Did you know that May is National Burger Month?  Yes it is, and now that I've told you I know that you are automatically craving a burger.  When I first found out about this, I knew that we needed a family night built around burgers, and we did just that this week.  We mostly have family nights on Monday nights, it just seems to work then.  Do you have a regular night that you designate to nothing going on, but family?  We usually start outside at 4, sit around and read books and play with the kids.  Aaron gets the grill going, we eat outside and there usually ends up with a water fight or something with the kids.  It's loads of fun!

Anyhow, before I tell you about the awesome burgers that my husband made, I thought I'd tell you about our favorite burgers in Austin.  You see Austin is an awesome place for food and it's one of our favorite things about this city.  The food is AH-MAZING.  I am not lying to you about this.  So, if you are traveling to Austin and want a good burger here are the places I recommend you getting one.

1.  HOPDODDY

Seriously I can hardly contain myself with that goodness on the screen.  This is by far one of the best burgers I have ever had in my life.  Now, let me tell you that if you show up here around mealtimes there will be a line out the door.  Plan for it.  Wait in it.  It's worth it.  I would not steer you wrong.  Seriously go check out their menu and be amazed at all their products that come straight from farmers here in Texas.  I love that so much, and seriously can you really eat too much Kobe beef?

2.  Phil's Ice House

Phil's is actually one of the first restaurants that I visited when we moved to Austin.  My friend, Leslie, invited me and I was expecting something very different since it has the words “ice house” in the name, but this is one of our favorite family friendly restaurants around town.  Our kids love to play on the playscape, and it doesn't beat that it's connected to Amy's Ice Cream.  I hate that I don't have a picture to show you from Phil's, but their website is down.  I can however tell you that the selections at Phil's are one of my favorites around town.  I highly recommend the Violet Crown and the 78704 burgers.  Also the veggie burger is amazing and you can get it on any of their different options.  Closely behind their amazing burgers, are their amazing sweet potato fries.  They are to die for, and I could literally eat 3 whole baskets without even thinking twice about it.  They are that good.

3.  Contigo

We love Contigo for too many reasons to count, and their burger is one of the reasons.  They describe their food as “fresh, quality bar food” and that's what it is.  This is one of our favorite places in town to hang out, because if you stop for a minute you just feel like you are in your backyard with a bunch of friends.  That's our favorite thing in the world, and this restaurant captures that perfectly.  Not too mention their burger comes on a homemade bun and all their ingredients are fresh and I have even heard a rumors that they slaughter their own pig once a week at the restaurant.

So, those are my top three burger places in town.  Some of my friends also mentioned these places that would be worth trying:   Counter Cafe, Top Notch, & Roaring For.  I haven't had any of the burgers there, but I have friends that also wouldn't steer you wrong!

This week we had our own burger night and I must say my man makes some awesome burgers on the grill.  We have been getting a good bit of our meat from our friend Colt and it's just something different to eat meat that you know where it comes from and you know who killed it.

Anyhow, Aaron made awesome burgers and topped them with our favorite cheese lately, Tillamook cheese.   Nothing beats good cheese and you can tell that this cheese comes from cows that haven't received any artificial hormones and y'all that stuff is important!

{might I just say my man looks all good and ready for summer here – all those push ups are looking good on him! – okay gag for the lovey dovy talk … }

I say it all the time, but we love family nights, outside around our table, with good food.  One day our kids will realize that while all their other friends were eating chicken nuggets, spaghetti O's, and frozen pizza, that their parents were feeding them real beef, fresh tuna, scallops, quinoa salad, sweet potato lasagna, cauliflower soup, homemade pizza, kale salad, and lots of other goodness that their friends will have never heard of!

So, HAPPY NATIONAL BURGER MONTH!!!  

Go and enjoy yourself a burger this month and tell me where your favorite place to get a burger is!  

*Thanks to Tillamook for supplying us some awesome cheese for our burgers.  They have a coupon for YOU as well.  Click HERE to get your coupon.  The Tillamook $1 off Natural Slices coupon will be available until May 21, 2013. It will expire within 30 days of printing, so don’t forget to use it soon! Please reach out to Tillamook directly with any questions, comments, or concerns about the coupon.*