Warning: Long post! :)
I’ve been debating whether to dive in and talk about these Black Bean and Oat Burgers or skip right to our Big Announcement! Ultimately I decided that these Black Bean and Oat Burgers are a result of our big news, so I’ll happily share that first! After 7 wonderful years of marriage with just the two of us, Josh and I are finally starting a family and have our first sweet baby coming in August of this year!
We could not be more excited for this incredible blessing and are thrilled to finally be sharing with the world. Or at least our small piece of the world! Early in our marriage, we honestly didn’t know whether kids were something we wanted or that God had in store for us. We weren’t in any hurry and knew that if we were meant to have them, He would lay it on our hearts one day. Well, that stirring began in 2013 and as we talked and prayed about things, our longing for a family was born. We had hoped to get pregnant sometime in 2014 and found out I am pregnant the day before Thanksgiving, something to be thankful for indeed!
We could have gotten pregnant at any point last year, and at times wondered when it would happen. But now looking back and seeing God’s divine plan, it is such a blessing to see His hand at work and understand His timing is better than ours. When we found out we were pregnant, we had sold our first house and bought in a wonderful school district {which we honestly weren’t sure we’d be able to afford}, my dad had just retired to stay home as my mom’s full-time care taker, and Josh had just been offered a new opportunity with another company in his industry. {Final update on Mom here}
So many prayers answered, so many provisions put in place!
Left: 6 weeks pregnant; Right: 14 weeks pregnant
Taylor over at Greens & Chocolate is also expecting their first baby {yay!}, and I absolutely loved the way she shared how her pregnancy has been so far, so I thought I’d take a page out of her book and share in a similar way!
How far along? 16 weeks
How many tests did I take? 6…incase the first five were wrong :)
Generally Feeling: Overall, great! My energy levels have been good, with the exception of an occasional headache that brings me down. Fortunately, I didn’t get sick in my first trimester, just some nausea here and there. So happy to not have been sick, although I’m not sure that helped my weight gain ;) especially through the holidays!
Cravings: Salty, savory, meat, cheese…dare I say greasy? Things I don’t typically eat much of! For the first time in years, fried chicken sounds amazing! These cravings took place more in my first trimester, but are still lingering. The cravings for ice cream and chocolate are there too, but those have always been there and likely always will be, I’m a sweets girl!
Weight Gain: About 8-9 pounds (eek!)
Fears: That I’ll do something to somehow hurt our little baby, it’s such a feeling of responsibility to have a life growing inside of you and I can’t help but wish I had a doctors apt every single week to hear that beautiful heartbeat and know everything’s okay! My other fear is that I’ll blow up like a whale and not be able to lose the weight!
Exercise Routine: I’ve been trying hard to walk 30 minutes a night on the treadmill or do 30-45 minutes of Zumba, at least 5 nights a week. There are days when my job is very active, I tend to not worry about exercising on those days.
Nickname for Baby: Half Pint, my dad called me Half Pint when I was little and I loved it.
Looking Forward To: Feeling more “pregnant” and less just thick, and I’m getting there! It helps being able to share with everyone now that we’re expecting, so I no longer wonder if people think I’ve had a few too many Cadbury Mini Chocolate Eggs…which I have {they’re my favorite and I usually limit myself to one bag at Easter, but they’ve already put them out in some grocery stores and I’ve lost my discipline}!
What I’ve Been Loving: Sharing with our friends and family, everyone has been so encouraging! Many of you know the situation with my mom’s health, which has been really hard during this time, not being able to ask her the questions I long to know; but my sister, mother-in-law, and best friend have stepped in and been so involved, checking on me, answering questions, and helping calm my fears. I’m so thankful to have so many amazing women in my life. And I know that if my mom could talk to me, she would tell me how very excited she is for me, and that she believes I’ll be a great mother. My Dad has done a wonderful job of reminding me of that as well.
Then there’s my husband, Josh has been such a beautiful picture of support, protectiveness, and encouragement, he is an incredible blessing. I have loved watching him research what our baby will need, the best products on the market, and lovingly create our baby registry. He has done way more “baby” reading than I have and is going to be the most amazing dad!
Any “Nesting”? If you’ve read my bio or followed along for a while, you likely know I’m an Interior Designer by trade. Being that we just moved in an older home back in August, we have been in full swing for several months, painting, changing light fixtures, working on window treatments {I actually learned to sew!}, pricing out work we want done on the kitchen, etc. While I really enjoy cooking and being creative in the Kitchen, since being in our new older home, my focus has greatly shifted towards my first love of interiors again and I’ve had a hard time balancing cooking and working on the home, while working full-time. Now that we know we have a sweet bundle of joy to welcome into our home in August, our motivation for getting the house ready is in overdrive. In fact, our goal for this weekend is to paint the walls and ceilings of our guest and master bedroom {using latex paint, well ventilated, and with my doctors blessing of course}! We know when the baby arrives, the house will be the least of our concerns and we’d love to have as much done as possible. We also want to get all the paining done now so there are no lingering fumes when he or she arrives. SO, aside from planning the nursery, yes there has definitely been some nesting! :)
Maternity Clothes? Avoiding them at all costs! Most of my pants still fit, although I’ve been using the rubber band trick with the button, and leggings and a long tunic have become my BEST friend.
Boy or Girl: We chose not to do the Prenatal Screening Tests that detects potential birth defects, etc. while also letting you know the baby’s gender at 12 weeks. We also decided not to do the special ultrasound at 16 weeks letting us know the gender, and instead are waiting on our 20 week apt to find out. The idea of a gender-reveal party sounds like a lot of fun and waiting until 20 weeks gave us a little more time to get some things done around the house and think through a party. SO, all that to say, we still don’t know…but Josh and I both feel like it’s a boy…who knows?!
Okay, I know that was A LOT of information, but I’ve been dying to share with you guys and apparently couldn’t just give you the cliff’s notes version.
NOW, let’s talk about these Black Bean and Oat Burgers. I chose this recipe to combine with our news, because they were my first real craving. There are several different restaurants in Nashville/Franklin that make a wonderful black bean burger, while also offering sweet potato fries {my favorite}. And for whatever reason, around week 12, I had to have a black bean burger with sweet potato fries from one of those places, and quickly! This happened on a Saturday, and luckily, my sweet, supportive husband made sure that I got exactly that!
However, one meal of this pairing apparently wasn’t enough. I set out to make my own so we could eat on them for several days. I made these twice, tweaking the recipe the second time from my first go, and was really happy with the end result. The patties held together quite well in the sandwich, and the outcome was exactly what I was hoping for, a little kick and a lovely texture. I baked them with and without the parchment paper, and both were just a little tough to get off the pan/paper, but with a good spatula and a careful hand, they came off and held together beautifully. {Update: a friend of mine tried the recipe and used the parchment paper, then sprayed with cooking spray and they came off the pan without any issue!}
Pregnant or not, these make for a tasty, healthy meal, one that I’d highly recommend!
If you are still reading, THANK YOU! I know this has been a long post, but I am so thrilled to have finally shared our news. I’ll continue to share little tidbits and updates over the next several months.
Happy Cooking!
Black Bean and Oat Burgers + Big Announcement!
Ingredients
- 1/2 small onion
- 1/2 red bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1 smoked chipotle pepper in adobe sauce
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup whole oats
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup shredded cheese {I used a Mexican blend}
- 2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup cashew meal
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add onion, bell pepper, garlic cloves, ground flax, chipotle pepper, cayenne, black pepper, and sea salt to the bowl of a food processor, pulse 2-3 times then run 5-10 seconds until well chopped but not quite pureed.
- Add in oats, eggs, and cheese, then pulse 2-3 times, before running 5-10 seconds or until oats are well chopped and blended.
- Add rinsed and drained black beans and pulse 5-7 short pulses, leaving a few of the beans a little in tact for texture.
- Stir in cashew meal until well combined.
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with coconut oil cooking spray (or other form of nonstick cooking spray), then divide black bean mixture into 7-10 balls (depending on your preference of size per patty), and flatten on parchment paper, repeat until you’ve done this with each patty.
- Refrigerate for one hour, then bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
- Serve with caramelized onions, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, and ketchup on your favorite bun, Eat!
Notes
Nutrition
