"Inside out" burger

Vegetarians, look away.  This is not a post for you.

We have quite a bit of organic, grass fed beef in the freezer (went in with friends to purchase a cow a while back).  My husband is the grill master around here.  It's not that I can't grill, but I just choose to let him take over in that area.  He makes an awesome 'inside out' burger.  We call it that because it has toppings IN the burger as well as on top.  We've done several variations of the burger based on what we have in the house at the time, but the typical burger mix looks like this...

one pound ground beef (makes about 4 big burger)
half of an onion, chopped fine
half of a pepper, finely chopped (we've used various peppers, but typically use bell)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon (give or take for desired heat) crushed red pepper flakes
heavy sprinkle of hamburger seasoning OR chili powder, black pepper, salt
cheese crumbles

Form into patties and slap those bad boys on the grill.


To top, we love tomato slices, avocado, cheese, and a must is a mix of sliced pepper and onion (we use other halves of each leftover from above) sauteed in brown sugar.  The sweet of the brown sugar, the mellowness of the avocado, the coolness of the tomato, and the heat from the burger is an AWESOME combination!

Oh look how the brown sugar gives the onions and peppers a squeezey hug of sweetness.

tortilla soup

Thanks to Michelle at foodie footsteps for posting the tortilla soup recipe she uses.  I decided to make a batch while the weather here in Texas was still cold.  It was wonderful! Here is a pic without the chicken... I took the picture then put the camera down NEXT to the cooked chicken - doh! 

I used white cheddar cheese and corn tortilla's freshly made from central market - they were still warm when I bought them!  yum!!

The kids SHOCKED me - they loved this (without the avocado).  They are both getting some in a thermos tomorrow for lunch.

Chicken pot pie

My husband and I made this together on Sunday.  It was a total joint effort - and we are both clueless on exact measurements so there is no 'recipe'.

Just a picture!

Lemon Garlic Chicken with Chives

I have to admit, I am terrible at following recipes.
I bring the laptop into the kitchen and place it on the island countertop, rendering the island useless for cooking because I don't want to spill food on the computer.  I then cook/bake on a small section of countertop located across from the computer. I spend my cooking time constantly going back and forth between reading the recipe and cooking.  I just about always forget the measurements or ingredients that I need during the two step walk, turn and shuffle it takes to go back and forth.  I must look like a 90 year old man when I try to follow recipes;  Straining to read the recipe, forgetting over and over what and how much... it's a mess.

So, lately I have been winging it... a lot!

I found this recipe online somewhere, but I can't remember where.  I'd love to give credit... but being as I changed it so much, it is probably such a far cry from the original anyhow.


I started by roasting a head of garlic in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Typically, I would wrap in foil... but I was out.  A quick call to mom saved the day.  She said, "Ina roasts it in a pan all the time, just put some olive oil on it and watch it really well."  Mom is a food network junkie - says Ina's name like they go way back or something...  That's ok, buddy-buddy Ina's advice helped a lot!

Lemon Garlic Chicken with Chives

1 roasted head of garlic

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

3 tbsp. flour

1 cup chicken broth

8-10 chicken strips/tenders or 4 thin chicken breasts

1 lemon

3 tbsp. butter

fresh chives

Lightly coat chicken strips with flour and place in a hot pan with a little olive oil. Cook thoroughly.  

Meanwhile, add one cup of chicken broth to a bowl.  Add the zest and juice of one lemon to the bowl.   Add the bits of roasted garlic to the bowl.

When chicken is finished cooking, add contents of bowl to the pan of chicken and bring to a slight boil.  Reduce heat and stir in butter and 1/4 cup of fresh cut chives to the mixture.

I served with a side of Quinoa (bottom picture) and Green beans.  The kids loved this chicken dish! 

butternut squash, goat cheese, hazelnut, chicken pasta

I had butternut squash hanging out in my fridge, cubed and waiting to be cooked.  My foodie friend Michelle, was over one day and started rattling off meal ideas using the butternut squash. 

I had told her of the hazelnuts I had just purchased because of their good price.  She knew I had goat cheese on hand because we had already talked about it (yes, we talk about food... ). She also knew I had basil in my garden, and leftover chicken noodle soup in the fridge.

So, viola.  'Butternut squash, goat cheese, hazelnut, chicken pasta'.  This dish may already exist, and have a fancier name.  But, oh well!
HOLY cow, it was soooo good. 
The goat cheese mixed with the hazlenuts and slight sweetness of the squash was awesome!

I can't give you 'exact' amounts, because I really have no clue as to how much I used..... so here is the ingredient rundown and guessed amount for our family of 4 -  you can experiment amounts for yourself.

Butternut squash, goat cheese, hazelnut, chicken pasta

4 cups cooked pasta of your choice

(1 cup - ?)chicken stock

(1/4 cup- ?) goat cheese

(1/4 cup-?) of hazelnuts, crushed to small chunks

1 chicken breast,

1 medium butternut squash, cut and cubed.

2tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

Cook desired amount of noodles in a large stockpot according to package directions.  Drain water and add or make about a cup of chicken stock.  (I used about 2 cups of leftover noodles already in about one cup of chicken stock, then cooked about another 2 cups of noodles, drained and added to the existing noodles in a large stockpot.)

 Pan cook butternut squash slightly, add to stockpot of noodles/liquid.  reduced to med. heat.

In same pan used for squash, cook the chicken breast.  Add cooked chicken to pot.

Crush hazelnuts gently in a food processor.  You want these slightly chunky.  Add to pot.

Add chopped basil..... enjoy!

pizza/calzone night!

 My kids were watching noggin (now nick jr.) the other day and the show Olivia was on.  One of the characters mentioned eating a peanut butter calzone.   My son wanted to know what a calzone was.  It dawned on me that he had never eaten one!  You see, until the last year or so, he was probably the only child to not like pizza.  Then one day (most likely at a birthday party) he scarfed down a few slices in a row and declared that he does, in fact, like pizza.

When he found out I was making pizza crust yesterday (I make it a day ahead and fridge it overnight)  he was all excited to turn it into calzones!
With clean hands and an eagerness to learn, he entered my domain and helped me make the calzones. He did a great job!
We then used the rest of the dough to make small pizzas for mom and dad.  Our pizzas have tomato sauce, oregano, sun dried tomato, feta, mozzarella, goat cheese, kalamata olives, and shredded chicken tossed in homemade pesto (I make this and freeze in cubes).

This picture was taken before the fresh tomato was added - should have taken an after the oven picture, they looked awesome!  Individual pizzas are such a great dinner item to get the kids involved in making!

The flop and the heartache...

If you read back through my lunchbox posts, there were two times I let myself get really excited over something my son decided he really liked.

total side track here - It seems like I am always talking about my son and not my daughter - if so, it is because he gets lunch 5 days a week and she only gets 2 a week -well, I feed her everyday, but only pack her a lunch 2 days a week!  just felt like I needed a disclaimer there, lol.

Ok, back to my excited posts....
The first time I was super excited it was the stuffed mushrooms.    My excitement was evident just in the post title - I put three exclamation points at the end.

The second was yesterday when I went on and on about the Okra.

Well, everyday when they come home from school, I ask the kids about their lunch - If they had time to eat it all, what they liked the most, the least, etc.  

Well, the stuffed mushroom was not good cold.  Common sense says 'duh'.  I was just so excited that he liked it that it went into the lunch without any thought. It was a flop.

Now for the okra.  He was being polite to the 'Okra lady' at the farmer's market.  He told me he didn't really like the okra cold, but would like to try it cooked.

I appreciate his honesty, and I told him that.  I am disappointed in myself for not recognizing that he was not really into the raw okra.  How could I read my kid the wrong way?  I'm his mom!   I can tell when he is sick.  I can tell when he is tired.  I can sense that he has to go to the bathroom at the first little twitch of the 'pee pee' dance.  And, I can usually tell when he is lying.  So, how could I not pick up on his 'polite mis-shaping of the truth'??  There my friends in the heartache in this post.

The silver lining in this?  We tried Grilled Okra for dinner and he scarfed it up!

Grilled Okra

About a pound of fresh Okra

3 tbsp. of melted butter

3 tbsp. cajun seasoning or garlic salt (something with a kick)

Roll okra in melted butter and sprinkle with seasoning, place on a HOT outdoor grill.  Place on a pre-sprayed vegetable grill rack.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Should be slightly char-grilled.

YUM!

A hot guy and some double dippin'!

Since I am still unsure if I will be making a lunch for a kid tomorrow, I figured I would post a yummy, quick and healthy dinner recipe - with a darn good lookin' model/cook (ladies, he's mine)!

Baked Almond Parmesan Encrusted Chicken

Take about 1 1/2 cups almonds and crush up in a food processor until fine.  Add about 3/4 cup grated parmasean cheese - we do a 2:1 ratio of almonds to parm - so adjust depending on your family size.

You can add some italian seasoned breadcrumbs to the mix OR omit breadcrumbs and add just some italian seasoning.

Beat a few eggs in a shallow dish with a little bit of milk.

Pour  1/4 of almond mixture onto a plate.

Dip chicken in egg and then almond mix and place in oil sprayed oven safe dish.
Bake at 375 till chicken is cooked through.

Only pour small amounts of almond mixture onto the plate at a time - anything that touches the plate will have to be discarded, but any unused portion (never having touched the plate) can be refrigerated for later use.

We always try to make more of the almond mix than needed so we can use later in the week to make chicken nuggets for a quick dinner, use as a salad topper OR for nuggets to go in a lunchbox!!

personal pizzas

I made up a few batches of homemade organic whole wheat beer pizza dough (recipe found here, I used a 2:1 ratio of whole wheat flour to white) a while back and froze it for nights just like this one!  You know 'those' nights.  You've worked all day and barely have the energy to walk in the front door. I knew tonight would be one of those nights...

I needed something thawed and ready, so I put the dough in the fridge last night and set out on the counter when I got home from work today.  The big pile of produce from Saturday's farmers market trip is winding down.  The tomatoes have those little wrinkles starting on top, like they are crying out to be used up.

I started to stretch out the dough to fill the pizza pan, but I just couldn't seem to get it stretched  large enough.  My son walked up and asked to help.  After a much needed hand washing, he jumped in on the fun.  I have no formal dough stretching training under my belt.  In fact, I am probably as novice as they come.  I think anyone who walked in the house at that moment would probably know that right away.   The more we stretched it, the more it would tear.  My son, sensing my frustrations, said "hey, why don't we do lots of mini-pizzas."  The kid is brilliant! 

I think he also has mastered the art of manipulation because he had an alterier motive.  He wanted to make sure his pizza was plain cheese without the 'other things' creeping over to his slice.  The only things going on this pizza were pesto, feta cheese and tomato.  My brilliant, manipulative, son is also a little picky.   He ONLY likes the little tomatoes from our garden, NOT the large tomatoes which were sliced and ready to go on the pizza.

Here is the final result - mini pizzas for all!  (can you tell which ones are for my son?)