world to finally get some sunshine and fresh air!! My days have been filled with a whole lot of laziness but I'm so happy the snow is melting and I can be just a little LESS lazy. 

palette on the floor anyone?

This was when the ground was mostly just ice... the 6 inches of snow didn't come until after this picture

Three

The extra time off work gave me the perfect opportunity to read a book I've had sitting on my dresser for months. Has anyone else read it? It was an amazing book!

Four 

I have been loving drinking lemon water recently! I have been putting a few slices of lemon in my Nalgene water bottle that I keep with me all the time. The lemon continues to flavor my water all day. I mostly do it for the taste but these health benefits aren't too bad either! 

Five

I get to celebrate a good friends 24th birthday tonight! Whoop Whoop! Friends since we were little babies in dance all the way through college and then into the working world. Happy birthday Carroll, love you! 

check out those bangs.. 

our sophomore year of college, once again, we were babies! 

J's Mexican Bean Burgers and Sweet Potato Fries

Last weekend Justin made homemade Mexican bean burgers with sweet potato fries for dinner one night. How lucky am I to date a guy who loves to cook? I think I'll keep him around (; They turned out to be absolutely delicious and fit right into my plant based whole foods diet. He has made bean burgers in the past, but these were different in that they have a Mexican kick. I even picked up some of the supplies to make them myself this upcoming week! 

J's Mexican Bean Burger

Ingredients 

1 can drained pinto beans 

1 egg or you can substitute the egg for1 tablespoon of flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water. Let sit for 5 mins

1/2 cup sautéed pepper 

1/2 cup sautéed onion  

Minced garlic to taste 

1 packet taco seasoning 

2 cups salsa 

1 1/2 cup bread crumbs 

Start by mushing 1 can of drained pinto beans. (You can use any type of beans. I plan on using black beans to make mine) 

Mix mushed beans, sautéed peppers and onion, garlic, bread crumbs, salsa and taco seasoning and egg (or flax seed/water) together 

Form patties and cook in skillet on medium heat until firm. Serve with whole wheat buns and your favorite burger toppings! 

 Sweet potato fries were the perfect side item to our Mexican Bean Burgers. I have always loved sweet potato fries more than normal french fries! They are also super simple. I would actually start these before the burgers as they take a while to slice/bake.

Slice 2 sweet potatoes. 

Toss sweet potatoes with just enough olive oil to lightly coat. Add paprika, salt and pepper. Align on baking dish (try to spread them out. We probably should have used a larger pan) 

Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and browned. About 30 minutes, turning occasionally. 

Enjoy!

Puppy Fever

I'm enjoying another snow day off work today! They have already called school off for tomorrow and chances are Friday will be called off as well. I'm enjoying my days off for sure though! I stumbled across this Budweiser Superbowl commercial video this morning and oh em gee... MELT MY HEART. I already have puppy fever bad and this video didn't help at all. If you haven't seen it, watch it now. Trust me, you wont regret it. If you have seen it and you're anything like me you're watching it on repeat as we speak. 

If that doesn't warm your heart on this cold snowy day I don't know what will! On a more serious note, my prayers are with the children, parents and teachers in Alabama snowed in at school as well as the many cars stuck on the highway all over the south.