I have to give my wife credit. She only wanted to try something different and make dinner a little more healthy.

A month or so ago, Maria found a recipe for bean burgers. When I saw it laying around the kitchen, I started to laugh.

Bean burgers sounded like something a group of people in a mountain commune would eat for a special occasion. That didn’t fit my profile.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. As we get older, we do have to pay more attention to the things we eat.

I already try to limit the amount of red meat I eat. Every once in a while, I will go for turkey burgers to try and mix things up. Why not bean burgers?

The picture from the magazine, of course, made them look very appetizing. I knew I couldn’t just go on that, but told Maria that I’d be happy to join in this grand experiment.

I heard the sound of dinner preparations on a recent Sunday night and had all kinds of thoughts run through my head. Chicken? Tacos? Grilled cheese and tomato soup?

When I went upstairs, I saw the bean burgers. My first instinct was to throw a tantrum, but she had already made them so that would be pretty unfair. Plus, I said I would give them a shot.

I wanted to replicate the burger experience as much as possible. I wanted cheese and a bun and my favorite toppings. Maria even made her homemade french fries so I felt right in my comfort zone.

Then, I bit into the burger.

I didn’t mind the taste. I wouldn’t know exactly how to describe a bean burger, but I had to abandon my fears about choking down a disgusting dinner. Actually, I kind of liked it.

I just didn’t quite know how to deal with the texture. The patty had a lot of give and would slide outside the bun whenever I took a bite.

While enjoying our meal, we discussed ways to make the recipe even better. Maybe different kind of beans. Maybe a mixture of beef and beans. We had a couple left over so I made a mental note for when I could take them into work for lunch. I even looked forward to bean burgers for dinner in the future.

Then, I woke up the next morning.

At first, I attributed the way I felt to typical Monday morning malaise. I didn’t have a wild weekend, but we did have the time change so I definitely could have slept some more.

But when a shower and coffee did nothing to improve my feeling, I started to look closer at my weekend. Sure, I didn’t sleep as much as I should have Saturday night, but I felt fine all day Sunday. Until dinner. The bean burger did it!

The lethargy didn’t go away through the day. I felt disappointed because I really liked the bean burgers. They just didn’t like me.