Can you treat cabin fever with ibuprofen?

You guys, it's like, winter now. All of December and most of January were pretty mild, and now BOOM, in the past two weeks it's alllllll the cold and allllll the snow.

(Well what do you think's gonna happen when you live in Minnesota?)

We've made lemon lime yogurt.

We've wasted 14.2 gallons of water playing in the sink.

We've...taken our shirts partially off and walked around like this for an hour.

The babies have both sprouted humongous top teeth and now they both love to grind their teeth together. I am pretty much going nuts having to listen to that. I DO NOT LIKE MOUTH NOISES.

One thing I dooooo like? Cooking with chickpeas!

Why? 

1. They are super cheap.

2. They are legumes, so they're a good source of protein and fiber.

3. They get eaten up by all four kids.

Smashed Chickpeas with Cucumber Yogurt

-2 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

-1 medium sweet onion, diced

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 eggs

-1/3 cup olive oil mayonnaise

-1/3 cup cornmeal

-1 tablespoon dried parsley

-1/2 teaspoon onion powder

-1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

-1/2 teaspoon smoked (or regular) paprika

-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

-1/4 teaspoon salt

Cucumber Yogurt

-1 cucumber, washed and shredded, then patted with paper towel to absorb excess water

-2 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt

-2 teaspoons lemon juice

-1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (or omit if you're not a fan)

-Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready. Can be made a day or two in advance. 

For chickpeas-

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. 

2.. In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute onions in olive oil until nice and browned. 

3. While that's cooking, use a fork or potato masher to smash the chickpeas into a mush. It's plenty ok to leave it a little chunky. 

4. Add remaining ingredients, including the now-cooked onions, and smash a little bit more. You should have some whole chickpeas left in the mixture, but the majority should be smushy. 

5. Form into 8-9 flat patties. 

6. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve warm with something like Joseph's pita bread and of course the cucumber yogurt. I added some matchstick carrots as well to give a little crunch. 

Nutrition information for 1 chickpea patty + 1/3 cup cucumber yogurt + 1 pita = 290 calories, 38 grams carbohydrates, 7 grams fiber (yowza!), 10 grams fat, 14 grams protein

All the kids ate this up. Better to hear chomping chewing noises I guess than teeth grinding noises!