I was skeptical...

but Black Bean Brownies are delicious!

Black Bean Brownies

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
2 bananas
1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 F. Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out clean. Cool, eat and enjoy!

The brownies come out really gooey, which I like, but if you want slightly drier brownies, decrease the amount of applesauce.

New House!

I've been so busy recently that I failed to update the blog with our exciting news. We're buying a house! We won it in an auction. The house had been on the market for a while, and we saw it once and really liked it, but the asking price was a little bit out of our price range, and we decided not to put an offer in on it. We found a second house that we really liked and prepared to put an offer in on it, but someone beat us to it and their offer was accepted. Then we heard that the Realtor who owned the first house was putting it up for auction, and we decided to go to the auction with a very low top bid, mostly just because it seemed like an auction would be a neat thing to see. The auction was on a Saturday and I had made plans to head up to Gainesville to see my parents and brothers, then up to Panama City with them to see my grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. Because we were both sure that we wouldn't win the auction with the amount we were willing to bid, I headed up as planned and Lawrence stayed behind for the auction. To my great surprise, he called me Saturday evening and informed me that we had in fact won the auction, and for less than the top bid that we had decided on, and which we had thought would be surpassed by tens of thousands of dollars. I got home Sunday night, and we've been running nonstop since then, comparing mortgages, setting up inspections, dealing with finances, and filling out neverending piles of paperwork.

The house is really perfect for us. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, so we have a little bit of room to expand if we decide the boys need another sibling in a year or 2, it's less that 1/2 a mile to Lawrence's work, so he can walk or bike to work and we don't have to worry about buying a 2nd car, it's in a great neighborhood and only a few blocks away from an 'A' rated elementary school. We love it! We close on the 15th of October and have a few weeks to get moved in before the lease on our apartment ends. We'll have a guest room and hope that all of you will visit!

In other news, Landis is walking! He has been taking a few steps for a while, but he really took off when we headed up to Gainesville and Panama City the weekend before last. I think he wanted to keep up with his uncles, who are so much fun he hardly knows what to do. Ever since then, there's been no stopping him. He still takes his fair share of tumbles, but he gets right back up and starts walking again. He looks so proud of himself whenever he walks further than usual or makes a sharp turn. It's pretty cute. I'm amazed at how quickly the time has gone. It's hard to believe that he is already 10 months old and toddling about.

Yum!

We went thrift store shopping this weekend with Aunt Jane and I took a chance and bought a crockpot, not knowing whether it worked. It works!! To test it out, I made delicious

Lentil Soup

olive oil
1 large chopped onion
2-3 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp. ground coriander seed
1 tsp. ground cumin seed
2 cups lentils
6 cups water or stock
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup brown rice
splash of lemon juice
salt and pepper

Saute the onion, garlic, coriander and cumin in the olive oil until the onion is soft and clear. Place in the crockpot.

Add lentils, water or stock, tomatoes and rice to the crockpot. Cook on low for several hours.

Before serving, add a splash of and salt and pepper to taste.



It is yummy! I'm so excited to have a crockpot. It will make life so much easier. Landis is generally fussiest and clingiest in the evening around dinner time, so it's hard to pry him out of my arms long enough to make a good meal. I threw the soup ingredients in the crockpot just before lunch and they were ready by dinnertime. Let me know if you have a crockpot recipe that you love!

I spend 2 minutes blogging

and Landis eats a beetle. Ewwwww! Where did he even find it? Lawrence fished the head out of his mouth, and he was holding the body and wings. How gross!!

Baby Steps

Landis is working so hard on walking. Last night he walked 5 steps from me to Lawrence, and then back again. He was so proud of himself! He has been cruising around the living room today, taking one step between the bookcase and the computer table, then 2 steps between the table and a chair, then 3 steps back to the bookcase. It's so much fun to watch!